MAGNiFiCENT 7: The New Chapter of BiS Unfolds at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM

| Idol | Posted by Kai Okudara on Jun.09.2017

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BiS began a new era as a 7-member group as they opened their BAD SOCiAL TOUR with a relentless 21-song performance at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM on May 30, 2017. In the 3 months since the finale of their Re:STUPiD Tour at Shibuya WWW X, former BiS member Saki Kamiya returned to the group via a rental trade arrangement for Aya Eight Prince, and new members Momoland and Pan Luna Leafy made their long-awaited stage debut.

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As the kenkyūin (fans) poured into the venue, the sounds of Ringo Sheena played on the sound system. Producer/manager Junnosuke Watanabe took the stage shortly before start time, directing any females to the special priority area on the right side of the stage and reminding everyone that moshing, stage diving, crowd surfing, lifting, and undressing would no longer be allowed during performances. He thanked the kenkyūin for coming out in such numbers despite the live being held on a weekday, recalling how BiS had once performed at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM in 2011 and sharing that there were almost twice as many people in attendance compared to back then.

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The members of BiS rushed out onto the stage as the intro to “nerve” rang out from the speakers, the kenkyūin surging forward to dance along and call out to their favorites. Pour Lui formally announced the start of the 7-member era of BiS, asking the kenkyūin for their continued support. The mood intensified as the performance resumed with “Paprika”, the kenkyūin squatting and pumping their fists in the air along with BiS for 3 and a half minutes straight. The painful expressions on the members faces disappeared as they slithered into “Give me your love Zenbu”, energized by the shouts of the kenkyūin, the calls for Momoland almost drowning out her vocals. The air grew increasingly moist as BiS rocked their way through “My Ixxx”.

Momoland shuffled across the stage while leading the handclaps to “Taiyō no Jumon”, lightening the mood as she and the others floated through the jazzy tune. Kika Front Frontal, who had long been the target of Aya Eight Prince and Peri Ubu’s attacks during “Human after all”, remained relatively untouched as the others seemed to be playing mind games with her. Leaping into “IDOL” with a barrage of screams, BiS jumped back into the fray as the sea of black-shirted kenkyūin crashed into each other, Momoland staring out at them blankly and taunting them.

Taking a short break, BiS welcomed the kenkyūin to the live and introduced themselves, Pour Lui beginning with her toilet-humor catchphrase followed by Kika Front Frontal proudly announcing she had still not decided on her specialty. Go Zeela released a monstrous shout befitting the kaijū member and Saki Kamiya tapped her shaved head as she introduced herself as the “handsome bald” member and blew kisses to the audience. Peri Ubu lead the kenkyūin in a series of escalating “pe!” calls, Pan Luna Leafy humorously knocked out the other members with her “mero mero punch”, and Momoland shyly introduced herself as responsible for “CHANGE the WORLD”. Declaring again that the “tale of 7-member BiS” had just begun, Pour Lui introduced “Romeo no Shinzō” a song closely tied to the group’s previous 5-member formation.

From there, the set list changed direction quickly, BiS a and the kenkyūin bouncing along to the grinding guitars and rattling drums of “Give Me a Chocolate”, swinging their arms and clapping to “BiS”. The performance marched on with “primal.”, the nearly 1,000 kenkyūin singing along and moving in sync with the members of BiS with their backs turned to each other and fists raised high. Saki Kamiya became the object of playful teasing as Kika Front Frontal chased Peri Ubu and Momoland around her as she sang her lines to “Never Starting Song”, adding to its light and mischievous choreography. The cheekiness continued with Pan Luna Leafy and Peri Ubu pestering Kika Front Frontal as BiS rumbled through “SAY YES” before shifting to the other end of the musical spectrum with the smothering electronic rock of “Not Special”, Saki Kamiya appearing behind Peri Ubu and pulling her in for a kiss, followed by Pan Luna Leafy closing out the song with her breathy vocals. The gentle piano intro of “NOT the END” rang out over the speakers, followed by the opening lines of Pour Lui and Pan Luna Leafy, joining with the others in chopping the air like an ouendan (Japanese cheerleaders) and eating their imaginary bentos. The piano theme persisted with “gives”, the kenkyūin clapping along steadily as BiS reached towards the heavens while singing from deep down in their souls.

Peri Ubu thanked the kenkyūin again before revealing that the next 2 songs would be the last of the night, proclaiming that the 7 members would change the world, segueing cleanly into “CHANGE the WORLD”. Posing like a group of sentai rangers and firing off 7 imaginary hadouken blasts, BiS leapt into action, racing around the stage and shaking their fists as if they were in the middle of the Shibuya Scramble crossing. Gathering up her courage, Momoland jumped up on one of the risers and screamed as loud as she could while the others linked arms and banged their heads. Shouting, “With these members, we will make this the strongest BiS!”, Pour Lui started off “BiSBiS”, the kenkyūin answering with a deafening MIX and series of calls for the song that resurrected the legendary anti-idol group on the 2nd anniversary of their disbandment. Thanking the kenkyūin once more, BiS took a deep bow and left the stage.

After a few minutes of encore calls, BiS returned, starting right away with “NAKODUB”, another emotional song inspired by “primal.”, singing passionately and thrusting their fists in the air triumphantly. Saki Kamiya announced BiS would be performing a new song, “SOCiALiSM”, the single going on sale on May 31st and Ebisu LIQUIDROOM roared to life again in a flurry of swinging fists, shouts, ebizori, and jumps. Pour Lui thanked the kenkyūin again, announcing that BiS would be releasing a 500-yen single titled “I can’t say NO!!!!!!!” on August 16th. She continued by revealing that the finale for BAD SOCiAL TOUR would be at Akasaka BLITZ on August 6, 2017, the kenkyūin shouting again when she revealed the title of it was “IDOL is DEAD”. Pan Luna Leafy shared her anxiety about joining BiS, trying to hold back tears as she admitted to feeling overlooked in favor of Momoland but made a bold declaration to someday become the ace of the group. The venue became silent aside for the sound of camera shutters as Momoland nervously patted her hair while sharing her wishes to change herself, recalling how Pour Lui had helped her during the audition, how she had been progressing since then, and her determination to keep growing and eventually change the world, startling herself as she shouted out the name of the final song of the night “Let it Be”.

The kenkyūin roared to life one final time, waving their hands and raising their voices out as BiS raced around the stage for the grand finale. Giving their thanks and taking their bows, the members did their best to wave to as many kenkyūin as possible before leaving the stage. Pan Luna Leafy and Momoland stayed behind to give their final comments. Pan promised to work as hard as she could, asking for the eternal support of the kenkyūin. Momoland began by thanking everyone for coming out, waving shyly as she struggled to find the words to express her feelings. Taking their final bows, the newest members of the Brand-new idol Society left the stage, successfully clearing the first day of the tour.

Ever since their return on the tiny stage of Nakano Heavy Sick Zero on September 4, 2016, the second coming of BiS has been one of the more compelling stories in the Japanese underground idol scene. While BiSH may have been formed to “do BiS right”, the group intending to “do BiS again” has been quickly growing and evolving. The addition of new members Pan Luna Leafy and Momoland combined with the return of Saki Kamiya and the continued development of Kika Front Frontal, Peri Ubu, and Go Zeela under the leadership of Pour Lui has resulted in yet another version of the anti-idol. Only time will tell if the sequel will surpass the original.

Photos by Mime Soga

Set List

01 nerve
02 Paprika
03 Give me your love Zenbu
04 My Ixxx
05 Taiyō no Jumon
06 Human after all
07 IDOL
08 Romeo no Shinzō
09 Give Me a Chocolate
10 BiS
11 primal.
12 Never Starting Song
13 SAY YES
14 Not Special
15 NOT the END
16 gives
17 CHANGE the WORLD
18 BiSBiS

E1 NAKODUB
E2 SOCiALiSM
E3 Let it Be

BiS BAD SOCiAL TOUR

June 4, 2017 (Sunday) – output (Okinawa)

June 11, 2017 (Sunday) – SUNASH (Shizuoka)

July 1, 2017 (Saturday) – BACK BEAT (Hiroshima)

July 15, 2017 (Saturday) – BESSIE HALL (Sapporo)

July 16, 2017 (Sunday) – CLUB JUNKBOX (Sendai)

July 17, 2017 (Monday) – Ishinomaki BLUE RESISTANCE (Miyagi)

July 22, 2017 (Saturday) – Misono Universe (Osaka)

July 23, 2017 (Sunday) – Takamatsu DIME (Kagawa)

July 27, 2017 (Thursday) – Nagoya CLUB QUATTRO (Aichi)

July 29, 2017 (Saturday) – Kumamoto Be.9 V2 (Kumamoto)

July 30, 2017 (Saturday) – Fukuoka DRUM Be-1 (Fukuoka)

IDOL is DEAD
August 6, 2017 (Sunday) – Akasaka BLITZ (Tokyo)
Open – 5:00pm Start – 6:00pm
GRATEFUL DEAD ticket – 50,000 yen (meet & greet, souvenir, audio download of live)
ALMOST DEAD ticket – 15,000 yen (souvenir, audio download of live)
Regular ticket – 3,500 yen

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