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The show had to be postponed 3 times, but it was worth the wait!
3 did the charm; they presented us with a night we will never forget and we want to share this experience with you!
Who remembers LM.C from the old days when they performed in the United States, South America and Europe during their world tour STRONG POP in 2012? Well, to this very day, the rock duo consisting of vocalist maya and guitarist Aiji is still very much active. Ever since their debut in 2006, the duo has climbed up the ladder, releasing songs of a variety of genres such as pop-punk, pop-rock, electro-pop, rap-rock and even hard-rock, until they were able to play a concert at the infamous Nippon Budokan in 2012. After that they have also been actively performing overseas. To celebrate the release of their 8th album KAIBUTSUEN (怪物園) on April 6th this year, LM.C embarked on a tour of the same name in March 2022. Originally, the tour was supposed to end in April, but due to unfortunate circumstances the tour final had to be canceled twice: the first time because maya (vo.) got tested positive for Covid-19 and the second time because Aiji (gt.) was suffering from sudden deafness. Luckily, as all good things go by three, Aiji’s condition improved and LM.C were finally able to hold the final concert of the tour on August 1st, 2022 at duo MUSIC EXCHANGE in Shibuya, Tokyo at their third attempt.
The stage, decorated by the duo’s well-known logo – a bunny with an ear piercing and the letters LM.C written on the inside – in the back, was bathed in colorful lighting as their current support members, drummer Ishii Yuya and bassist mACKAz entered the stage, followed by Aiji and last but not least maya. Fans welcomed the members by clapping, with some of them even waving glowing rattles. maya and Aiji appeared in their current black stage outfits with yellow straps hanging down from their sleeves and pants. After fans had their opportunity to greet the band, the slow but steady beats of the first song, Elephant in the Room, another song from the duo’s 8th album, echoed through the venue. Fans were clapping to the beat while Aiji was playing his guitar with a stoic look on his face, intensifying the dark, mysterious atmosphere. Emphasized by heavy guitar riffs, the dark atmosphere continued up until the second half of the second song Valhalla – yet another brand new song proving that LM.C, who are mainly known for their poppy tunes, are just as capable of delivering heavy and intense songs. As the song reached its first refrain, the rocky tunes sped up and maya began to make full use of the stage by dancing with a bright smile on his face, while Aiji delivered an impressive edgy guitar solo in the middle of the song.
Even though the duo had only played two songs, the fans couldn’t hold back their feelings of joy and started screaming the band member’s names after giving them a round of applause. Receiving the fans’ joy, maya rewarded them with the first MC of the evening. “Hello, we are LM.C! You don’t have to overdo it, but you also don’t need to hold back – please have a good time and enjoy!” he said before diving into the third song, DOUBLE DRAGON, causing the atmosphere in the hall to light up as the audience started singing “Wowowwowowowow” together with maya. The show had just begun, but both band and fans clearly enjoyed themselves. During Panic Time, maya would take the pole of his microphone and dance with it while pointing at his fans, whereas during the following song, No Emotion, he would directly hold his microphone towards the crowd to encourage them to shout and sing even louder.
The stage was flooded by blue lightning when rainy sounds started to play, indicating that the ballad section of today’s evening was about to follow. And indeed, the next song was Lost Summer, a new groovy ballad from LM.C’s latest album: an homage to the time everyone had lost due to the pandemic in 2020. Aiji kept delivering sentimental guitar riffs, while maya gave it his all by singing as passionately as he possibly could, closely holding onto his microphone with both of his hands. Continuing this emotional scene, they moved on to CAMPANELLA, yet another beautiful melodious ballad they had first released as a digital single before adding it to its latest album. The crowd was clearly mesmerized by the performance of this emotional ballad, showing the band their appreciation with a big applause.
After that, maya addressed the audience once again: “Are you doing well? Are you using your voice to the fullest? I’m really happy, also cause we just celebrated my birthday here yesterday,” he greeted everyone, earning quite a few “Congrats!” calls from the crowd. “So, since yesterday you’re allowed to shout and scream again at concerts. Only in a few specific halls in Tokyo though, but I’m still glad.” Maya explained, “I was moved by hearing you all sing for me on my birthday. Wait…I’m talking about nothing but my birthday, aren’t I? … I’m sorry!” He laughed and so did the fans. Despite just having apologized, maya would in fact not stop talking about his birthday until the duo continued and the upbeat rhythm of the following songs, MONROEwalk, Montage and Happy Zombies, would shake the crowd from its state of trance. Another MC followed, during which maya expressed how he was feeling: “I’m having so much fun, thank you! Is the concert fun for you as well?” Fans responded by shouting “Yes, it’s fun!” and a loud distinctive shout from a male fan literally had everyone laughing out loud.
maya continued to talk about the band’s upcoming 15th anniversary and that he’s excited to see where they will go from now on. “I will continue to sing from now on as well to tell everyone supporting us and coming to our concerts that you’re always allowed to cry freely when listening to our music”, he stated, before telling a story about how he saw a fan crying terribly at their concert in Nagoya even though she was wearing a mask. Despite talking about something rather sad, maya managed to turn it into a funny story by adding “I still don’t know why she was crying, though. Maybe cause she just wanted to hear a different song at the end instead of the one we played.” Fans laughed once again, until maya ended the MC by asking them “Will you stay with me for a little while longer? I’ll stop talking now cause our songs contain everything I need to say, so I’ll just sing passionately to connect our feelings to the future.”
The next song, End of the End, would be the last and probably the heaviest song from the duo’s latest album that they played this evening, and fans would swing their fists to the heavy guitar riffs. The atmosphere became even hotter as LM.C then moved onto a nostalgic fan favorite: The LOVE SONG. Fans were passionately jumping, clapping and swinging their fists until the band would turn down the music to have the fans sing the last refrain by themselves. Despite a long time having passed since the last time it was allowed to shout and sing at concerts, fans sang the lyrics without hesitation, becoming one with the band. It is needless to say that this was definitely one of the most beautiful moments of the evening. Fans weren’t granted even a second of a break as LM.C moved on to Chameleon Dance, an electro-pop song that would literally turn the live hall into a disco. Fitting the title of the song, red, green and pink lights would flood the stage while green laser beams were shot above the fans, who were jumping as high as they possibly could after maya shouted “Give it your all! We’ll liven up Visual Kei from now on as well! Jump! Jump!” At the end of the song, maya signaled that LM.C would be playing two more songs today, one of them being The BUDDHA.
Everyone expected the following song to be the last song, until maya asked “Can we do one more song before the last one?” and the fast riffs of OH MY JULIET., one of the duo’s most iconic songs, resounded through the hall. The crowd exploded in excitement when they recognized the song, with some fans holding their hands over their faces as if they couldn’t believe it. Immediately, heads dropped and hair started to fly as quite a few fans began headbanging, followed by maya, who also started to headbang and once again had fans sing with him throughout the entire song. The nostalgic journey through LM.C’s most popular songs continued with PUNKY❤️HEART. As the cheerful beats of this song began to intensify the happy atmosphere inside the hall, maya would put both of his hands on top of his head to create a heart with his arms. “This is exactly the kind of view one can only get here!” he praised the jumping fans. When the duo reached the last refrain, maya shouted “Now it’s your turn!” and stopped the music to have fans sing the last refrain again – all while big flags with pink and white stripes on them appeared on the left and on the right side of the stage, reminding everyone of the duo’s outfits in the music video of PUNKY❤️HEART. After creating yet another beautiful memory this evening by singing together, the fans were clearly not holding back anymore and started to headbang until the end of the song.
Expecting the concert to come to an end, fans stood still for a moment until maya decided that it was not time to end this concert quite yet and asked to play another song. And the chosen song was HOSHI NO ARIKA (星の在処。-ホシノアリカ-), yet another nostalgic song with lyrics not only describing the duo’s rise to fame, but also the bond between them and their fans, thanking them for being born in the same era as them – indeed the perfect song to end a wonderful evening. Drummer Ishii Yuya and bassist mACKAz, as well as Aiji would join maya in the middle of the stage and play their instruments facing each other brightly smiling, while fans would swing their fists as fast as they could. maya ended the song with a “Thank you, Shibuya!” and moved on to introducing today’s members: “On drums Ishii Yuya, on bass mACKAz, on guitar – we’re all glad he’s back – Aiji and finally…”, he points at himself, “Super vocal maya!” Fans rewarded the members with big rounds of applause.
Finally, Aiji and maya turned towards the crowd once more to express their feelings. Aiji started: “Thank you for coming today. Given the current situation, it’s not usual practice to do concerts anymore, so today made me realize how special concerts are. Although we weren’t sure whether we would be able to hold the final, it was a really great tour that made me learn something really important: not giving up. That’s a huge thing to learn, given that we’re already in our fifteenth year. It’s something I learned only because we continued with LM.C. I’m sure some fans couldn’t come today because the concert was rescheduled, so please tell your friends that LM.C is still out there and they’re always welcome. I want LM.C to explode! Let’s explode together. Thank you!” maya continued: “Did you have fun? A lot happened during this tour and I’m sure a lot of difficult things will come our way from now on as well, but we’ll do our best. Let’s come together like this again! Stay healthy!”- and with those words, he and the members left the stage.
All in all, the tour final was a huge success as LM.C delivered a powerful show from start to finish, leaving everyone attending out of breath. Song after song, the duo showed their ability to move from one musical style to another, from heavy riffs to sentimental ballads, dance music and classic rock. To someone who had last seen them live 10 years ago, it became more than apparent to me how much LM.C have grown. I personally loved how they started out with dark, heavy songs and moved on to more cheerful tracks until playing their most loved songs at the end, really livening up the hall with every performance. Finally, I was beyond moved by fans singing songs with the band. It was the first time in 3 years that I saw a band and its fans connect with each other through singing, which is why this concert made me feel hopeful that a world like it was before the pandemic hit may become reality again. We hope that LM.C will also be able to connect with their overseas fans again soon and look forward to seeing what they will show us next after proving that they are as variable as chameleons. Finally, to old fans: LM.C is still out there, doing their best so give their new album a listen! And to those who have yet to discover them, we hope that this report gave you an insight into the kind of band LM.C are and hope that you will give them a chance and check out their music.
Report: Tiffany
English Edit: Franzi
It would be great if you could support us with a small donation.
It might not be much for you, but it would help us providing more and better interviews in the future.
With a little bit of your support we might be able to realize even more!
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