With their latest single “Dead End in Tokyo” in hand, MAN WITH A MISSION recently held the last of their extra shows for their “Dead End in Tokyo Tour” at Shinkiba STUDIO COAST. Joining them as special guests on stage for this string of encore shows was American rock band JIMMY EAT WORLD, who haven’t performed in Japan for almost 6 years (and almost 9 years as a solo act). MAN WITH A MISSION announced at the final show that they will be joining JIMMY EAT WORLD in a joint tour in America for September this year.

JIMMY EAT WORLD stepped onto the stage as the opening act, who released their 9^th album “INTEGRITY BLUES” back in October 2016 which marked their 20^th anniversary since their major debut. The show was a joint gig with set lists that focused around enjoy the bands’ old and new music rather than just the newer material.

From the get go the crowd gave a huge round of applause and cheered for the band as they walked onto stage. The crowd were devoured by the sound of JIMMY EAT WORLD who played songs such as “Work” and “Lucky Denver Mint.”

The crowd sang along for their final two tracks, "Sweetness" and "The Middle," before their set came to a close. They are two universally love tracks by fans, so people made sure to give it their all for the last of JIMMY EAT WORLD's performance.

MAN WITH A MISSION were then welcomed on stage. Guitarist and vocalist Jean-Ken Johnny screamed, “It’s been a while, Tokyo. Let’s go!” The band stirred up the crowd even more with their performances of “Get Off of My Way” and “Hey Now.”

Bassist for the band Kamikaze Boy ran around the stage, and DJ Santa Monica also left his booth to join in with the madness on the floor in front of the stage. The band went full high-speed from the very beginning, before performing the next song, “Give it Away.”

Amongst a powerful ensemble of instruments, the music was amplified to 100 by Tokyo Tanaka’s powerful vocals and Jean-Ken Johnny’s rapping.

DJ Santa Monica braved a stage dive into the pumped up crowd for “distance” and was joined by Kamikaze Boy who was held up by the crowd as he continued to play his bass.

The latter half of the performance began with “NEVER FxxKIN’ MIND THE RULES” where the band got creative and technical with their sound and played freely.

Spear Rib upped the drive of the crowd even more with his drumming skills. The band then began to play the famous guitar riff of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” which sent everybody in the venue wild.

The band were also having a huge blast, but it was the crowd whose overwhelming power reverberated throughout the room.

Jean-Ken Johnny described the fact that the band had been lucky enough to not only play alongside Hi-STANDARD at the end of 2016 for AIR JAM 2016, but now JIMMY EAT WORLD, as “indescribable.”

The members of MAN WITH A MISSION talked about their ups and down as a band for the past 7 years, looking back at how their path had not just been full of fun times, but also how they had been put down many times before. But they also said to look back at themselves as guys who always have a smile on their face, and to continue working hard together. Their drive and self-confidence is linked to the scale of their sound and their toughness as a band which has continued to pierce through, rather than what kind of music they like or what principles they subscribe to.

Their almost 3-month long tour ended with a ‘let’s meet again at our next show’ to the crowd and a performance of “Dead End in Tokyo.”

The encore consisted of a special digest video entitled “Ookami Daizenshuu V” (Japanese: 狼大全集Ⅴ) and the announcement of their joint tour in America with JIMMY EAT WORLD scheduled for September 2017.

Be sure to keep your eyes on this wolf pack and their endeavours as they continue to pierce through the scene even further.

Related article: MAN WITH A MISSION’s song “Dog Days” features in the new “Asahi Dry Zero” TV commercial song!

Related article: MAN WITH A MISSION is appearing on the video “FENDER FEEDBACK” as a non-human head artist

The Idol Formerly Known As LADYBABY who released the 2^nd single“Pelo” in April held the two-man live series “Neo Dadaism Parade” Vol.2 in Shibuya WWWX inviting Omori Seiko as a guest.

 The collaboration gathered much attention and the tickets were sold out.The live concert started with Omori Seiko’s stage. She performed “Zettai Kanojo”with Kaneko Rie and “Nostalgic J-pop” with Kuromiya Rei and performed 12 songs in total. Also, they sang “LADY BABY BLUE” which was a song offered to LADYBABY.

On the other hand, LADYBABY performed 9 songs in total including the latest single “Pelo” and the debut single “Sanpai! Goshuin girl☆.” They warmed up the packed crowd with their energetic staging. Also, an encore was given to the performers and they sang “LADY BABY BLUE” again and concluded the event.

They also announced that they will hold a two-man live series “Neo Dadaism Parade Vol. 4” on the 12^th of August at Shibuya WWWX. They continue to increase their audience numbers and expand their activities. We need to keep a close watch on their future activities.

Photo by YUKI SHIMBO

■Information

Two-man live series “Neo Dadaism Parade”

July 23rd, 2017 (Sun) Tokyo / Shibuya O-WEST

Joint gig: Bed in with Part Time Lovers

August 12th, 2017 (Sun) Tokyo / Shibuya WWWX

Joint gig: will be announced later on

Official tickets are now available on their web site beforehand

The first role of official tickets are now available

Tickets can be purchased at “eplus （e+）http://eplus.jp/ladybaby0812hp/ (PC, smart phone, Cellphone)

First entry period May 3rd (Wed - holiday) 22:00 - May 14th (Sun) 23:00

Official web site: http://ladybaby-fc.com/

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Related article：What kind of music artist is Seiko Omori trying to be?

Related article：Seiko Omori and Tokyo Recordings have collaborated to make a new Pocky’s radio commercial! It will for sure make you feel “Emoi” (emotional).

Haruna luna, a popular animation song artist who sings theme songs for various popular animations, held her 5^th anniversary live concert titled,“Haruna luna LIVE 2017 5^th Anniversary Fes. ♡with you♡” on the 2^nd of May at Zepp Diver City Tokyo (Odaiba). Her concert was a great success and many of her fans were mesmerized.

May the 2nd was Haruna’s 5^th anniversary since her debut. Since her live, called a “Fes.” invited many guest artists, the venue was filled with excitement. The first song was “Binetu no Tuki” which gathered attention because it was included in the addendum CD before her debut. At the beginning of the concert, she performed the rock tunes “Kyoso Refrain” and “Ai wo Utae” and after that she performed her masterpieces such as “Overfly.” The stage then changed to scary atmosphere and she performed Machigerita triptych medley which is a song on her 1^st album.

After that, the first guest AKIRA appeared and they performed “Kinki no Gyosei” which is included in her mini album released in February of this year. After this serious, dark and erotic song, they softened their fans’s heart with some good talking.

After that, Kotoko appeared on stage. They collaborated together which very rare and performed “ANIMAX MUSIX 2017 OSAKA,” “C3 in Hong Kong” and “S×W –soul world-” and set the fans on fire.

Finally, the last guest, Moso Calibration appeared on stage. They performed “Sakurairo Diary” which is the ending theme song of the TV animation “Saenai Kanojo no Sodatekata ♭and announced that they will be holding an event on the 18^th of June (Sun) in SHIBUYA CLUB QUATTRO.

In the last part of the concert, they performed both popular songs and songs that cannot often be heard live and the popular song “Kimiiro Signal.” In this song Moso Calibration performed as dancers.

After the encore, Haruna performed her debut song “Sora ha Takaku Kaze wa Utau” and announced that she will release a new album in the near future. She also told her fans that “We will continue to perform together for 6, 7, 8 years” and concluded the live with “Lunatic Word.” She released her new single “Stella Breeze” on the 3^rd of May and will release her 3^rd album “LUNARIUM” on the 21^st of June. She is also planning to appear on various lives and events, so please check them out.

■Information

Stella Breeze

Release date: May 3rd

3^rd album

LUNARIUM

Release date: 21^st of June

 “Saenai Utahime no Special Live ♭” Haruna luna × Moso Calibration

Date:June 18th, 2017 (Sun) Open 17:00 / Start 18:00

Venue: SHIBUYA CLUB QUATTRO

Performers: Haruna luna and Moso Copulation

Ticket: Standing \4,860 (tax included)

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Related article：Luna Haruna charms a crowd of 3,000 anime fans at “Kawaii Kon”

Related article: Anime song artist, Luna Haruna will release her new song, “STELLA BREEZE” on May 3rd and she made this lyrics!

Attractive and unique artists are aired in Pocky’s radio commercial series called “While eating Pocky.” The new version, “Message” has been aired from March 3rd. Seiko Omori who will release her 3^rd album 『kitixxxgaia』 on March 15^th, participates in this commercial as a vocalist.

Tokyo Recordings arranged this commercial doing a good job of capturing the spirit of the emotional lyrics.

Nariaki Obukuro, President of Tokyo Recordings is renowned for being featured on Utada Hilkaru’s new album “Fantome.”

This new commercial is being aired on the 38 TOKYO FM Japan FM network(JFN) stations in the program called “Hisashi Yamada’s Radio Limited F.” It is being aired from Friday March 3^rd at 25:00 on one of this program’s broadcasts “Pocky After School MUSIC ROOM.” In addition, scenes from this recording can be seen at the music video on. Check it out!

Moreover, if you buy her album 「kitixxxgaia」on-line, you will receive a B2 poster with her signature on it!

Pocky radio commercial website http://www.pocky.jp/cm/radio-cm/message.html

■Information

2017/03/15 on sale

Seiko Omori official website:http://oomoriseiko.info/

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■Related article：What kind of music artist is Seiko Omori trying to be?

“BABYMETAL”. If you haven’t heard of this band yet then you must be living under a rock.

BABYMETAL have proven to be a limitless and unprecedented trio that continue push the boundaries of the music industry.  If you’ve seen their name in the headlines over the past year in particular, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Just when I thought that these three young girls from Japan had no way of topping that amazing and surreal performance together with Rob Halford of Judas Priest at the Alternative Press Music Awards back in July, the Red Hot Chili Peppers announce that they are to take the same BABYMETAL with them on the UK leg of their “The Getaway World Tour”.

The tour was originally planned to begin on December 5^th and end on December 15^th, with two consecutive performances at a few of the scheduled venues, including the famous O2 Arena in London with a capacity of 20,000. However, due to popular demand, a third date was added for The O2, extending it to December 18^th. This is the show that I attended.

The huge arena faded to black and screams echoed throughout. When the lights came on, out stepped the Kami Band. The girls followed and they opened the night with the epic “Road of Resistance” which included call-and-response interaction with the audience to get them pumped for what was to follow. BABYMETAL performed “KARATE” as well as a number of classics that included “Gimme Choco!!!”, “Megitsune” and of course “Catch me if you can” which has come to be the track where the Kami Band show off their true skills on their instruments with solos from each member.

What truly made the night, however, was when Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers surprised the audience by joining the Kami Band and the girls on stage as the drummer. Chad himself dressed as a Kami Band member, donning the white robes and make-up. He was officially dubbed “Chad Metal” by the girls during his performance. What followed was an absolutely incredible cover of two Judas Priest songs, “Painkiller” and “Breaking the Law”, the same songs the band performed with Rob Halford in July. It was an unexpected treat and loved by fans that recognised the songs. SU-METAL has come a long way with her amazing singing ability, and these covers really showed her potential. SU-METAL thanked Chad Metal for joining them on stage and he went off. But Chad soon returned to the stage with a birthday cake for SU-METAL, whose birthday was on December 20^th, and the entire venue sang Happy Birthday for her. Chad then spoke some heartfelt words about BABYMETAL, saying “BABYMETAL’s been on the tour with us for all the UK. We love having them, they’re amazing. They’re beautiful, wonderful, talented people.”

BABYMETAL are set to tour with METALLICA on their “WORLDWIRED TOUR 2017” in Seoul on January 11^th, 2017. They will then join Guns N’ Roses for their “JAPAN TOUR 2017” where they will play 4 dates on January 21^st, 22^nd, 25^th and 29^th in Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama and Saitama respectively. The power and love of BABYMETAL is evident to see. If they’re heading to a city near you, don’t miss out on your chance to see a performance from one of the biggest names in metal today.

Writer: Joshua Kitosi-Isanga
Studying Japanese and has a deep interest in Japanese pop culture.
Currently enrolled at university in the UK and has studied abroad in Japan for 1-year.
Writer & Translator at MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON.

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■Related article：Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford joins BABYMETAL onstage for an epic performance【Video】

7-member male and female group AAA completed the finale date of their dome tour "AAA Special Live 2016 in Dome -FANTASTIC OVER-" at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday (November 16th).

This was their first ever dome tour since their debut 11 years ago. Across four days they played to a packed out crowd of 18,000 fans at Osaka's Kyocera Dome and Tokyo Dome. They performed a total of 22 songs, both classics as well as their latest tracks.

Members Nishijima and Urata performed a capella for "Miss you". For "LOVER", all the members hopped aboard a luxurious and gorgeous float which had a wireless camera that spanned 10m in length and 6m in height, as well as a huge LED screen, which had the crowd going wild. The screen showed a video that was made by "Possible Productions", a film production company in LA. They have made film footage for big name overseas artists such as Eminem and Big Bang for their live tours, but this was their first time making one for a Japanese artist. It was an absolutely spectactular performance for their first ever dome tour.

During the encore, the group announced a new single and a new album to be released next year on February 8th and February 22th respectively, which of course had the fans screaming. It's looking like 2017 will be a year to watch out for AAA.

■Information
AAA / New Single On Sale February 8th・New Album On Sale February 22nd! http://avex.jp/aaa/news/detail.php?id=1043013#

"Namida no Nai Sekai" Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ls3T69eV2o

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■Related Article: Multi Super Performance Group ; AAA

http://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/19630

■Related Article: AAA energise fans with their Asia tour — to be followed by their solo dome tour in Japan & electrifying news!

http://www.moshimoshi-nippon.jp/18212