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Unforgettable Tour Finale! Yurumerumo! Melt Hearts and Blow Minds at Zepp Diver City!

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New-wave idol group Yurumerumo! closed out their “YOU ARE THE WORLD” tour with an intense 29-song set at Zepp Diver City Tokyo on December 20, 2015. As if that wasn’t enough, the entire set had them backed up by a 13-piece live band!

Taking the stage in new outfits with metallic and fluorescent accents, Yurumerumo! looked like they had just landed on Earth after a long journey through outer space. Leading a call and response with the audience to get them warmed up, laser beams sliced through the air and words scrolled across the screen as the faces of the members flashed by. Starting off with “MOMOMOMOMOMO! Yoyoyoyoyoyo!”, fists pumped in rhythm as the fans chanted along in between rapid splashes of piano melodies and pulsing bass lines. Ushered in by a thick wall of synths, “Korogare!!” was next, the tension beginning to boil over as several dozen Ano fans rushed to try and get a “resu” from her when she moved to the front of the stage.

Chopping and kicking their way through “1!2! Kung Fu!”, the fans of Chiffon and Younapi were next join the “resu” party as several human towers rose up when they drew near. The battle raged on as the members of Yurumerumo! slid through their positions of the formation dance and fired hadoukens into the audience during “Nan”. Even when Yurumerumo! stopped to greet the audience and introduce themselves, the fans were not taking a break from trying to be noticed by their favorite members. Ano, the most popular member of the group received a reception that would rival that of a religious cult. It was so overwhelming that she yelled at her fans to shut up and called them “baka”, something that was definitely appreciated as she is known for her sadistic and salty attitude.

Jumping back into the music with the bouncy electronic “Fui Ute!!”, Yurumerumo jabbing their hands out like striking cobras and forming chakra seals, Younapi’s high pitched squeals reverberating through the venue. With the members wielding imaginary ray guns, lasers alternating between green, purple, and blue washed over the audience, mixing with the retro futuristic keyboard sounds of “Nemutai CITY vs Dokusho Nikki”. A wave of orange appeared as fans rose up to show their support for Chibo when she stepped forward to sing her lines before the spiraling keyboard solo in the middle of the song.

Steel drums and wobble bass blended together, Ano delivered her frantic spoken interlude, and fans were lifted up for Chiffon and Kechon during the whimsical “Nami ga nai Hi”. Asking for her fans to listen to her song, Ano strapped on her Epiphone SG and began strumming away the chords for “Tora yo” as she rocked back and forth. Her voice trailing off into a fierce growl, she began scrubbing away frantically at the strings. The rest of the group channeled some retro girl group dance moves for the midtempo punk “DO FUFU”, wagging their fingers and side-stepping in unison.

Putting her guitar down, Ano rejoined the others for “Refresh Your Jewellery Box”, a song that almost sounds like it could be the theme song for a Pixar film or television sitcom with its relaxed vocals and warm horn arrangement. JOJI Hiroshige, leader of legendary noise band Hijo Kaidan walked on to the stage and let his SG feedback to begin the more than 10-minute musical journey into the dimensions of sight, sound, and the inner mind known as “SWEET ESCAPE”. With the rhythm section providing the forward progress, synthesizers shimmered and scraped, the horn section and guitars screeching, the vocals seemed to float above the dense sonic collage pumping out of the speakers.

Moving to the aggressive “Tabi no Shitaku” with guitar notes like shards of glass, Yurumerumo! bounced back and forth, running like ninjas and drawing their imaginary swords while screaming. After a drum solo, the band came to crescendo, slowing down as the members traced their fingers through the air until the hook returned and they jumped back into attack formation. Standing in the front of the stage, Mone was surrounded by kechas from her fans when it came for her to sing her solo.

Slowing down with the etherial “NNN”, electronic beats and the whirring tremolo of an organ held down the bottom end as Ano, Chibo, and Younapi’s soft vocals hovered gently in the upper end of the mix. Lasers cut through the air and the group moved slowly as if they were doing tai-chi. The music grew thicker and faster like lava flowing down hill before receding back to the intro motif with its delicate glockenspiel melody as the members embraced to end the song.

With Hiroshige leaving the stage, things settled down wih “Yume Nante” a melancholy tune about how the youth no longer seem to have dreams. As if to follow the storyline of the MVs perfectly, this was followed by “Mottomo Utsukushii mono”, an atmospheric track with a pulsing bass line, accented by the flashing lights on the stage.

Taking out folding fans and flapping them to the densely layered “OO (Love)”, Yurumerumo entranced their the fans who waved their penlights along with them, abiding by Chiffon’s request to do their best to be noticed. Switching abruptly to the fast ska-punk “Yoi Yoi”, towels, fists, and penlights waved rapidly. This began a short burst of fast songs which were nearly seamless in their transition.

The madness continued with “KAWAII Hardcore Ginga” as Chiffon jumped into the audience and surfed the crowd. Ano tapped her head repeatedly to get out the final notes.

Not quite as fast as a speeding bullet, “id Idol” followed in quick succession, the drums blasting away like artillery before yielding to slower dreamy parts, the pattern repeating as if it were February 2nd.

The already high energy levels peaked as soon as “Hamidasumo!” begun, hands clapping rapidly to the electronic beeps and blips. Ano picked up her guitar again to play the noisy guitar solo at the front of the stage.

The creeping bass line of “Sukiyaki” had fans yelling out a MIX as the members snuck around on the stage under the light of green lasers. Ano stepped into the audience and was held up by her fans, moving to the middle of the floor area before falling back and being carried back.

The main performance came to an end with “Only You” and instead of trying to explain what it was like, it’s probably easier to just watch the video of it from Yurumerumo!’s YouTube channel? If this is what the DVD will be like, it will be a must purchase item when it is released!





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Of course, there were also many great pictures!

One of Mone’s fans began the encore call, yelling himself voice hoarse, joined by one of Ano’s fans and cowbells as they shouted out together in the darkness. After what seemed like 5 minutes of this, the band returned to the stage and a video played announcing upcoming events and news for Yurumerumo! in 2016. In celebration of their 3rd anniversary, there would be a special Tower Records promotion with Younapi and Kechon providing artwork. Additionally, they would be performing at Taiwan PIPE on April 9, 2016!

Yurumerumo! rode back on to the stage on bicycles, tricycles, unicycles, and Kechon being pushed while sitting on a hand truck while “Yuru Toro (slo-mo!)” played, giving the feeling of a small parade as the fans chanted and waved their hands enthusiastically. Getting things heated back up with the tropical “Be Zero”, a wall of Mone’s fans (including the one who had started the encore call) rose up to welcome her back to the stage. Chibo shouted for the audience to keep up their excitement as the encore continued with “manual of Tokyo girl Gendaishi”. Things got really crazy as Yurumerumo! jumped back on their bikes and rode around the stage for “Natsu on Blue” and threw balls into the audience. Armed with selfie sticks, Chiffon and Ano took pictures with the fans at the front of the stage, the video footage from their phones feeding onto the screen at the back of the stage. Ano got back on her tricycle and was lifted up by the fans, where she took a selfie with them before crawling back onto the stage, bringing the encore to an end.

Another encore call began right away and perhaps thanks to there being more cowbell the second time around, the band returned to the stage shortly after. Ano was back at the front of the stage surrounded by blue lights (and her fans) as the second encore began with “Watashi he”. Blinding lights flashed from the back of the stage as Yurumerumo! swayed and jumped to the electronic beeps and shimmers. Tossing flower petals into the air, the chaotic shoegaze sounds of “Ningen wa Sukoshi Fumajime” crept into the open spaces of Zepp Diver City.

Thanking the audience for staying for the second encore, Younapi introduced the band, which was made up of several musicians who had collaborated with or written songs for Yurumerumo! Ano offered up her Christmas greetings. The night came to a festive conclusion with “Nigero!!” as giant balloons were bounced out into the audience. There was a commemorative photo taken with their fans in the background and the live came to an end with Yurumerumo! and their band taking their final bows.

2015 was an impressive year for Yurumerumo! as they released their 2nd album “YOU ARE THE WORLD” as well as a mini-album “Bungaku to Hakai”. They starred in their first movie “Onna no Ko yo Shitai to Odore” and had their first overseas live at Vietnam’s Manga Festival. In addition to appearances at Tokyo Idol Festival, @JAM EXPO, and countless other events, they were able to perform at Akasaka BLITZ as well as Zepp Diver City, two venues seen as critical milestones on the way to the legendary Nippon Budokan. Here’s to hoping they have a 2016 that is just as surprising and successful!

Set List

01 MOMOMOMOMOMO! Yoyoyoyoyoyo!

02 Korogare!!

03 1!2! Kung Fu!

04 Nan

05 Fui Ute!!

06 Nemutai CITY vs Dokusho Nikki

07 Nami ga nai Hi

08 Tora yo

09 DO FUFU

10 Refresh Your Jewellery Box

11 SWEET ESCAPE

12 Tabi no Shitaku

13 NNN

14 Yume Nante

15 Mottomo Utsukushii mono

16 OO (Love)

17 Yoi Yoi

18 KAWAII Hardcore Ginga

19 id Idol

20 Hamidasumo!

21 Sukiyaki

22 Only You

E1 Yuru Toro (slo-mo!)

E2 Be Zero

E3 manual of Tokyo girl Gendaishi

E4 Natsu on Blue

W1 Watashi he

W2 Ningen wa Sukoshi Fumajime

W3 Nigero!!

Band Members

Guitar: Kazuma Hashida (Hakoniwa no Shitsunaigaku)

Guitar: Sho Ueno (Hakoniwa no Shitsunaigaku)

Drums: Akio Matsumoto (Hakoniwa no Shitsunaigaku)

Bass: Souhei Mishima (cinema staff)

Guitar: Mamoru (nhhmbase)

Drums: Jimanica (d.v.d)

Guitar: JOJO Hiroshige (Hijou Kaidan)

Percussion: Jun Hirano

Keyboards: Heriko

Chorus: Sachiko Onuki (HALIFANIE, Stefanie)

Trumpet: Toshihiko Otsuki

Trombone: Kazuhiro Arai (DF7B)

Saxophone: Keisuke Tachibana

Related Links

Yurumerumo! Official site: http://ylmlm.net/

Yurumerumo! Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/ylmlm_staff

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Author Kai Okudara Writer, researcher, photographer, foodie, KSDD

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