At long last, the concert series
Anisong World Matsuri made its DC debut at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in early August at
Otakon. Estimated at 3000 fans, the crowd buzzed with anticipation for the start of the first concert.
JAM Project
The concert opened with a video of the
Anisong World Matsuri logo covering the planet, which then zoomed around the globe, stopping at Shanghai and Los Angeles before landing on DC, to the screams of the crowd. Soon after,
JAM Project took the stage as they launched into their first song,
Crest of “Z’s”. The red lighting of the stage gave the room a warm hue as fans sang to the chorus, waving their light sticks.
The lights changed and smoke filled the stage as the group launched into
Hagane no Resistance. It was a powerful song, and fans waved their hands as
JAM Project built the song up strong into it’s final stanza, before breaking for a MC.
“How are you?”
Kageyama exclaimed. “Thank you for inviting us! We are happy to be here!
JAM Project is back at
Otakon in the US!” He then went on to introduce the group’s members -
Masaaki Endoh,
Hiroshi Kitadani,
Masami Okui, and
Yoshiki Fukuyama – and they each took turns telling jokes and thanking the group for their invitation to
Otakon.
“The first time we sang in the US was at
Otakon in 2008 in Baltimore – do you remember that? There were so many American fans! Time flies!”
Kageyama continued. “We got a little older, but we still have great passion for singing anisong! Anisong can connect the world!”
The crowd did a large chant of “USA! USA!” and the group laughed, chanting along briefly with the crowd before they moved back into song.
The next several songs were punctuated with colorful lights – blues, yellows, and purples, with brilliant shapes cascading on the floor, black curtains and walls.
JAM Project played many of their most popular songs, each one punctuated with screams as it began, including
Garo and
Hero. However, as they launched into the song
THE HERO!! ~Ikareru kobushini hiwo tsukero~ from "One Punch Man", the crowd's screams were deafening. The audience jumped in excitement so much that the floor shook under their feet, and everyone joined together screaming the chorus loud enough that it drowned out the
JAM Project singers.
The final songs,
Rocks and
Rescue Fire had the entire crowd moving, and the sea of multi-colored light sticks moved in all directions as everyone put all their energy into singing the lyrics and dancing to the last songs of
JAM Project for the night. Soon after, the group left the stage, all smiles and waves, promising to return.
Set list
01. Crest of “Z’s”
02. Hagane no Resistance
03. Garo ~Savior in the Dark~
04. The Brave
05. THE EXCEEDER
06. Hero
07. THE HERO!! ~Ikareru kobushini hiwo tsukero~
08. Victory〜Gong
09. Rocks
10. Rescue Fire
T.M.Revolution
© David Weaver
After a short intermission, the screens once again showed the
Anisong World Matsuri logo and entrance music, and it kicked off
T.M.Revolution’s dramatic entrance music.
T.M.Revolution ran full speed onto the stage, stopping suddenly at the very edge and shouted into the microphone, “DC! Are you ready to rock?!”
T.M.Revolution began his set with
Inherit The Force, dressed in a sparkly jacket that was low cut, exposing most of his chest. He wore matching black pants, a long black necklace, and had a earring in his right ear. The energy from the crowd as
T.M.Revolution started his set was infectious – the floor shook and fans shook their colorful light sticks in sync with the beat.
T.M.Revolution continued his set, moving through several popular songs, including
Invoke and
Ignited. The second song,
Invoke, exhibited a particularly strong response from the fans and was clearly a favorite. As the night wore on,
T.M.Revolution pushed the crowd’s energy to the next level with his emphatic hand gestures and general stage presence.
Halfway through his set,
T.M.Revolution took his first MC break, and before he could even begin fans were chanting, “
TMR!
TMR!” much to his surprise (and clear delight, as he broke into a wide smile.) “Thank you so much! I am back to
Otakon!”
T.M.Revolution sighed happily. “I have been so busy, but it is great to see all of you! I finally made it back to DC! Right here, right now!”
T.M.Revolution beamed as the crowd cheered, and he paced the stage as he continued his MC. “Thank you for coming out tonight. It has been a long time since my first show in 2003, do you remember? I could not forget.”
The fans broke out in the second “USA” chant of the night, and
T.M.Revolution laughed, joining in and then changing the chant to “
TMR”, which caused ripples of laughter throughout the audience as they joined in. Before long,
T.M.Revolution moved into the second half of his show with popular 90’s hits such as
High Pressure and
White Breath. The fans pushed themselves, jumping, singing, and waving their glow sticks to show their love and appreciation of every stanza
T.M.Revolution belted out.
As
T.M.Revolution was preparing to begin
Hot Limit, he removed his shirt and by the end of the song, during a brief break he exclaimed jokingly, “Oh ... I’m naked!” Laughter bubbled up from fans in surprise as
T.M.Revolution laughed along with them and gave a big thumbs up. “Are you tired?” he teased. “I’m not. I’m so very not!”
Launching into the last of his set,
T.M.Revolution led the crowd to jump with him as he danced around on the stage, ending his set with
Heart of Sword just as strong as he began in. The audience sang along through the final song, and together, they finished the set. “I love DC!”
T.M.Revolution exclaimed. “I love
Otakon!” He threw his arms up dramatically, thanking the fans and lingered on the stage, continuing to thank the fans, as if reluctant to say goodbye. Finally with a wave, he headed backstage shouting, “I hope to see you again soon!”
The lights rose, giving the brief hint that an encore would not happen, but as the crowd shouted on, hoping for one more song, both
JAM Project and
T.M.Revolution returned together, thanking the fans and staff and said that it had been an amazing night. Together, they performed
JAM Project’s song
SKILL, much to the delight of the crowd. When the song had ended, everyone gathered together, saying they would do the “sacred ritual” of the Banzai, and on a count of three they jumped, shouting “Banzai!” to the cheers of the crowd.
Set list
01. Inherit the Force
02. Invoke
03. ignited
04. Meteor
05. resonance
06. High Pressure
07. White Breath
08. Hot Limit
09. Flags
10. Sword Summit
11. Heart of Sword
Encore
01. SKILL (
JAM Project x
T.M.Revolution)
Anisong World Matsuri Links
Website:
http://anisongworldmatsuri.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AnisongWorldMatsuri
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/AnisongWorld
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/anisongworldmatsuri
