MIMIZUQ marked their 4th anniversary with a concert at Tokyo's SHIBUYA PLEASURE PLEASURE on June 18th. The anniversary show was held with an in-person audience, albeit with a limited-capacity crowd and various infection prevention
measures in place for fans’ safety. The show was also live-streamed via TwitCasting.
The sounds of rain and wind resonated around the venue after the house lights went out. Bassist
seek, drummer
poco, and guitarist/"clown"
AYA walked out onstage with flashlights. Vocalist
Tsubasa followed with a lantern.
The band started the show with an instrumental:
numbers. The beautiful melody of
Tsubasa's harmonica and his bandmates' vibrant playing drew fans into
MIMIZUQ's world. Afterwards, the band played
Fuka. Fans pumped their fists to the uplifting pop-rock song. During the performance,
Tsubasa impressed with his high-tone voice and energetic acoustic guitar playing.
"1,2,3,4!"
poco shouted to start
Shizumu morini furu itsukushimi no ame, banging out his danceable drumbeat.
Tsubasa also playing guitar seemed to give
AYA more freedom. He thrilled the fans
with his guitar solo and had them dancing along with him.
seek's hard-hitting bassline strengthened the band's sound. Next,
Piggyback showcased
MIMIZUQ's tender side.
Then, the stage was plunged into darkness and a narrator began to speak: "Thank you for boarding the time-travelling train. The train has various different passengers. You will see several meetings and partings appear on the windows. Right now,
the train is passing through dark forests. Now, you can see a girl in a
Child Room. Today, we will guide you to the
Child Room."
After the narration, the band members came back to the stage with balloons and gift boxes.
Secret Parade filled the venue with a cheerful atmosphere.
AYA,
seek, and
poco danced around
merrily with their prop instruments and fans swayed along with them.
To make the mood even happier, the band members took time to greet the fans:
Tsubasa: "Today is our four-year anniversary! Thank you!"
seek: "Today is also the 1st anniversary of
Tsubasa joining the band. Congratulations!".
Then,
Tsubasa suddenly started to improvise. He started to sing while strumming his guitar, as if he was speaking to the audience. He shared that each fan's support creates the band's future, and that he would like to continue drawing
a dream and journeying together.
After the MC, the band played
MONSTER GIRL. The song's soothing melody and
Tsubasa's silky voice charmed the fans. Next, the party song
NAMIDA MUSIC FACTORY changed the atmosphere.
The following
Natsuno yuudachi, suishin 300 meter expressed bittersweetness and nostalgia, both of which are essential ingredients of
MIMIZUQ's concept of "Namida Music". The mellow sounds of
seek's electric upright bass enhanced
the song's sentimental feel. A notable difference the band showed during the show was a change in
AYA's performance style, focusing more on his role as a guitarist than as a "clown". As a result, one of the band's most popular songs,
Zutto suki deshita, gained an extra edge and more dynamism. However, fans retained the fun aspect of the song by dancing along to its choreography. It seemed that
MIMIZUQ and their fans had grown together over the course of the past four years.
Later, the band delighted the crowd with a new song:
Hairefururarireho. This party song filled the venue with a happy atmosphere. "Cheers!"
Tsubasa shouted at the song's end. Afterwards,
seek unexpectedly
left the stage to change his bass guitar. Then, suddenly,
AYA and
poco launched into a hard rock jam session as they waited for
seek to return. The bassist came back and joined in. Fans gave the band
an ovation for treating them with a pleasant surprise.
Towards the end of the show, the band played their latest digital single
Child Room, an urbane pop song that theatrically describes toys' farewell to a girl. Finally, a heartwarming
performance of
Grand Guignol closed the main set.
During the encore, each member took some time to speak to the fans.
poco: "Thank you for coming to our 4th anniversary show. I am glad to see
Tsubasa celebrating his one-year anniversary of joining us. We used to have a support guitarist, but now we can perform by ourselves. We will continue
doing our best to show you our evolution."
AYA: "The number of our songs increased a lot over the past four years, and I am happy about it. I will keep composing many more good songs."
seek: "I always believed
that our band would keep going, even if we got temporarily stopped by the pandemic. I want to continue with the band as long as I live."
Tsubasa: "I watched
MIMIZUQ's 3rd anniversary show as an audience member last
year, which they performed with a guest vocalist. I am very thankful to my bandmates for continuing with the band, and for inviting me to join."
The band played three songs during the encore, showing their musical evolution by adding a Latin flavor to
Kaze no harmony. Then, they played
Tic-Tac, the first song
Tsubasa composed for the band.
Tsubasa spoke about the closing song
NUMBERS. "I listened to this song as an audience member at the last anniversary show, and I was thinking about how I would add my characteristics to the song. At the beginning of this
show, we played the instrumental version. Now, we'll play the complete version of it," he said. With its grand scale and intensity, it made a fitting finale to the show.
"See you again on the tour!"
Tsubasa told the fans at the end.
The schedule for
MIMIZUQ's upcoming tour can be found
here.
Set list 01. numbers -instrumental-
02. Fuka
03. Shizumu morini furu itsukushimi
no ame
04. Piggyback
05. Secret Parade
06. MONSTER GIRL
07. NAMIDA MUSIC FACTORY
08. Natsuno yuudachi, suishin 300 meter
09. Namida no seibun
10. Zutto suki deshita
11. Hairefururarireho
12. Tokyo INVADERZ
13. PINKY PUNKY PARTY!!
14. Child Room
15. Grand Guignol
Encore
16. Kaze no harmony
17. Tic-Tac
18. NUMBERS
