Thursday, November 21, 2024
Aqours ~BRAND NEW WAVE~ lands in Los Angeles at Anime Expo 2019

Aqours ~BRAND NEW WAVE~ lands in Los Angeles at Anime Expo 2019

 

Anime Expo 2019 may not have had as many concerts as years past but what it did have was quality. Love Live's Aqours played to two sold-out crowds at The Novo on July 5th and 6th. The performances, titled "BRAND NEW WAVE," would leave concertgoers with memories for years to come and build upon Aqours' legacy in Los Angeles.

This is one of the smallest venues that Aqours has played in but you wouldn't be able to tell from the noise of the fans in the crowd. Anime Expo's usual venue of choice, Microsoft Theater, was markedly occupied by the preparations for ESPN's Espy awards. The nearby Staples Center was likewise booked with a Shawn Mendes two-day concert series. A contingent of dedicated individuals were up front in the pit and it seemed like every other person was holding the ubiquitous penlights that you see at idol concerts.

This is Aqours' fourth straight year attending Anime Expo and their third year of performances. The vast majority of tickets sold out in minutes. The Novo's capacity is roughly a third of Microsoft Theater's but two sold-out shows meant the overall tickets sold was comparable as last year's concert did not sell out the very back of the venue. I was able to secure tickets to both Day 1 and Day 2 (VIP Pit for Day 2) and had a lot of fun even though I've seen the group almost a dozen times by now with half of those being live. There was one noticeable absence in the form of Arisa Komiya (voice of Dia Kurosawa) who is on medical leave. The set list was 17 songs long and while it lacked the subunit songs (we are missing Dia after all) there was a lot of variety.

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Last year I had said that a full Aqours concert in America would likely not be replicated. I was clearly wrong. I was also wrong in that Anime Expo did not have Anisong World Matsuri (oddly enough the VIP badges for 2019's Aqours concert had the AWM branding on them) but that's a story for another day.

Friday's evening show started off with "Boku no Hashittekita Michi" from the Love Live Sunshine movie "Over the Rainbow" which, ironically, has yet to be screened outside of Japan. On August 5th it will finally be shown in select theaters with assistance from Funimation Films. The second song of the opening set, "Thrilling One Way," helped push the tempo and was followed by Season 1's OP song "Aozora Jumping Heart."

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As is tradition with all of Aqours' performances the girls introduced themselves one by one. Each has a call-response and everyone in the crowd seemed to know what to say and what color to switch their penlights to. For those of us who have attended every live viewing and Los Angeles performance this is second nature. I went as far as to take part at Aqours 4th Live in Japan last year.

What followed was a series of songs and costume changes. The girls would change a total of three times through the performance and sang songs like "Mattete Ai no Uta," "Daydream Warrior," and "Todokanai Hoshi Dato Shitemo." Midway through "Brightest Melody" something new happened. Los Angeles had been rocked the day prior by a 6.5 scale earthquake approximately 150 miles north of the city center. At 8PM a second, stronger quake hit. This one was eventually rated 6.9 and was right in the same area as the one the day before. At the time I wasn't sure if it was an earthquake or whether it was just people in the balcony going too hard; I've been in more than a few concerts where the audience was able to make the floor move. To the girls' credit they didn't miss a beat and continued through the rest of the song. Japan, much like California, is no stranger to earthquakes but for some of the travelers who had come from across the world to gather in LA this was a new experience.

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A quick break was held as venue staff inspected the building and fixtures to see if anything was out of order before the show resumed. Anju asked if we were okay and if we were ready to go; the cheers from the crowd was an obvious answer that needed no translator. Aqours resumed activities with the fan-favorite "Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM" and fans were able to recreate the classic "Yousoroad" of blue glowsticks and penlights. Day two's setlist diverged slightly with the Kanan-focused "HAPPY PARTY TRAIN" (which uses green) and "'MY LIST' to you!"

The encore would be a total of four songs and one of the most heartfelt is the song "No. 10." Concertgoers from last year probably remember the Aqourainbow which lit up Microsoft Theater to the song "Yuuki wa Doko ni? Kimi no Mune ni!" A more abbreviated version was performed from the front of the pit all the way to the top corners of the room and during the forming of the rainbow each girl calls out her number. The crowd subbed in for the number seven which is normally spoken by Arisa Koyama. No. 10 is the crowd themselves; "The 10th member is you, you're our friend too!" Aqours has always been about crowd participation and this is just one more element of that.

The final song for both performances was "Jump Up HIGH!!" also known as "the towel song" as during the chorus you take your official Love Live towel and spin it above your head. First introduced at Aqours 5th Live in early June this marks the second (and third) time it has been performed live. It was a great way to end the show. The song's lyrics about about having fun, being happy, and taking chances which are all things we should be doing every day. "Love life," so to speak. Anju (voice of Chika, Aqours' leader) asked if they could make four years of performances into five, and next time, at full strength. Hopefully her words are prophetic.

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Aqours World LoveLive! in LA ?BRAND NEW WAVE? set list
7/5/19-7/6/19 The Novo @ LA Live

Day 1 (7/5/19)

1. Bokura no Hashitte kita Michi wa...
2. Thrilling One Way
3. Aozora Jumping Heart
4. Mattete Ai no Uta
5. Shoujo ijou no Koi ga shitai
6. SKY JOURNEY
7. Daydream Warrior
8. Todokanai Hoshi dato shitemo
9. Brightest Melody
EARTHQUAKE
10. Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM
11. Kimi no Hitomi o Meguru Bouken
12. Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteru yo
13. Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiterukai?
ENCORE
14. Hop? Stop? Nonstop!
15. No. 10
16. Thank you, FRIENDS!!
17. Jump up HIGH!!

Day 2 (7/6/19)

1. Bokura no Hashitte kita Michi wa...
2. Thrilling One Way
3. Aozora Jumping Heart
4. Mattete Ai no Uta
5. Shoujo ijou no Koi ga shitai
6. SKY JOURNEY
7. Daydream Warrior
8. Todokanai Hoshi dato shitemo
9. Brightest Melody
10. HAPPY PARTY TRAIN
11. "MY LIST" to you!
12. Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteru yo
13. Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiterukai?
ENCORE
14. Hop? Stop? Nonstop!
15. No. 10
16. Thank you, FRIENDS!!
17. Jump up HIGH!!

 

 

 

 

 

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