Hello! Project Summer Live 2008...Well, Sort Of
I have been anticipating seeing the setlist for the current Hello! Project summer tour for the last few weeks. Now that the setlist is out, the reality is sinking in for me that this is a show I will not be seeing in person. To be honest, this selection of songs didn't really "floor me". But the same could be said for the show I went to in January. And I loved that show!
After watching Haromoni@ this morning (kinda funny, I enjoyed the JunJun segment) I decided to put together my own version of the summer concert via You Tube. And after experiencing it that way, it's not a bad set at all. Not great, but not bad...
Hello! Project 2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts Kouen ~Hishochi de Date Itashima Show~ (CK's Version)
Natsu LOVE Romance ~ I had never heard this song before. I'm glad they are "mixing it up" a little and playing seldom, or in this case never heard songs. This actually sounds like a Melon Kinenbi song. I'll give this choice for an opener an "A" for effort! I really like the song, and the video above is great. Props to the YouTuber who made it!
Manatsu no Kousen ~ I am really excited that this song is undergoing a sort of renaissance. It hasn't been done live by Momusu or H!P in a few years. And all of a sudden Momusu, H!P, Nacchi, and Yuko are all singing it in their latest shows. It's a great song, so I don't have a problem with this at all.
Core Group Set One ~ The setlist follows a familiar format. The opener is full of surprises. Then you "bookend the show" with the core groups, and then do something new and original for the middle of the program. We start with the two latest each from C-ute, Berryz, Morning Musume, and Koharu. The song I am looking most forward to here is C-ute's newest single, Edo no Temari Uta II. It sounds so cool and hip. It's interesting that they separate the C-ute set from the Berryz Koubou set by placing Koharu and Milky Way in between. I still say I like Berryz better overall. But lately C-ute has gotten the far superior material. And I don't care if it is lip-synched, I would love to see Milky Way's Anataboshi done live! Now we go to my favorite point of the show, the mix-up of group members and songs.
This is as close as we get to Shuffle Units nowadays, so I guess I'll take it...
KoiING ~ I always give ballads a tough time, but KoiING is a very pretty song. Historically they've had strong singers singing the lead on it (Gocchin, Yossie). This is obviously going to be Takitty on the verse, with the eggs backing her up. Ai-chan is a superior singer, so I'm sure this years' version will be enjoyable.
Hajimete Kuchibiru wo Kasaneta Yoru ~ This is an interesting choice for a few reasons. First of all it's two "slow" numbers in a row. Although the song is more intense than KoiING. This has disaster written all over it, unless either 1) Airi carries the whole song, or 2) Ogawa Saki is an amazingly powerful performer. Maybe they'll surprise me, but I think they could have picked different singers to accompany Airi for this.
Chu! Natsu Party ~ The return of team Sayumi/Risako! They are really "bucking the odds" here. They both surprised us in January with a pretty good rendition of Robokiss. But this reminds me of an old South Park episode when the entire town bets every dollar they have on the roulette wheel at the Indian Gaming Casino, and when they miraculously win enough to save the town, they instead let it ride!!! This is one of my favorite Hello! Project songs, and it's been done by everyone from Heike Michiyo to Melon Kinenbi to the H!P Eggs. I am sorry I'm not getting to see this in person. But my only question is "Where is the third member?"
High King/Manoeri ~ Both High King songs, very cool! Kioku no Meiro is an excellent c/w track! But I really don't like Manopiano at all!
Tokonatsu Musume ~ Cool, back to the shuffle songs. I've never been into Coconuts Musume, but this is a pretty good song. Although I do prefer the ZYX version c/w the Shiroi Tokyo single. GakiKame and Mittsi should be pretty cute doing this. I have a feeling this is going to be a highlight of the concert.
Tropica~l Koishite~ru ~ This is a pretty huge cast for a song that has been traditionally done solo. And I am wondering why all of the H!P Eggs are getting equal billing in the performance credit. Does this mean that the rest of the Eggs are all going to begin forming permanent units? This is kind of how it started with Berryz and C-ute when the H!P Kids roles kept expanding at the live shows. There doesn't seem to be a true leader here (Maasa and JunJun?), so my guess is they are going to sing this as a big chorus, and split the lines relatively even. I will say that this might be the "cutest" shuffle group of the night (Maasa, JunJun, Nocchi, Kikkawa Yuu, Sayaka)
Kousui ~ I like Melon Kinenbi, just not this song so much. The only cool thing about this version is the lovely Tanaka on the lead.
Core Group Set Two ~ Overall this setlist has been a bit lackluster. But here's Buono! to save the day!!! Kiss Kiss Kiss is an awesome song, and the few seconds I've heard of Gachinko de Ikou! didn't disappoint me at all. Egao Yes Nude we've seen before, but I'm sure it will be good. Then C-ute and Berryz do a "Battle Concert" rehash. I would love for them to give Special Generation a rest already! Like Love Machine, SG is becoming the Stairway To Heaven of H!P. Extremely overplayed!
** In my opinion there hasn't been a "huge" moment in the show yet. My guess is in the Tokyo shows we could possibly see Morning Musume OG show up around this point**
The Big Finish??? ~ For a single B-side, Love & Peace! Hero ga Yattekita gets performed an awful lot at these shows. Don't get me wrong, I love the song. And who wouldn't enjoy watching Morning Musume kissing each other all through it? I just worry about it being too much of a good thing. I guess the big unknown commodity here is Ame no Furanai Hoshi de Aisenai Darou. No one seems to have ever heard this song before. I'll choose to be optimistic and say it might be one of the best H!P songs ever produced!
And how many times can they close the show with All For One & One for All or Dekkai Uchuu ni Ai ga Aru anyway???
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Comments
This setlist appears a little ... calm. But it would be worth seeing if the US dollar wasn't so pathetic in exchange rates and air fares were reasonable.
In any event, you're right about C-ute just getting better material than is Berryz -- both in songs and costumes -- for years now, actually. The "core group" numbers will be the backbone of this concert; I'm skeptical about the seldom-done songs (they are usually seldom-done for a good reason -- they aren't that hot).
Don't underestimate Airi as a solo voice. Hers is probably the best voice in the company right now, with the possible exception of Ayaya. Yes, Buono! will be a hit, but "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss" will likely be chopped as "Renai Rider" was when we saw it at Yokohama Arena in January. That goes for many of the "core group" singles. "Renai" wasn't the only one abbreviated in January (so was "Tokkaiko Junjou" but it was great to see it anyway).
Hey, "Special Generation" is a classic among classics! Comparing it to "Stairway to Heaven" is a pretty hefty stamp oif approval if you ask me! Same goes for "Hero," a great stomper of a song, and the January effort was one of the best-ever versions of it by Morning Musume (you recall those cool red outfits?).
I just hope the beginning and ending songs aren't as dull as their titles suggest.
Now, is the summer setup the same as winter? Is this "Wonderful Hearts" set for the theatrical tour, with a different set for the blowout at the Yoyogi? Hmm. Could be that the arena set might prove much more lively.
I bet that Berryz could perform Special Generation in their sleep, its so overdone xD
Have you heard the fan recording yet? (I don't have it at the moment - new computer). LinLin's voice is so mature now <3
It turns out Mari isn't the MC this time! :O Its Atsuko!
I can't wait for this big "together" concert with Elder Club and Wonderful Hearts, it will definatly be great, with lovely Mari and the whole Momusu 5th gen.
I'm never good at hearing different voices, especially from fan recordings of concerts. But a friend says Tropical Koishiteru is basicly all JunJun solos with back-up. Surprising!
I don't comment very much. I get shy. ;x But I loved this post and reading your thoughts of the set list along with youtube videos! Some of the songs I haven't even heard, or have forgotten about.