LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see- Article in Weekly LALALA *UPDATE*
News 
Issue no. 393 of the Weekly LALALA, a Japanese free magazine from Los Angeles, features a short article on B’z North American tour including a short interview with Tak and Koshi. It reads like this:
After their North American tours in 2002 and 2003, for the first time in 8 years, B’z is doing a North American tour called “B’z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see-“, which will kick off on July 20th in Vancouver. “It’s been a long time since we toured in North America, I’m really looking forward to it. At the same time, I want to set the stage so that more people get to know B’z in North America. This time we’re going to focus on our Japanese songs that have been released as a single and play songs that will be rocking the house.”, says vocalist Koshi Inaba.
In 2007, B’z was the first asian artist to be inducted into the Hollywood Rockwalk. Guitarist Takahiro Matsumoto won the Grammy for “Best Pop Instrumental Album” with his album “TAKE YOUR PICK” which he recorded together with Larry Carlton. Since both of them are regularly in LA to do recording and other things, for them, Los Angeles has become their second hometown. It also looks like they have a lot of friends there who interpret the keyword “music” the same way.
With releasing their 49th single “Don’t Wanna Lie”, they’ve immediately topped the Oricon chart, raising the bar once again. B’z, who updated their record of series of no.1 singles to 45 and is going to release their new album “C’mon” on July 27th, doesn’t show a sign that their passion for music is fading. It has already been more than 20 years since their major debut. Where does that energy come from, that enables them to continue producing music?
“It’s because I love music from the bottom of my heart and when it comes to producing music, because I can always improve myself. More importantly, though, because there are so many people that enjoy our music. Also, I can’t imagine a life without music.”, answers guitarist Tak Matsumoto.
“I’m happy to be back in North America as B’z. We’re going to give it all on stage and I hope everyone will enjoy it.” says Koshi Inaba. Tak Matsumoto adds “I’m looking forward to meeting everyone again. I hope you will enjoy our show!”
So… is B’z looking to push into the (North) American market? What do you think?
*UPDATE*: This is an extract from the interview in the Nichi Bei [ http://www.nichibei.org/2011/07/taking-the-world-by-storm-b%E2%80%99z-ready-to-rock/ ] :
NBW: Mr. Matsumoto, you were awarded a Grammy and the band became the first Asian musicians to be inducted into Hollywood’s Rockwalk of Fame. What’s next?
TM: It’s been 8 years since we last played in the U.S. We would like to keep on playing all over the world from now on.
KI: We would like to do more shows and introduce our music to the people in the U.S.
Source: http://lalalausa.com/digitalmagazine/weeklylalala393/index.html
9 responses to “LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see- Article in Weekly LALALA *UPDATE*”
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If they really want to be known in America and Europe, they should start posting news in English :/
Same as Lum- I’m afraid they want to play these concerts and, again =.=, come back to Japan for many years… I thing we should shake them to change it XD
I agree with Lum. That would help quite a bit.
As for me, I would really like them to push the North American market. The first months would be hard, but I know their style has a market and people could really get accustomed to Japanese like some people got used, for exemple, to German with Rammstein. Only for B’z, it would be a wider market since their music hits a wider audience (it’s not metal and the harder they go is Hard Rock).
“…more people get to know B’z in North America. This time we’re going to focus on our Japanese songs…” <- I can't get the LOGIC here…
And just as you wrote, they REALLY should post news also in english there on FB (and do some thing – any thing! – with the english version of their website…).
I hope on that secret live with LP they will play more than one song (like it was on 2002 FIFA cup with Aerosmith); that it will be more like 50/50… dunno…
BTW, I still can't understand why this Slash's album with SAHARA was japanese only, and why I can't find in polish shops "Take your pick" album?! I mean – R E A L L Y! Matsumoto and Carlton won that da*n Grammy, right?!
And why the whole Rock Walk thing was so quiet? And – again, almost only-japanese (also, as I remember, Koshi said thanks to "fans in Japan" ==' Hey, what about us?).
Pfffffff! Me wants a candy.
That’s because Slash collaborated with artists from a specific region(USA, UK, Germany, Japan, etc.). And the albums that were released there, came with the song from that region as bonus track. Also, the English version of SAHARA (also sung by Koshi) is on the Deluxe edition on the album.
As for TAKE YOUR PICK, http://www.amazon.de/Take-Your-Larry-Matsumoto-Carlton/dp/B003KM486M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310906982&sr=8-1
I haven’t seen it in Shops in Germany either, but it’s on sale 😛
I have seen it in France (^_^)/ Come to us!
1) LOGIC and Sahara should be played for an American crowd
2) Appealing to our market would mean more frequent performances in more regions of the country
3) I’m almost glad I won’t be going since from what I understand about “Japanese Singles” They will be playing the same songs they always perform on live gyms i.e. Love Phantom, Zero, Girigiri, Koi Gokoro, Liar Liar, Ultra Soul, etc. Not saying those aren’t good songs and all… but it gets old hearing the same old performances. Where’s the Crazy Rendevous, Vampire Woman, Tokyo, Kirei na Ai Janakutemo, Drive to MY WORLD, and others. They need to reach the fame that other non-singles have like Brotherhood, Run and Mou Ichido Kisushitakatta.
4) I hope to Bejeebus someone caps this video somehow, someway… Anyone watching the live feed going to desktop capture the performance? I got like… damn near close to dial up here >.<!!!
5) Give us more unreleased live gyms… preferrably on BD plz!
I’m going to record it and tom is also going to record it. No worries, we got you covered 😉
They should push to European markets first. It’s much easier for a Japanese band there than in the US as many other Japanese bands have already done the groundwork for them, meaning booking gigs etc should be considerably easier than in the US.