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This was my first time in New York, let alone the U.S., and my first time at a B’z concert. Sad, I know, but going to Japan is expensive and tickets are hard to come by. I am glad that B’z finally came to the east coast of the United States ‒ somewhere I could afford to go. And I always wanted to go to New York, too. So I had to take the chance.

The long wait

The day before the concert, I was going to Times Square where the Best Buy Theater is located. I checked out the line in front of Best Buy Theater to see if there’s anyone already lined up for B’z, but there was a line for a different show that night. I was also supposed to meet up with Z:RO ‒ two guys from Boston who are doing B’z covers. Unfortunately they were stuck in traffic, so I headed back to my hotel to get some rest and be ready for the concert next day.

Times Square in New York

I got up at 6 AM on Sunday so I could be at the concert venue by 8 AM. When I arrived at the venue, Z:RO was already there as they had stayed there the whole night. But they weren’t the only ones. About thirty Japanese fans ‒ mostly female ‒ were camping in front of the venue, too. We talked a lot and time went by fairly quickly, I think. Later, a couple more people I knew online joined us in the wait for the great show.

Marquee at the Best Buy Theater

So many people were passing by and asked us what we were waiting here in line for. Some even asked if we were waiting for the iPhone 5… in front of a concert venue. The best thing above all, though, was that a woman of the staff came up to us and talked to the singer of Z:RO. She said “Shane showed us your video”. That was pretty awesome considering Tak and Koshi could’ve seen their cover of Love Bomb!

We also asked one of the staff members if he was willing to sell his staff shirt as they looked really cool… To “How much?” he replied “Pain and suffering.” We were up for it but he didn’t get back to us. Bummer!

The concert

As soon as we made our way into the venue and checked our bags, we found ourselves ready to rock in front of the stage in about 3rd row. We decided to position ourselves in front of Tak’s microphone stand as we wanted to catch all of the guitar picks that Tak was going to throw into the crowd. When the concert started at around 8 PM, everybody got excited and started jumping around. Unfortunately, there were a couple of eager Japanese fans who started pushing hard from the side as well as from behind. Sometimes I could barely keep myself on my feet. Almost fell on the ground at one time. I kept pushing back until I finally gained some space to enjoy the concert without getting pushed around.

B’z in New York during the show (Source: B’z Facebook page)

Tak and Koshi and the rest of the band were bringing so much energy with them, it was amazing! They were performing each song so enthusiastically that I really enjoyed it! And I have to say that you can really see Koshi’s age. We all know that Japanese people look young, but you could really see that Koshi is 48 years old. And we were so close to the stage, so we got a good look at them. After a couple of songs and the famous B’z no LIVE-GYM ni youkoso, Koshi talked about what New York meant to them and how they were recording there back in the 90s. Recall that B’z was also shooting part of their PV collection FILM RISKY in New York.

Tak inserted a couple of Jazz/Bluesy jams to give Koshi some time to change clothes or to bridge songs. Koshi made us scream really hard during Juice and he showed us that he could scream for about a minute. The crowd, of course, wasn’t able to match him.

One more thing worth mentioning is that they filmed the performance in New York as well as the crowd before the show. We are hoping for a DVD release of some sort!!

After the concert

Once the concert ended with the last song of the encore, we headed out into the lobby where we bought the merchandise we desired. After we’d all gotten what we wanted, we went outside and were waiting for Koshi and Tak to come out in the back alley. A white limousine drove up into the alley and about 30 minutes later, Shane and all the other support members were coming out and getting into the white limo. We waved as they drove off and thanked them for the great time we had.

Shane coming out after the show

After another while, Koshi was literally running to his ride, ducking so that nobody could take a picture. Especially all the Japanese girls that were also waiting with us. As he went past us in his car, he was waving back at us. When the car had to stop in order to turn in on 7th Avenue, all the Japanese girls went crazy and ran onto the streets to the car, just to see Koshi.

All in all, I gotta say that no other concert I’ve been to matches the atmosphere of a B’z concert. It was so amazing and energetic. Simply unbelievable. I’m so glad I came to New York and I had a great time with everybody I met there! I hope they’ll come back soon!

‒ Tobias

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Last night, B’z returned to Osaka Namba Hatch where the 2006 Network Live took place that was later released on DVD and Blu-ray as B’z Live in Namba. This was the first of two limited events available to people who collected enough points gathered from specially-branded Pepsi items. Those who entered were eligible for a chance to receive double tickets good at either venue.

Fifteen songs were played at the show, including all of the songs from the recent English album. Although Juice, Into Free -Dangan, Splash, and Ultra Soul had been played lived in English before, this marked the first time Love Bomb has been performed on stage. In addition, the most recent single, GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-, also saw its live debut. A number of old favorites were revived for this setlist, including some not played in several years now.

The biggest surprise of the night was a B’z version of the song HEAT that Tak and Koshi recently wrote for Korean artist Kim Hyung Joong’s latest Japanese single. Japanese fans have been clamoring for a B’z version since it was announced that they would be contributing to the song, and now they have it–in live form, at least. Whether or not this opens up the possibility to a future studio version as a potential B-side remains to be seen.

Since the setlist of songs played in this show may reflect a portion of those played during the upcoming tour in North America, we won’t be posting the full listing here to avoid spoiling anything for those attending.

The second of the two premium live concerts is scheduled to take place in Tokyo on Saturday at STUDIO COAST.

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To fill the absence of news with something interesting (aside from our weekly project, of course), I thought I would share some thoughts concerning B’z current promotion strategy and why I think it doesn’t pay off.

Last year, B’z announced their first North American tour in 8 years, creating major hype among international B’z fans. Tickets for the 3 stop tour were sold out in a couple of days. But this time, it’s different. The band is playing on the East coast for the very first time with additional gigs in Toronto, Silver Spring and New York City. If you look at the ticket availability on ticketmaster, you’ll see that none of the shows haven’t been sold out yet — not by a long shot. Even the popular gig in Los Angeles isn’t sold out yet, although a whole lot of Japanese fans will be in attendance.

So, why do you think is that?

Well, B’z management has certainly miscalculated what kind of reception the band would receive in North America. The band has released a top notch EP with 5 songs in English on iTunes and yet they’re not promoting it well enough. Niche sites are picking up the press release but does that gain any exposure for B’z? Nope, not at all. They should try to get B’z into the main rock market. Go public. Where’s an article about the almighty Japanese rock group in the New York Times? Where’s an interview with Tak and Koshi on “Talk Asia” on CNN?

I personally think that they’re underestimating their fame. Even Ayumi Hamasaki and Anna Tsuchiya have made it on CNN. So why shouldn’t B’z? They’re huge in Japan and yet they promote themselves like some niche band in North America. I wouldn’t mind if they played Love Bomb on the radio – would you?

They should finally promote themselves for what they really are: The best selling Japanese rock band in Japanese history. They’re the first and so far only asian band to be inducted into the Hollywood Rockwalk of fame. Tak Matsumoto’s the first asian artist to receive his own signature Gibson. They mean big business, and they are big business. While I appreciate the fact that Slash and Mike Shinoda are promoting the release of the B’z EP, I don’t think it’ll get those fanbases to listen to B’z.

And of course… there’s another thing… why is B’z promoting themselves mostly in the Japanese community in North America? I do get that Japanese living in North America should get a chance to see the band, but really… if you’re doing promotion… do it the right way!

What do you guys think? What should B’z do? Fire away in the comments!

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The special 50th B’z single, GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-, is now out, and what better way to celebrate than to watch the music video complete with English translation!

B’z – GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-

1. GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku- (PEPSI NEX commercial theme song)
English: GO FOR IT, BABY -Mountains of Memories-

2. Honoka naru Hi (仄かなる火)
English: Vague Fire

3. Ryuusei Mask (流星マスク)
English: Shooting Star Mask

Price (limited edition w/ DVD): 1,785 yen
Price (regular edition): 1,260 yen

Release date: 2012.04.04

The limited edition of the single features the “GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-” music video as well as three performances from the PEPSI NEX presents B’z 1 DAY LIVE at Shibuya AX from last year:

1. Sayonara Kizu Darake no Hibi yo
2. Ichibu to Zenbu
3. Liar! Liar!

Special campaign: Input the code included in the package for the single to win one of 2,000 B’z x PEPSI NEX special T-shirts! You have until April 30th to enter.

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Just to give everyone a preview of B’z latest song Into Free -Dangan- which is a re-recorded, English version of Samayoeru Aoi Dangan released in 1998, I have put up the video of the LA performance from last year for everyone to enjoy. As previously reported, the song is the theme song to Capcom’s upcoming game Dragon’s Dogma.

You can check out the preliminary lyrics here: http://bzwiki.offthelock.com/Into_Free_-Dangan-_(Lyrics)

Tour: B’z LIVE-GYM 2011 -long time no see-
Venue: Club Nokia, Los Angeles
Date: July 24th, 2011