So, there are certain facts that we hold to be true regardless of scenario and situation. The sky is blue; the ocean is salty; Canadians are awesome, and YUI is incredibly cute in both appearance and attitude. We know this to be true. We’ve been seeing it for years. What we didn’t realize is just how much so.

We found our seats rather quickly and waited for the show to get started, and we were not disappointed when YUI and her contingent came out on stage and immediately exploded into Laugh away. In the way that YUI can explode into song and still look just obscenely cute. The audience clapped along, which we found they would do during almost every song for the night. At the last chorus, the band cut out to let YUI sing with just the audience clapping behind her. It was a really great way to start the show off.

My Generation was up next, and I was really excited. This is one of my favorite YUI songs, and she was really on a roll today, so I was looking forward to hearing them play with this song live. The giant screen behind her showed a few clips from the PV, along with a set of others that must have been a continuation of what she was showing in the original video back when it came out. YUI did her first real solo of the night, and it was just ungodly cute. And awesome. For those of you that remember the various kids from the PV, they returned at the end of the video, having drawn out “SIXTEEN MY DREAM” on a chalkboard. It was pretty cool.

Following the tracklist from the new album, it was really easy for them to cut from My Generation to Find me, which was really neat to hear them to live, since it left the band a lot of room to play around. The guitarist’s solo towards the end was fantastic; he was really rocking out. When the song ended, the lights dimmed and there were a lot of cries of “YUI” and “GANBARE!”.

When the lights came back on, it was time for a YUI MC, which she started out by thanking everyone very much and bowing excessively. YUI, you’re so cute when you get all flustered on stage. She was really funny, actually interacting with members of the audience instead of L’Arc’s route of “here’s what we have to say, and then we’re going to play some more songs”. It was very open and gave a nicer, more intimate feel to the live. I felt like I was in a coffee house, as would be the case throughout the live.

After the MC, it was time for CHE.R.RY. This was a really big deal when it first came out, as the first real “happy YUI” song. Meant to be the sound of Spring, it went over really well and was really light and happy as intended. The giant screen featured an animated rainbow and little colored balloons all over the place. I like this song a lot, so it was really cool to hear live.

Up next was I will love you, which was a really mellow song, especially compared to the first few. It was nice, and everyone clapped along and shouted their support for YUI.

Once the song finished up, it was time for another mellow, more emotional song. Understand fit the bill quite well, I’d say. There was no audience clapping during this song, which was a bit different, but very appropriate in the end. It was a rather sad song and that was conveyed well in the performance, as the whole crowd was a bit sedated during the performance. YUI bowed and thanked everyone (cutely, of course!) at the end of the song.

*UPDATE* I realized that the song which I previously thought was We will go was actually SUMMER SONG. No wonder I didn’t recognize it at first. Her prior MC and comparatively quiet fan response during the song suddenly make a lot more sense. That makes all three shows previewing new songs for their live audiences. Sweet.

Another quick MC followed, this one with a lot of involvement from the audience. YUI talked about all sorts of things, like the weather and food she’s tried recently. It was all very cute. At the end of it, she said that she felt bad that she was making everyone stand so much, so the crowd sat down for the next song, Namidairo. It was very well done, and you can check out a video I snuck of it below:

The succeeding song was My friend, which was such a nice song. Once again, the audience clapped in time with YUI and her band. I think it’s just the greatest shame that all of these new YUI songs are so short. It’s not quite fitting of her, and I feel as though she’s getting dangerously close to the “poppy” side of things in some regards. No worries though; I think I’d give up on humanity if she really crossed the line into “squeaky-girl” territory. On that note, actually, she sounds very different live than she does on her albums. As you might have guessed, it’s very cute.

After My friend was the most highly anticipated song of the night, in my opinion. TOKYO is my favorite YUI song by far, and it’s just so beautiful to hear every time. This time, however, not so much. Something kept going wrong with the instruments, and they had to stop twice during the song. It was not pretty. They attempted to make it less YUI-Acoustic than usual, and I think it backfired on them. Oh well.

*UPDATE* I wasn’t sure if I should put this up, since I love this song so much and this particular performance really couldn’t do it justice. In the end, however, every attempt is worthwhile, so here you all go:

Moving on, the band went through the biggest MC of the night, which turned out almost like a comedy act, with YUI and her band members going back and forth, posing randomly with the guitars and just overall having a good time. At the end of the MC, the instruction was given (cutely) to “please stand back up for the next song”.

That “next song” was well worth standing up for, as How Crazy got going and essentially drove the crowd crazy. The lighting guy must’ve really been having a good time, as it looked almost like a rave on stage with all of the flashing lights and colors. YUI and her band were seriously rocking out, and the crowd yelled out each instance of “HOW CRAZY!” during the chorus. It was a lot of fun.

Without missing a beat, the band exploded right into Rolling star, which was probably the highlight of the night for most people. There were some crazy firework-like explosions up on the ceiling above the stage, and YUI even got into a really cute guitar battle with the bass player! The band essentially flipped shit, rocking out and going crazier than they would all night. That’s always a popular song, as YUI’s first foray into the pseudo (but still cute)-punk style she’s been playing with over the past few years.

After things settled down a bit, it was time for another short MC, this time (like from the Thank you my Teens live) was to introduce the members of her band, and erupt into No way, just like they did with RUIDO last year. It was quick, fun, loud, and (you guessed it!) very cute.

Daydreamer was next in line. This is one of those songs that I just could not get out of my head once I heard it for the first time, and again every time since. I thought I’d just about taken care of it, and then she had to go and play it live. God damn it YUI, you’re not helping! The song still rocks though.

The following song was a bit of a big deal for both YUI and the audience, the former because of how much it means to her; the latter because it’s such a beautiful song. The whole stage was bathed in red for Love is all, with a single spot on YUI. The cameras showed a closeup of her face, and it was obvious that it was a very emotional song for her; the audience even stopped its rhythmic clapping for it. It was a really nice performance, and just as amazing live as it was recorded, if not quite a bit moreso.

A really weird electronic bit on stage followed, and the audience had honestly no idea what was going on, since it wasn’t like anything we’d heard from YUI before. It eventually transitioned into Highway Chance, which was kinda cool, and the band got really into it. YUI got up and walked around the sides of the stage into the crowd a bit, and the solo towards the end lasted forever; everyone was rocking on so much. Not like we were gonna stop them, of course. It sounded really awesome, and I’m glad they were able to put such a cool twist on what was a fairly average song.

YUI approached the microphone next to make a quick speech about how coming up was the “last song”, which was met with a general attitude of “hell no!” from the crowd, many of whom made their opinions known. But, as expected, the so-called “last song” was Am I wrong? Such a good song, and a really good closer. After the song ended, the band walked off stage and that was supposed to be it. But, just like back in AJIKAN, the fans knew how to ask for an encore, and were rewarded not too long later as YUI and her band walked back on stage. YUI approached the mike and said something to the extent of “I just meant it was the last song on the album! I don’t know what you were all thinking. Let’s have some more fun tonight!”  To steal a line from Az over at GaijinSmash: if it were possible for arteries to clog up from pure, unadulterated cuteness, I would have dropped dead on the spot from 5 simultaneous heart attacks.

This was, as expected, very well received by the crowd, who essentially flipped out in their seats. Tomorrow’s way was the first song after returning, and it was a bit updated to reflect her more rock-ish style than when the song was first written. The solo was a bit intense, and all spotlights were on YUI front and center, being cute and awesome as she is so prone to doing.

After that, HELP was played. This was a bit weird, since it was the B-Side from an old single, and wasn’t very popular. I was never a huge fan of it, but I will definitely listen to it differently now that I’ve seen and heard it played so well live. YUI looked so happy on stage during the song, and it was a bit different to see. Really nice though. She tried to get the audience to jump up and down with her, but it didn’t work too well. Shame on you YUI fans.

OH YEAH was up next, and everyone got really into it. At one point in the middle, YUI got up on the microphone to teach the crowd the chorus in typical “repeat after me” fashion. It very quickly devolved into YUI having fun with the audience by making us shout random things back at her.  I shouldn’t even have to tell you at this point how it all looked and sounded.

The guitar started up for the next song, and the crowd went wild as we all started jumping and clapping for LIFE, what stands to be YUI’s first major hit single. Fans of the Bleach anime will recognize it as one of the closing songs (I don’t know which one; stop asking me). The bassist was really rocking out at this point.

Once LIFE was finished up, it was time to try TOKYO again, and I’m glad they did. See the clip below to get what I mean:

Wow… Just… wow. I love this song; it’s the song that got me into YUI in the first place, and it almost makes me cry every time I hear it. This particular version was really intense too, with that great backtrack, so different from normal.

At last, it was time to close the night for real. Good-Bye Days was the final song for the night, and as her band walked off the stage, YUI thanked them and everyone else in the audience profusely. The spotlight was on YUI, alone on the stage, and she went with it. It was a really moving performance; I couldn’t even bring myself to continue taping it. You’ll all see it when the DVD comes out.

Songs I really wanted to hear:

  • Jam
  • RUIDO
  • I Remember You
  • Free Bird
  • Crossroad
  • Skyline
  • It’s Happy Line
  • Winter Hot Music

So basically, had she just played her entire discography sans the first album, I’d have been pretty happy, lol.

Closing thoughts:

This was a really nice show, more low-key than AJIKAN’s and not quite as refined as L’Arc~en~Ciel’s. It was just… nice. A really great show with some great songs by a great artist and an awesome supporting band. Seriously, I love her band. They rock so hard. You all should do the same. Peace!