May'n - Special Concert 2011 RHYTHM TANK!! at BUDOKAN

Pop artist May'n released her first single in 2005, but it was only after she was chosen as the singing voice of Sheryl Nome in globally successful anime series "Macross Frontier" that her popularity exploded. Since her involvement in the series she has released two top ten Oricon ranking albums and sold out the huge Nippon Budokan venue twice. The second of these live concerts is RHYTHM TANK!!, held on 6th March 2011. The DVD and blu-ray of the concert was released on 2nd November 2011.

The concert footage cuts straight to the chase, which makes a nice change from some other live DVDs. It's only a few seconds wait for the appearance of the main attraction. May'n shows off her new bob hair cut as well her ability to flip from slow ballad to raucous rock as she treats fans to a special version of KIMI SHINITAMOU KOTO NAKARE from debut solo album Styles. It's instantly obvious from the minimalist piano-only half of the song that she has great stage presence, silencing the thousands packed into the venue. A couple of minutes in, the rock half erupts and the singer gets to do what she does best—belt out powerful pop-rock. She has a strong, steady voice that works incredibly well with loud, showy songs such as Welcome To My FanClub's Night!, HERO and Kindan no ELIXIR—the pounding drums and wailing guitars emphasise the power of her vocals. These big tunes are also what these large arenas were made for, and the fans visibly enjoy them, waving handfuls of glow sticks madly with the beat. HERO especially is a riot. Those editing the footage for the DVD also thought so, choosing to include rapid jumps from shot to shot, sudden zoom-ins, quick pans across the arena and occasionally out-of-focus close ups of random parts of May'n's body. All of the faster tempo songs have been given this treatment. They would probably have benefitted from slighter longer clips from each angle, as the effect of all the quick flips is a bit dizzying.

Her slower songs, whilst visibly moving even herself almost to tears, aren't really the best demonstrations of her vocal talents. Her singing voice has a touch of sharpness to it that is effective at greater volumes but not so much for the more delicate songs. That's not to say that she doesn't do a good job performing them. Funanori is soft and emotional, although the two dancers in white push it into the realm of hamminess. DIAMOND CREVASSE, which is more of a rock ballad, suits her more and is one of her most well-known songs anyway, so it would always be warmly received.

The majority of the set list is either rock or catchy pop, with the whole of second album If you... included. There is an acoustic interlude in the middle to break up the pace a little, where she performs My Lovely Thing and a jazzy version of Get Ready. In the latter May'n gets the audience to join in with her simple one-arm choreography in the chorus. For quite a few of the songs she also has a small troupe of eight dancers to accompany her. They're accomplished and charismatic, but using more dancers would have filled the vast stage better. May'n herself is a snappy dancer, finishing her moves with a sharpness that many other J-pop artists lack. She also shows off her fitness levels as she runs from end to end of the stage with barely a vocal quaver. Her vocals are in fact perfect all the way through the two hours of performance, never going out of tune or tiring towards the end even with the challenging NORTHERN CROSS in the encore.

The only time May'n's voice does waver is towards the end of the concert, as she becomes increasing tearful in her MCs. This display of sensitivity may strike some as being a bit over the top. The inclusion of the RHYTHM TANK!! DOCUMENT, a concert "making of," goes some way to explaining this emotion. It is a 33-minute long documentary following preparations for the concert from 31st January and running until the end of the concert. It is not subtitled however, so at least basic Japanese is needed to appreciate it. It begins, oddly enough, by focusing on something which seems minor—May'n's haircut. For a music artist a significant change in image isn't to be taken lightly, and she lost a lot of the length in order to develop her rock image. The rest of the documentary looks at the choice of title for the concert, decisions on the set list and costume choices, all of which were much more carefully thought out than it would have appeared. For example, the outfits were meant to fit with the different "blocks" that the concert was divided up into. Of course there is a lot of footage of rehearsals, from those with the dancers and band to the numerous ones on the finished stage in a warehouse. Every single part is painstakingly rehearsed, including her MCs and banter about her band members, such as the amazingly afroed guitarist Onishi Yusuke. All the effort that goes into producing the twonhour concert is admirable, from the performers to those unnamed folk who had to lift May'n's raising platform to make her pop up onstage. With all this work, it's not so surprising then that getting to the end of such an endeavour and seeing all the appreciative fans was overwhelming for the singer.

May'n, who was only 21 at the time of recording, has proven with RHYTHM TANK!! that she is not only a talented young singer but a consummate performer. Although she still sings a lot of material from Macross Frontier, with two successful albums under her belt and a third one being released on 21st March, she is very much a "main" artist in her own right.

The short CM for the concert can be seen below.