T.M.R.NEW YEAR PARTY '14 LIVE REVOLUTION

Takanori Nishikawa, also known as T.M.Revolution, held the T.M.R.NEW YEAR PARTY '14 LIVE REVOLUTION (hereinafter referred to as NYP14) at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan, on the first and second of January 2014. NYP14 welcomed an audience of 20,000 with an unusual plan and direction for a live concert.

In celebration of the New Year, the stage set was based on the torii (Shinto gateway), which is reminiscent of a Shinto shrine, and with #NYP14 as the event’s Twitter hashtag, a large LED screen at center stage displayed fan tweets in real time.

"Attention Night Nippon," Nishikawa announced.

The atmosphere of the hall grew hot. On the Turbo call (the fans’ nickname for the artist), the lights on the audience seats turned off and the stage lit up. To start off the show, NYP14 began with a lion dance performance accompanied by recorders and drums commonly played during the Japanese New Year. After the lion dance ended, T.M.Revolution himself appeared in the middle of the stage wearing a Japanese-styled costume.

Next up was T.M.Revolution’s new song, Count ZERO, which will be released on February 12th. Afterwards were Aoi Hekireki, Albireo and SHAKIN' LOVE, which heated up the audience, but with the intro of next song, HEAT CAPACITY, the audience gave a joyful scream. For Summer Blizzard, T.M.Revolution wore a tank top and his infamous tight leather shorts, and the song continued strong, even with his intense dance moves.

After T.M.Revolution sang seven songs and left the stage, a video looking back on his activities in 2013 with Nana Mizuki as narrator started to show on the LED screen in front of the stage. At the end of the narration, Mizuki told the audience, "Nishikawa-san sang my song, Pray, on the TV show, but he said he was not content with it, so he told me he would like to try again to make it better.” Nishikawa then appeared on stage wearing a kamishimo (a ceremonial dress worn by samurai) and sang that exact same song.

The audience began to stir and then screamed when the LED screen displayed the words “Love is….”
Nishikawa sang Ryuichi Kawamura’s song of the same name with outstanding singing ability. During the song’s middle, Nishikawa did a Kawamura impression, much to the delight of the audience.

As the live concert continued, T.M.Revolution sang DYNAMITE PASSION, Private Storm～OH! MY GIRL,OH MY GOD!～Untouchable Girls(medley) and MID-NITE WARRIORS from the albums of restoration LEVEL→3, triple joker and progress in a row. He has not performed these songs live for a while, and so cheers of joy and surprise were heard from the audience.

The next songs were HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS～Get the power～, Goin' -TAKANORI no Go-, and HIGH PRESSURE. With the last one, the venue became one perfect harmony with the audience's choreography―an overwhelming scene. Once the song WHITE BREATH finished, the main part of the live concert ended.

Subsequently, the audience did the Turbo call, and the LED screens projected a video that fans anticipate every year: the New Year’s plan. Two years ago Nishikawa danced well to the choreography of AKB48’s Heavy Rotation, and last year he did the same with KYARY PAMYU PAMYU’s Tsukematsukeru, so what did he show this year? The fans seemed to swell with excitement every time the staff mentioned something on the video.

"Well, let's go with Plan B,” said one.

"In a way, break the seal,” said another.

Others mentioned "The costume" and "8 centimeter single.”

"I wonder if Nishikawa-san will say ‘okay.’”

In came Mr. Ishikawa. "He is difficult, so it’s probably impossible, huh?”

“Speaking for myself, it’s possible,” said Nishikawa.

The audience laughed in agreement. Thus, a negotiation between Takanori Nishikawa and Mr. Ishikawa started.

Mr. Ishikawa replied, "You were cute previously," to which the singer retorted, "I'm still cute!” and so on. Through the response-play, negotiation was eventually successful at last. The New Year’s plan finally appeared on the LED screen, and a cheer erupted from the audience.

Then came the sound of the bell from Burnin' X'mas, along with the song’s PV reflected in the LED screen. The audience screamed loudly, and as if taking cue, T.M.Revolution appeared wearing the red costume from the PV. T.M.Revolution sang along to the PV, then quickly changed his costume for WILD RUSH showing off the choreography.

Complete with another costume change, HOT LIMIT ―whose costume was a big topic at the time of the song’s release―brought out loud cheers from the audience. Nishikawa smiled shyly a little and said, "This (situation) feels like a lucky bag because of New Year’s.”

Next, T.M.Revolution sang Preserved Roses and Kakumei Dualism, the singles where he collaborated with Nana Mizuki. "At the end of this day,” he started, “it will be an end to this New Year’s live, but it will also be a new start for everyone. We will think about what we will do to continue towards the 20th anniversary from now.”

Together with an acoustic guitar, T.M.Revolution performed LIGHT MY FIRE, whose lyrics he wrote himself, as the last song of the night. When he started to sing, a myriad of silver tape fell down from the ceiling and the LED screen displayed the happy faces of fans. When the song reached its finale, everyone in the audience bowed down without direction. Then with Nishikawa’s cue, the last song ended with everyone doing a jump traditional for T.M.Revolution shows.

"I reviewed the lyrics that I wrote, to sing this song after a long time has passed,” noted Nishikawa, “but I have a feeling that I can go even further. Therefore everybody, please listen to this CD before sleeping today. I’ll see you again next time."

After his departure, the LED screen projected “2016 T.M.Revolution 20th Anniversary Project Start,” as well as a timer counting down until May 13, 2016, the day of his 20th anniversary. What kind of project will this be in future? We must keep an eye on his activities in Japan and abroad.


Set List
01.Count ZERO
02.Aoi Hekireki
03.LEVEL 4
04.Albireo
05.SHAKIN' LOVE
06.HEAT CAPACITY
07.Summer Blizzard
08.Pray (Nana Mizuki cover)
09.Love is...(Ryuichi Kawamura cover)
10.DYNAMITE PASSION
11.Private Storm～OH! MY GIRL, OH MY GOD!～Untouchable Girls (medley)
12.MID-NITE WARRIORS
13.HEAVEN ONLY KNOWS ～Get the Power～
14.Goin' -Takanori no Go-
15.HIGH PRESSURE
16.WHITE BREATH

Encore
17.Burnin' X'mas～WILD RUSH～HOT LIMIT (medley)

Second Encore
18.Preserved Roses
19.Kakumei Dualism
20.LIGHT MY FIRE