Mix Speaker's,Inc. was established on February 19th, 2007 and the band made it to its Tenth Anniversary Live which was held on February 19th at Tokyo’s Shinjuku BLAZE. It was not an easy journey for the band as it experienced a difficult transition when vocalist
YUKI left in 2014 and was replaced by
NIKA.
NIKA, clad in the costume of the band’s current theme of
Zetsubou Restaurant (Restaurant of Despair), appeared on stage first. He started the show by introducing the rest of chefs who would serve fans the Tenth Anniversary full-course dinner with him: drummer
S, bassist
seek, guitarist
keiji, guitarist
AYA, and finally co-vocalist
MIKI.
“Shall we begin with
Monster’s hors d'oeuvre,”
NIKA said before the first song
JUNK STORY. Fans immediately started to mosh around at the twin vocalists’ lead. The signature harmonious twin vocals and dance moves served fans with an appetizer of melodious hard rock and edgy guitar riffs. Five chefs gathered at centre stage and headbanged with fans. Appetizer plates of
Zetsubou Restaurant included
THIRTEEN and a medley of
Friday Night Busters 〜 Space Hunter.
“Welcome to our Tenth Anniversary show. We will play more songs than usual. Our next dish would make you feel the universe,”
NIKA said. Then,
little star started to play. This uplifting pop rock song created a fantastic atmosphere. The rich combination of
NIKA’s higher voice and
MIKI’s lower vocals under the mirror ball light mesmerized the crowd. Later, the band treated fans with
Boku. Mikazuki Band ver.. For the special presentation of this song, the instrumentalists performed together with two vocalists. Fans spent a romantic time listening to the beautiful harmony with bitter sweet emotions.
“Are you enjoying our full course menu? The next dish will take you to a wonderland under a starry night,
Mix Land,”
NIKA introduced the next song. A danceable number,
HAPPyyy!! LAND guided fans into the band’s musical theme park. Later, they entered a Japanese haunted mansion in the following
Urameshi Yahiki 〜 Urameshi Yahiki 2nd basement medley.
seek stirred the fans to shout out during the song’s intro. The crowd, of course, knew what they had to do next. They waved their Japanese folding fans around together with the vocalists and gave their all, shouting during the call and response part, following
NIKA’s lead. A huge ovation rose as
ONESTAR began to play. All the band members lined up on stage with microphones and danced in a unified choreography to the recorded music. Fans cheered when the song came to a solo vocal part by
keiji and
AYA.
seek and
S stole the show with their twin rap vocals. Just for a while, the rock show turned into a boy band concert.
However, the cheerful mode changed as two human-sized dolls placed on both sides of the stage suddenly made an ominous announcement. “Do you have any last wish before you leave this world? The countdown does not stop once it is started. Let the last dance begin,” the voices of
LUNA and
SUNNY activated the digital clock placed on the stage. With only 24 minutes to go, the band’s latest release
Saigo no Bansan began. The band played a nostalgic and melancholic melody describing the last supper of a broken romance. Now, the chefs were ready to serve the main course. Shredding guitar and powerful drum beats blasted out from the stage as
DOKURO KITCHEN started to play. Flashing strobes lit the vocalists who danced powerfully at centre stage. The rampage continued with
SCREAM go AROUND long ver..
seek dived from the stage and walked around the floor, stirring up the fans even more. As the countdown approached its end, the band played the song at double the usual speed and the fans used all the energy left in them to headbang and mosh twice as fast. The stage blacked out when the countdown ended.
“Thank you for coming today. I am very happy to be able to spend this miraculous anniversary day with you guys. Let’s continue to move on together toward our eleventh, fifteenth, twentieth anniversaries and beyond,”
NIKA thanked the fans. “We will play this song for our future,” he said gently. Closing song
If conveyed warmth and thankfulness to everyone who took part in the band’s ten year journey.
The anniversary show actually continued to a double encore in which the band and the fans sang along to
YOU♪AI♪MESSAGE. Unusually for the band, they took a group photo with the fans. The band also announced their new tour titled
Toy Doll no Gyakushu (Toy Doll Strikes Back) starting in May. You can find about the band’s upcoming live schedule on
Mix Speaker's,Inc.'s
official website.
Here are the comments each member made during the encore.
S:
“We went through a lot of good and bad things, but we made it to this day. Actually, I came across with
YUKI by chance before this show and it made me feel I found a missing piece in me. I am very thankful to the days we spent with
YUKI. I am also grateful to be able to celebrate our tenth anniversary with
NIKA, the rest of band members and you guys. I would like to continue with this band as long as you guys support us.”
AYA:
“I started this band with
MIKI when I was in my mid 20s in order to be recognized as a grown man. I am happy to be able to work with my members and staff. I could never do this by myself. I do not know when it would come true, but it is my dream to have our live show at Nippon Budokan. We will do our best to make it happen”.
keiji:
“Our closing song
If has a very special meaning to us. Although it was a new song to
NIKA, he fully understood its meaning and perfectly expressed it. I thought I had been able to have a reliable friend when I was playing a guitar during the song. I know you guys can actually notice when we are going through a difficult time during our live shows. I know that is not a good thing, but I would like you guys to feel encouraged by seeing us trying to overcome. I would like to be a happy middle aged guy always and make you guys smile through our music.”
seek:
“I saw how difficult it is to continue with a band for ten years so many times. I am proud that we had continued our activities with passion until this day and I am very thankful for your support. There still are unaccomplished dreams, but I want to fulfil our promises one by one.”
MIKI:
“Ten years actually felt like both very long and very fast at the same time. I feel both happiness and unhappiness are now coexisting on one circle because our bond is beyond such things. I actually thought of quitting when
YUKI left the band. I was wondering what to do just by myself. We discussed together and four members told me that I could choose a new vocalist. They even told me that they would accept a new vocalist if I was happy to work with him. Twin vocals create music in a very close distance and I had to do it with someone I barely talked with. But I could accept to try it thanks to their words. It is kind of strange to be with
NIKA, but I am glad that I continued with the band. I think being able to be here together now is more important than a past. I did this show while feeling it was a right decision to listen to my members and to hold on.”
NIKA:
“This venue was the first stage I stood on as a new vocalist. During the past two years and three months, I heard about the band’s history a lot. Band activity is not always fun. But it is a rare thing to be able to share happy moments through music. That is what makes the band activities special. I am glad that I joined
Mix Speaker's,Inc..”
Set List
01. JUNK STORY
02. THIRTEEN
03. Friday Night Busters〜Space Hunter medley
04. little star
05. ☆彡Station〜PINKY ADVENTURE medley
06. CRAZY TRAIN A GO! GO!
07. Boku. Mikazuki Band ver.
08. HAPPyyy!!LAND
09. Urameshi Yahiki〜Urameshi Yahiki 2nd basement medley
10. Woody Nightmare
11. Kasa no shita no sekai
12. Death Parade
13. HELL FIRE
14. Shiny tale
15. ONESTAR
16. Saigo no Bansan
17. L.D Bride
18. Ghost gate
19. DOKURO KITCHEN
20. SCREAM go AROUND long ver.
21. If
Encore
22. Boy meets December
23. Carni=balism
24. Pandora
25. MONSTIME long ver.
26. Last hours
Double Encore
27. YOU♪AI♪MESSAGE