Many Merry Days 3: Merry at Yokohama Bay Hall

Yokohama Bay Hall is an oddly placed livehouse; situated in an industrial park by the bay, the location managed to confuse numerous fans who banded together in an attempt to find it in time. Despite the curious location, inside it has the atmosphere of an inner-city underground club with a faded staircase and two grand chandeliers hanging on either side of the stage. This balance between modern and opulence was perfect for Merry though, whose stage was decorated with imagery from M.E.R.R.Y. and an antique clock upon Gara's stand. The hall was packed with expectant fans and as the lights went down at 6, Merry was greeted with rapturous applause. To the rhythmic beat of M.E.R.R.Y. MARCH ~denwenkaukiyaukumikiyoku~, the five members entered with Gara arriving last, draped in a flag. He took a few moments to soak up the atmosphere before placing the flag by Nero's drumset and kicking off into the first song from their new album. Gara's vocals were beautiful and clear and Nero's energy on the drums clearly infected the crowd for the songs to come as they all responded in a spirited manner.

They followed this with the paired songs Blind Romance and Saihate no Parade. Saihate no Parade began with an extended guitar introduction and some particularly intricate guitar playing from Kenichi as Tetsu and Yuu sprang into life, going a little crazy with their headbanging. Gara began to motion to the crowd to dance along with him and then proceeded to invert his mic stand and sing upside down. It was in the next song though that the live became truly electric. Dekiai no Suisou filled the room with a fun jazz beat and soft blue lights as Yuu and Kenichi were given more chances to shine in their guitar solos to the accompaniment of an ecstatic jumping crowd. The energy was electrifying and closed with Nero throwing his drumsticks triumphantly in the air for the first time that evening.

Merry's previous album, Peep Show included short background music pieces that served as nice dividers on the album and it appeared to maintain the atmosphere during lives. Peep Hole (male) sounded out as Gara prepared for his first short MC of the night to announce a Merry classic: Atama ga zakuro. The sound of old-skool Merry clearly pleased this crowd which became even more animated. Tetsu took the chance to communicate a little with the crowd at this point; he played a few notes on his bass to which the crowd shouted 'HEY'. Nero then decided to join in and quickened the pace into a funk inspired beat and finally synching into another old favorite, Ve-doro, which ended with the entire band on their feet. Tetsu continued his interaction with the crowd, head-banging in time with them and then finally afterwards had his chance to shine with a funky bass solo building neatly into Seinen himitsu kurabu. Merry did not put one foot wrong note-wise as they extended the song beyond the album version. Again Gara encouraged the crowd to sing asking them to join in with the chorus twice, a theme that would continue further throughout the night.

Last Snow provided the first respite of the evening and quietly the audience watched Merry play, rewarding them afterwards with a quiet applause in stark contrast to the usual fists-in-the-air. European-influenced Hi no dechou provided one of the more interesting performances of the evening; it was very different from the CD and at times sounded like a mash-up with another track. Despite the strong jazz beat and some infectious drumming from Nero, it was another quiet song. Gara sang while sat nestled next to his clock and again it was rewarded with polite clapping. A short Nero drum solo into LuLuLu LaLaLa brought the energy back again, though!

Gara's apparent openness to talking now might have spelled the deathknell of his writing segment, however as the koto sounds rang out, this was clearly not the case. The room became very quiet as Gara wrote a message on numerous pieces of paper that the fans then recited. Merry then kicked off into two new and very western sounding songs: Coq d'or mama with powerful riffs and an occasional Led Zeppelin sound that made it a perfect live song and then the 50's sounding Poezy. Poezy stood in fantastic contrast to Coq d'or Mama ensuring that the set continued to be fresh and exciting. Charlie, from the recent Komorebi ga boku wo sagashiteru single, is also fast, cementing itself as a fan favorite if the reaction to it was anything to go by. A rather manic Gara teased Yuu a little and decided to put the mic down his trousers removing the cord out of the bottom of his leg and sang in this awkward manner for a while. This seemed to amuse the crowd who responded by moving energetically in one great heaving mass. Charlie closed with a lovely semi-accoustic moment from Kenichi and a drum roll from Nero to the rousing climax of the song.

Nero finally spoke after this, having been relatively quiet thus far. It was fitting then that his MC introduced the first song he wrote for Merry: Lost Generation and then into Japanese Modernist, which is possibly still the best known Merry song. Gara never properly sang the chorus, instead making the crowd sing the 'kiko haruka' lines and thus giving it a fresh live appearance. It was interesting not to have it as an encore and indeed there were two more recent songs before the end of the first section. Yuu became rather more animated during sweet powder, stealing some of Gara's lines and interacting a little with the crowd on his side. The disco ball was illuminated for the final, Oriental BL Circus. Gara, stating the obvious, asked if the crowd was excited. A loud reply kicked off the long introduction of the song and some frenetic drumming by Nero; Kenichi now got involved in singing part of the song with Yuu. It was a cracking set and the exhausted crowd mustered the strength to yell encore.

Merry returned (all except Kenichi, who was still attached to his suit) wearing tour t-shirts after 10 minutes for the first encore and a mini MC from Nero. The big furitsuke songs came out with Yellow Girl, Violet Harenchi and Aikoku kyoushinkyoku. Merry showed no signs of stopping as they made the crowd jump and salute during Aikoku. Interestingly, they played Violet Harenchi during this segment and when they left, many wondered if more was to come.

The second encore contained beautiful renditions of Ringo to Uso and Komorebi ga boku wo sagashiteiru. Komorebi was gorgeous and in a stunned silence, the crowd watched attentively. Gara's vocal work was a true delight of honest and emotion filled yearning. It was a highlight in an already superb gig. That was not the end though; a third encore contained the old favorites, Yasashisa Kid and Hi no ataranai basho with the crowd singing 'Yasashisa ai sezu' in one voice.

Yet Merry were still not done. Nero returned alone for some time alone with the crowd and a short Nerrorism (Nero drum solo). The crowd watched as he began to play, quickly starting to dance along to the funky drumbeat as Nero settled into a rhythm. He messed around, standing up and at a few points turned to 'hit' a roadie behind him who held up a saucepan quickly to protect his head. The comedy between Nero and the poor roadie gave the solo a fun, cheeky atmosphere as the crowd laughed along. After a while, Nero settled into a drumbeat as the rest of Merry re-emerged to play one final song, Karappo no uta. The audience danced their hearts out for one last time and then finally Merry had to leave the stage - although not without a few final words from both Yuu and Nero. Merry left everyone breathless and exhilarated after 2 1/2 hours of music. The live contained a decent balance of material from all of their albums and Merry seem to just get better with every live show of which tonight was certainly no exception. All that was left was that long walk back to Ishikawa station.

Set List:

M.E.R.R.Y.MARCH ~denwenkaukiyaukumikiyoku~

Blind Romance
Saihate no Parade
Dekiai no Suisou

-BGM Peephole (male)-

Atama ga zakuro
Ve-doro
Seinen himitsu kurabu

-BGM Peephole (female)-

Last Snow
Hi no dechou, machikado Cinderella ~Ni ban home hen
LuLuLu LaLaLa

-Gara writing segment-

Coq D'or Mama
Poezy
Meisai no Shinshi
Charlie

-MC-

Lost Generation
Japanese Modernist
sweet powder
Oriental BL Circus

EN1:
Yellow Girl
Violet Harenchi
Aikoku koushinkyoku

EN2:
Ringo to Uso
Komorebi ga boku wo sagashiteru

EN3:
Yasashisa Kid
Hi no ataranai basho
-S.MC-
Karappo no Uta