Many Merry Days Final at Yokohama

Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium was a hive of activity - of girls in brightly coloured cosplay or hanging chains from their jeans, a bustle of shoppers around the merchandise stand, and men shouting hurriedly into loudspeakers. It was to host the final date of the Many Merry Days series and Merry's largest indoor concert to date.

As the lights went down, a projector crackled to life with a screen of noise until finally it settled on the familiar scene from the Violet Harenchi PV. The crowd roared as they took a video trip down memory lane through all of Merry's PVs. Finally, after Tozasareta Rakuen, a live video of the band in a motivational huddle backstage was displayed. The crowd screamed even louder, then as the screen went black, the room reached fever pitch with deafening roars. The curtains were drawn back and Merry stood ready to launch into the epic live. Gara, with dyed black hair, stood regally in a long purple coat and holding his mic stand high. As the first chords sounded out, everyone in the room raised their arms to punch the air and with an explosion, the live began.

What followed would be an impressively varied set list by all accounts. Merry started with a bang as the furious and fast Midnight Shangri-la led an initial assault on the senses with powerful bass from Tetsu and heavy guitars courtesy of kenichi and Yu. It was a dramatic opener and following it was a further trio of energetic songs: sweet powder, Meisai no Shinshi, and then in a flash of golden light, Charlie. The crowd danced along excitedly and as the room was bathed in light, one could see every arm in the room waving along in perfect time as Gara sang.

Merry took their first short break afterwards, during which gentle jazz music was played. This quiet lull was only momentary and soon the introduction to Saihate no Parade rang out through the hall in clear notes. As far as technical prowess was concerned, Merry was shining that night, particularly Yu and a highly energetic kenichi. The refrain of Atama ga Zakuro was greeted with much excitement from the audience who threw themselves into furious headbanging. On stage, kenichi was running around rather animatedly while Gara took to climbing the scaffolding at the side of the stage. He leapt off the scaffolding at one point, somehow landing nimbly enough. Atama ga Zakuro was followed swiftly by Haraiso with the similarly fast refrains of each song working perfectly together. The dancing simply did not stop throughout and Merry responded with a highly accomplished performance.

The energy of the previous songs called for another break and as the stage darkened one sole light remained focused solely upon Gara, who sat on his desk quietly singing along to Sasurai Rhapsody. The song was cut short however, as a distant sound of guitars became louder, segueing into Utagoe Kissa (Modan). A period of relative calm followed with some Merry ballads. The ever enchanting Hinodecho machikado tsunderella ~2 ban home-hen~ was played against a background of a soft orange glow although the intimate sound was slightly lost amidst the cavernous hall. Sayonara Ame(Rain), on the other hand, really stood out. Gara sung the first verse a capella, a lone spotlight on his form as he sat singing earnestly with the rest of the room in darkness. It was beautiful and emotional, and as the rest of the band rejoined Gara, the dancing lights created puddles across the walls.

The heartfelt rendition of Sayonara Ame(Rain) was a highlight, although the true delight of the concert was still to come as a quintet jazz band suddenly appeared on stage much to the surprise of all. They were to accompany Bluesy Night, a classic song from the Gendai Stoic album. It was a beautiful arrangement with the jazz band adding a real flair to Merry's retrock sound. Gara's vocals were stunning, soaring over the complex melee of instruments. After, the stage went dark and a single spotlight focused on the saxophonist who played a lonely melancholic solo.

When the lights came back, the only visible member of Merry was Nero, who sat at a second drum kit at the front of the stage. Nero's drum solo was accompanied by brass instruments, and he played with great energy maintaining the jazzy beat. This Nerrorism (Nero drum solo) had more though; it involved a quiz! As Nero continued to play on the screen at the back of the stage writing suddenly appeared with rules on how to play. The crowd was to answer with 'circle' and 'cross' gestures to questions such as 'In Nero's first band he was a vocalist, true or false?' and 'Watashi wa omae tachi ga suki de aru' ('I like you guys') - a question for which the answer was two circles! As the quiz came to a close and the crowd applauded themselves, Nero moved to his regular drum kit and continued the Nerorrism with some call and response with the crowd. The other members then reappeared to play PLTC, a short aggressive piece with ferocious screaming from Gara, during which the audience hurled themselves forward in their seats along with the music.

PLTC brought a reintroduction of heaviness and Merry nostalgia as Aikokushiki ~Masurao~ and Lost Generation brought further dazzling energy from kenichi on stage and Nero's vigourous playing of his drums. The band took a breather after that with the first small MC of the evening as Nero said a few words about the evening's live before a spectacular performance of Japanese Modernist took off; jets of fire shot up from the stage as the members and crowd threw their all into the song. It was a powerfully impressive performance of a longtime favourite. After Oriental BL Circus, Nero introduced Mousou Rendezvous. It was a stirring rendition with the crowd singing along at Gara's request; almost 4000 voices singing as one.

For the final song of the main set, Merry played the most recent single, Tozasareta Rakuen. While on CD the chorus can sound bland and unoriginal, live it was magnificent. Every note perfect and left a deeper impression than the CD version. Although Merry left the stage after Tozasareta Rakuen the crowd would not relax as hurried calls for an encore began, accompanied by loud clapping.

Merry returned to play Nameless Night ~na mo naki yoru~, although the second encore would leave a more vivid imprint on the memory. As orange lights illuminated the stage, CALLing began. Gara sang with such passion throughout that the duller aspects of the song could be forgiven; his voice sounded as if it were breaking at points, making it quite a hard performance to watch. The song drew to a close and Gara lay exhausted on the floor overcome by the emotion of the song. Girls could be heard silently weeping at the power of his performance. The other members left the stage with little fanfare leaving Gara to quietly pick himself up.

As they returned for a second encore, every member except Gara came out wearing their t-shirts. Gara meanwhile returned wearing his silken purple coat. Nero chatted a little more about the evening and introduced the next two songs, the b-sides from Tozasareta Rakuen. Kigeki no Taboo and To・ro・ke・te・ru were received warmly by the fans who punched the air enthusiastically throughout. T.O.P provided a short third burst of nostalgia although it was Violet Harenchi, the old classic, that was greeted as ever with huge cheers. kenichi went crazy on stage running around, as did Nero behind the drum kit. It was an amazing performance with Yu shouting the backing vocals for Gara and Tetsu's powerful bass lines. Merry left once more as Violet Harenchi drew to a close, and the calls for another encore began anew.

After a third round of cheering, Gara re-emerged alone. He walked to the front of the stage, taking the microphone and spoke. It was a rare occurrence and the girls screamed and some choked back tears. Gara talked a little about the importance of this night at Yokohama before saying that he wanted to introduce the members. One by one they re-appeared after Gara's words about them, Nero being introduced as 'our noisy drummer' and Yu as the one without whom Merry would not exist. He then spoke about the approaching Merry Sonic - Retrock Festival with three big dates to add to their annual visit to Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudo and explained further the 'producers' for each concert.

The live finished with Karappo na Uta ~final cut~ - the premiere performance of this re-working of a nu chemical rhetoric favourite. Streamers exploded from the stage covering the audience in the arena with silver paper. Many caught theirs and used it to dance with, so the crowd became a sparkling mass below. Gara asked the audience to sing along to the refrain, repeating it while Merry put down their instruments momentarily to hear the mass of people singing in perfect time and then gradually introducing the melody with the audience continuing to sing tirelessly. Gara resumed singing duties and Merry energetically closed the live. As the song drew to a close the members walked to the front of the stage to hold hands. The audience did the same as every person in the room then raised their arms and bowed with Merry. Yu and Nero were the last to leave again. Yu tried to say a few words but, overcome with the emotion of the evening his voice started to crack a little. Nero, too, took a moment to compose himself before saying his farewells and then left carrying two flags, one of which he had been given by a fan during the first encore.

It had been a truly triumphant and emotional night for both Merry and their fans. Merry has continued to improve over time and this special finale concert proved this. It was a roller coaster of emotions, from the pure thrill of Merry's live abilities to hearing Gara's speaking voice again that will remain vivid memories for all who attended.


Set list:

1 Midnight Shangrila
2 sweet powder
3 Meisai no shinshi
4 Charlie

BGM 1

5 Saihate no Parade
6 Atama ga zakuro
7 Haraiso

BGM2

8 Utagoe Kissa [Modan]
9 Hinodecho, machikado Cinderella ~ 2 ban home-hen～
10 Sayonara Ame (Rain)
11 Bluesy Night

Dr SOLO

12 PLTC
13 Aikokufuta ~masurao~
14 Lost Generation

S.MC

15 Japanese Modernist
16 Oriental BL Circus
17 Mousou rendez-vous
18 Tozasareta Rakuen

EN1

nameless night～Na mo naki yoru～
CALLing

EN2

Kigeki no Taboo
To・ro・ke・te・ru
T.O.P
Violet Harenchi

EN3

Karappo no Uta