Hi everyone!
With Miyavi making his way all over America, we've teamed up with the fantastic Melissa Castor, who covered AM2 Convention's big stars, to tell and show us Miyavi's rocking out of the East Coast.
Melissa sheds some light on Miyavi's costumed antics and also provides a live clip of some of that night's happenings. Enjoy!
Miyavi’s return to New York City couldn’t have come on a better day – October 31st, Halloween.
As is typical with New York Jrock crowds, the line outside of Irving Plaza on 14th Street and Irving Place in lower Manhattan began before the crack of dawn.
This is nothing new. When Miyavi played at Irving Plaza the previous June, the line was already down the entire block the night before. This year, it snowed the weekend before - very unusual weather for NYC.
But that didn’t stop some fans from showing up around 6am – and a very brave few who camped overnight. That was dedication. There was never a dull moment even before doors opened. Quite a few people had arrived in costume for this Halloween concert. Regular New Yorkers also passed by, wondering what everyone was lining up for. Some even asked if the crowd was with Occupy Wall Street (“Occupy Irving Plaza” was the real mission though).
Doors opened at 8pm, with jump-the-line tickets (an Irving Plaza ticket where you can skip the line for an extra $10), VIP and CWIF (fanclub) going in first. Miyavi started promptly an hour after doors opened at 9pm.
“New York, are you ready? WHAT’S MY NAME?”
He started out with the tour’s title song, “WHAT’S MY NAME?” playing guitar off stage to rile up the crowd before his drummer Bobo and Miyavi himself appeared on stage.
This was not Miyavi’s first time in New York City, but the crowd went wild as if it was. For some, it was their first time seeing him.
Miyavi started with a few new songs, “HELL NO,” “MUSIC FREE” and “A-HEAD” (these titles, as is Miyavi’s style, are subject to change). During “Hell No” he had the audience scream, “No no no no no!” back to him.
“This is my new track--are you ready to dance?” he said before playing “A-HEAD.” It was most certainly a dance track to which one can’t help but move their body along with the beat.
“My name is Miyavi, all the way from Tokyo!” “WHAT’S MY NAME?!”
Nobody could possibly forget Miyavi.
“It’s my second time in New York. Having a good time, people? Am I rocking everybody? You guys rocking out there?
We had a show in San Francisco, LA, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Toronto and tonight New York City! Last time we had a show here, it was crazy…hot. But I’m sure tonight will be way hotter!”
It was true: last year, he played Irving Plaza in the summer – and it was sweltering to the point that people fainted. The staff had to provide the audience with a steady supply of water. This year, it was several degrees colder outside but still HOT inside (thankfully not to the extent that anybody passed out)!
After speaking, Miyavi played another new song titled “MUSIC FREE” on the setlist. It was a special treat for fans when Miyavi sang and spelled out “S-E-X--” while panting into the microphone. Definitely H-O-T.
“We can be one, right, people?”
BOOM-HA-BOOM-HA-HA was another fun song for everyone to clap and sing along to.
“Having fun with my crazy and weird music?”
“YES!”
“We had a show in Toronto last night, then we drove down to this f*cking crazy city, New York City. We dived in Niagara Falls and swam~.”
“This is my man Bobo. You know his name, right? Bobo who wears short shorts, showing off his pretty legs, right? Haha, gross. He’s a great drummer, ya? Only two people on stage, rocking the world.”
Miyavi also gave a shoutout to one of his crew, “Stage hand Pepsi! Mr. Pepsi who likes Coke. He’s a cool dude.”
Shelter was another great live song with Miyavi dancing while weaving back and forth with the beat. Miyavi demonstrated the hand motions the audience could also do, but most people preferred waving their arms up and down.
“Getting wet? It’s freaking hot in here. Last time I was here, I almost fainted. Thanks for having me again. Seriously. We’re having a good time on the road. Bunch of people are crazy. We love you. I so appreciate it.”
“Before I got here, I was walking around Union Square, seeing all the costumes. Is anyone in cosplay?” he asked the audience if they were dressed up (it was Halloween, after all). One girl shouted she was a demon, and it took a little clarification for Miyavi to understand it was “oni.”
“Sorry, I can’t speak English. I couldn’t speak English 5 years ago. Keep on teaching me English, okay?”
“Bobo speaks English too, you know. The only word he knows is, ‘What the f*ck.’ Always--never thought he would stop. Everytime. ‘What the f*ck.’ Enter the bathroom. ‘What the f*ck.’ He’s so shy, right? He’s a really great drummer. We went to Niagara Falls and was just like, ‘What the f*ck.’ It was crazy, like ‘What the f*ck.’ ‘What the f*ck’ so many tourists. We’re also tourists though, haha.”
The audience was in for a real treat when the sheet music was brought out along with an acoustic guitar. He told the audience how he knew everyone wanted to hear everything, especially older tracks, but he could only play a few of them.His first song was Selfish Love--definitely a fan favorite. It wasn’t the entire song, but a good portion of it.
Miyavi then taught the audience how to say Bobo’s favorite phrase “What the f*ck,’ in Japanese. After the audience shouted it back at him, he was taken aback, “…oh…”
Next, he played a song many hoped for, but few expected to hear: “Itoshii Hito.” The audience went crazy and then quiet; some held hands with fellow Co-MYV, swaying to the music, and it brought tears to many eyes.
After Bobo’s drum solo, Miyavi once again introduced his drummer, “You know his name right? Bobo! Looks like Mexican from Brazil who likes Chinese food.”
Miyavi then had the audience call out his name for the who knows how many-th time that evening.
Futuristic Love turned into a Co-MYV dance party that went on for as long as Miyavi wanted it to. “Go beyond: Race, Gender, Generation, Nation, Language, Culture, Religion, History – BE ONE!”
The audience patiently waited for Miyavi and Bobo to come back on stage for an encore and nobody was disappointed to see them emerge in costume.
“We stopped by Ricky’s [costume shop]. Got these…so how do we look?” Miyavi was dressed in a cape and mask, perfect for the first song of the encore. “Do you know what? I am so embarrassed [in this outfit]. Tonight is Halloween! We can enjoy this Halloween party. So it’s fine, put a mask on…”
Bobo was in a cape and butterfly mask, which came off quickly. Two of the stage crew/staff also joined the Halloween spirit with their costumes. Mr. Pepsi was in a blonde wig and Spike was wearing a pirate hat and eye patch. Definitely a sight to see.
As Bobo was preparing, Miyavi kept speaking until someone from the audience shouted, “Señor Señora Señorita!” Miyavi’s “surprise” encore song had been ousted.
“Don’t say that, don’t say it! How rude!” he joked. “Sorry!” the girl replied. Miyavi asked for his camera phone from the staff, and he went around stage photographing the audience members in costume.
At this point, a fan handed him a beautiful painting of Miyavi holding Lovelie as a newborn. “Oh, wow. See, this is me…and my son Bobo 36 years ago! No, this is my daughter Lovelie. Thank you.” He displayed the painting on stage rather than handing it off to the staff.
The live finished up with a 30-minute long encore with Miyavi shouting, “HAPPY HALLOWEEN!” He lingered on stage at the end, bowing and smiling. He jumped down in the space between the barrier and the stage and high-fived and shook as many hands as possible.
Miyavi fans consider themselves Co-MYV – BE ONE – a family. The concert definitely carried this atmosphere with the old and new Co-MYV friends that people made and met. Everyone simply followed Miyavi’s message.
BE STRONG.
Be ONE.
Be Co-MYV.
Setlist:
WHAT’S MY NAME?
[Ha!] guitar/drum only
UNIVERSE
HELL NO
Ossan Ossan Ore Nanbo
A-HEAD
MUSIC FREE
Boom-Ha-Boom-Ha-Ha
Shelter
-Acoustic Sets- (Requests from the audience)
Selfish Love
Itoshii Hito
Jibun kakumei
Strong
Torture
Futuristic Love
Encore:
Señor señora señorita
Are You Ready To Rock
Survive
Report by: Melissa “Missy” Castor
Website ・Twitter
Wow, Irving Plaza seriously got a treat when Miyavi came out in costume!
At any rate, did you also attend any of Miyavi's concerts in his What's My Name? Tour? If you have, definitely leave us a comment to tell us about your experience!
You can find more of Melissa's photos at the MICHIDO Facebook.
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