“This view is crazy! Never forget this day, let’s definitely make our debut with
this agency, let’s make our dreams come true! We will do whatever it takes to achieve this dream! let’s love each other forever, will you love us?” -. Hashimoto Ryo
After the recent restructuring that took place a few months ago among STARTO ENTERTAINMENT‘s yet to debut groups, a new band has risen from its own ashes, like a phoenix, shining with its own light: B&ZAI, and in Dumpling Box, we have not gone unnoticed the intensity with which its eight members shine, so we headed to their first live show to tell you every last detail!
B&ZAI is the agency’s first eight-member band, formed by: Sugeta Rinne; the oldest of the group at 27 years old; Hashimoto Ryo, Yabana Rei, Konno Taiki, Motodaka Katsuki, Suzuki Yujin, Kawasaki Hoshiki, and last but not least, the youngest member at 19 years old, Michiharu Inaba.
These eight guys gave one of their amazing shows on June 26th at the Pia Arena MM in Yokohama, where, after several consecutive day,s they managed to attract a total of 30,000 people. A show totally thought to highlight the skills of each of its members, both their individual skills (where absolutely everyone had their moment to show off), as well as the ones they are developing as a group. If anything could be felt in the atmosphere that day, it was precisely the creation of a path they had just embarked on together and their fervent determination to forge strong enough bonds to catapult them to stardom.
Amidst fervent screams of enthusiasm, penlights that lit up in different colors, and the clamor of their fans, the sound of the saxophone and keyboard began to make itself felt, seconds before the full band appeared on stage. A well-balanced group that demonstrated from the first moment their total mastery over the instruments they played.
In this way; Hashimoto played his role taking care of the guitar which was also in the hands of Konno at certain moments, as well as being one of the main voices; Yabana with his resolution in front of the bass, Sugeta playing saxophone and guitar, Suzuki as another of the main voices and guitarist, Kawasaki marking the rhythms with the drums, Motodaka with the melodies of his keyboard and Inaba, with his amazing ability to create incredible musical pieces with his inseparable violin, only sometimes substituted by the trumpet.
Hashimoto encouraged the audience, cheering: “B&ZAI concert is about to start, are you ready, let’s make this the best show ever!” and he was certainly not wrong; with a base forged on experience and his musical determination, the first songs started to play. An incredible setlist of musical works already well known by STARTO‘s fans, as a tribute to those already debuted bands that have a longer history behind them. They played from more lively songs like “Shake” by SMAP, which opened the concert, “Fire Beat” by Kis-My-Ft2 and “NOROSHI” by SUPER EIGHT, where Inaba stood out for his final trumpet solo, making again protagonist his facet as a band and not only as an idol group, or “truth” by ARASHI, more relaxed and melancholic, which contrasted with the previous pieces and let again the youngest member stand out this time for his skill with the violin that left the audience speechless.
Marking a first division with the first musical block as a band, the guys changed their costumes so far in darker and white tones, for a touch of more color, opting for red; an intense and vibrant color very much in line with their vibes at the time and moved through the catwalk to the main stage, where they sang “Boom-Pow-Wow!” by SixTONES and also “YSSB” by WEST; two songs that made the members start a block more focused on their ability as dancers. Again, another facet that they made perfectly evident throughout the performance.
During the presentation of the members, Kawasaki talked about how he had been in charge of designing the logo for that first live arena. The image, consisting of a pentagram where there is no division, clearly shows their intentionality; it is a starting point where they find no barriers that can stop their success. He also sought to delve a little deeper into its meaning, explaining: “My wish was to capture that feeling in the form of an electrocardiogram wave, to convey the feeling of vitality in a live performance, where emotion and sound intersect” In fact, during punctual moments of the show, the beat of a beating heart could be heard recurrently.
The show went on with countless demonstrations of new qualities that kept parading in front of people’s eyes the whole time. In “Dear High Heel”/ ディア ハイヒール” by Nakajima Kento, the group as a whole helped Hashimoto to bring the entire spotlight on him and the development of his artistic skills on skates. Hashimoto‘s acrobatics, accompanied by Motodaka‘s piano and Inaba‘s Violin, as well as Konno and Suzuki‘s vocals, were another moment in the performance that stole the audience’s full breath.
During KAT-TUN‘s “KISS KISS KISS,” acrobatics continued to take center stage as Yabana, Kawasaki, and Sugeta danced using hats and batons, as at one point, Kawasaki decided to do a back flip from a platform on the center stage. Other songs such as “Mascara”/マスカラ” by SixTONES, “Entertainment” by Hey! Say! JUMP or “Cry out” by Snow Man were also played, where once again Sugeta, Kawasaki and Inaba performed other impressive acrobatics, taking their instruments and joining without resting to the other members to link their multiple facets resulting in an incredible combination of talent that combined dancing, singing, acrobatics and music before giving way to the MC.
“I’m going to make this group grow! Everyone, follow me! Please!” -. Konno Taiki
On this occasion, the MC was something special. While we know that usually groups use it to take a short break and end the first part of their show, this time a journalist went on stage and conducted a brief interview with the members, who had no qualms about talking about their goals as a band.
Hashimoto spoke openly about what the first B&ZAI Arena show meant to him: “I feel great. Yesterday was the first day and it was a lot of fun. I felt that we took our first step as B&ZAI. The title of this concert is “First Beat”, so we are happy to be able to present it with the music we love.”
Also, it was the perfect moment for the members to finally choose the leader of the group; Konno unexpectedly came out with a really important new position! (Although Sugeta‘s opinion was somewhat different and he preferred to vote himself as the leader; no doubt he would have more than deserved it too.)
When Yabana asked him to say some words of thanks, he only managed to say: “Now that I am the leader, I will definitely make all the members and fans happy!” Then, with a loud shout, he told the fans: “I’m going to make this group grow! Everyone, follow me! Please!“.
Motodaka added, “Since we joined in February, we decided that the first thing we wanted to do was to make this first concert a success. As we do various activities, we have been presented with many opportunities to perform, so we first want to seize them together and enjoy them, and then move forward to the future.”
As for the places where they would like to perform, Hashimoto was clear, “We are a band, so we want to perform at the Budokan!, If we were to play at the Budokan, would you come to see us?” The audience’s response was clear and forceful, applause and cheers filled the place as affirmation and support for the band members, who smiled with satisfaction.
The next musical block made the difference from the first moment by starting with the new original song of the group, “BML“. If up to this point the rock and somewhat more intense sounds had taken over the place, now they gave way to endless laughter. “Super Rinne-san” made his appearance on stage to perform his dance, dressed in a white tank top that left his incredible muscles in sight without much difficulty, but in case there was any, he did not hesitate a moment to remove it by splitting the clothes in half to show what had been hidden so far. Undoubtedly, a visual joy that we could not overlook in this report. Still without having recovered from the shock, “Nanimono”/”なにもの” by King & Prince began to play through the speakers while confetti fell on the people.
During the “Summer Medley” that followed, they unleashed the band’s most “idol” side with nine songs well known to the audience, which brought with them the freshness and image of the sunny days of this season. From “BANG! BANG! バカンス” by SMAP, where they rode on the trolleys and started sliding on the arena floor in all directions, waving to the people and performing the already known and longed-for “fanservice“, going through “Tsumi no Natsu”/”罪の夏” by SUPER EIGHT, “Nagisa no Oneesama”/”渚のお姉サマー by NEWS, “Hadashi no Mirai. ” / ハダシの未来 by Arashi, “Ho! Summer”/Ho! サ マ ー by Tackey & Tsubasa, “T.W.L” by SUPER EIGHT, “Summer Jojo!!” /”Summer 上々!!” by A.B.C-Z, “Summer Station”/”サマー・ステーション” by King & Prince and concluding with the incredible track that is “Koi no ABO”/”恋のABO” by NEWS.
The last block of the concert started with the duo formed by Konno (taking the role of vocalist) and Hashimoto on guitar, performing more than satisfactorily the song ”Murasaki”/”ムラサキ” by Akanishi Jin. Between the two of them, they created an almost ethereal atmosphere where the music was the only protagonist, and the verses of the song transported you towards their feelings. They were joined on the central stage by the rest of the members to perform songs like “Someting from Nothing” by SixTONES, which made the stands vibrate with its powerful rock music and heartbreaking screams that reached the soul or “Zou”/”像” by SUPER EIGHT, where sparks started to jump in all directions in a literal way.
Before the final farewell, Hashimoto, once again proved to be in the lead by giving a short speech to all the people who had come to enjoy his show from different parts of the country: “This view is crazy! Never forget this day, let’s definitely make our debut with this agency, let’s make our dreams come true! We will do whatever it takes to achieve this dream! let’s love each other forever, will you love us?” receiving the clamor of the people as an answer, to then present their second, new original song “First Beat“.
The sound of rock once again pulsated among the audience, this time transmitting each of the feelings that all of them wanted to convey. Each one of them with their own purpose, but all together looking in the same direction, wishing to make their dreams come true. Once again, their abilities as something more than an “idols” group were evident because without a doubt, B&ZAI are much more than that; their essence as a band is something they want to carry as a flag from the first moment. Because they not only know how to make people laugh, they also know how to steal their words when they demonstrate their innumerable artistic abilities.
After the Encore, where they sang “Saa Ikimakure ! Wonderful Life !“/ さぁ生きまくれ! wonderful life!” by A.B.C-Z, again on the trolleys and “Asu e no YELL”/”明日へのYELL” by Hey! Say! JUMP, after 2 hours and 30 minutes of non-stop music, the show came to an end.
Konno, in his role as leader, shouted while the members were holding hands: “Ready? one, two… B&ZAI!”, making the now familiar band salute, while raising their joined hands to the roof of the Pia Arena MM, to which all the fans joined in shouting as well, and it was time to say not goodbye, but until next time!!
More B&ZAI on Dumpling Box!
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