From S/mileage to ANGERME: A Wondrous Concert in Mexico

Hello! Project has been on a roll with consistently bringing their groups to North America via Mexico City since 2015. This year, on September 7th, we were lucky enough to receive ANGERME in the familiar venue of SALA Puebla for an electrifying performance.

ANGERME, formerly known as S/mileage, was formed in 2009, and had their first release in their rebranded form in 2015. Since then, they’ve excelled and grown as individuals, culminating in their first-time performance within Mexico.

​Before the concert even began, VIP fans were treated to signed posters and group photos with the members, which was a pleasant departure from what previous H!P acts have done for their VIP attendees. Soon after, fans began to shuffle into the venue proper, with a level of tension in anticipation of the concert being easily felt, and slowly built-up as the time approached. As the start of the concert drew close, the cheers and chants heard across the entire audience gradually grew louder.

When ANGERME finally ran onto the stage, they were welcomed with deafening cheers, at which point they jumped right into their first song: ‘Akai Earphone’. I was quite surprised that they opened with an album track, but it proved to be the right decision. The song was performed with much energy and gusto, successfully getting the crowd pumped right from the get-go. This feeling of hype never stopped though and carried through to the end.

Why slowdown the momentum though? With that, they dove right into the next song: Manner Mode. This one is a personal favorite of mine, as it’s extremely catchy, upbeat and doesn’t waste any time with any real breaks in the flow. Another exciting ANGERME song was performed before heading into the first MC for a well-earned break. During this MC, each member took a moment to introduce themselves.

The real surprise came directly after that. First, some context. Generally, when H!P groups perform overseas, the performances consist of their recent songs mixed in with their most popular older songs. ANGERME is one of the most unique groups in H!P, due to the fact that they’ve been in action continuously since their S/mileage days, and that their rebrand was simply a shift in focus when some new members had joined the group. They kicked off after the MC not only with S/mileage songs, but with shuffles to top it off (which are extremely rare in overseas concerts). They performed ‘Please Miniskirt Postwoman!’ (with Kana Nakanishi, Moe Kamikokuryo, Ayano Kawamura and Layla Ise), ‘Choto Mate Kudasai!’ (with Akari Takeuchi, Mizuki Murota, Momona Kasahara and Haruka Oota) and finally ‘Suki yo, Junjou Hankouki.’ (with Rina Katsuta, Rikako Sasaki and Musubu Funaki). Shuffles are particularly important in idol concerts because they give all members a good opportunity to showcase their talents and charms. To top it off, all three S/mileage songs that were chosen contained a good mix of cute and upbeat while still fitting the theme and flow of the concert.

The second MC consisted of the members asking questions to the fans. It’s a fun and personal interaction that doesn’t always happen in the concerts in Japan, adding a special touch to an already special concert. They were asked about their favorite part of Mexico, to which Rina answered that she was quite curious about what kind of place it would be, but ended up buying a bracelet which is now her favorite; they were asked about what foods they had, which were tacos, cheese and guacamole; some fans had noticed the girls posting about sombreros on their SNS, and so one fan asked if they ended up buying any, to which the girls absolutely said yes. Their favorite place was the Pyramid of the Sun; they thought the people of Mexico were very passionate (they said hot at first, and corrected themselves); they said they enjoyed their stay, and didn’t want to go home; finally, they said they would love to come back again soon.

The fun didn’t end there! The girls then played Rock-Paper-Scissor (Jan-Ken-Pon) with the audience. This wasn’t just a casual game though, because there were signed goods on the line! ANGERME was giving out a signed shirt and a signed towel to two lucky winners. The first winner was reasonably calm, but the second set of matches ended up culminating in a fever-pitch final battle between two fans on opposite sides of the venue. The match seemed to go on forever as they kept matching each other time after time. Tensions rose, and the crowd was starting to react very enthusiastically to each tie game. In the end, the battle between the two ended, and the fan up front (the other was in the rear) ended up winning.

Three more songs were then performed followed by a final song that was quite appropriate as a closer: ‘Taiki Bansei’. There’s no better way to close-out a concert than with arguably the most exciting song ANGERME has done, which also happens to be their first release as ANGERME. It was extremely exhilarating, and the crowd went absolutely wild throughout the entire thing. We couldn’t have asked for better.

Any fan who’s been to an H!P concert knows that there’s always an Encore, naturally meaning ‘Taiki Bansei’ wasn’t actually the end. After they went off-stage, the crowd began chanting for the girls. There were many chants, with every member being represented in some way. Seeing and hearing the audience chant in unison in various ways, trying to hype up the girls while simultaneously hyping up themselves, is one of my favorite parts of these concerts and it does a fantastic job of making everybody feel that sense of community. Eventually, the group came out and jumped right into their next song. Remember those sombreros mentioned earlier? Well, Akari, Musubu and Ayano came out with them on their heads, much to the excitement and glee of everybody in the venue. Each member took a moment to say some closing pieces (with some pretty solid Spanish mixed in) following the song.

When it came to Rina’s turn, the crowd turned orange with almost every glow stick quickly changing to match her member color, and something exceptional took place. Everybody, in almost perfect unison, sang her the classic Mexican song ‘Cielito Lindo’, in honor of her before her graduation which was soon after this concert. I’ve been to all but one H!P concert in Mexico, and this was easily the best coordination we’ve ever seen out of the audience when singing a song for the group or a member. It was a momentous presentation and brought Rina to tears on the spot.

After this, and after every member had a moment to say their piece, they properly closed out with the wholesome song ‘Tomo Yo’, topping off the exceedingly energetic concert with something a bit more personal and calm as a wondrous farewell. They were in tears during this final song, showing that they were happy they were able to have this concert. ANGERME did a fantastic job of keeping everybody engaged and kept the H!P tradition of having fun and exciting concerts in Mexico City. We can’t wait to hear what’s in the works for next year!

- Teepu

​NOTE: Please be sure to check out our companion article to this one, which is an exclusive interview with ANGERME right before the concert. You can read it HERE.

You can also check out information about what's going on in the world of Hello! Project in their official English Facebook page: Up-Front Link.

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Setlist
01. 赤いイヤホン / Akai Earphone
02. マナーモード / Manner Mode
03. 泣けないぜ・・・共感詐欺 / Nakenai ze… Kyoukan Sagi
MC - Intros
04. プリーズミニスカポストウーマン！ / Please Mini-Skirt Post Woman!
05. チョトマテクダサイ！/ Choto Mate Kudasai!
06. 好きよ、純情反抗期。/ Suki yo, Junjou Hankouki
07. 新しい私になれ！ / Atarashii Watashi ni Nare!
MC – Q&A and Rock/Paper/Scissors
08. 恋ならとっくに始まってる / Koi Nara Tokku ni Hajimatteru
09. ドンデンガエシ / Dondengaeshi
10. 次々続々 / Tsugitsugi Zokuzoku
11. 大器晩成 / Taiki Bansei
ENCORE
EN1. 46 億年 LOVE / 46okunen LOVE
MC - Farewells
EN2. 友よ / Tomo yo

ANGERME is:
​- Akari Takeuchi (竹内朱莉) Leader - Blue
- Kana Nakanishi (中西香菜) Sub-Leader – Light Pink
- Rina Katsuta (勝田里奈) [Graduated Sep. 25, 2019] – Orange
- Mizuki Murota (室田瑞希) – Light Blue
- Rikako Sasaki (佐々木莉佳子) – Yellow
- Moe Kamikokuryo (上國料萌衣) – Aqua Blue
- Momona Kasahara (笠原桃奈) – Deep Pink
- Musubu Funaki (船木結) – Yellow-Green
- Ayano Kawamura (川村文乃) – Light Purple
- Haruka Oota (太田遥香) – Bright Green
- Layla Ise (伊勢鈴蘭) – Light Orange
- Rin Hashisako (橋迫鈴) [Not Present for Concert] – Pure Red

*Photo credit goes to Konomi Kawamoto and Teepu Khan.

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