Furari Mexico ~Morning Musume。18’s One and Only Concert Experience~

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After ℃-ute made history by being the first Hello! Project group to perform in Mexico, a tradition had been formed. ℃-ute managed to have a blowout concert in Mexico City again in 2016 followed by Juice=Juice in 2017. Continuing the tradition, on November 10, 2018, Morning Musume。’18 came to Mexico City. Hello! Project’s leading idol group wasn’t content with a mere performance though, so sit down with me and let’s take a look at what the entire experience was like.

The experience began with fans lining up outside of El Plaza Condesa relatively early, in anticipation for the concert. Some fans were kind enough to arrange a system for keeping track of ticket holders (both VIP and General) in order to give everybody the opportunity to take breaks for food or anything else necessary. It was a nice gesture that truly speaks about the togetherness of the community that follows Hello! Project and Morning Musume。’18. Everybody was jovial, excited, friendly and supportive. After the goods started being sold, eventually the VIP line was let into the venue, and the excitement began to elevate. As everybody eventually shuffled in and the chatter grew to a loud buzz, the time for the concert quickly approached. Cheers, chants and conversation filled the venue all the way to the moment the girls stepped out onto the stage. The explosion of noise that could be heard was deafening. Morning Musume。’18 was about to get the warm Mexican welcome that is unique to them.

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They kicked off the concert with ‘Jiyuu na Kuni Dakara’, one of the songs from their latest release. It was an apt choice for getting the energy moving and led into a very exciting performance of ‘Kimi Sae Ireba Nani mo Iranai (Updated)’. They did a great job of starting off with a lot of power. It wasn’t until after the first MC section where they all did their best introducing themselves in Spanish that I felt like the concert had truly begun. Say what you want about ‘Are you Happy?’ but there’s no denying that the instrumental part of the song is very concert friendly. Between the chants and the speakers, I could feel the vibration in my very bones. It was far more exciting than I expected it to be, and this is the perfect description of the concert as a whole: an experience that exceeded my expectations in almost every way imaginable. There weren’t any surprises, but the song selection was solid nonetheless.

Following that set was another MC that led to a trio of their newer songs that were performed with much love and gusto leading into another short MC. The Medley was particularly interesting. It consisted of the usual suspects for international concerts such as ‘LOVE Machine (Updated)’, but it closed out with a surprising performance of ‘Go girl ~Koi no Victory~’. This is a classic that I’ve always loved, but never expect to see in a modern concert. It’s a refreshing, fun and heartwarming song that was a great way to conclude the medley.

The next MC was a bit different than usual, as it involved the girls interacting with the crowd, with a Spanish translator to assist. They asked where people in the crowd were from, with the most vocal answers being Bolivia, Spain, Chile and Chicago; they asked what Mexican food was recommended and the answer was almost unanimously pozoles. Some other highlights that they asked: who was from Mexico and who wasn’t; who was seeing them for the first time; who had come to see Juice=Juice; who had come to see ℃-ute? Following this, we got Morning Musume。’18’s only English song: ‘One and Only’. The main portion of the concert closed out with ‘Romance ni Mezameru Mousou Joshi no Uta’ and then an extremely exciting performance of ‘What is LOVE?’

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The MCs had some interesting points in them, so I wanted to take a moment to talk about some of the things mentioned. Haruna Iikubo said she wanted to come to Mexico because of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Miki Nonaka emphasized that she really loved Despacito, as well as tacos and burritos. Ayumi Ishida mentioned that she wasn’t feeling too good for the past few days, but the concert and the fans helped make her feel better.

One of the most interesting things of the concert was the love that was expressed to Haruna Iikubo in light of her upcoming graduation. Some kind fans decided to create buttons and hand them out along with yellow bandannas; this coupled with the sea of yellow light sticks was moving, to say the least. Her birthday was a few days before the concert on November 7, so at one point the crowd sung her Happy Birthday. The crowd also sang ‘Never Forget’ for Haruna, though it was a little difficult to understand due to the challenge of coordinating voices. Later, the crowd even did the soccer chant ‘Ole Ole…’ for her. There was even a chant for Tsunku at one point. The love and honor that was given to Haruna throughout the concert was wonderful and reminded me of the similar experience that was given to Sayumi Michishige during their first concert in New York City in 2014.

Any fan of the group knows that the concert never ends with the main set, though. We are always blessed with an encore performance. While the girls rest and prepare for the true finale, the crowd traditionally cheers for their return. Being in Mexico, the unique Mexican vibe had to show itself. The wait wasn’t long, and when they stepped back onto the stage the crowd exploded in the loudest cheers of excitement yet. After a short MC expressing their gratitude, the always beloved ‘One・Two・Three (Updated)’ was performed.

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Final farewells were given in Spanish after that. I was quite impressed with this. Spanish is not an easy language to speak for English natives, let alone Japanese natives, and they did a great job with it. Despite being an extremely fun concert, it was clear the girls would not be satisfied unless they left with something special. So, what did they do? They performed ‘Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke’, which is easily one their most exciting songs to see in concert. A more perfect closing song could not have been chosen, and the crowd screamed themselves hoarse.

As the girls walked off stage waving their goodbyes, the crowd gave Haruna Iikubo (soon to graduate on December 16th) some chants and more singing, which almost moved her to tears. It was a beautiful concert that was the easily the best Hello! Project performance in Mexico yet.

The best part is that the experience wasn’t quite over for the Mexican fans. A Japanese fan had partnered with Ton Ton Ramen shop to host a post-concert party. There was a lot of chatting, eating, laughter and most importantly, dancing to Hello! Project music! The community always works hard to stick together, and the after-party was perfect evidence of this.

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The experience was far from over though, as the next day was the Fan Meeting. There was a message box in the venue during concert day for people to drop questions or messages into. During the Fan Meeting, some of these questions were answered and discussed, making the fan experience feel more intimate than a normal major Japanese Idol concert would be. Haruna Iikubo called the fans in Mexico ‘bonita y guapo’ which made the attendees happy; she also mentioned that she thought it was cute how people would say ‘shush’ to stop others from speaking over her. Miki Nonaka took the opportunity to express her love for Despacito again, but this time the crowd sang part of the song to her. Yokoyama mentioned that everyone had a great smile at every store she managed to go to. When asked what they did to prepare for Mexico, Masaki amusingly said that she changed her yen to pesos. Ayumi mentioned that she tried to get a lot of avocados, at which point the crowd pointed at a fan. This fan was dressed up as an avocado, to which Erina commented that he’s not Spanish and is a familiar face from Japan. Finally, when asked what they liked about Mexico, Haruna and Sakura said that they were surprised to see so many people with dogs and thought it must be fun. At the end of the Fan Meeting, there was a handshake event with the group before the fans got to walk away with a signed poster.

I left the Fan Meeting exhausted after everything that had happened, but there’s no denying that I had an absolute blast. Based on the huge smiles on everybody else’s faces, I wasn’t alone. Whenever Morning Musume。’18 or any Hello! Project group performs overseas, we’re not only blessed with a beautiful performance, but we are also given the opportunity to be with old friends and make new ones in the process. We at A-to-J Connections were unable to attend the New York performance that followed this, but here’s to hoping that Morning Musume。’18 keeps coming back to the Americas. The love that the fans showed the girls is a testament to the growing international reach, and that’s something I hope will be never-ending.

- Teepu

You can check out our interview with some of the members here.

All photos used by permission of UP-FRONT PROMOTION Co., Ltd.

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Setlist:

     - Jiyuu na Kuni Dakara
     - Kimi Sae Ireba Nani mo Iranai (Updated)
     - MC
     - Are you Happy?
     - Tokyo to Iu Katasumi
     - Sou ja nai
     - Only you
     - Brainstorming (Updated)
     - MC
     - Akogare no Stress-free
     - Furari Ginza
     - Narcissus Kamatte-chan Kyousoukyoku Dai 5ban
     - MC
     - Medley
          o Souda! We're ALIVE (Updated)
          o LOVE Machine (Updated)
          o The☆Peace! (Updated)
          o Ren'ai Revolution 21 (Updated)
          o Go Girl ~Koi no Victory~
     - MC
     - One and Only
     - Romance ni Mezameru Mousou Joshi no Uta
     - What is LOVE?
     - Encore
          o MC
          o One・Two・Three (Updated)
          o MC
          o Wagamama Ki no Mama Ai no Joke

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Morning Musume。’18 is:

     - 9th Gen
          o Mizuki Fukumura (譜久村聖)
          o Erina Ikuta (生田衣梨奈)
     - 10th Gen
          o Haruna Iikubo (飯窪春菜)
          o Ayumi Ishida (石田亜佑美)
          o Masaki Sato (佐藤優樹)
     - 11th Gen
          o Sakura Oda (小田さくら)
     - 12th Gen
          o Miki Nonaka (野中美希)
          o Maria Makino (牧野真莉愛)
          o Akane Haga (羽賀朱音)
     - 13th Gen
          o Kaede Kaga (加賀楓)
          o Reina Yokoyama (横山玲奈)
     - 14th Gen
          o Chisaki Morito (森戸知沙希)

You can check out exciting coverage from Up-Front's official Facebook page made for us foreign fans here.

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