Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club Koen – Thank you for your LOVE! –

Track Listing

I WISH / Nakazawa Yuko, Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, Yaguchi Mari, Ishikawa RIka, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Konno Asami, Ogawa Makoto, Fujimoto Miki
I Know / All
VTR
MC
Juunen Ai / Nakazawa Yuko, Abe Natsumi, Iida Kaori, Yasuda Kei
Screen / Abe Natsumi
Koi no Telephone GOAL / Abe Natsumi
MC
Lalala Sososo / Mano Erina
Give Me Up / Melon Kinenbi
Kenchana ~Daijoubu~ / Maeda Yuki
BABY! Koi ni KNOCK OUT! / Yasuda Kei, Yoshizawa Hitomi, Ogawa Makoto
MC
100kai no Kiss / Matsuura Aya
Yeah! Meccha Holiday / Matsuura Aya
Tanpopo (Single version) / Iida Kaori, Yaguchi Mari, Ishikawa Rika, Shibata Ayumi, Konno Asami
Agekai ni Dakarete / Iida Kaori
This is Unmei / Melon Kinenbi
Ai ~Suite Room~ / Viyuden
Boogie Train 03 / Fujimoto Miki
Kuyashi Namida Porori / Nakazawa Yuko
MC
Magic of Love / Inaba Atsuko, Maeda Yuki
Aoi Sports Car no Otoko / Iida Kaori, Yaguchi Mari, Inaba Atsuko, Melon Kinenbi, Miyoshi Erika, Okada Yui
Thanks! / GAM (Chorus dancers: Inaba, Maeda, Melon, Miyoshi, Okada)
Kizuna / Matsuura Aya (Chorus: Fujimoto, Inaba, Melon, Miyoshi, Okada)
MC
Come Together / Ongaku Gatas
Narihajimeta Koi no BELL / Ongaku Gatas
Love Machine / All
Encore
MM OG Medley:
• Morning Coffee / Nakazawa, Abe, Iida, Yasuda, Yaguchi
• Manatsu no Kousen / Nakazawa, Abe, Iida, Yasuda, Yaguchi
• Ai Araba IT’S ALL RIGHT / MM OG
• The Peace! / MM OG
• LOVE Machine / MM OG
Koisuru Angel Heart / All, except Matsuura
MC
Never Forget / All
MC

Review

This is the Elder club concert recorded at Nakano Sun Plaza on January 11, 2009. Much like the Wonderful Hearts show the venue was packed with many H!P faithful.

The MC for this show was a solo Makoto. It was strange not seeing him with one of his usual co-hosts (Yaguchi, Inaba or Ogawa) by his side. I gotta say the dude has some interesting hair. I don’t know if he’s had the same style since his Sharan Q days or not, but if he has been rocking the cut since that time props to him. Not many people can pull off that look.

The show started off on the right foot (for me) when the lovely Charmy appeared to sing the opening lines of I Wish.

This was basically a Morning Musume OG performance even though it’s not really credited as one. A great way to kick off the concert although I found that Nakazawa & Yaguchi did sound a bit shaky at the beginning of the song. Nothing awful or anything, it’s just with all that crazy dancing involved with this song they sounded a tiny bit winded.

The other opening track was Aya Matsuura’s I Know & it was performed by the entire Elder Club ensemble. Another high energy performance that got the crowd hyped for the rest of the concert.

Juunen Ai is a song I have not heard before. Yes I still have much to discover about the deep catalog of H!P songs. It’s a catchy tune & all the women involved harmonized so nicely. Something I feel is kind of lacking on the Wonderful Hearts side of H!P.

I may be in the minority here but I believe Yasuda Kei is kinda hot. I’m just saying…

Has Abe Natsumi aged at all? She looks the same as when she first joined Morning Musume so many moons ago. Not that I’m complaining, just a simple observation. She performed Screen & Koi no Telephone Goal and the fans were quite vocal during her performances. Actually the audience was quite vocal anytime she was involved in anything during the concert.

During the an MC segment Mano Erina was introduced. I was wondering WTF she was doing there. At the time of this concert she was pimping her song La La La So So So and I guess this was a way to endear her to the audience.

Although this is one of her boring piano songs I actually like it because it was the first time I sensed a bit of potential in her. Yes she’s cute but man it was hard watching this performance without dozing off.

Melon Kinenbi singing Give Me Up was a real treat. Not only is it a great song but it allowed for the members to show off their vocal gymnastics a little. I did find their wardrobe questionable though. It’s like they were dressed for a St. Patrick’s Day parade or something.

Although boss Saito looked fucking yummy so no complaints about that at all. =)

Another cool thing about this particular performance were the people sitting on the benches in the background. They looked like they were having a lot of fun.

Many original lineups (or close remnants of them) of popular groups were reunited during this show. Amongst them were Pucchi Moni and Tanpopo. Baby! Koi ni Knockout is a killer track and this performance was full of energy and was great to watch. In contrast Tanpopo was more subdued and mellow. It’s such a sweet song.

Biyuden is the one group I miss the most in H!P. Yes their songs may have been somewhat cutesy pop bordering on cheese but they’re catchy & you can’t beat the kind of fan service this group provided. Next to Morning Musume this is the best group Rika has been a part of (IMO). It’s such a blast to watch them on stage.

Lastly there’s GAM. Although Thanks! isn’t my favorite song of theirs I still have love for it. Having a few members from the Elder Club sing backup vocals was pretty cool. But of course it all about the Ayaya & Mikitty and it was awesome seeing them together again.

The MC segments of this concert were interesting. Usually I find these kind of meh but there were a couple of great corners. I’m talking about the throwback footage about Fujimoto and Ishikawa. Seeing a 16 year old Miki and a 15 year old Rika was sweet. Watching their reactions to the old video footage was funny. Yossy’s reaction to watching the footage of Rika was even better.

The Morming Musume OG Medley started off with Morning Coffee and Manatsu no Kousen. Those early songs sure had some complex harmonies and the OG’s pulled them off perfectly. I only hope that maybe the current lineup will get songs like these one day.

The rest of the medley was completed with Ai Araba It’s Alright and the classics The Peace! and Love Machine.

Like the Wonderful Hearts concert this one ended with a ballad (Never Forget). Rather fitting since the entire group would be graduating soon after this show. An excellent show overall.

Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club Koen – Thank you for your LOVE! –

Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club Koen – Thank you for your LOVE! –

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