 AKB48
New York Webster Hall Live Concert USA Debut
 The
popular Japanese female group AKB48 made their USA debut at New York City
famous club, Webster Hall, on September 27th, 2009. If you don't follow
Japanese pop music, then chances are that you have never heard of AKB48
like a lot of the audience at the concert. But like the audience, you
will soon find out that you have been missing out on a group that has
been growing insanely popular in Japan. Sixteen of the 65 AKB48 members
was on hand for this concert, which includes Tomomi Itano, Atsuko Maeda,
Minami Takahashi, Sayaka Akimoto, Haruna Kojima, and more. AsiaFinest.com
was glad to be there to cover AKB48 USA debut concert!
The AKB48 concert took place on a Sunday afternoon at 5pm at NY's famous
Webster Hall. Audience members were given glow sticks and AKB48 bandanas
as they entered the club. For a lot of the audience here, this was their
first exposure to AKB48 so they really had no idea what to expect. Some
came because they heard and saw a preview at the New
York Anime Festival the day before. The concert started soon after
5pm. They opened the concert with their signature song, "Aitakatta".
AKB48 then follow the intro song with "Baby! Baby! Baby!" and
"Namida Surprise." After those three songs, each member of the
group introduced themselves in English and Japanese. Most AKB48 members
had limited English language skills, so it was a little hard to understand
what some were saying, but it was cute and the audience didn't mind and
enjoyed the segment.
The group then divided into smaller singing groups to perform songs like
the very catchy "Nagoya no Cherry", "Bye Bye Bye",
and the cute "Ame no Doubutsuen" which had the group members
wearing cute animal costumes. Next came "Nageki no Figure" which
the audience didn't act with excitement like the previous songs. All that
changed with the song "Blue Rose". Up till this point, AKB48
can be summed up with one word, cute. Then came "Blue Rose"
and the cute became extremely sexy. Four of the members came out and performed
this hard rock song in a very sexy leather outfit and the audience went
wild! Everyone at this point was pretty much mesmerized and was screaming
in excitement. Definitely the hottest performance of the night. The audience
cheered wildly as the song ended.
The final sets of songs included "Boku no Taiyou", "Bingo!",
and "Oogoe Diamond". Some of these songs were sang in a special
English version. "Hikoukigumo" came next which involved the
concert audience by encouraging them to put the red AKB48 bandanas that
was given out early to use and wave them enthusiastically. Lastly AKB48
sang "Sakura no Hanabiratachi" and said goodbye for the night.
This prompted the obligatory chants of encore by the audience.
AKB48 did not disappoint and came running back out with I Love New York
T-shirts. The encore set of songs included their newest up tempo and highly
addicting song "Iiwake Maybe". Honestly I thought AKB48 sang
Let Me Be! in the song chorus, but it was actually "Maybe!".
After "Iiwake Maybe", it was "10nenzakura," and an
encore of "Oogoe Diamond" in English. The group then said their
goodbyes yet again. The audience was not about to let AKB48 leave without
trying for one more encore. Chants of AKB! - 48! started..
AKB48 surprised the fans and came back out for a second encore! They sang
"Hikoukigumo" once more. The audience members that didn't know
of AKB48 at the beginning of the concert was now jumping up and down and
waving their AKB48 bandanas. The whole crowd was loving it. Everyone was
jumping in sync to the point where Webster Hall's floor felt like it was
about to cave in. You can just feel the excitement and love that the entire
audience was showing for AKB48. Sadly this was truly the last song of
the night as AKB48 said their goodbyes for the final time.
It was a great concert, one that far exceeded what I was expecting. The
concert converted me into a huge AKB48 fan. AKB48 sang most of their hits
songs for their debut concert. If you are new to AKB48, then be sure to
check out the songs listed in this review. Just listening and watching
AKB48 does not compare to the experience from a live performance. You
have to see AKB48 live to experience the insane amount of energy and fun
in their concert. If there was any non fans audience members before the
concert, they were all converted into huge fans afterward. Be sure to
check out our pictures and definitely the videos of AKB48 US debut concert
at Webster Hall.
Review written by Ben Li of AsiaFinest.com.
AKB48
Concert Pictures || AKB48 Concert
Videos || AKB48
Products
If you have any pictures from this event, please send
it to us and we'll credit you for it. Talk about this event in our
friendly discussion forum!
Be sure to check out our other reviews. Write
an Asian related article, and get it read by thousands of people daily.
Get credit for it. Click here
for more details on submitting an article to us.
|
Home
Shopping 
Star
Profiles 
