The band clearly already expected us to sing along again in Japanese, but they probably didn’t expect to see an ocean of yellow and red lights to go with that. This time, during the Ambitions concert, the fans were out to surprise them again. In their 2016 concert here, when Taka was obviously poised to sing an English version of the chorus, he was visibly surprised that we Filipinos sang along in Japanese! The stanzas of that song are in English the chorus and the coda are in Japanese. There’s a story about the ballad “Wherever You Are” that Filipino fans are very proud of.
Then it was time to groove to Ryota’s bass patterns and Tomoya’s intricate drum rolls as they performed “Bedroom Warfare,” shortly before serenading the fans with their popular track “Wherever You Are” (a song that Taka wrote for his friend’s wedding). Next, Toru took centerstage playing the guitar solo for their old song, “Re:Make,” before the band slowed things down a bit with “Clock Strikes,” where Taka displayed his impressive vocal range as the crowd sang along, “Believe that time is always forever!” And Tomoya, his precision with the drums was pure thrill. Toru and Ryota never missed a chord even while spinning. Taka hit the notes effortlessly while bobbing and running across the stage and leaping. It’s the effect they have on you when the four of them hit the stage. The screaming, jumping, dancing, singing, and head banging just went on the entire night. Because the fans went wild as band members took turns greeting us in Filipino. Then all eyes and ears were on Ryota as he performed a bass solo to signal the next song, “Deeper Deeper,” after which the band took things up a notch with “Taking Off.” They didn’t give the fans the chance to breathe since they followed it up with “Cry Out.” And when Taka, Toru (Yamashita, lead), Ryota (Kohama, bass), and Tomoya (Kanki, drums) finally opened with “Bombs Away,” the hall just sort of exploded. When the instrumental intro from their latest album Ambitions played, the crowd just roared.
That Monday night, the moment the lights dimmed, fans started screaming. Their Ambitions concert was a reminder that this Japanese band, whenever you think you’ve identified all the reasons to love them, would just decide to get better. The Mall of Asia Arena, as in two years ago, again burst with the energy of the band and the hysteria of thousands of us OORockers. Last January 29, that “next time” was here.
So imagine how euphoric I was when I finally got to see them live in 2016, during their XXXV concert in Manila! It was such a highly-charged evening, nothing less than what I had seen in their concert videos, that when vocalist Taka Moriuchi said, “See you next time!” I was sure I’d watch them again.
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