C-ute 2010 Summer Concert review

Finally released to the internet the other day was C-ute's 2010 Summer Concert Tour (not sure whether to call it fall or summer because the title says "natsu aki", which translates to "summer fall", but since it started in August I just call it their summer tour).

1. Dance de Bakoon!

Surprisingly this was my least favorite performance of this song. I love it to death but a combination of the outfits (makes a hot song like this less hot) and placement of this song (I wouldn't have picked this to open the concert) contributed to my conclusion. This is what inevitably happens with great songs - you play them over and over until you get tired of them. I didn't sense a large level of excitement from Dance de Bakoon! like I usually do. Even the jajajaja~s weren't quite as energetic as usual. But still, a sub-par version of Dance de Bakoon! is better than most other performances.
7.5/10

2. Disco Queen

The intro was pretty cool. It was a remix of sorts where all of the girls got a chance to step up on the higher platforms and do a quick solo dance. The only problem is the solo dances were largely lame. None of them really made me go "wow". Moving on to the actual song, it was business as usual. Great co-leads by Mai and Saki.
8/10

3. Tokaikko Junjou

Again, another solid performance, but nothing terribly exciting. We've seen this many times before. I think I prefer this later on in the concert though. The hideous disco jellyfish outfits again take away some of the sexiness of the dance. I hope they burned them after the concert.
7.5/10

4. MC

I usually don't review MCs but I'm writing this to the people who usually skip MCs. If that applies to you, then make sure you listen to this one even if you don't understand a word. If you don't, then you will be confused throughout the whole concert as to why the girls keep pointing to their crotches. Plus Maichan does a pretty epic Beat Takeshi impersonation.

If you watched and are still confused, the komanechi crotch thing is another impersonation of Japanese comedian Beat Takeshi. C-ute is using it as a way to lighten the mood. They do it at least a dozen different times throughout the concert (at least twice per MC), so be on the lookout. Since I have nothing better to do, I will keep a count of it throughout this review. Current komanechi count: 7



5. Kore Ijou Kirawaretakunai no 

Been a B-side, I haven't heard this song as much as I'd like to so this is the first song on the setlist that I don't know by heart. And it is exactly that reason why I found it to be the best performance (so far). It was the most fresh of the previous three songs since I've heard them hundreds of times. But again those outfits. How much longer must they wear them?
8.5/10

6. Bye Bye Bye

Just when I thought they'd change the outfits, they just take off the vest portion and make them slightly less ugly. Oh well, I guess it's an improvement. Besides that, I love the song. I remember when it first came out I basically hated Bye Bye Bye. Probably a combination of missing Kanna and the embarrassing funky crab dance (which they thankfully left out during this performance) during the instrumental break. Surprising, Bye Bye Bye is one of my favorites now. I love Saki's vocaloid solos and Mai always sounds great in this song. Airi's dakishimero solo is always powerful. This performance barely beats out Ijou for my favorite so far.
8.5/10

7. Soku Dakishimete

Ah, here is a song I haven't heard in a while. Some times I almost forget that it was one of their indies singles. Every time I hear this, it makes me miss Megumi. She really owned this song. Even if Airi is taking over her lines, Megu still did it a lot better. But I digress. I quite like this dance (it's actually one of the few that I kinda sorta have memorized lol) and hey it's another song with an Airi lead so yay.
7.5/10

8. MC2

In this MC, I think Airi and Saki answer questions sent in by fans via their Serend blog. The real reason why I'm writing about this is to update the komanechi count. They both do it once, bringing the count to 9.

9. The Party (Mai, Chisato, Maimi)

Okay I'm going to be honest here and say I don't like this song. Nor the outfits. It's a step up from what they were wearing before but length of the top stretches too long for my tastes (especially on Mai's). Maybe I'm not giving this song a chance (I've heard it maybe five times), but I really don't want to listen to it anymore. Its just boring. And its not because I don't like ballads, because I do. Its just this song. Also Maimi I love you but that last note was borderline painful.
4/10

10. Homerare Nobiko no Theme Kyoku 

Thankfully Homerare is here to save the day. I didn't like C-ute's 5th album, but loved their 3rd. Homerare is one of the reasons why. And ever since like the second performance of this song (somewhere in 2008 I'd guess), they added little "cha-cha"s to the lyrics after anytime they sing the "homerare" part. Essentially those two words filled an empty gap in the song and made it better. It's hard listening to the studio recording of the song because I feel weird listening to this song without that in there. This is a case where the live performance is actually better than the recorded version, which is very hard to do. It only loses a point for being too short.
9/10

11. Dance Medley
Okay this was full of pure win. Like everything about it was perfect (except one thing, they were so obviously lip-syncing the whole time its not even funny). Talk about a song I haven't heard in forever,  Kiiroi Osora de Boom Boom Boom was just freaking perfect for Maimi's voice. I'm pretty sure if it were longer than like 20 seconds then I'd like it more than the original. I wanted a wow moment before and here it was. This completely makes up for that horrible note earlier.

The next song was Uchuu de La Ta T, which I heard for the first time. It's a T&C Bomber song, so you'll have to forgive me. If Chisato picked this song herself then I have to give credit to her for digging up an old, forgotten song. Again it suited her voice freaking perfectly. If they haven't given up on that Hello! Cover thing, then I hope Chisato releases a studio version of this. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Seishun Custard was next and was also my first time hearing it (I never got into Ongaku Gatas). But for the third time it was a perfect fit for Saki's voice. Just wow. I wanted Saki to sing lead the whole song, but it was cut short. I was really angry about that...

...for about two seconds. The camera then cuts to Airi doing a badass solo dance in some hawt outfits. Finally! She sang Shall We Love? by Gomattou (an one-shot Goto Maki, Ayaya, and Miki unit), which is one of my favorite songs of H!P's golden era. Soon everyone else comes out in those hawt outfits and I am finally happy with costume designer-san.

Next the medley did something I thought to be impossible at this point - it got even better. Maichan was last and boy, did they ever save the best for last. She sang Crazy About You - a song from Minimoni's awesome latter years. The lead was solid (though not even close to the original), but that's not why this was awesome.

I was hard on the dance solos earlier because they were bland and I knew the creative minds at UFA could do better. This was so much more amazing on so many levels. Really, words cannot describe how I felt (or maybe they can). All I remember is that I shouted OMG at least four times during this segment alone.

After the hawt dancing, they finally started singing live again for Get Up Rapper, which was the cherry on top.

Despite the lip-syncing, I just have to give this a perfect score.
10/10

Also because I had to, here is the Dance Medley: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hIejxyvBT8

12. Shock

Ah, Shock - the song everyone loves to hate. I just love to love it. I don't care about line distribution much. I mainly care about the quality of the song and how catchy it is. Though one thing I would like to see done with this song is a revolving lead. UFA totally missed a great opportunity to milk this single by having five different versions - one for each member - where the girl would take Airi's part and sing lead for her version. But anyway this wasn't the best performance of Shock nor the worst. No real complaints here.
7.5/10

13. VTR

lol wow this was really awesome. Again its something that C-ute fans should not skip. I don't care if you don't speak Japanese. I didn't understand a single thing about it but it was the hardest I laughed all week.

14. Massara Blue Jeans

Yay more indies. It isn't a C-ute concert without Massara is it? Despite seeing it every concert, I don't think I get tired of this song (and dance), so even though its business as usual, it's still great. I suppose that's the definition of a classic.
8/10

15. Tachiagare Otometachi

This is the first time it's been sang live isn't it? While this isn't my favorite B-side ever, I always like seeing dances for the first time so it's a welcome addition to the setlist. The dance in the instrumental break is pretty cool. And yay for everyone getting solo lines.
7.5/10

16. Forever Love

It's kind of funny that Forever Love has basically the same line distribution bias as Shock (except it's split two ways) but it's a lot more highly regarded. For like 75% of the song, Maimi and Airi are even completely split from the rest of the group, while the rest of C-ute is in a corner somewhere. But like I said, I don't care much about line distro so I love this song unconditionally. The dance is great and I rarely say this about a song, but I love the instrumental.
7.5/10

17. MC
Another MC so it means more komanechi-ing.
Maimi did it 3 times and Chisato did it once, bringing the total to: 13.

18. One's Life (Airi and Saki)

Oh look, a song from C-ute's 4th album not named Akogare My Star. Do not want. The best part of the song is getting the crowd to wave their hands in the air. I can't really think of anything else to like about this song. At least the dancing at the end was cool.
5/10

19. Meguru Koi no Kistetsu

Probably my least favorite single, but that's mostly because C-ute's singles are almost always epic. It's a huge step up from One's Life at least. Also the outfits have been getting better as the concert goes on. I totally love these. I would have liked to see this a little earlier in the setlist though.
7.5/10


20. Ooki na Ai de Motenashite

Yay another indies single. It's another classic for sure, but I don't like it as much as Massara. It's fun to do some of the dance moves so I don't really mind hearing it again.
7/10

21. Seishun Song

Wasn't this a Maimi solo? I can't remember the last time I actually heard Maimi sing it alone. It's usually with C-ute. I didn't mind this song, which is a good sign because I already stated how I feel about C-ute's 4th album. I think having all of C-ute sing it makes it better. Plus towels yay. Also I love when they let the wota sing.
7.5/10

22. Campus Life

I like the happiness vibe that this song gives off. And any song that the wota use their "L-O-V-E LOVELY" chant is instantly awesome. Now excuse me while I go chant L-O-V-E LOVELY AIRI
8/10

23. Natsu Doki Lipstick

lolwut, more solos turned into group songs? Well it's never really been sang this way so that counts as new I guess. I love how they actually split the lines and didn't just led Maimi sing and everyone dance behind her because again I think it made the song better. We've seen a couple of covers of this song (even one by Airi) and none came close to the original. I think this one finally is not only as good as the original, but better. All of C-ute singing gives it more power. I wasn't sure how they were going to handle the dance in the middle, but it was pretty epic seeing them all do it. This concert is totally filled with hot dance moves.
10/10

24. Jump

Another C-ute staple. Honestly it's hard not to get into this song. It's one of the highest energy songs H!P has. My only complaint is my arm always hurts at the end of this song. Yay for having twig arms.
8.5/10

25. MC

It's the last MC. Would they bring back the komanechi? Nakky mentioned it in her mini-talk and thanked everyone for playing along. They actually got through the whole MC without doing it. I'm surprised. Oh well I guess no more komanechi

26. Wasuretakunai Natsu

I really love this song. I really don't know why either. It's kinda like C-ute's upbeat version of Semi. It brings back memories and just seems to be awesome every single time they sing it. And scratch the whole no more komanechi-ing. During one of the instrumental parts, Nakky and Mai did it once together. lulz. Komanechi count: 15

Also Maichan kisses Nakky on the cheek. I told you this song is awesome every time.
8.5/10

27. Tsuugaku Vector

One more solo turned group song and one more case where it actually improves the song. Yeah I know it's an Airi solo, but it still sounds better with all of C-ute singing it. Kyuuto saikou!
9/10

Also, during their usual wave goodbye, of course they had to komanechi one last time. Nakky and Chisa do it together, as does Airi and Mai. Leader is the last one off the stage and does it one final time alone, bringing the final komanechi count to... 20. Yes, that actually did it 20 separate times during the course of this concert. And you know what? It actually made MCs and the whole concert more interesting. I loved it.

Overall I was thoroughly entertained. The lows were low (One's Life, The Party) and the highs were high (Dance Medley, enough said). Because of the mass komanechi-ing, the Dance Medley and some pretty cool covers (turning 3 solos into group songs), this concert was something more than great - it was memorable. 8/10