B'z Live-Gym 2003
"BANZAI IN NORTH AMERICA"
House Of Blues, Las Vegas, October 12, 2003

Report by Ryne

I got into Vegas at 11 am after two early flights, and met my mom who was already in town for business. Rested until 6 and saw as much of the town you can see in an hour, the whole time my mind thinking "B'z B'z B'z B'z!" We took the tram from our hotel to the hotel with the HoB (convenient!). We got in line behind this nice middle-aged lady who asked my mom "You know B'z!?" We talked about how I found them over the internet and how I ordered albums and stuff. She liked Survive the best. We filed in and checked our cameras, and my mom and I got a good spot on the floor near the back, since we're both tall, and well...there were lots of shorter people there. :D As the curtain rose, she turned to us, giving a thumbs up and said, "Enjoy the show!" with a huuuge smile. She loved talking about B'z with someone from another country, I think.

Once Tak walked out onto the stage and raised his arms, the crowd went nuts. I just stood with my mouth open, amazed to see the amazing Matsumoto right in front of me! He strapped in, Shane sat down, and the keyboard guy stretched his arms out, and Tak ripped into Arakure as Koshi strutted out from the left side of the stage.

Arakure: Amazing. Amazing. So hard and loud. Koshi was already in perfect form and Tak was just getting going

BLOWIN': I really like this song. "Blowin, Blowin in the wind, yes kaze ni.." that's all I knew of the song. XD I was surprised they played such an early song at this show!

~ MC ~ Koshi has an harmonica solo, very good, too! He welcomes us all, and talks about how this is the first show of the North American Tour, and how they hope to make it a great start to the whole thing.

Yasei no ENERGY: I like this song live a lot more than I do on CD. Much more ENERGY! :D Koshi did his fair share of movement here.

Wake up, Right now: Another BIG~ song. :D "Wake up! Right now!" but no na na's...Still, Koshi's voice was still perfect.

MOTEL: MOTEL!!! MOTEL!!! Hitori jya, nai kara and then it busts loose...I felt very sentimental during this song...

~MC~ I think this was where Tak played his solo. This must have been "Little Wing" though I didn't know it at the time. Koshi then proceeds to ask us if we want to clap. We fail miserably, and he gives us a look I'm sure he would use in a classroom. Once we got the final beat down, we sped it up and he turned, "No no no, that's too fast." in his calm voice...:D

Komachi no Angel: Another older song?! Still, they were picking the A Tracks tonight. Koshi's body expression when he said "Angel!" was classic.

Love is Dead: I couldn't imagine them playing this song here! I love the jazziness and they really made it work without the band in the background! The chorus was really memorable with Koshi going wild.

Konya Tsuki No Mieru Oka Ni: My first B'z song! (I think it was lots of peoples'!) Good lighting and great guitar and vocal work. I think Koshi saw me singing along with it...That might have been weird to see. XD

Brotherhood -- We'llll beeee alright! AMAZING AMAZING! BROTHERHOOD!! :D :D My mom even liked this song!

~ MC ~ Once again we were instructed in both languages. "Do you feel like singing? Want to sing?" Nanana's, tututu's, and hahaha's! And then...

Easy Come, Easy Go: Another great older song. I couldn't believe they were still going on this trend! The nana's, tutu's and ahaha's were fun! Easy Come, Easy Gooooo!

Love me, I love you: What a super song. For some reason, this song acted like a center as the show pivoted from cruising to OVERDRIVE!

F.E.A.R.: Snap! All the energy got released during this song. Neat strobe light during the quick guitar work. The girls on the balcony were jumping so fast and so hard and shaking the railing I thought one might fall! As someone on NP mentioned, if there's anything that's "Porn on Legs", it's Koshi during F.E.A.R. His movement and techinque were really great. :-O Shall we dance?

ZERO: One of my first B'z Rock songs. :D I sang along again...It's so much fun!

JUICE: Yes! I knew they had to play this! It was about a million times more impact live. Screaming along with "Hey, It's alright!"

Ultra Soul: Oooh! My favorite song from GREEN! My mom was shocked I knew the words and when I jumped and down and threw my arms up on the Hey! :D Rocked.

It's SHOWTIME!: I felt like the show was almost over, and just as I started to feel down, this cheered me up. Koshi's "Gargoyle" crouch at the front of the stage was cute. :D

---Then they left, and my mom looked at me and smiled...Our ears were ringing, and we were yelling to hear anything. We started clapping, and chanting for them to come back. Finally, they returned, Shane without a shirt and Tak in a Cut-off white BANZAI t-shirt. Koshi remained in his yellow cargos and tight shiny button down shirt.

ENCORE 1: Hakanai Daimond -- I was afraid they wouldn't play it. My #1 BIG~ song! Amazing, awesome guitar work, and Koshi was still fresh after this whole time!!!

ENCORE 2: Giri Giri Chop -- This always seemed like a crazy B'z song to me...and it's even moreso live. Both Koshi and Tak left it all up on the stage, since this was the last song. Koshi made a dynamic jump on the silence before the "Giri Giri!" Great closer.

All in all...This was a great experience for me personally. I got to meet that nice woman, who went out of her way to find my mom and me in the sea of people afterwards to say goodbye, and to wish us a safe trip home! It was awesome meeting and seeing nice people who were complete strangers getting together and seeing something that's foreign to one nation, yet both enjoyed themselves immensely. This concert made me rededicate myself to my guitar learning, and music writing, and on top of that, I decided to major in Japanese on top of my current decided major! Seeing how happy the Japanese people there were to talk about something with someone foreign was great, and just shows how much this North American tour means to both English and Japanese speakers. Hopefully, they continue returning and one day, I'll be able to have conversations with the non-english speakers attending!

Long Live B'z!