TOKYO - Despite snowfall in central Tokyo, Ryuya Ueda of KAT-TUN held the final day of his solo concert "MOUSE PEACE 2024 ~Galyu Tensei~" on Tuesday at Zepp DiverCity in Tokyo, with both afternoon and evening performances. However, just before the curtain rose for the afternoon performance on Tuesday, a temporary power outage delayed the start of the show, sending the crowd wild.
After a wait for safety confirmation, the announcement that the show was ready to start was met with applause and chants of "Ryuya" from the audience, and the show began at 14:23, about 20 minutes behind schedule.
The concert, themed as Ueda's "dreamland," starts with an unexpected storm causing him to fall into the sea from KAT-TUN's ship. In the opening, a dragon displayed on the stage monitors suddenly appeared in the venue as a 6.5-meter-long dragon balloon, approaching the audience at arm's length and impressively dancing around. This world's first dragon balloon spectacle captivated the audience right from the start.
Ueda, in sunglasses and black attire, popped up on stage to enthusiastic cheers from the audience, singing hits like "Yankee Kataomoi Chu," "BUTTERFLY," and "Hyakka Ryouran" in quick succession. "Tokyo! This isn't all we've got, right?" Ueda hyped the crowd, which responded with even more excitement.
In his greeting after the songs, Ueda joked, "Was it about 20 minutes? We're a bit behind schedule. Sorry, it wasn't my intention to tease you," and then positively spun the earlier troubles by saying, "Maybe some god doesn't want 'MOUSE PEACE' to end."
During "MONSTER NIGHT" from the 2013 album "Kusabi," Ueda appeared in a monster costume, replicating the Music Video produced at the time. During the song, smoke from handheld cannons filled the venue, which surprisingly carried the scent of chocolate, presenting a POP and fantastical world even to the sense of smell.
In the latter half of the live, dedicated to KAT-TUN songs, Ueda tenderly sang "Love in snow," a song he wrote and composed about 20 years ago. He also performed Yuichi Nakamaru's solo song "WHITE WORLD" and Kazuya Kamenashi's "1582" (both from the 2009 album "Break the Records -by you & for you-"), adding his own twist to the original performances in a special staging unique to this concert.
Popular group songs "Keep the faith" and "RESCUE" were also performed. During the climax of "RESCUE," Nakamaru made a surprise appearance from the back of the stage for a collaboration with Ueda, which elicited thunderous applause from the audience.
After singing, Ueda and Nakamaru engaged in banter as MCs. Nakamaru praised Ueda, saying, "I've been watching from the opening, and it's emotional! It made me reflect on my own school days and it was interesting. You're doing great!" Nakamaru also mentioned his solo YouTube channel "Nakamaru Ginga Channel" and joked about posting a video without Ueda's permission, to which Ueda pointed out, "The announcement at the beginning said 'Please don't record with cameras,' right? But he's recording (laughs)." Nakamaru quipped back, "I live on the edge," causing laughter.
Nakamaru, who appeared in casual clothes—a white sweater and black pants, in contrast to Ueda's flashy red KAT-TUN outfit—joked at the end, "I'm a guest here, so at least let me wear a costume!" to the audience's amusement.
Ueda also performed new songs "Girist!" and "Hikari Sasu Hou e," co-produced with Sho Sakurai of Arashi for this solo concert. "Girist!" is themed around friendship and the bond between the two who worked on the song together, while "Hikari Sasu Hou e" is about the relationship with the fans. Ueda meticulously crafted these new songs, from the lyrics to the singing style and the call-and-response with the audience during the live performance, creating a unified atmosphere.
In addition to "Lollipop," a solo song long-awaited by fans to be recorded, Ueda passionately sang a total of 20 songs, including "Hana no Mau Machi," a popular number from last year's KAT-TUN tour, and the enduringly popular "Cantabile."
After a full-throttle performance, Ueda expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the fans, saying, "No matter how many times I do it, live performances are truly wonderful. Being able to share our voices and spend time together with the same passion and unity in this environment is an irreplaceable treasure. I feel blessed every day that I was able to share the same view and the same passion with all of you throughout all the performances. I've completely burned out in the afternoon show. Thank you very much!" With these words, the concert came to a regretful close.
Source: MDPR
