EDIT (April 7, 10pm): j1m0ne’s report link added.
EDIT (April 7, 8pm): Dark Mirage’s report link added.
EDIT (April 2, 11pm): Kai’s full report added.

I am still waiting for the weekend for more English reports from the concert-goers. This post will just be a list of links of information that I could find all over the internet.

Set List:

1．Gift
2．Feel Myself
3．Platina
〈MC〉
4．blind summer fish
5．Hemisphere
6．Yukka
7．30 minutes night fright
〈MC〉
8．Remedy
9．Koucha
10．Sonic Boom
〈dr solo～par solo〉
11．Kiseki no Umi
〈MC〉
12．gravity
13．Kazamidori
14．Daniel（with guitar only）
15．Medley with Kanno playing piano only
Yakusoku wa Iranai（intro）~Yubiwa~Active Heart~Alkaloid~Shippo no Uta~Tell Me What The Rain Knows~tune the rainbow~Triangler~Yakusoku wa Iranai（happy birthday to Maaya）~Choko to Yuuki
16．Get No Satisfaction!〈MC〉
17．Mameshiba
18．Private Sky
19．Hikari Are
〈MC〉
20．I.D.
〈encore〉
☆happy birthday to Maaya with Suzuki Shouko +birthday cake
21．Kazemachi Jet （+ Suzuki Shouko playing drums）
22，Magic Number（+ Suzuki Shouko playing drums）
23．everywhere
24．Empty the pocket （+Kanno, Suzuki Shouko）

Read Dark Mirage’s full report here.

Read j1m0ne’s full report here.

Read Jerome’s full report here.

Read Kai‘s full report below:

Well, I got to the Budoukan at 7:30 and there was already about 80 to 100 people waiting for merchandise so I joined in and waited in the cold till 11:30ish. Not much to say about the merchandise except that the book is a must buy as far as I’m concerned.
We had tickets in different spots so we all had different views. I was in the northeast in the 8 o’clock position but the stage extended right around the rear so people in the front row of the NE, N, NW seats could have touched her. When she walked along the rear stage I was close enough to see the glittery stuff on her eyelashes, yeah, she is beautiful.
Gift was a logical start, it was an old time favourite and together with Feel Myself was a nice slow start. Not much to say about Platina except its Platina, I thought her outfit which was in the shape of black boxes with red ribbons seemed to suit this upbeat kind of song. Blind summer fish has never been high on my favourite list and it was somewhat overshadowed by a tremendous Hemisphere. It was great to hear Yukka and then 30minutes. Honestly 30minutes was not perfect (at least not at the start) but it was so good to hear it live I couldn’t care less. Remedy and Koucha could never be anything less than beautiful and she nailed Sonic Boom. The guitar/drum solo while she changed costume kicked arse. Most of the band members are We Are Kazeyomi veterans and the female percussionist teased her way into the startup of Kiseki no umi. A really good version, the backing vocalists really added a bit more oomph to the song. I would say she fudged a few lines of gravity but really I doubt anyone cared. Having said that I think her english is a bit better. My opinon of Kazamidori is about the same as for Remedy/Koucha it’s such a sweet, Maaya-style song. Again probably a few mistakes with Danieru but it was different and really dramatic, there were coloured spotlights on her which turned her with dress green. Then everything went nuts. Kanno. I was screaming when she appeared at the piano. Both Tochiro and I were thinking it was suspicious that Kanno was conspicuous by her absence when both Kawamori, h-wonder etc. sent flowers. So it was fitting that kanno came to her protege’s birthday. The medley itself was a bit of a tease for me, a good way of getting through a bunch of songs and a bit of fun. I loved the Choco to Yuuki tagged on the end of the medley. Get No Satisfaction was epically good with Maaya trying her hand at the guitar and having a blast with the song. We were all pumping our fists along with the vocals, really energizing (well it’s that kind of song). There was no chance she would skip Mameshiba, this was a better version than at Kazeyomi, Private Sky was an absolute blast, and Hikari Are finished off an excellent trio of songs. She talked about her feelings when she was young and the motivation behind her final song, I.D.
Then the obligatory encore. Suzuki and the cake was really funny, Kazemachi Jet was really lively and this time I did do the embarrassing hand motions along with Maaya. Magic Number’s innocent feel contrasted nicely with Everywhere’s depth and when everyone including Kanno and Suzuki came back for Poketto you knew it would be good. We all sang along quite well I thought.
Final thoughts. The presence of Kanno and Suzuki were the twin cherries on a delicious birthday concert. It felt really good to see the Budoukan packed with people who share a love for Maaya. The audience were great, really vocal, having fun, encouraging Maaya along. This is me so there is no way I could criticise the performances or the choice of songs. Maaya did what she wanted to do and she did it well. I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did and I wish her all the very best.

Scroll down the comments here to see some photos of the booklet of the concert, including some photos of Maaya by Kanno.

Related Articles:

• Maaya Sakamoto Everywhere Debuts in Oricon Dailies at #3
• Maaya Sakamoto "Everywhere"
• Rumor Mill: Maaya's 30th Birthday in Budokan

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Yoko Kanno News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.