Megumi, May’n at Anime Expo 2010
UPDATE (July 15, 2010): Here are some more photos from Natalie.mu.
UPDATE (July 5, 2010): View some photos of the concert from Japanator.
UPDATE (July 3, 2010): The guest indeed is Kanno!!! Please read the comments below for some reports. Bird call trinkets? Hmmm 
Megumi and May’n will be part of the guests to perform at the Anime Expo 2010 on L.A. on July 2, and it’s interesting to note that they mentioned that “A mystery guest will also join them on stage for a surprise performance.” Oh who could it be, and why aren’t they announcing who it is? (Maaya? Kanno?)
There are many other guests on their list that I am personally interested in, like MELL, Kenji Kamiyama and Toshihiro Kawamoto. I am hoping for news from the people who could attend!
May 20th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Just when I decided not to attend this year’s Anime Expo… I really wish they’d announce the complete programming and guest line-ups half a year before the event.
May 20th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Oh, I’m so excited! I really hope the special guest is Kanno, but of course I would be happy to see Maaya again as well! *Fingers crossed*
May 20th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
This is wonderful news, it’s probably the #1 reason I’m going to AX 2010.
I have never attended one before and there is NO way I’m gonna miss their concert.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
my guess on the mystery guest would be Kanno.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
This is great, looks like we have many reporters for this event!
If the mystery guest is Kanno, they should announce it right now, cause it’s going to be good publicity for them IMO
May 20th, 2010 at 9:58 pm
I knew my patience would be rewarded! I really hope the mystery guest is Kanno…
May 20th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Hmmm, not to bring down some people’s hopes, but it is quite possibly Mari Iijima because she lives around LA…
May 21st, 2010 at 2:02 am
While I really really really hope the mysterious guest is Maaya or Kanno, I doubt it’s either. If it was either of them, AX would not make it a secret. It’s definitely much more likely that Mari Iijima is the mysterious guest.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:14 am
Huh. I hadn’t thought of that possibility, but now it seems highly likely.
…if that’s true though, I get the feeling my dad would want to come along. xD Being the old fan he is.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:19 am
Yeah that was my thought too. Why would they hide someone like them under “mystery guest”? But I think the initial perception that it’s Kanno comes from the fact that she pops up here and there unannounced in different concerts. Adding to the fact that the two girls are Macross F girls, and it was her music that they sang. Maaya is also kind of the third singer in the animation, so there’s also an impression for her appearance. But if either of these artists were to come up on stage, they would be headliners to May’n and Megumi, not just some guest don’t you think? Unless their talent fee is so expensive that they could only be brought in for interviews and one song, as opposed to a full blown set
/rambling
Well regardless of their appearance, I’m sure the convention would be jam-packed
May 21st, 2010 at 4:32 pm
drat! now that you’ve pointed that out, it does seem to be Mari Iijima
May 22nd, 2010 at 10:41 am
If the secret guest comes to be Aya Endo, I may die of excitement!!!!!
May 23rd, 2010 at 4:50 am
This is first time in ages when I genuinely wish that I was american and curse the fact I live in Europe.
Maybe I can get tickets (and plane flight, lol) for free if the concert takes place in Nokia Centre?
After all, I’m finnish…
Gahh I guess this is really desperate sounding, isn’t it? ;____;
(I hope the mystary performer is Kanno)
June 5th, 2010 at 3:15 am
Just bought my ticket… so excited to see them live! But I should get familiar with their solo stuff since it won’t be all MacF…
June 5th, 2010 at 8:30 am
Does anyone know if may’n and mamegu have specific calls for otagei? :3
June 5th, 2010 at 9:37 am
I know the nickname for May’n is “Buchou”. Then again I’m not well-versed with otagei stuff so I don’t know what I’m talking about.
July 3rd, 2010 at 7:01 am
All I can say is I think I nearly wet my pants. Kanno was the guest. The piano was there from the beginning but I never thought it was possible.
July 3rd, 2010 at 8:08 am
Megumi sang ‘voices’ to Kanno’s accompaniment. It was great. Kanno came in the middle of seikan hikou and I was very pleasantly surprised. Took a day off work in the unlikely case it was Kanno. They also performed ao no ether.
July 3rd, 2010 at 8:57 am
Well, my Anime Expo has been made! It got off to a rocky start, but seeing Yoko Kanno again in concert (even just for a little bit) just under a year after I saw the Tanasonic concert in Japan? I feel like one of the luckiest people alive! There are no words, I’m so happy. As soon as I saw the piano on stage, I went “AHHH IT’S HER! IT’S GOT TO BE HER!” internally.
Now if only I could somehow meet her and shake her hand and get her autograph, I would be able to truly, truly die happy no matter how the rest of my life goes. XD I suppose there’s a little bit of hope of that happening, no matter how small…! After all, she’s obviously here.
(A girl can dream, right?)
July 3rd, 2010 at 2:16 pm
I was there and it was….amazing. There really are no words….
July 3rd, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Wow, I really thought the chance of Kanno being there was small. Shame that she didn’t participate more at AX by having her own panel. Heck, how about her own concert. I would settle for a piano recital like she performed back at AX99.
If AX staff had brought Kanno in as a guest of honor, I would have attended the convention this year. But I did get her autograph back in 99, so think I’m good.
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:40 pm
It all went by so quickly (especially the few songs Kanno was present on), that I can’t remember the exact order of songs. Here is a set list from what I can remember but I have a terrible memory, so somebody please correct it!:
Welcome to my FanClub’s Night (May’n)
Universal Bunny
May’n Space
Infinity
Diamond Crevasse
Iteza Gogo Kuji Don’t be Late
Northern Cross
What ’bout my star? @ Formo (May’n & Megumi)
Anata no Oto (Megumi)
Soudayo
Sunshine Girl
Jellyfish no Kokuhaku
Ninjin Loves you yeah! (in Japanese and English)
Watashi no Kare wa Pilot
Seikan Hikou (w/ Kanno joining halfway)
Voices (w/Kanno on piano and bird calls)
Ao no ether (w/Kanno)
Ai oboete imasuka (Megumi and Kanno on piano, joined by May’n)
Diamond Crevasse (May’n, Megumi, and Kanno on piano)
Lion (May’n & Megumi)
Triangler ーfight on stage (May’n & Megumi)
The concert was held in an actual concert hall near the convention center that AX is being held at. So they had the benefit of intricate stage lighting. That said, there was no band. But there was the lone piano with mic attached sitting on the stage the whole time. At one point, Megumi teased the audience by going over to the piano and asking why it was there. Touching the keys as if she was about to play it, she just walks away from it, smiles, and says, ‘I don’t know’.
Both May’n and Megumi were charming and cute speaking quite a few lines of very clear English. Megumi actually sang the first verse of Ninjin Loves you yeah! in Japanese and then shocked everybody when she suddenly started singing in English the second time. Before Seikan Hikou, she asked ‘would you say ☆キラ☆ (Kira) with me?’ At the peak of the song, she introduces the guest and everyone gasps in elation as Kanno walks on stage and joins in on the dance.
Leading into ‘Voices’, Kanno started playing with several little bird call trinkets (which is why a mic was attached to the piano) while simultaneously playing the piano. It was both very pretty and very unique. Kanno did not say much, or maybe nothing at all the whole time, but her piano was gorgeous as it always is. She accompanied Megumi on a few songs before May’n joined in as well. Unfortunately she was gone so soon, but we were all just so happy that she was even there.
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
That’s great!
July 3rd, 2010 at 10:38 pm
That was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. Yoko’s appearance was like icing on the cake. It was so cute when she started dancing Seikan Hikou too~! I wonder if she’s in LA for something else besides this? I mean, it doesn’t really make sense to fly half way around the world just to play accompaniment for a few songs and then leaving…
July 4th, 2010 at 6:58 am
Just adding onto fuducky’s list, May’n also sang Shangri-La. The rest looks good to me though.
And yes, AMAZING is the best word to describe the experience.
July 4th, 2010 at 6:59 am
Uhm, I meant to say the opening of Shangri-La in my previous comment ^^;
July 4th, 2010 at 9:51 am
Aimo was the first piece (Kanno lightly played; mostly a capella) before Voices, I think. There was so much. With all the AX events delayed, I really thought this might be an hour-long concert in a 1.5 hour slot. But, it was jam packed, starting 20 minutes late but ending 40 minutes late, about an hour and 50 minutes of bliss. To have the bonus of Voices plus Triangular was incredible. Besides the aforementioned English lyrics Megumi did (it started something like: a far, far, away from Japan…) May’n also ended Welcome to my Fan’s Club Night with “May’n on Stage” (vs Sheryl on Stage) which was cool. So much…
July 4th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
@ ppizzapie and Scott22, thanks so much. How could I forget Aimo and ‘Kimi Shinitamou Koto Nakare’? That would make it a total of 23 songs. I had only expected half that many, being an ‘expo concert’. But like Scott said, nearly 2 hours of bliss.
As for Kanno being in Los Angeles, one thing I can think of is that CM Yoko & CM Yoko 2 were both mastered at Burnie Grundman Mastering Hollywood. So I guess it would not be odd for her to be here for work, on an album or otherwise. Or maybe just supporting her two girls, in a low-key way…
July 4th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
When she appeared on stage I was like holy f*ck its Kanno. Most people in the audience didn’t know who she is. My favorite part of the concert is when she came out.
July 4th, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Most people thought that she was not announced despite being a big name because they couldn’t confirm her attendance. Maybe her schedule was really full to the brim, and just took a few minutes off from it due to the request of the staff, but made no guarantees. I wonder, if this is correct, then who do they have as backup in case she doesn’t make it?
July 5th, 2010 at 7:09 am
The May’n and Megumi concert (as well as getting their signatures) was the highlight of my trip.
I almost had tears while May’n sang Diamond Crevasse. We are SOOO lucky to have Yoko Kanno as the special guest. Seeing both of them perform Voices was quite epic. IMHO this will be the best AX ever (and it was my first ever too). EPIC CONCERT.
July 6th, 2010 at 8:56 am
mai: I think they might did it for contract reasons. Also, Kanno like it like that…
i wonder if any good recordings are out…
July 7th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Here’s my super amateur review of the concert
http://skyphoenixofthewaterforest.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/mayn-nakajima-megumi-ax-2010/
Enjoy~
July 7th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
*cough*
yea, i wonder if anyone found a recording on the floor somewhere /whistle
July 7th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
japanator had some nice pictures!
/whistle
July 8th, 2010 at 5:51 am
@Yoruko: That sounded like a professional review! It was like I was there… and I was!
July 8th, 2010 at 11:03 am
Yes, this was a great concert. It was not as epic as Macross Crossover Live in my opinion, but it was cool getting to hear them sing a few non-Macross songs as well. The most exciting part was definitely Kanno Yoko appearing! Seeing her dance with Nakajima Megumi made my day.
On another note, just to make things clear, the English that Nakajima-san sang to “Ninjin Loves You, Yeah!” was not a translation, but rather some words to her American audience to let them know how happy she was to be there. It was so cute!
July 9th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Yea, it was a great concert indeed. Glad I was there!
The piano in the middle of the room has been a hint from the start of the concert ^^
July 11th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
This was pointed out to me by AlexL:
http://animediet.net/conventions/mayn-live-at-anime-expo-2010-video-excerpt
July 15th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Check out AX Live, they have a couple songs from the concert. Specifically:
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iof4JRim3Gg
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfLrl8B6ONI
July 15th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
omigosh, YK doing the Seikan Hikou dance!
mai, i heard about the storm Basyang in Manila. Hope you’re not too affected.
July 16th, 2010 at 8:48 am
It wasn’t too bad, just howling winds that scared me sleepless that night XD Thanks for your concern