MOMUSU SHOCKS THE WORLD IN U.S. DEBUT

Morning Musume charms Anime Expo attendees in Thursday's opening ceremonies.

Japan's Morning Musume, the best band in the world, marched through a blistering 15-song set that included "Mikan," "Love Machine" and "Resonant Blue" in their explosive U.S. debut concert Friday [July 3] during Anime Expo 2009 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Anime Expo deserves all the credit for pulling off this miracle:

http://bloggerparty.com/content/ax-2009-really-stepped-momusu

"I am going to sing loud and dance hard," Eri promised the day before during a Q&A. And she and the other eight Morning Musume members certainly lived up to that Friday. Former bandmate Yossie, as "Hangry," and group creator and producer Tsunku♂ also made stage appearances near the end of the show.

Tsunku♂

A large portion of the estimated crowd of 7,500 crammed into the Convention Center's main performance hall would not leave, chanting "En-cor-e!," "En-cor-e!" over and over again for a full 12 minutes after the show ended. AX 2009 officials had to call in extra security to finally coax the glowstick-wielding, fist-pumping crowd -- many of whom had never seen Morning Musume perform either "live" or on  DVDs -- from the main hall.

The brilliant ensemble overcame a number of challenges en route to the successful completion of this sledgehammer show:

http://bloggerparty.com/content/morning-musume%E2%80%99s-bolt-us-lightning

Tsunku♂, during a Q&A on Saturday, hinted that Hello! Project junior groups Berryz Kobo and °C-ute might well follow Morning Musume to the States, but that would depend on "budget and support" of fans in  the wake of Morning Musume's  U.S. debut.

Photos and recordings were severely restricted over the weekend. The photos in this report were taken Thursday during opening ceremonies, where limited photography was permitted. No photos or taping were allowed in a Thursday Q&A session, and similar restrictions were in place during the concert itself.

The unbridled joy of Morning Musume's show was in stark contrast to the somber atmosphere surrounding the death of Michael Jackson, who rehearsed in the nearby Staples Center just two days before he died June 25. More on that here:

http://bloggerparty.com/content/michael-jackson-and-morning-musume

As for Friday's historic concert, reaction was swift and electric as Morning Musume's nine-member lineup, with one costume change, also rocked through their newest single, "Shoganai Yume Oibito," a medley of older hits including "The Peace," and two wall-blasting renditions of AX 2009's theme song, "3-2-1 Breakin' Out." 

The world-famous ensemble started the concert wearing brick-red gingham dresses, then cut back to striking red, white and blue dance outfits in what appeared to be a tribute to U.S. Independence Day which fell on Saturday.

MIT student Vivian Lee, right center wearing black with microphone, leads cover of 'Go Girl.'

Fans were beyond themselves.

"I can 't believe I've seen them. I've seen Morning Musume in concert!" said Vivian Lee, 18, of Austin, Texas, now a freshman at MIT. Lee was an ad-hoc emcee at a rousing post-concert party Friday at the nearby Sheraton Hotel, where more than 200 people showed up when only a few dozen or so were expected.

"This is the start of a phenomenon -- something really big," Lee said.

 International media members were astonished.

"I've seen DVDs of Morning  Musume, but I can't believe what I just saw and heard," said Brian Camp, program manager for Channel 75, a cable-access TV channel at City University of New York on Fifth Avenue in New York City. "I'm stunned."

AX 2009 executives are still picking their jaws up off the floor.

Steve Rezayat, the new chief financial officer for the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation which runs Anime Expo, was impressed by Morning  Musume, their support crew, and creator/producer Tsunku♂.

"We had dinner with them yesterday [Wednesday]," Rezayat said. "They are a wonderful group and outstanding individuals."

From left: Toronto TV show host Joseph Kan, rap composer Tonny Gunnz and CUNY TV manager Brian Camp.

Chase Wang, media coordinator for Anime Expo, said that the announcement of Morning Musume as a guest back in February led, in part, to an increase in signups this year. The convention usually draws upwards of 50,000 attendees annually.

"We won't have hard numbers for awhile yet," Wang said, "but things look promising right now." Friday's convention crowd was so congested that a pedestrian special route had to be designed to accommodate everyone on the main exhibitors' floor, where Morning Musume T-shirts and CDs were selling like hotcackes.

Not everyone was completely convinced.

"Wow. They're much better than I expected, but this still sounds like music for kids to me," said Tommy Gunnz, an aspiring rapper and hip-hop composer from California. "I have to admit their latest single is a hell of a song, and '3-2-1 Breakin' Out' rocked."

Anime cosplayer Joseph Kan, whose day job is TV show host in Toronto, Canada, was speechless -- almost.

"What more is there to say?" Kan said.

This ia Rad♂ signing off -- for now.