Tag Archives: Miyavi

As somebody who has been fortunate enough to see MIYAVI perform a handful of times, always in different contexts, I can say every tour, maybe even every show, is a wildly different experience.

 
Halloween’s iteration of MIYAVI’s WHAT’S MY NAME? WORLD TOUR 2011 -NORTH & SOUTH AMERICA CIRCUIT- was no exception.

 
Halloween fell on a Monday this year, and perhaps from competition of the downtown Halloween Parade or the mere fact that it was a workday, Irving Plaza wasn’t quite as full as one would’ve hoped or expected, certainly not considering his stellar performance there in June of 2010. Regardless, both MIYAVI and the fans gave it their all to make the atmosphere one of positive energy.

MIYAVI, as much known for his eccentric style as his shredding skills, initially emerged on stage wearing a (lightly adorned) white t-shirt and black blazer, his hair mostly undone and thick-rimmed glasses hanging on his nose. It was a remarkably subdued look for the effervescent singer and strummer, though, appropriately enough, he looked as if he could’ve hopped on the L out of Williamsburg to get to the venue that night. I can’t say it wasn’t refreshing – I think there’s a part in all of us that wants to see Lady Gaga in jeans, after all, but on Halloween, of all days, could this have possibly been an ironic non-costume costume?

His toned-down image by no means signaled a toned-down performance, however.

As soon as he climbed on stage, MIYAVI tore into his act. Not a moment’s hesitation, no opening band, a nearly non-stop set peppered with brief (but well articulated) MCs, mostly in English, showcasing the star’s fairly newly acquired linguistic skills. (For somebody who, by his own estimate, has only been learning English for 5 years, he speaks quite naturally. Either he’s more studious than he lets on, or he’s got a real gift. Maybe a little of both.) He playfully mocked his drummer, BOBO, whose English ability supposedly extends as far as, “What the fuck?!” but memories of the terrible disaster that struck Tohoku this spring put even a joker like MIYAVI in a sober mood as he promoted a message of peace, positivity, and cooperation.

 
The set-list was sprinkled with old and new songs alike, from the powerful SHELTER, to concert standbys ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?, BOOM HAH BOOM HAH HAH, and the tour’s eponymous WHAT’S MY NAME?, to a reworking of his classic anthem of individuality, 自分革命 (Jibun Kakumei). Here and there he showcased his picking and plucking skills with appropriately placed guitar solos, some seemingly spontaneous and others, extensions of songs.

Possibly the highlight of the night was when he popped out for the encore, clad in a dandy costume that he announced he’d picked up at Ricky’s (a New York-based costume and cosmetic shop), and went into a (suddenly) eagerly anticipated rendition of Señor, Señora, Señorita that caused the crowd to surge and frenzy like they hadn’t before. During the next song, he proceeded to climb a platform to the right of the stage, causing the fans on the balcony to lean precariously over the barrier trying to reach him.

Near the end of the masked MIYAVI’s encore, the musician whipped out his own camera to take shots of the crowd, proving once again that he is his fans’ biggest fan. Ever the gracious performer, MIYAVI stuck around after the show to sign autographs for fans who purchased VIP tickets before packing up and heading to the next date on his tour.

 
MIYAVI fans the world over! Did you see MIYAVI in New York? San Francisco? Lima? Buenos Aires? Leave your impressions of the tour in a comment!

 
Links: MIYAVI OHP