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RADWIMPS frontman Yojiro Noda took the stage at Tokyo Garden Theater for his first concert as a solo artist under his real name on Sept. 27. This show, aptly entitled “Yojiro Noda welcomes you to WONDER BOY’S AKUMU CLUB,” marked the release of the album by the same name — WONDER BOY’S AKUMU CLUB — and treated fans to a glorious evening with guest acts kZm, Awich and iri.

The 39-year-old hitmaker had previously teamed up with each of his guests, with rapper kZm — pronounced Kazuma — collaborating on “EVERGREEN” off Noda’s solo album, and rapper Awich and singer-songwriter iri collaborating on “SHIWAKUCHA” and “Tokyo,” respectively, off RADWIMP’s album FOREVER DAZE from 2021.

Noda’s solo project had dropped two days before the show, meaning the people who came that evening were die-hard fans who bought tickets before they knew the full scope of his album. His followers probably also knew that he had recently been leaning into hip-hop. So while not too concerned about the potential difference in level of interest in the audience, it was interesting to see how Noda’s fans, who knew him as the face of a veteran J-pop band, would react to the rappers opening the event. But the crowd clapped eagerly along to the first track kZm performed on stage, “Aquarius Heaven,” and the excitement was even greater than expected.

“Most of you probably don’t know me, but I’m kZm, a rapper from YENTOWN,” the MC introduced himself after finishing his performance of “Aquarius Heaven.” The 30-year-old rapper went on to explain that he’d only listened to hip-hop before discovering RADWIMPS when he was in junior high, and that he’d been a fan of the band ever since. He told the audience that Noda had been a kind senior artist and friend ever since they’d gotten to know each other, and was met with a cheer from the crowd when he noted, “I heard Yo-chan would be going on stage by himself today, so I came to support him.” kZm’s respectful monologue showed a sign of respect for Noda and his effort to make this a special evening. From there, the rapper gave a solid performance, with the audience cheering from the intro to “DOSHABURI” and the excitement continuing throughout the set, right up to the last song, “Sakebi,” which he said was one of his favorites.

Next up was Awich, who got the crowd jumping from her first track, “Remember (Solo ver.).” After finishing “Are you serious?,” the theme song for the Netflix series The Queen of Villains, she introduced herself, also saying, “I imagine a lot of people here are seeing me for the first time.” The 37-year-old rapper went on to explain that she is also a member of the hip-hop collective YENTOWN, like kZm, who introduced her to Noda. She said she wrote a song with the RADWIMPS singer and asked to take part in the band’s arena tour in 2021, and the experience of touring the country helped her mentally prepare for her own headlining concert at the prestigious Nippon Budokan in 2022. “(Noda) leads us and I’m truly grateful for his generosity,” said Awich. The “Bad B**** Bigaku” MC, who has since broken out of the rap scene and is now active in a genre-bending way, had full control over the room as she ran through a fierce set from “Kakurembo” (Hide and Seek), performed after mentioning that RADWIMPS have a song of the same name, up to the last song, “LONGINESS REMIX (Soo ver.).”

The final guest, iri, performed a short-but-sweet set consisting of “friends,” the four-to-the-floor number ideal for large venues, the similarly danceable “Corner,” and “Wonderland,” which got the crowd raising their hands in unison. The compact set showcased iri’s smoky voice and her breezy performance captivated the audience. “Yojiro-san’s album is so cool and I was talking with DJ TAAR about how amazing it is,” the 30-year-old singer said, her words brimming with respect for Noda. “So cool that I’ve been really looking forward to his show, and I’m really grateful to be able to sing like this at such a fabulous time.”

The current Japanese rap scene has gained wide popularity as a new youth culture, and since both Awich and kZm are stars of the genre, it feels somewhat uncomfortable highlighting “the band scene” and “the rap scene” as if they are incompatible. But to be honest, the impression is that while it does happen underground, in the mainstream, bands and hip-hop artists in Japan still have a long way to go in coming together in a notable way, as can be seen from the fact that the number of street-born rap acts appearing in mainstream rock festivals not being that high. So from that standpoint, it might be fair to say that the enthusiastic way the audience welcomed the three guest acts at Noda’s show without making them feel out of place was something special.

The “Grand Escape” artist made this possible because he had approached the rap scene early on in his career. WATTER, the DJ who supported Noda during his headlining solo set, is an artist close to 5lack, a rapper featured on Noda’s “Hilight” released under the name illion in 2016. The “Zenzenzense” hitmaker’s strong curiosity and love for music and people, evident from such works as “TIE TONGUE (feat. MIYACHI & Tab Zombie)” from 2018 and “DAI-DAN-EN (feat. ZORN)” from last year, were an important backdrop to this precious night.

After the fine opening performances by his three guests, Noda appeared onstage for the main set. As this was his first concert as solo artist Yojiro Noda, the audience didn’t know if he’d be performing with a live band or DJ until that day, but as mentioned above, he took the stage with WATTER for a DJ set, which at that point promised something novel. From the time the venue opened, there was a space surrounded by a gauze curtain in the center of the stage, and Noda kicked off his set with “SHEETA” from within that space. A team of dancers performed theatrical choreography inside and outside the gauze curtain, creating a mysterious atmosphere. These dancers were members of choreographer Seishiro’s team, and they also appear in the music video accompanying RADWIMPS’ “NINGEN GOKKO” from 2022. The concert was clearly being supported by the creatives that Noda had built relationships with over the past few years, just like Awich and iri.

At the end of the vintage soul-tinged performance of “PIPE DREAM,” Noda emerged from behind the curtain and finished the song by playing the piano. “Please give a big round of applause to the three guest artists, kZm, Awich and iri,” said the singer-songwriter, and elicited huge cheers from the crowd by asking, “I want to make this a party where we can all savor this brand spanking new album together. What do you say?” The five-stroke-roll dance beat of “PAIN KILLER” showcased the compatibility with kZm’s raps, and Noda showed off his own clever flow in “PEACE YES,” not to be outdone by the rappers. Hip-hop-like elements were incorporated in the staging as well, with the screen behind the singer highlighting a section of the lyrics of the track by visually sampling the cover art for the album RADWIMPS 4 that has the song with the same word (”Iindesuka?”) as the title. The breadth of his melodies is also worth noting, as evident from the way he built up a celebratory mood by putting a gospel chorus together with breakbeats on “HOLY DAY HOLY” and created a melancholic ambience on piano for “KATATOKI,” his collaborative track with Atlanta rapper J.I.D.

“Before, I thought that if I were to do a show as Yojiro Noda, I’d be doing something completely different, like playing by myself, or with a band, or with an orchestra. But I made songs mainly using beats this time and was really worried,” Noda opened up to the crowd. “Right now I’m so incredibly happy that everyone’s listened to the album and my favorite musicians are supporting me. Thank you for coming.” After expressing his gratitude, he mused, “Since kZm is here, we have to do this one,” and the rapper came back onstage to perform the remix version of their collaborative number “EVERGREEN” together. The two artists’ well-coordinated performance set to the anthemic track was one of the biggest highlights of the day. Noda then performed “STRESS ME” featuring rap verses over a post-trap beat, and sat on a sofa to sing “BITTER BLUES,” which vividly conveys his current, genuine sentiments. The team of dancers appeared again for “WALTZ OF KARMA,” followed by the introspective “HAZY SIGH,” and the memoir-like mood of the solo work was faithfully recreated in the show.

During the second half of his set, he expressed his gratitude to HOLLY, the producer/beat maker from Portugal who had been DMing beats to Noda for several years and had motivated him to make his solo album. He then thanked the audience again, saying, “Standing here today, I felt like I can continue my musical journey from now on. Thank you, I owe it to you.” The stage then floated up into the air to the intro of “HYPER TOY,” and Noda sang the lyrics “We’re Wonder Boys on a runner’s high” over an exuberant hyper-pop track featuring the most electric guitar in the album, like the Wonder Boy he clearly was. Before the last song of the main set, he said, “I’m a little embarrassed, but can I sing this song for the finale?” and went on to sing “LAST LOVE LETTER,” which is also the last track on the album, and closed his first solo concert by communicating his love through the lyrics: “If we were to meet, could it be now? Cause I don’t think can wait any longer.”

The excited crowd wanted more, of course, but the singer had performed all 13 tracks off the album, and there was no mention of an encore in the set list that had been distributed to the press. However, Noda appeared on stage after a brief break. He sat down at the piano and touched on the news from that day that Sayuri, a singer-songwriter that he had written and produced a song for in the past, had passed away. He chose the song he had written for her, “Furaregaigirl,” for the encore, and sang through to the end while tearing up during parts of his performance. He finished his concert with the words “Thank you, Sayuri,” and the venue resonated with heartfelt applause.

—This article by Atsutake Kaneko first appeared on Billboard Japan