BALLISTIK BOYZ, a seven-member dance and vocal group affiliated with LDH, held the Tokyo performance of “BALLISTIK BOYZ LIVE TOUR 2024 “HIGHER EX”” at Tokyo Garden Theater on Sunday, June 2nd.
On this day, which was the ninth stop of their tour that visited 13 cities nationwide, they announced that they would be performing at the Nippon Budokan for the first time. It was a memorable night for the band, who continue to evolve and aim for greater heights, and also for the BALLY’S (the name for their fans) who have supported the seven of them.
Under lighting based on the theme color of this tour, red, the members appeared after an emotional and dramatic instrumental number performed by a live band. The first song was “HIGHER EX,” the title track of their latest single released on May 22nd and the theme song of this tour. Written and composed by Fukahori Miku, Okuda Rikiya, and Matsui Toshiki, this song directly conveys the determination and spirit of the seven members moving forward. The bright red costumes and lighting created an opening that further heightened the heat swirling around the stage.
They continued with four exciting songs, “JIGGY PARADISE”, “Ding Ding Dong”, “Most Wanted” and “PASION”, and after a short greeting from the members, they performed “BYE BYE TO THE LAST DANCE”. Masahiro Sunada took off his jacket and led the group into “Animal” with a sexy solo dance, and the seven members charmed BALLY’S with a graceful performance using white chairs, and ended the first half of the performance with “In My Head”, which is memorable for its repeated chorus phrases and beautiful dance.
The middle part of the show started with “Unmei no Hito,” a classic EXILE song, sung a cappella by Ryuta Hidaka and Yoshimasa Kano. When the band joined in and the vocals of Mirai Fukahori and Masahiro Sunada were added, the worldview of the song became deeper and more poignant. “Good day good night,” sung by the four members with their richly individual voices, was followed by “Lonely,” and “Mermaid,” a song by rappers Ryusei Uminuma, Rikiya Okuda, and Toshiki Matsui. This was a corner where the audience could fully enjoy the delicate expressions and facial expressions that were different from the powerful stage performance of all seven members.
The second half of the show started with Rikiya Okuda’s rap, followed by Miku Fukahori on drums and Masahiro Sunada on guitar, leading into “God Mode”. This performance had a bigger impact as it came right after the middle corner had been captivated by their respective voices. During “We never die”, all the members of BALLY’S put their hands up to get the crowd excited, and during the parts that followed “Front Burner”, “Make U a Believer” and “Tenhane -1000%-“, the venue became one with call and response and clapping. During “Meant to be feat. F.HERO & BOOM BOOM CASH”, everyone waved their towels, which were tour goods for this show, painting the venue red. The last song of the main show, “All Around The World”, was a number that they hadn’t performed with their band members since the tour four years ago. With a new arrangement that brought out the band sound, the seven members carefully conveyed the feelings they had put into the song to BALLY’S while enjoying the performance of each band member up close.
During the encore, they performed “24karats TRIBE OF GOLD”, their first cover as BALLISTIK BOYZ. During the MC, they spoke about how this tour was one they put everything into, and how they are eager to take everyone to even bigger stages in the future. Fukahori quoted the lyrics of “NEXT”, saying, “Last year, we couldn’t go to the NEXT stage, but we’re not going to give up and aim for even greater heights, so this year we’re working on the theme of “HIGHER EX”.
Afterwards, when the screen in the darkened venue announced that the band would be performing at the Nippon Budokan for the first time on November 6th, the venue erupted in screams of joy. This was the next stage that both the band members and BALLY’S had been waiting for.
In a previous interview, the members commented on this decision as follows:
“The Budokan is a place with a long history for LDH, and it’s a place filled with a lot of memories. We hope to be able to perform an interesting concert on this stage that will overturn past concepts and break past precedents.” (Matsui)
“I’m very happy to be able to announce that we will be performing on the Budokan stage during this hall tour. It’s our dream, and we can also fulfill our promise to our fans, so we’re full of joy and enthusiasm.” (Kano)
“It’s our first time performing solo on such a big stage. We’ll all work hard together to create a great live show, taking full responsibility.” (Fukahori)
“I’ve always dreamed of performing at an arena or dome. I think the experiences we’ve had up until now, where we’ve focused on what we lacked and gone through trial and error, will lead us to the Budokan.” (Kainuma)
“It’s been five years since our debut. I’ve had some frustrating experiences, but HIRO always told me, ‘Just keep going until you win with a never give up mentality, and you’ll be fine.’ I think the Budokan was the embodiment of that.” (Sunada)
“Of course we want to make it as exciting as possible, but the most important thing is that the results of that excitement will lead to next year. We want to make the Budokan a success with the seven of us and all of our fans, and aim for even greater heights next year.” (Okuda)
Hidaka also spoke on behalf of the members about his feelings towards BALLY’S, which he was unable to convey to them directly at the venue.
“Last year’s “NEXT” tour was filled with our desire to go to the NEXT story and the NEXT stage, but unfortunately we were unable to achieve that goal and this year we ended up with a hall tour. I’m sure not only us, but also all the BALLY’S who support us were feeling frustrated, so I think they will be very happy with today’s announcement. Being able to perform at a venue like Budokan is the moment when we achieve one of the goals of the story that began last year. For us, Budokan is just a passing point, but I want to make it a performance that will lead us to the next one.”
The seven members have stepped on the gas for their next stage, their first performance at the Nippon Budokan. The positive response from this tour, which will conclude on July 19th at the Kobe International Hall, is sure to be a boost for them.
■ November 6th (Wednesday) Doors open 17:00 / Show starts 18:00
First performance at Nippon Budokan “BALLISTIK BOYZ LIVE 2024 “BBZ EVOLUTION””
https://m.tribe-m.jp/news/detail?news_id=47346
■ Release information
2024.5.22 Release NEW SINGLE 『HIGHER EX』
・Music Videohttps://youtu.be/4R_bHYSJAxI
·deliveryhttps://ballistikboyz.lnk.to/higher_ex_0520
・Purchase sitehttps://ballistikboyz.lnk.to/pkg_higher_ex
■Current Hall Tour
“BALLISTIK BOYZ LIVE TOUR 2024 “HIGHER EX””
https://www.ldh-liveschedule.jp/sys/tour/25992/
■BALLISTIK BOYZ Official Account
Artist Websitehttps://m.tribe-m.jp/Artist/index/195
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOB1X12CH6XJpgzOXZ2jqMw
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ballistik.boyz.official
X (Twitter)https://twitter.com/ballistik_fext
instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/ballistik_fext
TikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@ballistikboyz.official
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