Miyavi 6th October 2009 @ 02 Academy Islington

There are fans of all ages, from many different countries, some I had spoke to had travelled from Ireland, even as far as Greece and they were all here to see one man, one man whose name was being muttered across the lips of fans up and down the queue. Miyavi.

People talking about when they had seen him last, if they had gone as far as Germany in 2008, or if they were down in London at the Astoria 2 last time and then the nervous confessions of the fans that it was there first time, their first gig, being reassured by other fans, they were in for one hell of a show. They all swapped their stories, talking about their most memorable moments or gifts they had brought for him. Everyone seemed happy, if not a little nervous, all eager for the doors to open and for the show to start, no one is sure what to expect.

Doors open and O2 starts to fill, the balconies are opened up and the place is packed out, every one rushing in to find the perfect spot to watch the show or hurrying to buy merchandise from the stands, posters, programs and of course tee shirts were all up for sale. The whole placed is filled, or at least you thought it was as a first wave of chants for Miyavi breaks out but dies down after a few rounds, but then around ten minutes later there’s another wave of chanting, louder and you realise just how many people are here and just how many voices are calling out for him, the chanting starts at the beginning and reaches the balconies, to the back of the room every fan is ready to see him come out, so desperate for the show to start after all the queuing. An announcer steps forward, asks that no photographs are taken, otherwise the show will be stopped, I’m sure most the crowd understand, this is a special night after all, just for the fans and Miyavi, the crowd are chanting so loudly that even the staff struggle to do the microphone checks.
But then its time and the stage clears, the chanting continues as Miyavi’s support walk on stage, they seem just as eager as the fans are to start playing. Then the crowd spot him and an already loud cheer gets even louder as Miyavi struts on stage partly hiding behind a parasol and dancing his way to centre stage. I’m sure fans who attended Miyavi last year would recognise the parasol. His style is changed, of course suited to the name of Miyavi’s second world tour, ‘Neo Tokyo Samurai Black’.
‘Hello London!’ he calls out only to get straight into the first song (The Way a Wolf Lives With Love) which really gets an already excited crowd bouncing away and just like Miyavi as he plays with such passion. The bass is heavy and vibrating the floor but of course, nothing is as strong as Miyavi’s vocals. Miyavi starts to show what a showman he can be and what a talented musician he is as he plays his guitar in style, that style is carried on as he goes into the next song, I’m sure a crowd favourite as every one had their hands in the air, dancing to ‘Boom Huh Boom Huh Huh.’

It’s only the second song in and Miyavi is already putting his all into the songs and the way he plays, showing off just what he is capable of as he plays his guitar behind his head and still in perfect tune. Of course he plays seductively for the crowd and gestures to them, he wants every hand in the air and his showing of a little skin, showing off his collar bones and his shoulder gets a scream, no doubt the loudest from the first two rows, being the closest of course, especially as he plans and leans over his guitar to the crowd. The next song, ‘21st Century Tokyo Blues’ has Miyavi dancing with the crowd and the crowd dancing back just as much, even his support are dancing away playing with the crowd and Miyavi gestures to different parts of the crowd to cheer as he points to them, naturally every one in that section cheer as loudly as they can.
The music slows down and Miyavi earns a round of applause from near enough every one in the room, though it dies off and Miyavi starts to talk with the crowd. He talks about how it is second world tour and his second time in London, which he is here to rock the hell out of London. Then he plays somewhat, asking the crowd who are they here for and if he’s cool, it gets a laugh and a smile out the fans and out of Miyavi as they cheer to reassure him, they truly are here for him. He asks everyone to stay until the end, but then he wanted the crowd, to show him what they had, and believe me, they really did.

Next up was slower song, and the fans clap in rhythm to the bass and Miyavi sings, his voice is much more subtler and even drops down to a whisper into the microphone as they listen intently on, his voice echoes around the room and creates a great atmosphere. The way he played it was clear he was in love with his music and truly enjoyed being on stage and playing for people, it was evident in the way he moved, the way he played so superbly . He begins to play alone and so very fast, twisting and turning with his guitar as he played a true showman at heart for the crowd but then the guitar stops down to just a drum beat and Miyavi shows off he can sing just as fast as he can play, cheering to the crowd; ‘What’s My Name?’ Of course, any one who went to the show on a whim, not sure of who this man was, surely knew by now and no doubt was chanting his name along with the rest of the crowd. The music moves into a fantastic blend of all the instruments on stage as well as great lighting that really complement the mood of the show, a fusion of some of his older songs and some of his new songs. The song finishes and moves seamlessly into a piano backing for Miyavi to talk to the crowd. He gives the fans a very moving and inspirational speech. He talks about being independent now, how it’s a long hard road but when his daughter was born, he just couldn’t stop smiling. In support the crowd cheer mentally, showing their love for Miyavi’s new born baby girl. Miyavi laughed, joking with every one about how he was ‘unfortunately’ a dad now, he couldn’t go out clubbing. He thanked everyone for welcoming his daughter into the world, into the family. He spoke emotionally how he couldn’t stop crying when she was born, the crowd couldn’t help but ‘Aw’. He thanked everyone for their support, the support that stopped him straying from the long and hard road. He was grateful and took some gifts from the crowd, he moves onto say that even if his wings were clipped he’d never give up trying to fly and even if his throat grows hoarse he’d never stop singing.

The emotional speech is finished with a beautiful song and without any prompting the crowd are swaying in time with the song and just like his speech, he sings even though his voice did grow a little hoarse. The lights go up to be met with a round of applause even as Miyavi disappears off stage, which fills with smoke and is lit up almost eerily with purple and blue lights. The band returns on to a little piano and drums only to then have Miyavi back on stage, jacket back on this time. It’s almost like there’s been a burst of energy back stage because all on stage tear into the next song with such enthusiasm especially as Miyavi plays guitar low down on stage. The crowd are really in tune with the guitar and heavy bass moving in time with the beat of the song.

It was amazing to see even more energy being poured into the next song, in the gaps of the music the crowd cheer back to Miyavi, who you wouldn’t of thought it possible for him to put any more energy to the show but he managed to, he asked the crowd to bounce for him even Miyavi himself is racing around dancing across the O2 Academy stage. During Eccentric Song, Miyavi holds the microphone to the crowd and they sing whole heartedly back to him as he gets the crowd even more hyped up, throughout the whole show he was putting more and more of himself into the show, interacting so much with the crowd, no doubt making many fans day!
Water bottles get thrown into the crowd, no doubt a lucky fan caught them but Miyavi raises his middle finger and calls out that he wants his fans to show everything they’ve got, as Miyavi shows off a little of his chest. His jacket gets thrown across stage and he starts spinning a towel, he begins roaming around the stage and the crowd spin anything they can in support to ‘V Rock’ Miyavi is incredibly interactive with the crowd again holding the microphone to them. He saunters back and forth across the stage, seductively teasing every one, he would sing and then get the crowd to sing back to him again and even threw out water to the crowd himself. He emphasizes again, counting down 3,2,1 getting the crowd to truly show him what they were made of with another burst of energetic showmanship, he arches backwards and shows off his vocal prowess.

‘Are You Ready To Rock’ has everybody jumping, including Miyavi and the support and he’d play around with the crowd, singing to the left side of the stage, before going to the middle and throwing out more water, the song gets the crowd really going mental, he puts his hands up to hear the crowd and a venue packed out all chant back to him as he gestures to him. He moves to the right side of the stage, in front of the barrier, tagging hands, getting really close to the crowd, making so many fans happy as they get to tag his hand back and no doubt reach for a better touch of him, as Miyavi he moves around in front of the barriers, the support band take centre stage and play, clearly just as happy as Miyavi to play for the crowd. Even as Miyavi is in front of the barriers, right in front of his crowd, he is still singing away, the support band were playing with the crowd and were equally as loved by the fans.
Miyavi moved back to the stage, to show London how to rock, every hand is in the air and I’m sure every single voice sang back to him but confusion and worry set into the crowd as Miyavi dropped to his knees he seemed unable to get back up and security take him off stage. Murmurs run through the crowd, worry seems to of taken the crowd and a chant of his name is called out, hoping to show support, no one is sure if he is coming back out or if he’s okay.

The minutes pass by and it seems like an eternity to the crowd but thankfully Miyavi returns back to stage, jacketless now but with a beanie, he acts as if nothing happened and asked if the crowd had called for him. He was constantly asking throughout the show if the crowd were having a good time, it was clear Miyavi was adamant he wanted every single person at that show to have a good time. He asks everyone to stop pushing the front row are getting crushed, he didn’t want any one’s boobs getting crushed. He began to talk to the crowd again, he mentions his blogs and his website and about the world wide fan club. He mentions he knows it’s expensive, but how he wanted to create a place for all fans to stay in touch, to be one. He then takes his phone out and begins to record the crowd, he asks them to let the world hear their voice and continues to be playful and teasing with the crowd. Miyavi takes his acoustic guitar and begins to play and the crowd start to play but he stops and laughs. He continues talking again to the crowd, this time having direct conversations with fans, finding out where they were from. He tells the crowd it doesn’t matter colour, race, age religion, or language, all that matters is the love for music. A sentiment I hope all fans took away with them.

‘We are one’ he said, he wanted his fan club to be able to be a place where people were connected, he wants to share all his experiences with his fans, his family and that was why he started his myspace, face book and youtube. He even has a laugh with a fan about his internet connection and using Starbucks.
The speech goes seamlessly into the next song, which is perfectly put together, the crowd still have their energy and Miyavi even has a play-off against his guitarist, really entertaining the crowd. A piano part kicks in again and Miyavi turns serious again, telling the crowd that he loved them from the bottom of his heart, that he was singing for everyone who was struggling in life at the moment because he too was struggling, but he’ll never stop or give up. It was clear, every time he spoke to the crowd, he spoke with true love and that he loved what he played and playing to the fans. Every song was played with such passion and style with such a fusion of different style and old and new music. The crowd can’t get enough of it and even though they know its heading to the end of the show no one wants it to end, not even Miyavi himself.

We go into the last song, and Miyavi says brightly and hopefully to the crowd
‘As long as you call my name, I will be back’

It’s clear both band, Miyavi and the crowd truly enjoyed the night. Miyavi played with so much enthusiasm, excitement and passion. He spoke emotionally and truthfully to the fans, who no doubt can’t wait for him to return. Miyavi delivered an outstanding show to his fans, filled with excellent music, perfectly played and so much interaction with the crowd I know it will be a memorable to night to everyone who attended. A big thank you to everyone who went it was wonderful to see so much support. Miyavi will of left the venue swiftly as his next tour date is on the 7th of October in Paris, our best wishes and no doubt the fans best wishes go with him to have another wonderfully successful and enjoyable show.