Dream Morning Musume. Concert Tour 2011 Haru no Mai - Sotsugyosei DE Saikessei -

Once the Elder Club graduated back on February 1, 2009, I thought I'd never see them again in performance. Well, the next best thing is Dream Morning Musume, a reunion unit made up of ten former Morning Musume members: Yuko, Nacchi, Kaori, Kei, Mari, Rika, Yossi, Miki, Makoto, and Koharu. I sure miss Nono, Aibon and Maki, but at least they added Koharu, which made me very happy indeed. This is almost as good as one of the classic MM concerts from their peak years: 2000-2004. The girls all look fantastic and sound great and seem to be having a grand time. 17 of the songs are from the old days (1997-2004), which means that five or more of the girls had performed on each of the originals. And they're the upbeat, dance-filled songs, including "Love Machine," "Happy Summer Wedding," "Renai Revolution 21," "I Wish," "The Peace," "Souda! We're Alive," and "Shabondama." There are no solos and no quiet songs, although, as part of a medley, "Do It! Now" is performed at a slower tempo than usual, making for an interesting variation on one of the group's greatest hits. MM's first single, "Morning Coffee," is performed by the five oldest (three of whom were on the original) and "Iroppoi Jettai," the first single after Koharu joined, is performed by the five youngest (four of whom were on the original). Then they mix and match for different groups of five on "Mikan," one of my favorite MM songs of recent years, and "Roman~My Dear Boy." There are two new songs created for this group, and only one song from the post-Yossi & Miki era: "Mikan," the only song here in which Koharu was the only one of the ten on the original. I think all ten of the girls are wonderful, but if I had to pick the outstanding performers in this concert, I'd go with Nacchi, Rika, Yossi, Miki and Yuko. I certainly hope they do more concerts, get Nono back and maybe even Maki, and pick from a wider range of songs in the Hello! Project catalog. Just for the record, there are four songs on the Dream Morning Musume CD that aren't in the concert and two songs and a medley of four on the concert DVD that aren't on the CD. There are no extras on the DVD. Some backstage footage would have been a joy.