Morning Musume CONCERT TOUR 2003 SPRING "NON STOP!"

It's always a pleasant surprise to discover another great Morning Musume concert from the group's "golden age." In this one, from Spring 2003, the twelve girls are still at their peak and function as a finely-tuned performing unit, maintaining a high-energy level throughout the two-hour concert and never hitting a false note. They also have a stage that gives them abundant freedom of movement. MM is in 90% of the concert, with the rest given over to one song each from Pucchimoni, Minimoni, Country Musume and Coconuts Musume. (Rika is part of Country M, so Coconuts is the only act here that has no MM members.) MM sings several songs that are not often heard at these concerts, so for me there was a lot of fresh material. And the old favorites are beautifully handled: this concert contains what is probably the group's last great rendition of "Love Machine." The last 40 minutes are devoted to Kei Yasuda's graduation and the introduction of the four new 6th Gen girls. For five years, Kei was one of the group's mainstays and she gets a worthy send-off. However, the carefully balanced group dynamic was disrupted by the introduction of the three young and inexperienced members of 6th Gen (not counting Miki, who'd been with H!P for almost 2 years by then) and things would never be the same again. The "golden age" was over.