Berryz Kobo Concert Tour 2008 Aki -Berikore!-

Berryz Kobo is rapidly becoming the most accomplished and consistently high-profile unit within Hello! Project. For evidence, just check out this latest concert of theirs, taped in October 2008 at the Nakano Sunplaza. The girls come out and sing and dance at a furious pace for 100 solid minutes. They've been working together for over five years at this point (longer than most of the current lineup of Morning Musume) and they've become quite a confident, finely-tuned team of performers. Everybody contributes and carries the weight equally. They're just a total delight to watch from start to finish. The songs are generally pleasant and upbeat, reminding me of the best qualities of old American rock 'n' roll, from an era when pop music was intended to make you feel good. The highlight for me was a duet, "Ah Merry-Go-Round," performed by the two top talents in the group, Saki Shimizu and Momoko Tsugunaga. It's a beautiful, gentle song that is sung with great feeling. Later, Risako Sugaya does a solo (the only girl in the group to sing solo in this concert) of a song called "Real Love," and while I think others in the group have better voices, she does such a fine job with a highly dramatic number that I was pleasantly surprised. Her solo is followed by another soft song, "Koi Shiteru Toki wa Itsumo...," in which she's joined by four of the others, with Saki and Momoko teaming up to hit the high notes. Nice. Highly recommended.