LIVE REVOLUTION 21 SPRING-Oosaka jo hall last day-

This was the greatest concert from Yuko Nakazawa's tenure in Morning Musume (1997-2001) and also the very last, since it's her graduation concert. It was only the 3rd MM concert I ever saw and is the one pre-2002 concert I'd most recommend to new fans. Except for one slow spot, it's a lively concert with 26 songs and features most of MM's pre-5th Gen hits, including one of the best performances ever of the entire "Love Machine," which is generally shortened in later concerts. MM doesn't come out to perform as a group until the 37-min. mark when they do "Happy Summer Wedding," followed by a rare concert performance of one of my favorites, "Say Yeah (Motto) Miracle Night." Before that, we get a steady stream of sub-groups and solos--11 songs performed by Minimoni, Pucchimoni, Tanpopo, Country Musume (with Rika Ishikawa), Yuko, Maki Goto, Michiyo Heike and a very young Aya Matsuura. These are all good numbers, although the opening song, Minimoni's "Jankenpyon," is lip sync'd. If it wasn't for the sub-groups, 4th Gen (Rika, Yossi, Nono and Aibon) would have little to do here, reduced as they are to back-up in most of the MM songs. The five non-MM performers here are Aya, Michiyo, Minimoni's Mika Todd, and Country Musume's Rinne Toda and Asami Kimura. The one slow spot is a 16-min. "mini-musical" at the 54-min. mark entitled "Akogare My Boy." If you don't speak Japanese, this is a hard one to get through. Yuko plays a teacher and comes out in an awesome-looking white suit, so there's a reason to stick with it. The DVD extras feature a different cast doing "Akogare My Boy" and, hence, a different cast starting the follow-up song, "Dance Suru no Da!" Plus, there's a karaoke video for a song I can't identify. MM does a total of 13 songs, including their first hit, "Morning Coffee." Not counting outfits worn in the other acts, MM has at least six costume changes, including beautiful blue satin mini-dresses with white boots at the 48-minute mark. At the end, they sing "I Wish" and then Yuko does a solo, followed by the graduation, which consists of Yuko going down the line of the other nine girls and wishing them well. (They all cry, even Yossi.) The concert closes with the graduation, with no additional songs, ending with a whimper rather than a bang. After Yuko left, 5th Gen came on board, 4th Gen took a more active role, and the rest is history. :)