Utada Hikaru at The House of Blues Live Report

House of Blues at the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, the first stop of Utada's tour on Tuesday night and although the Pacific Storms swept California, it did not stop the fans to pack the live event. Even two hours before the concert started, the line was still long and lively as ever. I entered the venue about hour and a half early before Utada hit the stage, I was astounded regarding on how packed it was; filled with different ethnicities, backgrounds and culture gathered here to watch Utada, a well known singer around the world. Also was surprising that this is the first concert I attended that did not have merchandising to sell. D.J. Rizzo played some great tunes, keeping the energy flowing for anticipation of Utada. The vibe overall felt more social as people talked to one another about how long they had to wait in the cold to get into the venue to which songs were going to be played.

I have not been in a J-pop concert outside from a convention setting so this is quite a new experience. From my experiences attending American pop concerts, I expected it would be pretty crazy or very calm. Judging by the fan turnout, I cannot tell.

It felt like a long wait until Utada appeared on stage. 9:27pm, lights went out and fans rejoiced, but no Hikky?! What's going on? Judging of what was going on, it seem it was possible technical difficulties. Waiting felt like an eternity. 10 minutes after the lights went out, music started playing and finally the show began!

Follow up:

Started off with On and On, from the This is the One album which was a great song to start off the night. Utada appeared in stage with an elegant dress and stunning voice to backup the the haircut style thatreally suits her. At first, I was shocked on who was up on stage because I sawn plenty of Hikky's live online and pictures of her recent publc appearences, but I cannot belive it was the same person! Well, might as well look your best because it was not only a concert, but it was a birthday bash! Next song, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (FYI) of the same album continues the soothing energetic feel within the venue.

Next song, Poppin' really was something else. Seriously, the lyrics "Girls, you know you have it better than the boys" really was awesome and amusing. All the females just screamed their hearts out and certainly with that attidue, I did believe that the girls had it better than the boys. Hikky's vocals really do have range, going from smooth to high-pitched pop, it was fantastic, but it can only get better which was by the next song This One (Crying Like A Child). Crowd was mellow, swinging their arms the entire time.

At this time, it was apparent that the mosh pit really wants to say "Happy Birthday" to her and they got their way. Utada switched gears from going English to Japanese with the next song that was very familiar for me. I was introduced to Utada through video games, namely with the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm pretty sure that's a lot of video gamers were introduced to Utada, but I took a step further by listening more to her music and continued from there.

The song Passion reminded me the anticipation of playing Kingdom Hearts 2. I remember when Kingdom Hearts 2 released in Japan and uploaded the opening on YouTube, I kept watching and watching. However, tonight, it was extra special because it sounded perfectly and it was a bridge between Passion and Sanctuary. I like them both, but I prefer Passions more than Sanctuary, but together? Makes it way better!

Another song that is my personal favorite from Hikky was Sakura Drops and her piano performance was also fantastic. I smiled with glee and even remembering it still brings out that same smile. She continues to play her piano on the next song Stay Gold. Although the fans got to sing her birthday, the band also had a suprise of their version of "Happy Birthday" with a cake. "I knew they were going to something like that" said Utada and everyone laughed. This is the first time she had a birthday party with a bunch of people, especially within a concert setting.

Next three songs were from her Exodus album and each of them are as compelling as the next. All of them were spot on, but the song You Make Me Want to Be a Man when the fans were screaming was another highlight of the night, but Kremlin Dusk was the song that got the crowd rilded up.

Apple and Cinnamon was another one that was very good. Her voice was not as high pitched from that I remembered, but still was great to listen. Her hand gestures were neat to see. The crowd sang along with Come Back To Me. Next three songs: First Love, Can You Keep A Secret, and Automatic really took the night.

The transition to First Love was really stunning and I really like her ballads and her vocals. Very sweet and beautiful which continued to Can You Keep A Secret which was really fun to listen and sure did the fans. However, Automatic was really my favorite out of the three. I listened to Automatic before on album including part two, but listening it to live of what I can tell of some jazz vibes, really a great one. Can you believe that this was written when she was 15 years old over 12 years in the music scene.

Also, she spoke in Japanese - after someone shouted "Say something in Japanese!" - and made fun on how she sounds different from Japanese which was more high pitched compared to her English which was more "manly." Further, she thanked her fans who came from Japan to see her "in the flesh."

The last song: Dirty Desire, a new song currently playing on the airwaves, which was in the works for a while. The song was energetic, fun and Utada strutted on stage. After that, the band quickly left. Fans want more and changed "Utada!" and "Encore" which after a few minutes, the band came back with another song I am very familiar with.

As I mentioned before, I was introduced to Utada through Kingdom Hearts and I certainly remember watching the game's opening because of the music. Hearing Simple and Clean live really got me and what it seems that everyone on the venue rained their hands and swayed with the music. It was epic to put it simply. Last song, Me Muero was a great song to end it off. She even through signed baseballs! I didn't get the baseball, but the experience was more than enough. Also, before the concert finally finished, she introduced to her band mates and thanked everyone that showed up.

It was a fantastic experience and super cool. There was a few songs that I didn't end up caring about when listening to the album which ended up being my favorite when I heard it live. For fans of Utada, following her for quite a while will most likely relate it to the concert back at 2006, the "Utada United" which a lot of the songs had a similar vibe, but it is still damn good! Made you feel that you were there. It is great to have Utada to return to North America, touring around for her fans to witness her talents.