"'78 JUMPING SUMMER CARNIVAL"
A Pink Lady concert has always been an experience, and I should know, having seen Mie and Kei live and in the flesh in 2003, but, back in their heyday during the late 1970’s, it was a tremendous event, and, in my semi-esteemed opinion, no PL show was more incandescent than the ’78 Jumping Summer Carnival (to be referred to from here on out as “JSC”) at Korakuen Stadium, a baseball park sold out to the rafters for what would be an incredible show.
Having watched a videotape of the JSC a fellow PL fan had sent me several years ago, I could see the high level of excitement as the band started playing an uptempo instrumental version of “I Love How You Love Me” and the crowd went wild as Mie and Kei entered the field riding in convertibles, ecstatically waving to the crowd as they were driven to the ramp that they strolled up to the stage for their first number, the Disco themed “Lovin’ You Is Killing Me”, and when it comes to PL, that usually means a lot of fast dance moves on the stage, next up was “Hello Mr. Monkey”, another high energy number with a funky groove. From there, the girls slowed things down a bit with back to back numbers from ABBA, first was the powerful, bass heavy “Eagle”, followed by “Take A Chance On Me” as the girls rode on a moving section of the stage, something I thought was cool, something I never seen before.
Now, as is tradition at a Pink Lady show, the girls then did solo numbers, Mie was up first, sweetly charming the crowd with a hauntingly lovely rendition of the ballad “It Must Be Him”, originally sung by Vikki Carr back in the late 1960's that I found positively delightful. Then Kei kicked up the intensity a whole lot as she kicked up her heels to the Disco themed “Chained To Your Love” by little known mid 70’s Soul trio Moment of Truth, and she absolutely killed it with her trademark low and sultry growl. Another PL concert tradition is the medley, and the girls gave the crowd two, the first being from The Bee Gees, a trio of chart toppers from Saturday Night Fever soundtrack: “Staying Alive”, “How Deep Is Your Love” and “Night Fever”, enjoyably predictable since pretty much the world was grooving on Disco at the time, and Pink Lady had made Disco their sound at the moment.
Medley number two came courtesy of those famous lads from Liverpool as Mie and Kei boogied on down to The Beatles, crooning legendary songs like “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, “Lady Madonna”, “Get Back” and “Yellow Submarine” among other classics by the Fab Four. After that, the girls serenaded the audience with their own chart toppers, starting with “UFO” which always that sort of ethereal, out there vibe whenever the girls sing it, that was followed by my all-time PL song, “Wanted” which has it's own air of excitement, next came the baseball themed “Southpaw” with it's frenetic dance routine and the deliciously spooky and funky “Monster” which had been recently released and was a treat for the crowd. Mie and Kei closed out the show with a heartfelt rendition of “I Love How You Love Me” before hopping back in their respective convertibles and leaving the field, waving to the crowd as they depart.
Of all Pink Lady’s concert albums, the JSC was easily the most amazing of the lot, filled with lots of energy, both from the Ladies and the crowd. It was certainly well worth listening to, and enjoying.