Pepsi NEX presents B'z PREMIUM LIVE

Pepsi NEX presents B'z PREMIUM LIVE
Event featuring B'z
Start Date	August 30, 2012
End Date	September 1, 2012
Country	Japan
Songs	15
Home Video	Unreleased
Shows	2

The stage at the Tokyo Studio Coast performance on September 1, 2012. The two events in Tokyo and Osaka would serve as warm-ups for the Into Free tour that would soon tour both coasts of the United States and Canada.

Pepsi NEX presents B'z PREMIUM LIVE was a special event featuring B'z and sponsored by Pepsi NEX. This would be the second live collaboration between the two, following 2011's Pepsi NEX 1DAY LIVE. Tickets to the event were available exclusively through a promotion tied into the band's 50th single "GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-". Those that purchased the single were given the opportunity to redeem a card within that gave a chance at winning some of the very limited tickets to see B'z at two smaller venues: Namba Hatch in Osaka on August 30 and Studio Coast in Tokyo on September 1. Amongst the songs performed were all five tracks from the then-recently released self-titled English debut album that featured English versions of "Ai no Bakudan", "ultra soul", "juice", "SPLASH!", and "Samayoeru Aoi Dangan". Fellow singles "Shoudou" and "MOTEL" also made their return to the stage after several years of absence.

The two shows preceded and served as a warm-up for the band's then-upcoming North American tour B'z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free-. As a result, the shortened setlist is a truncated version of what was to be performed on the seven United States and Canada stops weeks later, with the exception of "HEAT". The song, originally written for South Korean artist Kim Hyun Joon, was not intended to be recorded by the band although they did express at the time of its reveal that they thought it would be interesting to play it live. While it was not retained in the encore for the Into Free tour in North America, it was brought back for the brief Japanese stint of the same tour. Due to the overwhelmingly positive reception in the live arena, a studio version of "HEAT" was later included on B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998 a year later as a bonus song.

Unlike with the Pepsi NEX 1DAY LIVE special concert event from 2011 that had select performances highlighted on the limited edition for "GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-", none of the performances from either night were released in an official capacity. However, the entire tour finale for B'z LIVE-GYM 2012 -Into Free- was streamed live on the internet for fans all over the world, which shared a similar but expanded setlist.

Touring Band

• B'z: Tak Matsumoto (GUITAR), Koshi Inaba (VOCALS)
• Support Members: Shane Gaalaas (DRUMS), Barry Sparks (BASS), Yoshinobu Ohga (GUITAR), Takanobu Masuda (KEYBOARDS)

Setlist

1. Love Bomb ☆
2. GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-
3. Ultra Soul ☆
4. Splash ☆
5. Brighter Day ☆
6. Easy Come, Easy Go!
7. MOTEL
8. Mou Ichido Kiss Shitakatta
9. Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~
10. Negai
11. Into Free -Dangan- ☆
12. Juice ☆
13. IT'S SHOWTIME!!
14. Shoudou

ENCORE

1. HEAT

☆ English version or original English song

Venues

2012.08.30 Osaka: Namba Hatch

2012.09.01 Tokyo: Shinkiba STUDIO COAST