Backstage in Tokyo, Mrs. GREEN APPLE Teases Its New Era: ‘No Limits’
On July 4, there was little red, white or blue to be seen while walking around Tokyo’s bustling Shibuya area.
Instead, vibrant orange and lime green were omnipresent — and not because of any official holiday, although it felt like one.
A seemingly endless sea of electric orange and green T-shirts, towels and totes, among other items, all celebrated Japanese pop-rock band Mrs.
GREEN APPLE, which that evening was set to headline its first of two sold-out, fan club-only shows at Tokyo’s MUFG Stadium (Japan National Stadium).
“Two days in a row, sold-out — it’s crazy,” says vocalist-guitarist Motoki Ohmori, 29, seated in casual black clothing that contrasts his onstage look while backstage at the stadium hours before 70,000 concertgoers will flood in for the show.
“It’s really special and important for us to have this moment with people who love us so much, and who we love so much … This is one of our milestones.
There is nowhere bigger than here.” The shows were part of the band’s Zenjin Mito To IM/Mutable tour, a six-show run that included two dates in April (also at MUFG Stadium, but not limited to its fan club), two fan club-only dates in May at Osaka’s Yanmar Stadium Nagai and finally, these two shows in July — the first since the group announced its highly anticipated sixth album, which arrives Sept.
30 on EMI.
Zenjin Mito is the band’s name for its ongoing series of self-produced concerts, dating back to 2014, but this was its first time booking a stadium in Tokyo — just one way in which the tour has made history.
Mrs.
GREEN APPLE became the first band to book four shows at MUFG Stadium, a fitting feat considering “zenjin mito” translates to “unprecedented” in Japanese.
Just two years after forming independently in 2013, Mrs.
GREEN APPLE made its major-label debut on EMI in 2015.
The band spent its first decade building a loyal and expansive local fanbase — all while honing a sound blending punk-rock influences from ’90s American bands with Japanese idol and dance music and even Disney-esque orchestral production.
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