''Live at the Forum'' is the eighth video album by Japanese heavy metal band

Babymetal (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese kawaii metal band consisting of Suzuka Nakamoto as "Su-metal" and Moa Kikuchi as "Moametal". The band is produced by Kobametal from the Amuse talent agency. Their vocals are backed by heavy metal instrume ...

first released in video formats on May 13, 2020. The album contains live footage from the band's headlining show from the Metal Galaxy World Tour, at

The Forum (Inglewood, California) Kia Forum (formerly The Forum) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Inglewood, California, United States, adjacent to Los Angeles. Located between West Manchester Boulevard, across Pincay Drive and Kareem Court, it is north of SoFi Stadium and ...

on October 11, 2019, coinciding with the worldwide release of the band's third album '' Metal Galaxy''.

Background

The performance was first announced, along with the digital release of " Elevator Girl", on April 22, 2019, a year after the announcement of the band's third album release in 2019, and half a year after the official departure of

Yuimetal is a Japanese musician, singer, model, and actress. She is a former member of the kawaii metal group Babymetal and the idol group Sakura Gakuin. In October 2018, she left Babymetal due to an undisclosed illness. She is managed by the Amuse, Inc. ...

. Tickets were first made available on April 26, 2019, set at The Forum (which could house up to a capacity of 17,500 seats) and a sold-out show where the band would perform in the concept of a "journey" of the Metal Galaxy. On January 25, 2020, the band announced an album for the performance with a release date on May 13, 2020, both in DVD and Blu-ray formats, as well as a limited edition Blu-ray and two-CD box set exclusively for "The One" fanclub members. A trailer for the album was posted on the band's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel on March 12, 2020. The album has since been released in a vinyl format on September 22, 2021 to commemorate the band's tenth anniversary.

Content

The performance begins with a large screen with visuals of starfields followed with technology materializing the figures of Su-metal and Moametal. The stage dims and the band begins playing "Da Da Dance" along with lighting and projection causing "sensory overload". The screen continues to display visuals, as the set list continues into songs like "Elevator Girl" and "Shanti Shanti Shanti". "Pa Pa Ya!!" is performed with substantial pyrotechnics, while the intro "Gimme Chocolate!!" was shown giving the audience anticipation. Choreography was described to be "marionette-like", but that of "Karate" was described as "narrative" and "theatrical". After the song "Road of Resistance", the screen repeats "We! Are! Babymetal!" in a

call and response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

matter, with the band returning to finish the performance with "Shine" and "Arkadia". The show ends with band lore and future tour dates being shown on the screen.

Reception

''Live at the Forum'' debuted on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in ...

weekly DVD and Blu-ray charts both at number three for the week of May 25, 2020, with first-week sales od 23,000 units. The album also topped the charts for separate music DVD and Blu-ray releases, as well as the chart for combined releases, becoming the act's sixth consecutive video to do so and tying a record made with

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

. The album also charted on the Oricon weekly albums chart at number 268 on the week of October 4, 2021, following the release of the LP record format on September 22, 2021.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from ''Live at the Forum'' booklet. * Su-metal (

Suzuka Nakamoto , known by her stage names Suzuka and Su-metal (both stylized in all caps), is a Japanese musician, singer, songwriter and model. She is best known as a member of the kawaii metal band Babymetal. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse, In ...

) – lead and background vocals, dance * Moametal (

Moa Kikuchi is a Japanese musician, singer, model, and actress. She is represented by the talent agency Amuse, Inc. She is a member of the kawaii metal group Babymetal and a former member of the idol group Sakura Gakuin. Biography Moa Kikuchi was signed ...

) – lead and background vocals (credited as "scream"), dance

Charts

Release history

References

External links

Discography
- Babymetal official website * {{Authority control Babymetal video albums Albums recorded at the Forum 2020 video albums 2021 live albums Live video albums