Sister group's Live Attendance Rules Draw Attention

The management of Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, the sister group of MCZ, has published official rules and guidelines for audience behavior at the group's own live events, and the announcement has attracted considerable attention.

Among their fans, known as EbiChu Family, one of the most talked-about points is the decision to limit penlights to official merchandise.

According to the announcement on the group's official website, the rules state that "modifying official penlights and using unofficial penlights other than official products are prohibited."

Modified glow sticks and unofficial products that are excessively bright have already been prohibited at EbiChu events. This time, however, the wording explicitly prohibits bringing or using any non-official penlights themselves.

Other rules include avoiding excessively large cheering boards and keeping them at chest height when using them. Bringing alcoholic beverages into the venue and entering the venue while under the influence of alcohol are also prohibited.

The audience guidelines also explicitly prohibit abusive language and disruptive behavior, diving, mosh pits and lifts, continuous jumping known as "Masai," excessive shouting and calls between songs or during intros, large-scale copying of choreography that could cause contact with people nearby, and watching the show while standing on a platform or other object.

Among EbiChu Family, reactions appear to be mixed. Some have welcomed the announcement as simply putting common-sense rules into writing, while others have raised concerns that "not being able to use anything other than an official penlight means having to carry more equipment" and that "measures against extreme behavior are making the rules stricter for everyone."

For first-time concertgoers in particular, buying an official penlight can be a hurdle. They may have to wait in a merchandise line, and there are also cases where the products sell out.

Meanwhile, MCZ's management has not generally imposed restrictions on penlights, apart from excessively bright products and situations where one person uses a large number of them. This excludes requests such as turning off penlights for specific parts of a live performance.

Many first-time concertgoers choose inexpensive single-color penlights sold at places such as home improvement stores when attending a show.

With the two groups belonging to the same agency, it will be interesting to see whether the new rules adopted by EbiChu have any implications for the agency's approach to live-event regulations going forward.