Tamaki Koji "GRAND LOVE" Concert Tour 1998
[Nov. 24 - Kurashiki]
[Nov. 26 - Nagoya]
[Nov. 27 - Nagoya]
Nov. 26 - Nagoya
OK, guys...here's the second concert I went to this year.
This concert, held in Nagoya on Nov 26, is the first concert after
the Kurashiki concert.
My seat was in the fourth row, all the way to the left, right
in front of speakers. Oh well... In the last concert tour,
my seat was on the 11th row, all the way to the right. Geez,
I seem to get these extreme ends of the seats.
Before the concert, I browse through the foyer, looking for
things to buy. They were selling CDs, necklaces (chokers),
shirts, T-shirts, guitar picks and stickers, along with
concert booklets. Concert booklet contains great info and
interviews. I hope I'll have some time to translate and
post them up here.
The concert starts pretty much on time, at about 6:33pm.
Musicians walk to their position, but I'm not seeing a wild
response I experienced in Kurashiki two nights ago. That's
a bummer.
# |
Songs | # | Songs |
1 |
DANCE with MOON | 10
| GRAND LOVE |
2 |
BELL | 11 | Ai Dattan'dayo |
3 |
Sayonara ni GOOD BYE | 12 | Danbouru to Mikanbako |
4 |
Come On | 13 | Karinto Kouba no Entotsu no Ueni
|
5 |
To me | 14 | Flag |
6 |
HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Ai ga Umareta - | 15 | Rookie
|
7 |
Yami wo Romance ni Shite | 16 | Den'en |
8 |
RELAX | 17 | MR.LONELY |
9 |
CAFE JAPAN | 18 | Negai (Encore) |
Program Details
1. DANCE with MOON
Not everybody stood up. My section stood up (I think, 'cuz
there were only two seats in front of me), but there were
some people even right at the center who didn't stand up.
I'm not saying that everybody should stand up and dance,
because there are people who cannot for one reason or
another, but I was hoping to see a better response from
the crowd, to be honest. Koji plays his guitar with Capo 2.
2. BELL
His melody sways...a lot of ornamental notes inserted
in his songs today. At this time, I didn't know whether
that meant he was in a good mood, or his voice wasn't
coming out as usual.
3. Sayonara ni GOODBYE
His voice doesn't sound too good today....is it a
microphone? He sounds like his nose is stuffed.
This really worries me. He yells "NagoyaNagoyaNagoya
Nagoya!!!"
He switches his guitar to a blue gut guitar and....
4. Come On
He yells "Nagoya" several times and every time,
crowd responds.
Without saying anything, Koji continues...
5. To me
A lot slower, a lot mellower, but a lot sweeter
than the original version we know from [Anzenchitai V].
Piano solo section has been newly added in this
concert tour version. I wish I remembered how the
piano solo goes, but I just remember that it was
very very beautiful. He pauses, he raises his right
hand, stops, and lowers the hand as Satoko resumes
playing the piano.
6. HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Ai ga Umareta -
He still hasn't spoken to us yet. He nonetheless
kissed the microphone like he's been doing in this
tour. Girls go wild.
7. Yami wo Romance ni Shite
No dance with Kakehi-san. Too bad. Everything is
just going all right, but nothing special has
happened so far. His voice is still different.
It's nothing like I've heard before. At first,
I thought he was doing it on purpose, just for
the fun of it, but he can't be doing this for
this long time!
8. RELAX
Satoko plays the solo section first, and then
Koji moves to the left, Wataru to the right, and
they play the solo parts in unison.
9. CAFE JAPAN
All musicians leave the stage.
(Intermission)
10. GRAND LOVE
Koji starts to sing at left microphone. He jumps
and skips over to the right side in the middle
of the song. Toward the end, he comes back to the
left side. After the song, Koji raises his
hand toward his musicians as if to give them
credits and to show his appreciation.
"How have you been doing?!" one girls shouts. Koji
just bows, without saying a word. What does that
supposed to mean?
11. Ai Dattan'dayo
Satoko's electric piano accompanies Koji. Toward
the end, Haruyoshi fills in the strings section by
playing the synthesizer.
"Thank you very much," Koji quietly speaks.
12. Danbouru to Mikanbako
Stage becomes a little brighter, and behind the musicians,
we see a prop of an apartment building, just like how
Koji envisioned his "Karinto Kouba no Entotsu no Ue ni"
album, reflecting back on his home town. This stage
prop was not available in Kurashiki. Koji plays
the acoustic guitar, and Wataru plays the Gibson electric
guitar.
13. Karinto Kouba no Entotsu no Ueni
Wataru uses a bottleneck technique at the
middle of the song.
14. Flag
Wataru changes his guitar to Les Paul.
15. Rookie
Finally most people stand up, as the lights
shine the seats. But there still are people
not standing....even in the center section.
16. Den'en
17. MR.LONELY
Well, his voice is definitely not coming out
as well as usual. He can't really get his
voices up to those high notes.
After the song, musicians leave the stage, and
crowd immediately starts to applaud in unison,
hoping to get an encore performance.
Musicians return to the stage to the delight
of the fans. Someone throws a stuffed animal
onto the stage. Smiling, Koji places the
stuffed animal onto one of the speakers
surrounding Koji.
"May all your happiness continue...forever."
18. Negai (Encore)
In songs like this, where it's a lot more quiet and
you can't just yell your voice out, his problem with
his voice became really apparent. But it was
obvious that he was trying to overcome that with
his sincerity and seriousness toward his performance.
That's why he didn't even mention his difficulty with
his voice as an excuse. Crowd is absolutely quiet
as Koji sings his last song for the night.
Musicians leave the stage again, never to return
that evening. I was hoping Koji would come out, but
at the same time, since he was going to be performing
the next day, I also didn't want him to come out and
overuse his voice. I nonetheless walked up to the
front aisle, but we were soon asked by staff to
leave the concert hall.
After the concert, I had a dinner with one of the
Japanese ML member and her friend. We were a little
worried about Koji and his voice.
"We'll see what happens tomorrow,"
was the conclusion we came to that night.
Written by Teruyuki Mihashi
Organized by Kelvin Tsang
Last update: January 16,1999
Return to Anzen Chitai homepage.
返回安全地帶主頁。
Snz[ y[W({)