Tamaki Koji "GRAND LOVE" Concert Tour 1998


[Nov. 24 - Kurashiki] [Nov. 26 - Nagoya] [Nov. 27 - Nagoya]

Nov. 27 - Nagoya

  • Here's the concert report for the Koji Tamaki performance on November 27, 1998 in Nagoya. My seat was little off to the right, in row 10. To my left are Noda-san and Yamaguchi-san who are members of the Jpnz ML. There were at least three more Jpnz ML members at the concert that night. Yamaguchi-san arrives at the concert hall 10 minutes prior to the opening but Noda-san is nowhere to be found.... The hall darkens and we're ready for another concert. Where is she???

    # Songs#Songs
    1
    		 DANCE with MOON
    11
    		Ai Dattan'dayo
    2
    		 BELL
    12
    		Danbouru to Mikanbako
    3
    		 Sayonara ni GOOD BYE
    13
    		Karinto Kouba no Entotsu no Ueni
    4
    		 Come On
    14
    		Flag
    5
    		 To me
    15
    		Rookie
    6
    		 Shiawase no Lamp >>>> HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Ai ga Umareta -
    16
    		Den'en
    7
    		 Yami wo Romance ni Shite
    17
    		MR.LONELY
    8
    		 RELAX
    18
    		Seigi no Mikata (Hero)
    9
    		 CAFE JAPAN
    19
    		Bokura wa
    10
    		 GRAND LOVE
    20
    		Negai (Encore)
    21
    		Melody (Encore)

    Program Details

  • 1. DANCE with MOON
    Yamaguchi-san realizes that there's one extra musician playing keyboards ONLY on this song. This person was wearing a similar stage costume as Koji. I wonder who this person is. Koji has his hair tied in the back tonight. His voice is marginally better than yesterday.

  • 2. BELL
    Immediately, they move onto the next song. Instead of singing "mumei no heroine tachi wa iu (unknown heroines say)", he sings "Nagoya no heroine tachi wa iu (heroines of Nagoya say)", and crowd responds. Definitely crowd response is much better tonight. I wonder what was wrong with last night's crowd! ;-)

  • 3. Sayonara ni GOODBYE
    Includes the word "Nagoya" twice in his song....which usually suggests he's in pretty good mood.

    After the song, they take a little break before moving onto another song. Girls shout his name and Koji reacts by doing the sumo step. "Tonight is the last Nagoya performance of the year," Koji says, "Let me introduce my precious musicians."

    Amidst girls' yelling, he looks around and continues...

  • 4. Come On
    At the end of the song, Koji wildly jumps around (with his guitar). Before moving onto the next song, he takes a drink called Pocari Sweat...it seems like that's his favorite brand of sport drinks.

  • 5. To me
    Some people take their seats. Blueish light fills the stage.

  • 6. Shiawase no Lamp >>> HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Ai ga Umareta -
    He starts to sing Shiawase no Lamp by singing "Shiawase ni narutame ni Umarete kitan'dakara suki na hito to issho ni inasai"....he ends with a chord of G, and then he immediately plays C, and starts singing Happy Birthday. An interesting way to move from one song to the next, but C major chord naturally leads to G major, so the transition sounded very smooth. I've heard Jpnz ML members tell me he's done this before, but this was the first time Koji has done it while I was there.

    After the song, he kisses the microphone once. Girls go wild and he does it again. Finally, Noda-san arrives at the hall.

  • 7. Yami wo Romance ni Shite
    After this song, Kakehi-san, who is an equipment coordinator for the tour, and in racoon dog costume, comes to the front of the stage and starts dancing with Koji. I yell his name, but music is too loud and I don't think they heard me. Meanwhile, crowd is dancing to the beat. And so are the two...Koji and Kakehi. They stare at each other, take a step closer, stop, stare... Gradually, they get close enough to exchange guitars. Crowd is just laughing throughout this whole ordeal. After Koji gets his new guitar, Koji reaches for Kakehi's crotch. From the old days, Jpnz joke around that racoon dog has large testicles so his costume has a big pair, too. Yes, I know, we Japanese have very sick sense of humor. ;-) As Koji jokingly but somewhat erotically touches, Carlos Kanno the percussionist puts in some special sound effects which crack people up. Kakahi holds his hands by his face as if to look embarrased (of course, audience can tell that they are acting, but oh well). We can also see the musicians just laughing...I mean, Kaki-kun (Wataru Yahagi) was almost bending over, laughing so hard.

  • 8. RELAX
    Koji and Kaki-kun do the guitar solo parts in unison.

  • 9. CAFE JAPAN

    [Intermission]

  • 10. GRAND LOVE

    He comes out onto the stage by himself, and stand at the left microphone. But even before he starts singing, he sees that the spot light has been turned on at the right microphone. So, he runs over to the right. He goes back to the left as people on the left shows their displeasure by making a noise. And as Koji moves to the left, people on the right makes even bigger noise. So, Koji goes back to the right. When he's just about ready to start, someone (it turned out to be a Chinese student who is also a Jpnz ML member) calls him "Bro!", and Koji reacts looking surprised. Crowd laughs. He starts playing guitar for a while, and then he moves to the left, jumping, making some poses. He shows off his baseball pitching delivery. He bows, and then leaves the stage. Hey, hey, hey, it ain't over yet! Come back! People start clapping, yelling, all having a great time with Koji. He comes out, spins around a couple of times, and moves over to the right. He finally starts to sing, "Yokattara..." Instead of saying "itsumo no Cafe (the cafe we always go to)", he sings, "itsumo no Nagoya (Nagoya we always go)". Crowd responds. He moves over to the left after singing "Odokete misete". He probably was dead tired by then, he had to restart the song twice...maybe he ran out of breath. Instead of ending with "Kon'ya mo utauyo, Love song (I'll sing the love song tonight, too)", he includes Nagoya again, by singing "Kon'ya mo Nagoya de utauyo, Love song (Again, I'll sing the love song in Nagoya tonight)." Koji plays his ending solo at the center of the stage. I usually have a song or two I newly discover during a concert....it's one of those I don't necessarily like that much after listening to a CD, but just fall in love after hearing them being performed on stage. In the last tour, it was "Genki na Machi". In this concert tour, they were "Grand Love", and "Danbo-ru to Mikan bako". All these songs, I didn't really pay attention to them, and didn't even consider them as my favorite songs, but those three songs are now pretty high up on my list.

    The concert hall becomes quiet as Koji exchanges his guitars with Kakehi and as we await for the next song. I realized that it was quiet enough for me to say something and have it heard. Of course, I was excited that I didn't really think too hard but nonetheless something inside of me just made me act quickly. I yelled, "Tamaki-san, itsumo arigatou (Tamaki-san, thank you for everything you have done for us -- "itsumo" means always)!!" This is something I wanted to say, because I was a little disguted with us fans just yelling his name but not really thanking him for all he has done for us. I'm sure everyone has had difficult times and Koji's music helping us out....even more so if you understand the lyrics. So, I wanted to tell him that we fans appreciate him and his songs. He hears me, he takes a step back, and bows deeply toward my direction. Crowd responds by giving him an applause. Noda-san and Yamaguchi-san whispers, "Yes!!", and give me thumbs-up in approval. That was probably the biggest happening during my stay in Japan. I mean, Koji and I were conversing....in Kurashiki, and now, he hears me telling me that we fans appreciate him very much, and he showed his appreciation by bowing toward me. I bet he doesn't even think that this fan of his came from United States to see him live! At any rate, I'm still excited over this, but the concert continues...

  • 11. Ai Dattan'dayo
    Highly recommended. Quiet song in key of G (moves up to Ab toward the end), but very beautiful. A Jpnz broadcasting company called NHK has decided to choose this song in their regular programming called "Min'na no Uta (everybody's songs)".

  • 12. Danboru to Mikanbako
    His voice still doesn't sound 100%, but from how he's doing on the stage, he looks like he's in a much better mood tonight. The previous night was disappointing.

  • 13. Karinto Kouba no Entotsu no Ueni
    Probably he was at his best during this song.

  • 14. Flag

  • 15. Rookie
    Lights turn on inside the hall, and everyone is on their feet.

  • 16. Den'en
    Without hesitation, they move onto this song. Excitement level of the audience is at the peak. "Ai wa koko ni aru (Love is here), Nagoya ni aru (in Nagoya)," he sings.

    "Thank you," Koji quietly speaks, and then moves onto the next song.

  • 17. MR. LONELY
    His voice was doing better than last night.

    After the song, we almost heard him saying "Yes, we did it!" Everyone does a high five. Koji gives thumbs up to Wataru and Satchan. Koji looks very very pleased.
    Everyone except Koji leave the stage....and....

  • 18. Seigi no Mikata (Hero)
    An acoustic version with his blue guitar. We sing the "Ganbatte" part.

    After the song, Koji raises his hand in triumph.

  • 19. Bokura wa
    The concert hall is totally dark except one spotlight shining down on Koji. Koji takes the rhythm with his foot and starts to sing. His vocal caliber is just overwhelming. The hall is absolutely silent except Koji's voice filling the hall. He even sings the solo part by himself.

    He takes several bows and then leaves the stage. It didn't take long for us to start requesting an encore. Several minutes later, all musicians return to the stage, and Koji speaks, "I'm going to put my heart into this song, wishing everyone's wishes (Negai) to come true."

  • Encore:
    20. Negai
    On songs that are slower and lower (in notes), you can hear that his voice is not 100%. But we can see that he's putting a tremendous effort in making this concert a great one. A crowd just listens...everyone on their feet but not moving at all as they concentrate.

  • All other musicians leave the stage...Koji remains.

    21. Melody

    ----

  • So, we didn't have any after-concert performances that night, but the concert was nonetheless pleasing. I was very happy, and my companions loved the concert, too. It was great that I was able to end my concert tour on a good note.

    Written by Teruyuki Mihashi
    Organized by Kelvin Tsang
    Last update: January 16,1999
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