Tour'99 "DISCOVERY" in Hiroshima

On March 19, I was in Hiroshima. It was raining and windy.

I entered the Hiroshima Green Arena half an hour before the concert started. Half the spectators were already there. They spent their time chatting. I liked this atmosphere before the concert began.

In the hall, classical music played. There was a mechanical excavator on the center of the stage, and there were two towers on each side of it. Some chimneys were sending forth smoke. One of them blew a smoke ring. I thought that it was cute. The counter was shown on the mechanical excavator in blue letters. When I entered the hall, it was at about 1200.

When the number became 1900, the BGM changed to Beethoven's 9th symphony. At that time, I noticed that the performance would start at 1999!

Mr.Children appeared under a blue light. I soon heard a familiar tune.

"DISCOVERY"

"Undershirt"

"Namonaki Uta"

Those three songs were played without a break. And then, Sakurai-san who is a vocalist raised his voice for the first time.
"Hey! Hiroshima!!!"
The spectators shouted for joy at his voice. Of course, I also shouted.

"Hiroshima is so warm!" He said. As mentioned above, on that day it was raining, and it was very damp.

"As for memories of Hiroshima, I have many memories of writing the songs in hotel room. ...and... our debut, we played at a small club in Hiroshima. Anyway, we hope you have fun!"

"Prism"

"Everything(It's you)"

Sakurai-san spoke again.
"There were some big screens on the old stage. We have no screen in this tour, because we would like to make a simple stage this time. Maybe people in the back seats can't see me well. But don't worry. We always play with our whole hearts for you."

"I'll be" "Hana 〜Memento-Mori〜" "Simple"

"Love Connection" "Dance Dance Dance"

"Love Connection" and "Dance Dance Dance" are two of many exciting songs. Sakurai-san ran about the stage, danced intensely and shouted. Everybody was excited by those songs. I also danced up and down.

"Nishi e Higashi e"

This song was musically re-arranged a lot. It's so cool!

"La La La"

Everyone sang the main part of the song together. That scene was very impressive.

"Tomorrow never knows" "Owarinaki Tabi" "Hikarino sasu houhe"

After they finished playing these songs, Sakurai-san said Thank you for today! to us. Then they left the stage. The audience stood up and applauded. And then, until they appeared on the stage again, we called for an encore.

They appeared again a few minutes later. Sakurai-san introduced all the members of Mr.Children, as well as other people who helped with the tour.

"Innocent World" "Image"

He sang those songs in a sonorous voice. And, this time they left the stage for real. It seemed to me that two hours passed very quickly. It was such a wonderful concert. I will never forget it.

The list of songs they played.

1. DISCOVERY

2. Undershirt

3. Namonaki Uta

4. Prism

5. Everything(It's you)

6. I'll be

7. Hana 〜Memento-Mori〜

8. Simple

9. Love Connection

10. Dance Dance Dance

11. Nishi e Higashi e

12. La La La

13. Tomorrow never knows

14. Owarinaki Tabi

15. Hikarino sasu houhe

16. Innocent World

17. Image

The members of Mr.Children

Vocal & Guitar : Kazutoshi Sakurai

Guitar : Kenichi Tahara

Bass guitar : Keisuke Nakagawa

Drums : Hideya Suzuki

Special thanks to Kelly. She is my great English teacher!