livescope 2012 ~the tales of memories~ Tour Pamphlet — Member Essays

Essays contributed to the pamphlet for GARNET CROW livescope 2012 ~the tales of memories~, in which each of the four members writes about a place tied to their memories.

Yuri Nakamura — Namba Hatch

More than anything, this was the place of our first live show, so it left a strong impression on me. It is a precious place, where our live story began. Back then, I never imagined we would actually be able to perform live, and I was full of all kinds of thoughts: would people come to see us, would I be able to sing all the way to the end... So even now, whenever I hear “Namba Hatch,” my heart skips a beat. It is the kind of place that makes me pull myself together.

AZUKI Nana — Ninna-ji

The autumn of GARNET CROW’s seventh anniversary: an outdoor live at Ninna-ji, a World Heritage site. Heavy rain the night before. In cold, clear air, as if every speck of dust had been swept away, the sky, out of a hazy dusk, showed us an enchanting moon that had taken on a beautiful shape and gave off a divine light. A live show for just one night. Without question, it became a venue that stays in my heart. Being outdoors, on historic ground with no towering buildings around, our voices and sounds rose toward the green mountains and the deep sky beyond them, carried endlessly far without anything getting in their way; it was a time that left me entranced and dreamlike to the depths of my heart, as if it were all happening to someone else. Well, it wasn’t only beautiful memories: the equipment having to go out and come back again because of the previous day’s heavy rain; my own costume not coming together head to toe, so that I was running around looking for pieces even the day before; then the major setlist changes from the previous evening; and all of us shivering in the cold on the day as we sang and played. There is so much to feel nostalgic about.

Hitoshi Okamoto — “flying” / “STAY ~夜明けのSoul~”

Every one of these places brings back memories, and I wanted to visit them again. I walked around the park looking for the tree from the jacket photo of the album “STAY ~夜明けのSoul~,” wondering, “Which tree was it that I climbed back then?”, and I tried recreating the composition of the “flying” jacket photo. I went fully intending to have fun. There was also an idea to recreate the jacket photo for “SPARKLE ~筋書き通りのスカイブルー~” (fairly close to the edge of a building’s rooftop!), but it was cold and scary, so we dropped it.

Hirohito Furui — Osaka City Central Public Hall

The premium live held to commemorate the fifth anniversary of GARNET CROW’s debut. Its venue was Osaka City Central Public Hall. Back then, until that live was decided, I didn’t even know a building like this existed in Osaka. Part of it is that I liked the building’s atmosphere, which has a sense of Taishō romance, but I also remembered how I felt at the time, “So we’ve managed to keep going for five years...,” and so I chose this place.