VOL.118 hills パン工場live report vol.6“OKAMOTO NIGHT”

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.118

Sai Saida's
hills BREAD FACTORY LIVE REPORT!
VOL.6

◆OKAMOTO NIGHT◆　August 5, 2004
Main act: Hitoshi Okamoto　Special guests: Yuri Nakamura, Nana AZUKI, Hiroto Furui

Every Thursday, “THURSDAY LIVE” takes place at hills BREAD FACTORY. Music writer Sai Saida brings you reports on these varied live shows. This time, we report on the special kind of THURSDAY LIVE featuring GARNET CROW guitarist Hitoshi Okamoto as the main act, with the other members appearing as guests!

OKAMOTO NIGHT

　Held in the height of summer, this was the second OKAMOTO NIGHT, following the first on January 22 of the same year. The show featured GARNET CROW guitarist Hitoshi Okamoto, and, as last time, all the remaining members of GARNET CROW appeared as guests, so tickets sold out immediately. Even before the show, the THURSDAY LIVE had already made us feel anew just how tremendous Garnet's popularity was. Against the heat in the venue, Okamoto appeared in his usual breezy, unruffled manner. Amid the calls of “Oka-mocchi!”, he began with a short interlude and performed “First Fine Day,” one of the signature songs from his solo work, smoothly drawing the audience into the world of Okamoto. Today, unlike usual, Okamoto stood at center stage and took the lead vocals. He seemed a little more nervous than usual, and when he began his MC, he said breathlessly, “Being a vocalist is hard.” Well, today you are the star...... But when it came to the cover songs, he looked slightly pleased while performing numbers by Badfinger and Manic Street Preachers, apparently favorites of his.
　Then he brought on the first guest, keyboardist Furui, and performed “Seijaku no Ma ni,” perhaps a new song for his own solo album. He also surprised us with an Okamoto-vocal version of GARNET CROW's “Mikansei na Neiro,” building the excitement with a song selection unique to THURSDAY LIVE. As the middle of the show approached, Nakamura and AZUKI finally appeared. Once these four are together, it inevitably becomes GARNET CROW, and the sight feels so natural that it must be the nature of the band. Sensing the audience's desire to hear Garnet songs, they played GARNET CROW numbers. They began with “Eien wo Kakenukeru Isshun no Bokura,” followed by “Yume Mita Ato de,” and then the rare coupling track “Yuudachi no Niwa” from the single “Spiral”; one Garnet song after another was performed. The biggest surprise of the day was surely the new song “Wasurezaki,” performed for the first time. It was probably a candidate for the next single, but presenting a new song whose release date had not even been decided as if it were nothing was also very Garnet-like. Then came the latest song “Kimi wo Kazaru Hana wo Sakasou,” also performed for the first time. They followed it with precious songs such as their debut single “Mysterious Eyes” and the early classic “Futari no Rocket,” and their refusal to hold anything back sent the assembled audience into a frenzy.
　The first encore song was “Last love song,” sung by Hitoshi Okamoto, and the final song was “Bokura dake no Mirai”—a generous program from start to finish. After seeing a live show like this performed at such close range, I could not help wishing that Okamoto and Garnet would both release new songs soon.
　I hear that some fans even traveled all the way from Hokkaido and Kyushu with platinum tickets just to see today's show. But this is the kind of live performance that is worth going to such lengths to see, and it is actually happening here at hills BREAD FACTORY. Now, what kind of artist will appear next month, and what kind of performance will they give us? Even when autumn arrives, it seems the hot world of Thursday nights will continue.

【SET LIST】
1.Interlude—Click me／Hitoshi Okamoto
2.First Fine Day／Hitoshi Okamoto
3.no matter what／Badfinger
4.Ocean Spray／Manic Street Preachers
5.Seijaku no Ma ni／Hitoshi Okamoto (new song)
6.Mikansei na Neiro／GARNET CROW (Okamoto Vo)
7.Eien wo Kakenukeru Isshun no Bokura／GARNET CROW
8.Tsubasa／Hitoshi Okamoto (Nakamura Vo)
9.Yume Mita Ato de／GARNET CROW
10.Yuudachi no Niwa／GARNET CROW
11.Wasurezaki／GARNET CROW (new song)
12.Kimi wo Kazaru Hana wo Sakasou／GARNET CROW
13.Mysterious Eyes／GARNET CROW
14.Futari no Rocket／GARNET CROW
encore
1.Last love song／GARNET CROW (Okamoto Vo)
2.Bokura dake no Mirai／GARNET CROW

★THURSDAY LIVE at hills BREAD FACTORY Schedule★

●September 16: U-ka saegusa IN db NIGHT
Performers: U-ka saegusa IN db　Guest: Aika Ohno, and others
●September 23: UK Sweet NIGHT
Performer: Keiko Utoku　Guest: Shiori Takei
●September 30: Autumn Long-Night NIGHT
Performers: the★tambourines
Guests: Hiroto Furui, Hitoshi Okamoto (GARNET CROW)
●October 7: doa NIGHT
Performers: doa　Guest: Billy Sheehan

Doors open 18:30／Show starts 19:30
Price: ¥3,000 both in advance and at the door (tax included), drink included

★Tickets go on sale on the mobile site and GIZA MUSIC NET (gizamusic.net) on the Thursday four weeks before each performance date. They will also be available through Ticket PIA from the Saturday four weeks before each performance date.

■General inquiries: hills LIVE Ticket Center 06-6110-7111
■OFFICIAL HP: http://www.giza-thursdaylive.com/

★music freak RADIO ★

★music freak RADIO airs new GIZA studio recordings and artist comments earlier than anywhere else. It also gives away valuable promotional, non-commercial novelty items from GIZA artists. This is an hour-long program that every GIZA Freak should definitely check out.

■Station: FM CO・CO・LO
■Broadcast: Every Saturday 11:00–12:00
■OFFICIAL HP: http://www.cocolo.co.jp/
＜Broadcast schedule＞

●September 11／doa, Koshi Inaba new song, and others
●September 18／U-ka saegusa IN db new song, and others
●September 25／OOM and others
●October 2／Hayami Kishimoto, Fayray new songs, and others
●October 9／Miho Komatsu new song, Aika Takaoka album feature, and others

※ GIZA artists' recordings will be aired as soon as they arrive, so please regard the broadcast schedule as a rough guide only.