VOL.125／153 hills パン工場live report vol.13“OKAMOTO NIGHT” and SATURDAY LIVE 报道 vol.5

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.125

Sai Saida's
hills BREAD FACTORY LIVE REPORT!
vol.13

The live house “hills BREAD FACTORY,” open every Thursday in Kitahorie, Osaka, had quietly continued its work and reached its second anniversary this March. Since this is the thirteenth installment of this series as well, I convince myself that persistence really is a strength, and now let us introduce this month's interesting show at the “hills BREAD FACTORY THURSDAY LIVE.”

★OKAMOTO NIGHT★　Main act: Hitoshi Okamoto　Guests: Miwa Kitazora, Hiroto Furui

March 10, 2005

　This was the fourth OKAMOTO NIGHT. After warming up with “Flats,” a vocal unit made up of Ayako Nakahira and Yumiko Ohira, who had participated as backing vocalists in Garnet's live tours the previous year and this year, the moment had finally come for Hitoshi Okamoto to appear!
　The opening moved from a cool SE into WEEZER's “Don't Let Go,” making for a fairly lively start. I wondered whether he was more fired up than usual, but in the following MC his familiar bashful smile and laid-back talk came bursting out as always. His exchanges with the audience while distracted by tuning his guitar reflected Hitoshi Okamoto's impossible-to-dislike personality exactly as it was, and once you get caught up in that atmosphere, it becomes addictive. He followed with two original songs of his own, then keyboardist Hiroto Furui, GARNET CROW's “miracle-handed” keyboardist, joined him for covers of Badfinger and Manic Street Preachers that were unmistakably Okamoto's. This man really does have the scent of UK rock somewhere in him. The original song “Seijaku no Ma ni” that followed expressed his artistic sensibility beautifully. In the second half, he also performed original songs and GARNET CROW numbers, greatly exciting the venue. Personally, in addition to the playing, I enjoyed the conversational exchanges between Hitoshi Okamoto and the audience in the small live house! That warmth of contact is something I would really like you to experience by attending one of his shows.

【SET LIST】
1.Interlude—Click Me／Hitoshi Okamoto
2.Don't Let Go／WEEZER
3.Res-No／Hitoshi Okamoto
4.Autumn Sky／Hitoshi Okamoto
5.Ocean Spray／Manic Street Preachers
6.no matter what／Badfinger
7.Seijaku no Ma ni／Hitoshi Okamoto
8.Wrong Impression／Natalie Imbruglia
＜Miwa Kitazora section＞
9.Don't tell me／Avril Lavigne
10.Why can't I／Liz Phair
11.√／Miwa Kitazora
12.Don't Worry Baby／ZED
13.One Piece／Miwa Kitazora
＜Okamoto section resumes＞
14.It's Only Love／Hitoshi Okamoto
15.Say Something／Haven
16.Mikansei na Neiro／GARNET CROW
17.Sen Ijou no Kotoba wo Narabete mo／GARNET CROW
18.Nowhere Near／Summer Camp
19.I wasn't it that way／……
20.LOST CHILD／Hitoshi Okamoto
encore-1　First Fine Day／Hitoshi Okamoto
encore-2　HELP／THE BEATLES

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.153

Sai Saida's
SATURDAY LIVE REPORT
at HILLS BREAD FACTORY vol.5

The midsummer SATURDAY LIVE in August still offered a wonderfully varied lineup: Indies, Ryokyo, SSW (singer-songwriter), and SAMBA NIGHT. SATURDAY LIVE had passed its 230th show and was heading into autumn and winter. From among these events, we introduce the first SSW (singer-songwriter) NIGHT, held on August 18.
(※ Only the Hitoshi Okamoto portion is presented here.)

　In fact, the performers for this day had not been settled until just before the announcement. After changing plans again and again, the desperate idea was to gather together the singer-songwriters among our GIZA-affiliated artists who write their own lyrics and music and also sing. The four SSW acts chosen by that criterion each put on a rare and fascinating live show in their own distinct way.
　The main program began. First, Hitoshi Okamoto appeared. He is GARNET CROW's guitarist, and he had previously performed several solo-style shows at hills BREAD FACTORY LIVE under the name “OKAMOTO NIGHT,” so it was fair to call this a smooth start. Yet when you think about it, this was actually his first appearance on the Pan Live stage that year. From the opening, he created the world of Hitoshi Okamoto with his familiar breezy delivery and manner. Beginning with “Autumn Sky,” a solo work, he performed covers of WEEZER and HAVEN from the UK rock that could be called his roots, followed by two more songs from his solo work, for a total of five. He made us listen with a perfect balance of temperature and tension: never too hot, never too cool.

■ SET LIST

＜Hitoshi Okamoto＞1.Autumn Sky／Hitoshi Okamoto　2.Devotion／WEEZER　3.Say Something／HAVEN　4.joyride／Hitoshi Okamoto　5.Lost Child／Hitoshi Okamoto

joyride　　Hitoshi Okamoto

Hitoshi Okamoto original song

“First fine day”
Hitoshi Okamoto
(2000)

● This song appeared as track 2 on his first solo indie single, “First fine day,” released in November 2000. The lyrics were written by Nana AZUKI of GARNET CROW. An up-tempo guitar pop song that showcases his gift for melody!

At the time it was made, we were not in an environment where we could do everything inside a computer as we can now, so I painstakingly did what was essentially home recording in the old-fashioned way, using an MTR. The original was bright guitar pop, but I changed the arrangement quite a bit before performing it that day. The chord changes are dizzyingly fast, so it is pretty tough to sing while playing, but since it is Joyride (reckless driving!), I decided that it was okay even if it was rough around the edges......