VOL.134 hills パン工場live report vol.22“OKAMOTO NIGHT”

●○○ From music freak magazine Vol.134

Sai Saida's
hills BREAD FACTORY LIVE REPORT!
vol.22

Happy New Year, everyone. It is finally 2006, and this hills BREAD FACTORY THURSDAY LIVE report has reached its twenty-second installment; the Pan Factory live is also approaching its third anniversary. In the meantime, unspoken legends have begun to be passed down among Pan Live regulars. The rumor goes: whenever a major live show by a GIZA-affiliated artist is approaching, that artist always appears at hills BREAD FACTORY beforehand!? Whether or not that is true, let us report on the OKAMOTO NIGHT held last December 8.

★OKAMOTO NIGHT★　Main act: Hitoshi Okamoto　Guests: Yuri Nakamura, Nana AZUKI, Hiroto Furui

December 8, 2005

　Started the year before and held in March and June of 1995, this was the third OKAMOTO NIGHT. The night was produced by Hitoshi Okamoto, GARNET CROW's guitarist who is also active as a solo artist, and had earned a strong reputation as an intimate live show woven from its varied guests and the gentle personality of Hitoshi Okamoto, known as “Oka-mocchi.” Since the other three members of GARNET CROW had already been announced as guests that night, tickets sold out early. In a packed venue, OKAMOTO NIGHT began right on schedule.
　The members appeared to an ominous SE. The song Okamoto performed as the opening number after appearing last was “Seijaku no Ma ni,” from his second solo album. Then, after a light greeting, came “Tsubasa.” Next was the Badfinger cover “no matter what,” now a familiar feature of OKAMOTO NIGHT, making for a tastefully restrained selection. Okamoto's style is to continue with calm, personal songs from the beginning without trying to whip up the crowd. In the next MC, he seemed to wrap things up with talk about the World Cup and a joke without a punchline, then suddenly attacked with the original rock and pop numbers “Autumn Sky” and “First Fine Day.” The balance between the hard guitar sound and the loose vocals was distinctive too. Once you get hooked on this indescribable Okamoto world, it is irresistible.
　“Okamoto's section ends with the next song. After that, it's GARNET CROW, so please look forward to it,” Okamoto announced coolly and boldly. For the seventh song, he performed the melodic guitar pop “LOST CHILD,” which revealed the UK roots in his music, and then called Nakamura, AZUKI, and Furui onto the stage. There it was: GARNET CROW, fully assembled. Still, whenever these four gather, the stage suddenly becomes brighter and begins to emit a mysterious aura.
　The four first played “flying,” an early song. Then came “Wasurezaki,” a song full of memories for Nakamura and AZUKI. Oh! I thought tonight might be a run of singles, but the next section was made up of darker coupling and album tracks: “Mikansei na Neiro,” “Mizu no Nai Hareta Umi e,” and “Holy ground.” These songs feel like the true essence of Garnet, and the audience, filled with excitement, could do nothing but listen intently. It was an almost too-good selection.
　During Yuri Nakamura's MC, she looked back on GARNET CROW's activities over the year 1995 as they approached the fifth anniversary, and talked about her hopes for the premium live coming up the following week. It all made us realize just how full their activities had been. GARNET had certainly begun as a gathering of professionals with completely different personalities, but after five years it had developed a remarkably unified band feel. Especially when you hear them playing live in a small venue like this, the deep trust among the individual members (including the band members) emerges directly as sound.
　And then, in the blink of an eye, the second half of the live featured six songs performed without a break! It began with “Yume Mita Ato de,” and included the new song “Hare Dokei” along the way. For the main set's finale, they made a vivid finish, moving from the upbeat “Bokura dake no Mirai” to “Kimi no Omoi Egaita Yume Atsumeru HEAVEN.” Even though the premium live was just ahead, they were putting on such a generous show and even premiering a new song that it was enough to make us panic. Of course, urged on by enthusiastic calls, they also performed two encore songs, old and new.
　They must have played for a total of ninety minutes, but somehow it still felt insufficient. This best-of-style set list was simply irresistible. And yet it still left us wanting more. It was a night that ended by driving up anticipation for the premium live whether we liked it or not.

＜Hitoshi Okamoto＞
1.　Seijaku no Ma ni／Hitoshi Okamoto
2.　Tsubasa／Hitoshi Okamoto
3.　no matter what／Badfinger
4.　Autumn Sky／Hitoshi Okamoto
5.　First Fine Day／Hitoshi Okamoto
6.　Nowhere Near／Hitoshi Okamoto
7.　LOST CHILD／Hitoshi Okamoto
＜GARNET CROW＞
8.　flying／GARNET CROW
9.　Wasurezaki／GARNET CROW
10.　Mikansei na Neiro／GARNET CROW
11.　Mizu no Nai Hareta Umi e／GARNET CROW
12.　Holy ground／GARNET CROW
13.　Yume Mita Ato de／GARNET CROW
14.　Sen Ijou no Kotoba wo Narabete mo...／GARNET CROW
15.　Hare Dokei／GARNET CROW
16.　Futari no Rocket／GARNET CROW
17.　Bokura dake no Mirai／GARNET CROW
18.　Kimi no Omoi Egaita Yume Atsumeru HEAVEN／GARNET CROW
ENCORE
encore-1　Mysterious Eyes／GARNET CROW
encore-2　Spiral／GARNET CROW

Hitoshi Okamoto

Yuri Nakamura

Nana AZUKI

Hiroto Furui