Es VOL.2 live report“Special Countdown Live 2009-2010”(first half)

●○○From music freak Es Vol.2

GARNET CROW
SPECIAL COUNTDOWN LIVE
2009-2010
2009.12.31 @ NHK Osaka Hall

GARNET CROW, approaching the major milestone of its tenth anniversary, held its first countdown live at NHK Osaka Hall on December 31, 2009. This report covers the event.

NHK Osaka Hall stands near Osaka Castle. The surrounding area was bitterly cold, and on New Year's Eve the streets and roads were nearly empty. Once I entered the venue, however, it was already warm with excitement, and I immediately took off my coat and stood there in light clothing.

After I had taken my seat and waited for a while, the house lights went out. Sound effects began playing over a dark navy stage scattered with instruments. The starry sky before dawn and the world below seemed to be joined into one by □, with no boundary between them. It was not an image of a city but of □, a nostalgic melody transcending time and space that even seemed to carry the breath of humanity in antiquity. After listening to only about a minute of the sound effect created by Hiroto Furuya, I was already fully immersed in GARNET CROW's world.

As GARNET CROW appeared onstage behind the band members in the darkness, the cheers grew louder and the show began with "Elysium!" The entire venue was already on its feet. Aware that this was a special occasion, a grand stage marking the countdown, the members wore formal clothes and seemed to be holding their explosive energy tightly in reserve. White GARNET CROW lettering rose behind the stage, while the center was decorated with a red Art Deco-style curtain. Its elegant mood recalled the December 2005 show at the Central Public Hall, while creating an even more tranquil world.

During the second song, "call my name," the lights were blue in front and orange in the background. A spotlight flashed in the chorus, gradually making me feel as though I were standing beneath a sky slowly brightening. A backdrop resembling the Pleiades suddenly turned rainbow-colored, and a prism rotated slowly, as if announcing the opening of tonight's festival. The lighting and background remained exceptionally beautiful throughout the show. YURI NAKAMURA sang with dignity and strength, yet with a gentle femininity. Furuya's arranged strings spread elegantly, AZUKI Nana played the keyboard with an exquisite groove, and during the instrumental break Hitoshi Okamoto delivered an energetic, emotionally charged guitar solo. After the two songs, the venue erupted in enthusiastic cheers and applause.

Nakamura's bright, straightforward MC eased the tension in both the venue and the band: "Good evening, everyone! Welcome to our first countdown live! I am extremely nervous, but I have been looking forward to crossing into the new year with all of you." Next, support member Seisuke Karita switched to acoustic guitar for the gentle "Yuzukiyo." The delay applied to Nakamura's vocals in the quiet drop before the final chorus deepened the sense of silence and sank into the heart. "Maboroshi" followed, beginning with Okamoto's acoustic-guitar arpeggio and featuring his solo in the instrumental break. Nakamura's falsetto embellishments rang high above it all. At the ending, AZUKI's piano phrases were light yet carried a glimpse of energy, and the song flowed directly into the medley with "Go For It."

The performance suddenly became forceful, and the venue filled with rising excitement. In "Timeless Sleep," the A section was gentle, then a break just before the chorus let the passion of all the members make the sound burst open at once. That contrast is one of GARNET CROW's particular pleasures. Support member Masato Ohashi's bass also growled through a stylish phrase. Nakamura and Okamoto left the stage, and the song ended with an Asian-flavored synth line characteristic of Furuya.

The stage was then changed over for the acoustic section, presented in the familiar unit format of just Nakamura and Okamoto, which had become a feature of the 2009 tour. The two appeared and improvised a performance of "Oshogatsu." They even included a clever touch: changing the chord on the first "koi" in "hayaku koi koi" to E, then singing the first "i" a semitone higher than usual, on G♯. They approach everything—music, conversation, and even fun moments like this—with complete seriousness and energy, and it was heartening to see that attitude shine through.

Unlike the original, "Kimi no Ie ni Tsuku made Zutto Hashitte Yuku" featured a double-time chorus: the tempo was the same, but the arrangement created the sensation of twice the speed. "Yofuke no Ryuuseitachi" began with the introduction, "This is perfect for the late hours of the night; please listen while imagining a sky filled with stars." Perhaps because it was its first live performance, there was deliberately no backdrop, only simple round lights in blue, orange, and yellow on the ceiling. That simplicity stimulated the imagination and drew us into the song's world.

Nakamura played piano during "Crystal Gauge." As Okamoto introduced it in the MC by saying it felt "like Scotland," the opening "La La La~" carried us away to a distant northern land. The next song, "Yume no Hitotsu," was so beautifully suited to an acoustic arrangement that one could almost imagine it had originally been written that way: Nakamura's voice gently melting the silence, her exquisite piano accompaniment, and Okamoto's acoustic guitar answering with wistful chords in the B section. During the next talk, Nakamura announced the unit's name: "Mini-Garnet Crow" shortened to "Minikuro." They said they planned to sell a CD exclusively at the 2010 tour. Finally, "Mizu no Nai Hareta Umi e" brought the acoustic section to a close, and the stage changed over again as the full group returned.

The middle of the main set began with "Naked story," whose sixteen-beat groove gradually pressed down on the accelerator before moving into "wish★." Furuya's synth solo rose during the instrumental break, and effects from a plug-in were applied to Nakamura's voice afterward, making it seem as if her voice were being released into the venue. She uses effects and the delay mentioned earlier at key points in live performances, treating them as important forms of expression. Yet even the very high top G immediately afterward came easily in her natural voice. It should be noted that she is a remarkably high-level vocalist.

When "Hana wa Saite Tada Yurete" began, I remembered something AZUKI had said during the 2009 tour. I recall her explaining that "flowers bloom to lure the opposite sex." In every song, the words come across as if Nakamura, the composer, had written the lyrics herself. That must be because AZUKI's lyrics are universal, and because the two women are an exceptionally good match. The world of lyrics she writes ranges widely, from ordinary everyday scenes and feelings to philosophical meanings and fantastic realms, and is a pleasure to explore.

The intro combines AZUKI's piano arpeggio with Okamoto's plaintive guitar, while the devices in the chorus breaks and elsewhere are infused with the passionate soul of Furuya, who arranges every song. The knowledge, sweat, and courage of these four people overlap and become one, giving GARNET CROW a synergistic effect many times greater than the sum of its parts. Those "four" are surely together by necessity, not by chance. In the final chorus break, support drummer Kazuichi Kurose's kick was a truly full-bodied hit, and the six-note fill that followed had razor-sharp precision, inspiring the members onstage. The song reached its climax with Okamoto's fierce guitar. Then, in "Love Lone Star," the classical melody of the chorus echoed through the venue and in our heads like a kaleidoscope of memories, already allowing us to enjoy the afterglow. The backdrop filled with fireworks, and the song ended on a grand, brightly lit note.

The red Art Deco-style staircase characteristic of GARNET CROW was clearly illuminated onstage. After an MC asking, "Everyone! Is there anything you have left to do?" Nakamura said, "Now, let's look at the clock." The clock projected on the back wall showed less than one minute until 2010, astonishingly precise.

The countdown began with the audience twenty seconds before midnight. As it ended, silver ribbons shot out with the explosive sound of a confetti cannon, and the performance began with Kurose's powerful drums. Along with the words, "Happy New Year!" the venue and every member expressed the bliss of that moment with their whole bodies.