Es VOL.13 live report“livescope 2010⁺ 〜welcome to the parallel universe!〜”(first half)

●○○From music freak Es Vol.13

GARNET CROW livescope 2010⁺
welcome to the parallel universe!

【SET LIST】
01. Marionette Fantasia
02. tell me something
03. クリスタル・ゲージ
04. たとえば12月の夜に
05. 水のない晴れた海へ
06. この冬の白さに
07. 空に花火
08. strangers
09. Lose My Breath（SUPER LIGHT）
10. As the Dew
11. thinking of you（MINIQLO）（cover）
12. スカイ・ブルー（MINIQLO）
13. over blow（MINIQLO）
14. Cried a little（MINIQLO）
15. nonsense
16. wish★
17. U
18. The Crack-up
19. Holy ground
20. アンゾラ カナタ
21. アンブレラ（cover）
22. Angels We Have Heard On Hight（cover□
23. Mysterious eyes
24. Fall in Life 〜Hallelujah〜

＜ENCORE＞
EN1. Over Drive
EN2. 二人のロケット
EN3. 今宵エデンの片隅で

［GARNET CROW livescope 2010⁺
〜welcome to the parallel universe！〜］
2010.12.26 @ Tokyo International Forum Hall A LIVE REPORT

On December 26, 2010, the final performance of GARNET CROW's live tour [GARNET CROW livescope 2010⁺ 〜welcome to the parallel universe！〜] was held at Tokyo International Forum. Hall A, the venue, is a theater-style hall with two tiers. One of the world's larger venues, with 5,012 seats, was almost full soon after the doors opened and wrapped in a restless atmosphere. Every time I come to a GARNET CROW live show, I notice how broad their audience is: centered on people in their teens through thirties, it ranges from children who have not yet started elementary school to adults in their sixties. Looking across the venue that day, the gender ratio was nearly even, and there were couples, friends of the same sex, families, and all sorts of people. It showed how widely their music is loved, regardless of age or gender.
Shortly after the scheduled 6:00 p.m. start, the jazz background music that had created a pleasant atmosphere before the show gradually faded and the venue went dark. A dreamy introduction, as if leading us into a fairy-tale land, began; following the support musicians, the members of GARNET CROW appeared onstage. As usual, AZUKI Nana was at the keyboard toward the front on stage right, Hiroto Furui at the keyboard toward the front on stage left, and Hitoshi Okamoto in the center on stage left. But Yuri Nakamura, the vocalist, was nowhere to be seen in the center. Then we realized she was sitting atop the red staircase installed at the back, a glittering tiara in her hair and a long white dress around her. Onstage stood a huge Christmas tree and four streetlamps glowing with soft light; illuminated by the dazzling glow of a magnificent chandelier suspended from the ceiling, she created a beautiful, fairy-tale scene that looked as if it had stepped straight out of a storybook. The first song was “Marionette Fantasia.” Wrapped in a fantastical, Christmas-like world, tonight's live show had finally begun.
During an interview for the new album 『parallel universe』, Nakamura said, “I want the next live show to be a fun□ that can give everyone energy.” True to that promise, the show created a distinctly different atmosphere from their previous lives from the very st□rt, giving us great anticipation along with surprise. But that was not the only new thing about the st□rt. This live show was filled throughout with elements that let us feel a new GARNET CROW unlike anything we had seen bef□re.
First, the song selection. Seven of the ten songs from the new al□um 『parallel universe』, which also gave the tour its title, were performed, so there was no doubt that it formed the core of the show. Yet toward the end of the live, they performed a cover of Rihanna feat. Jay-Z's smash hit “Umb□ella” from 1997 (winner of Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2008 Grammy Awards), as well as a song that Hitoshi Okamoto had covered on the compilation Christmas album 『Christmas Non-Stop Carol』 released last □ear, creating a surprising change of pace.