Es VOL.15 live report“SUPER LIGHT LIVE 〜extra〜”

●○○From music freak Es Vol.15

SUPER LIGHT LIVE 〜extra〜　2011.02.05 Harajuku Astro Hall

On February 5, a solo live show by Hitoshi Okamoto, also known as SUPER LIGHT, was held at Tokyo's Harajuku Astro Hall. It followed the Osaka performance on January 29 and was held to celebrate the solo album 『Now Printing...』, released the previous December—the first solo release in about six years. Both shows sold out immediately, demonstrating how eagerly many fans had been waiting for his solo live, just as they had for the album.
Inside the venue, the almost square hall was packed so tightly that people were pressed against those beside them as closely as possible. Although it was the middle of winter outside, the hall was already filled before the show with the anticipation and excitement of a long-awaited live performance. At 6:30 p.m., the scheduled start time, the background music suddenly stopped without warning and the lights went out. SUPER LIGHT then appeared onstage with the band, accompanied by an electronic instrumental. The curtain was finally rising! The first song, eagerly awaited by everyone, was surprisingly a cover: “Don't Let Go,” from WEEZER's third album.
After the first song ended amid tremendous excitement, Okamoto began the first MC. “Welcome~. It's clear today, isn't it~? I'm a fair-weather guy, after all, so… I wonder which member of GARNET CROW is the rain woman or rain man. I can't say who, though!!” he said with a mischievous air. He then announced, “Anyway, I'd like to introduce the members right away.” He introduced the familiar GARNET CROW drummer Kōichi Kurose, bassist Masato Ōhashi, and, making his first appearance in a member introduction, manipulator Yukio Yamamoto. The four-member lineup of guitar, bass, drums, and manipulator would carry the night's stage forward, with Okamoto explaining, “Since it's the 21st century, making live shows that fuse with computers has become standard by now. Today, we'll use this setup for some of the songs.” Member introductions are normally done in the middle or latter part of a live show, or during the encore. Here, however, they started from the very beginning, taking plenty of time to reveal even the members' personalities through such trivial conversations as “Are you a dog person or a cat person?” The distance between the stage and audience was shortened in no time. It was a scene that revealed Okamoto's friendly, warm nature, as if he were saying, “It's not just me—we're performing as these four today, so please get along with us.”
The second song was “Dime La Verdad” from the new album. Its Spanish title means “Tell me the truth!” and the song is full of flair, written in his own distinctive take on Spanish. Bringing this unconventional album track in as the second song was a typically interesting choice. Next came “翼” from the first album, with lyrics by AZUKI Nana. Its sweet vocals melted into a melancholy melody, quickly enveloping the stage in an ennui-filled atmosphere.
After three songs, he began the second MC. “Singing is hard, isn't it~,” he murmured with an expression that could have been embarrassment, and the audience immediately called out, “Keep going!” He revealed some personal news: “I came down with the flu after New Year's and had no choice but to stay shut in. I watched movies and foreign dramas nonstop, catching up on things I'd recorded from TV! I got hooked on foreign dramas like [NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service], [SEX AND THE CITY], [BONES], and [SUPERNATURAL]—all shows where each episode stands alone (laughs). I also read books. There was a ranking called 'Kono Mystery ga Sugoi,' and I read through all the titles near the top of the list. Getting sick is rough, but it was nice to be able to do all at once the things I usually don't have time for because I'm busy.”
The fourth song was “海鳴り” from the new album, followed by “静寂の間に” from the second album. Both were medium-tempo songs written by AZUKI Nana about the inescapably melancholy heart of a man. In both songs, the fiercely yet beautifully distorted guitar tone in the instrumental break conveyed the appeal of Okamoto, who is a guitarist by nature.
Then came the “Who came from the farthest south?” segment, a contest in which a gift was presented to the audience member who had traveled from the southernmost point to attend that day's show. Apparently the Osaka performance had featured a “Who came from the farthest north?” segment; in Tokyo, the southernmost winners were two people who had come from Fukuoka. Each received a locally themed T-shirt sold on GARNET CROW's year-end tour, signed by hand.
After a cover of HEAVEN's UK rock song “Say Something,” they returned to the MC segment. Naturally, the topic turned to Valentine's Day. Okamoto shared a memory of suddenly becoming popular in fourth grade, when he received chocolates from about half the girls in his class. After getting a laugh by declaring, “I'll say it clearly: this is me bragging!” he continued, “I haven't been popular at all since then, though~. I started playing an instrument because I wanted to be popular~.” The audience responded with passionate calls of love: “We love you, Okamocchi~! Marry me~! I don't care what number wife I am if it's you~!” Blushing, he replied with a smile, “Don't become a musician~… Thank you.” He then held a prize drawing, apologizing, “Sorry this is turning into an event~.” The audience was excited by the rare items prepared, including an autograph board signed by Okamoto and the four band members, as well as posters made for a previous solo live at Osaka's hills Pankojō.
Once the excitement had peaked, he announced, “I'm going to do the oldest number on today's set list: ‘Res-no’ from the first album,” prompting loud applause. The contrast between the solid, tight sound produced by the rhythm section and his light, expansive vocals was a special part of his appeal. The audience also seemed to sway comfortably in their own way. Continuing in the same flow, the eighth song was the classic guitar pop number “Autumn Sky” from the second album. He sang AZUKI Nana's lyrical lyrics about male romantic psychology with great expressiveness, giving us a full taste of his appeal as a vocalist.
At that point, he improvised a song that was not on the set list. He celebrated in song Japan's national team, led by coach Zaccheroni, winning the Asian Cup a week earlier: “We did it—we're number one, we're the strongest in Asia♪.” His love of soccer is well known, and the soccer talk also energized the audience as he happily spoke about Yuto Nagatomo, who had moved to Inter Milan, saying, “He's a pride of Japan.” Riding that momentum, they launched straight into the final four songs of the main set. The first was “Tonight” from the new album, a song highly praised on radio despite not being an album single and awarded power-play slots at four stations (FM FUJI “SOUND FOREST,” the first half of December on NACK5, FM-NIIGATA's December “POWER PLAY,” and FM-NAGANO's December “POWER PLAY”). Next came two covers: Badfinger's “No matter what,” also included on the second album, and SUMMER CAMP's “Nowhere Near,” which he had performed at a previous solo live. With catchy power-pop bass lines alongside the vocal melody and guitar, the selection revealed Okamoto's musical roots. The main set ended with “joyride (Re:ASAP)” from the new album. The audience raised their fists powerfully to the exhilarating rush and urged the performance on, while Okamoto responded by rocking his body hard and strumming the guitar with energy, creating the biggest high point of the main set.
When the band members left the stage after the main set, the audience immediately began a chorus calling for an encore. It started as an “Okamocchi” chant, then naturally changed to a “SUPER LIGHT” chant. After the calls continued for a while, Okamoto returned wearing a pink tour-merchandise T-shirt, while the other three members had changed into another style of black merchandise T-shirt. The first encore song was the GARNET CROW cover “千以上の言葉を並べても...,” a number Okamoto had performed in his own version several times before. His unvarnished, almost conversational voice was wonderfully flavorful. It offered a different appeal from the original's female vocalist, Yuri Nakamura, and the sorrowful lyrics seeped gently into the heart. The second encore song was his solo debut single, “First fine day.” He fondly shared an episode from filming its music video: despite his wishes, it had ended up being filmed at home. Next came “Lose My Breath” from the new album, which he had introduced at GARNET CROW's year-end live as “my top recommendation from this solo album.” With an unusually large number of words packed into its melody, the song seems to demand advanced technique to sing, but he delivered it coolly with very smooth, light vocals. The fourth encore song, and the final song of the night, was “LOST CHILD,” a straight-ahead power-pop number with guitar at full force from the second album. Okamoto's bright smile as he carefully looked across the audience from left to right while singing made a strong impression.

As GARNET CROW's guitarist, Hitoshi Okamoto never tries to flaunt flashy or technically showy guitar playing. Instead, he creates high-quality sound by bringing out the strengths of the raw materials—voice, melody, and lyrics. There is no strain or calculation in it at all. He simply shapes what wells up from within him into form, into sound, through his own musical sensibility. That remarkably natural attitude was present not only in his recordings but also in this long-awaited solo live. I strongly wanted to hear more of his distinctive music, and hoped he would release solo work and hold solo shows consistently, without leaving another six-year gap before the next one. It was a captivating night that stirred that desire.（TEXT BY YUKARI MATSUBARA）

[SET LIST]
01. Don't Let Go（WEEZER COVER）
02. Dime La Verdad
03. 翼
04. 海鳴り
05. 静寂の間に
06. Say Something（HEAVEN COVER）
07. Res-no
08. Autumn Sky
10. Tonight
11. No matter what（Badfinger COVER）
12. Nowhere Near
13. joyride（Re:ASAP）

＜ENCORE＞
EN1. 千以上の言葉を並べても...
EN2. First fine day
EN3. Lose My Breath
EN4. LOST CHILD