Es VOL.27 “GIZA studio presents hillsパン工場 スペシャル3DAYS”SUPER LIGHT live report

●○ From music freak Es Vol.27

GIZA studio presents hills Pan Kōjō Special 3 DAYS
2012.2.12 (SUN) SUPER LIGHT

At [GIZA studio presents hills Pan Kōjō Special 3 DAYS], GARNET CROW guitarist Hitoshi Okamoto appeared on the third day under his solo name, “SUPER LIGHT.” Here is a quick report on the stage that brought the event to its climax.

After HAZZE left the stage, SUPER LIGHT—better known as GARNET CROW guitarist Hitoshi Okamoto—appeared to close the event.

“Hi, this is SUPER LIGHT. Thank you so much for coming out in the cold,” he said, beginning his set in a thoroughly natural, unhurried way. The first song was “Lose My Breath,” from SUPER LIGHT’s latest album, *Now Printing...*. After energetically performing the familiar live cover of the Western song “No matter what,” he moved into MC time.

“Singing is hard,” he murmured as he introduced the friends sharing the stage with him that day: drummer Kaichi Kurose, who had also supported his one-man concert the previous year; bassist Masato Ohashi; and manipulator Yukio Yamamoto. After some light conversation, they moved into the third song, “Dime La Verdad.” The vocals from the first through third songs used equipment to create a robotic voice, but on the fourth song, “It’s only love,” Okamoto revealed his first unprocessed natural vocals of the day. It is the kind of off-kilter pop unique to him, included on his second album under the name Hitoshi Okamoto, *FF/REWIND*, and hearing it live brought out its finest flavor. After another poignant number from *FF/REWIND*, “Autumn Sky,” the long-awaited guest appeared. “Here comes our powerful helper, the god-handed Mr. Furui!” Okamoto called, bringing GARNET CROW band member Hioto Furui onto the stage.

“Good evening. There are a lot of people here. About 3,000?” Furui joked by way of greeting, even though Pan Kōjō has a capacity of 200, before adding, “I’m glad to be here today!” Okamoto then announced, “Mr. Furui recently had a birthday,” prompting warm applause and congratulations from the audience. They spent some time laughing about how Furui, despite having lived in Kansai for more than ten years, had not picked up the Kansai dialect at all. They then performed the sixth song, “Umi Nari,” followed by the seventh, “All Fall Down.” AZUKI Nana usually plays piano in GARNET CROW, but Furui handled the synthesizer, organ, and piano himself that day.

After this adult atmosphere, the show moved into the gift corner that had become a familiar feature of SUPER LIGHT’s concerts!? This time, a down jacket was given to a fan who had come all the way from Niigata, from Japan’s Sea of Japan side, where heavy snow had made life especially difficult.

The eighth song, “Tonight,” full of a Western pop flavor, wrapped the venue in a pleasant atmosphere before another MC. They introduced upcoming plans: GARNET CROW’s coupling-song best album *GOODBYE LONELY ～Bside collection～*, due out on February 29; their one-man concert in March; and SUPER LIGHT’s first live DVD. Speaking about the coupling-song best album, Okamoto said, “It’s really packed with substance. I think it turned out to be the kind of album I would want to listen to if I were a fan.” Regarding the title of his first live DVD, he explained that “Bootleg” means “a pirate edition,” then shyly added, “I really wanted to use this title. A pirate edition for a first live DVD is pretty amazing, right?” The affection on his face as he looked at the package was memorable.

Then came the final number of the main set, “LOST CHILD.” It produced the biggest excitement of the day, setting the entire venue alight, and he sang the last song with exhilarating energy as it was watched over by countless smiles.

Although he returned to the stage in response to the encore applause, he explained that he had not expected an encore because this was a multi-act event and had not prepared anything special. They therefore performed the first song, “Lose My Breath,” once more, this time with Furui on synthesizer.

Whether it was a quality unique to Pan Kōjō or to SUPER LIGHT, this evening’s stage was a completely unadorned, natural live performance. I hope it will inspire SUPER LIGHT to release another new work soon.

＜SET LIST＞
01. Lose My Breath
02. No matter what
03. Dime La Verdad
04. It's only love
05. Autumn Sky
06. Umi Nari
07. All Fall Down
08. Tonight
09. LOST CHILD

（ENCORE）
10. Lose My Breath