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 STARTING LEGEND 2001 P.G.S. Encore |
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Starting Legend 2001 P.G.S. Encore Report Shiina Hekiru at Kouseinenkinkaikan 11/13/01
M1. Kaze ga huku oka
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In September, it was announced that there would be a special encore live on Nov 13. This encore live Starting Legend 2001 P.G.S Encore was to be taped and released as a full length concert video. Nov 13 is a Tuesday, but surprisingly the response from fans was very good. Some fanclub members couldn't get tickets and Ticket Pia sold out quickly as well. Many fans came from out of Tokyo especially to attend the concert. When I arrived at Kouseinenkinkaikan around 4pm, there was a small crowd there, but even at opening time at 6pm the entry line was very short. I was quite worried, since there have been many times in the last couple of years when tickets are supposed to be sold out, but actually there are still a lot of empty seats. I'm glad to say my fears were unfounded. As the 6:30 start drew closer, the hall really began to fill up. True, the cameras and guest seats took up a sizeable chunk at the back middle of the 1st floor (there were 2 more in the left and right corner, and 2 more on the second floor front left and right corners in addition to the railed ones in front plus the stage handhelds, all running to a control van sitting outside the hall), but the hall was eventually packed. On the way in, I had taken a look at the congratulatory flower stands, and noticed several rather strange ones - one from Gaga Communications, a film distributor, and another from TV Asahi. Well, these mysteries were resolved at the MC, but in the meantime it provided some food for speculation. At 6:35, the lights fell. As this was an encore live, the format was the same as the summer tour's, with the same band, same outfits and same stage set. We did expect Hekiru to sing the new singles Nemureru mori and Ashita ha kienai, but did not really expect much change. Well, the content was more or less the same, so I won't repeat the details here. One thing I did notice was that the arrangements had been redone slightly, so the music wasn't exactly the same. Perhaps because of this, or because I was near the front, or maybe because of the signal loss due to the sound recording, the sound this time was quite muddy to my ears. I couldn't distinguish individual instruments because as soon as the bass and drums came in it all got drowned into a mess. This is really my only complaint. I did here a couple spots that sounded like mistakes. Oh yeah, Hekiru also forgot the lyrics to Ai no katachi. That happens all the time though. :) Let me just go into the differences. The main one was that, right after Dive into you, the lights went dim and the band launched into that really cool intro to Nemureru mori. Hekiru turned her back and started striking poses, turning around again and moving when the intro picked up. Then in that part before the voice comes in, she did this move, fist up in front of chest, arm vertical, and other arm horizontal with fist under that. Uh, think a variation of the ultraman beam pose. ^^;; I think it was meant to look cool but in the end it looked like a cute person trying (and failing) to look cool. But that's okay since Hekiru did look very cute! Nemureru mori sounded weird though. It's quite electronic, really, which doesn't lend itself well to Hekiru's band format. In fact, at first I thought it was a karaoke, since most of the sound was generated. As the song started up the arrangement was a bit different though so it was a live act, but it still sounded very off. I don't think this song makes a very good concert song, even though I like it, because of this reason and because it's not a very "hard" song despite the fast beat. Actually, I like the remix version of Nemureru mori better, and I think that would have been pretty interesting. Hey, how about a techno dance remix live yeah?! :) Singing-wise, although Hekiru has said that this was the hardest song in her career to sing, I think she did a good job. She wrapped up the song with the ultraman pose again, heh. During the first MC, Hekiru thanked everyone for coming to see the encore live. "Some of you came from so far away too, thank you!" Someone shouted that they were from Tottori Prefecture. Hekiru said, "I heard that there are some from overseas as well." Woo hoo! Heheh... Then she went on to say that she would like to sing the next song, and that finally it was the right season for it - Love Graduation. After Ai no katachi ended, some rap music started up. Hey, this is cool, a new song? A new arrangement? But it was actually the prelude music to the talk corner. ^^;; Today's theme was "How are things recently?", sort of a recap of what everyone has been up to since the summer concert final. Yuacchi said he had been involved in recording work, along with some of the other band members. Halfway through, Be-yan ran off stage. Later Sou-san went off too. Hekiru said, "Hey, how can you guys just run off to the bathroom halfway through a concert?!" The band chatted about how they were posting on their BBS and how Sou-san needed to get a computer so he could join in the fun. I don't remember what Hekiru talked about. Something about recording, I think. Oh yeah, before that Tairaku-san said he had a few announcements to make, just especially for the people who had come to attend this concert. "Even before the fanclub newsletter!" he said. First, he said, "You've heard Yuacchi talk about the recordings. Well, they are working on Hekiru's new album, and it has been scheduled for March of next year!" Then he asked Hekiru how it was going, and she said, "I want to know too!" Apparently, she hasn't been involved in the latest part, because they are still preparing and arranging the songs. "I really want to hear what they've come up with! But they tell me it's not fit to be heard yet..." Tairaku-san then announced that the DVD of this concert would be out next year, on Feb 14 (Valentine's Day!), and that they were setting up an official mobile phone site (an internet site accessible by mobile phone) with lots of features such as melody downloads. Next, he said, "Those of you who have looked at your leaflets will notice that Kine Naoto is having a live in December. Well, Shiina Hekiru will be appearing at that live! Only for a few songs though." He added that he was sorry they ran out of questionnaires to stick into the leaftlet pile (at all of Hekiru's concerts, they distribute questionnaires about the concert). Hekiru said something to the effect of, well, how would people make their thoughts known then, and Tairaku replied that people could write straight in to the fanclub if they wanted to, since it would reach him. Hekiru said she that must be quite awful, because letters to Tairaku are all complaints! It was fun watching Tairaku and Hekiru talk here. Hekiru was being a bit teasing, and Tairaku-san being Tairaku-san is just great to listen to, with all his cynicism and sarcasm. This time Hekiru seemed to have the upper hand, rather than being the butt of the jokes, so really it was very fresh. Anyway, Tairaku continued down his list saying, "And now, just to let you know, Shiina Hekiru will be appearing in a movie. And, she'll be the heroine! But we can't tell you the title or when it will begin production yet." Then the talk shifted to Hekiru, and during her talk she mentioned that she had spent one week not too long ago with the filming. Oops... letting the cat out of the bag. ^^;; Tairaku-san looked rather consternated. "Uh, sorry, okay, so now you know that it's been filmed. And in one week no less. But we still don't know the title or when it will be released so you guys will just have to wait for that." Hmm, seems that they really should coordinate among themselves a bit more concerning what sort of information they are supposed to release. ^^;; From then on, the talk just kinda went on and on, until you thought you were watching a TV talk show instead of a concert! Not a bad thing, since I enjoy that banter, but really your excitement level just goes down to about what you would expect when you are, well, watching TV rather than a concert. The most memorable bit was when Tairaku started talking about how he had been having these dreams, about running Hekiru's concert. That it would be concert day, and for some reason he didn't know the song list at all. And he would walk into the rehearsal, and no-one would tell him. 'You don't need to know, Tairaku-san. Just wait until the show begins,' they would all say to him. And so despite being the producer he was the only one who didn't know what was going on. Well, that was one dream. The other one was about how some girl he knew walked up to him and said, 'Tairaku-san, there's something I've always wanted to ask you.' And he said to her, 'What?' Pointing to his head, 'Tairaku-san, is that, y'know, a hairpiece?' At that point, Hekiru just burst out laughing maniacally. (Have you ever heard her do this? It's not on any TV program and very rare on her radio shows... Completely different from her 'nice' laugh! Flat out, ROTFL type thing!) We all started laughing too, really hard. Tairaku's hair, or lack of, has always been a point of much contention. Hmm, well it was a lot funnier at the concert than it sounds in this report, anyway. :P At the beginning of this corner Tairaku had turned to the cameraman and said, "You can rest for this part. It's not going into the video." But I think it would make a great bonus track! Why can't they put the MCs into the video... Some of the most interesting things happen then! The next MC was after Jungle Life and before discovery. Hekiru began with her same old, "Girls are you genki?!" and all the girls in the audience shrieked back (most rather shyly) in return. Hekiru said, "Ah, that KYAA reminds me... I have an important announcement to make." The hall quieted down to listen. Hekiru fidgeted a bit, said something like, "How should I put this..." as we all waited with baited breath. (She looked so hesitant that I even had the fleeting notion she was going to announce impending marriage or something!) Finally, Hekiru took a deep breath and said, "As you know, there's the encore live today. Same as you, I thought after this I wouldn't be able to see you all again for quite some time. But now I would like to say that, on New Year's Day, I will have a live. And, it will be at Budoukan." The hall started a huge murmur at this. Hekiru carried on through the hubbub. "I made a promise to you, a long time ago, and I would like to finally keep it. I know what some of you might be thinking. In fact, it was a decision I agonized over as well. But I did say I wanted to take you all back to Budoukan once more. 'Why now?' some of you might wonder. It's not really a matter of 'why' or 'why now' or that it has any special meaning behind it. I want to think of this as a new beginning, a step to move forward." "I made a promise." And with that, Hekiru called on the cheering audience to join her for the second half of the concert. I won't repeat details as the songs were the same, but Hekiru put in a really splendid, wholehearted performance. I think she was quite concerned that some people might not react so positively to her sudden announcement, but she really gave her best shot even though she must have been worried. A really aggressive performance, especially with the head banging in invisible and be yourself. I found myself completely captivated by her performance, and thinking what a treat this video would be, assuming they left all these songs in uncut! The final Arashi nochi hare, while a bit shaky on the vocal performance itself (actually overall Hekiru's singing didn't sound as good as it could have been, so I'm hoping that it's better in the video), was definitely an excellent close. With that, everyone gathered in front, but of course the crowd struck up with "ENCORE! ENCORE!" After some consultation among Hekiru and the band members, Hekiru turned back to the crowd and said, "Okay! But first, let us get changed!!" and ran off stage. As the band got ready, the roadies tuned up the instruments. Finally, Hekiru and co. reappeared. Hekiru was wearing a very tight, lime-green top with a short denim skirt. As everyone took up their places, the crowd started yelling for Ken-chan to strip! (Ken-chan took over his shirt at the concert final.) Ken-chan seemed too happy to oblige, even so far as to toss his icky sweat-soaked shirt into the crowd! ^^ Then Jake, with a 'hey you're not the only one who can do that' expression, took off his shirt as well! He didn't toss it into the crowd though. The crowd was roaring, and they started yelling for Be-yan to strip too! Be-yan stepped off his drum set and down to the front, but then he just took his socks off. ^^;;; I think I speak on behalf of all present when I say I was very glad he didn't toss those to us! Well, that was about it. Hekiru was like, "So are you guys ready or what?!" as Be-yan hastily put his socks back on. They then launched into Dakishimete. This arrange was slightly different from how it used to be with the old band. Then from Dakishimete straight into Graduater. Oh man, I never realized how much I missed this song, notwithstanding that they did play it at the Omiya concert I attended this summer. It was great, really uplifting. Yuacchi had even come down onto the stage with a shoulder keyboard, like Katsumata-san in SL96 Summer Special! He looked a bit awkward trying to play it, but that was probably as much do to the fact that he was having too much fun as it was to inexperience! The last part went on forever though, and I thought it dragged too much. But it was a big finish to a great concert. And at the end, Hekiru called for everyone to make that promise, "WANT YOU!!" and said that she would be very happy if she could see everyone to Budoukan. "Let me take you all there, as I promised."
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