a review of the concert so far….
私は風「INTRO」
The intro theme is the same as the Empress Live @ Club Ex in 2005. Strong instrumentation with a lead-in to the next song.
私は泣いています
A slightly [upbeat] track to start off the concert. Akina sang this as it was like in the album, relaxed and confident.
学生街の喫茶店
I would consider this song as one of the better performed songs in the concert so far. A good song to display Akina’s singing skills…VIBRATO! She was at ease to project her vocals for this song and appears to be enjoying this track. Frankly, this song has never been my liking until Akina covered it =)
Introduced that this concert is a continuation of the Club EX Empress Live in 2005 and this concert is one event of the 150 years anniversary of Yokohama port and World Children Summit (?? not sure if I got this right)@ Yokohama.
Also, Akina introduced about the 2 Folk Albums that were released.
旅の宿
Again, sounded like the album. There were minimal live instrumentation used. Mostly synthesized music.
心もよう
I have mixed feelings about this Yosui track. I never liked it even with Akina’s version. Nevertheless, I guess that Akina is really a true fan of Yosui and this song was okay. =)
無縁坂
A track from Folk 1. Sings about relationship between child and mother. A very sad song and I do observe that Akina becomes emotional when she performed this track. I guess it brings back a lot of memories with her mum. Definitely one of the songs in the concert that moved me.
シクラメンのかほり
I do like this track quite a bit even from the album. It is slow moving and not easy to digest. However, it is a very beautiful song to enjoy.
However, at a concert venue, this is quite a killer for fans who we are watching multiple shows and it is very difficult to keep concentration in listening as it is too slow….
Continues to introduce the above few tracks from Folk albums. Spoke about the recently released new Original album, DIVA. Briefly described the album as a varied album with different genres of songs…mostly dance-able and for fans who are shy/introvert, Akina encourages to dance to the song @ home while listening!! She also mentioned that she is confident of this album. In addition, DIVA will released as a single-cut with a single-version (different from the album version and remix).
ダンスはうまく踊れない
For those who have watched NHK SONGS, this song was as enjoyable as the TV performance. Another Yosui composition.
Woman “Wの悲劇”より
For myself, this is definitely the HIGHLIGHT for the entire concert. A track that is not released in any of the cover album and a 素敵 Yuming composition. Akina’s version was very moving and emotional ( she broke down during the first show of 8/26 after completing the song). Her vocal range for this song was quite high but comfortable. Very relaxed performance that she did not look at the music stand for lyrics. I guess she must have really liked this track a lot. I am very glad that she did so well for this track. I am always looking forward to this track for each night that we are watching the concert. Can’t wait for the concert DVD to be released (there was DVD recording on 8/25).
ベルベット・イースター
Similar to SONGS performance. For the 8/26 performance, she could not start the first few verses of this song as she was too affected after the singing the previous song. This is exactly what I love about Akina. She injects real feelings in to singing her song, without holding back her emotions. She is definitely one singer that can move you to tears with her. I am sure many fans will not oppose to my comment.
Again, another Yuming composition and she had an enjoyable time singing this song as well.
Akina spoke about her liking for Yosui and Yuming compositions. These were the music that she was crazy about during her secondary school days. Too many memories them and in particular, she mentioned that she was so much a fan of Yosui that she felt so lucky that she had a chance to sing Kazari that was composed by Yosui for her. Akina also mentioned that she will be appearing on TV again in November, and most likely to be SONGS. It will not be a LIVE performance though (she was implying about another show….). Nevertheless, she mentioned that there are still the usual Dinner Shows to look forward to and this year, a Fanclub-limited Countdown show.
悪女
One of my best-liked song from FOLKS 2. Singing style was like SONGS. Good to hear it LIVE! =)
２２才の別れ
This must be the most “uninteresting” song of the entire concert for me. Never like this track…
雨の物語
Good choice of song for this one and was okay=)
I LOVE YOU
I had quite a bit of expectation for this live performance on this song. However, when Akina gets emotional in singing this track, she bent over and hid her face behind the lyrics stand and we were unable to see her singing properly…it is quite a pity despite the vocals came very well and emotional. Again, she broke down after this track. I guess it is not easy to maintain the emotions each time she sings this.
恋
A “brighter” song to end this section. Stage lighting was bright shininig on Akina and we could see her very clearly singing this track. Alsio, she tidied her hair a little before starting the song. Akina is really very beautiful in her dress and current hairstlye. Like the Yosui and Yuming compositions, she was very comfortable singing this song with her smile like in SONGS.
“It has come to the end of the concert and I would like to end off with this original track release previously. Hope all of you had a great time during this concert and the songs performed brought back good memories for all of you. Please listen to I HOPE SO. Thank you for accompanying me throughout this concert.”
I hope so
Another splendid performance in this concert. Definitely a lot more energy and Akina could project her vocals to reach the range and the chorus. A wonderful song to end of the concert that leaves me yearning for more of her original song performances (as compared to singing cover songs). I am glad that she is performed this song as a surprise.
COMMENT : we are left with 2 more shows (today and tomorrow) and hopefully, there will be more surprises for the tomorrow show as it claims to be a limited 1 night special. DIVA remixes were played before the concert starts in the hall. =)
