Seika's birthday celebration was the first outdoor solo live performance by UVERworld band. "The songs that Crew would like to hear" echoed in the "Umi no Mori" at the end of the event.
Why does it come so easily and far beyond? They have completely and utterly renewed expectations, the past, and even their own selves to achieve the best of the present. In addition, this time they have rewritten and expanded the image and possibilities of live streaming, which they pioneered. They have set no limits for themselves and have always been "beyond the world" (=UVER * coined from the English word "OVER" and the German word "UBER", both meaning "beyond"). On September 25th, UVERworld held their third live event "UVERworld LIVE 0925-Live Streaming Concert-", which was their first outdoor solo concert without an audience. The scale of the event and everything about it was unprecedented and brought us an unprecedented viewing experience. It could be said that September 25 was the birthday of Seika, the saxophonist and manipulator of UVERworld, and this live performance was the same as the one they had been holding every year for his birthday for the past few years. As in the last two editions, the live video stream of the live performance was streamed through the live video streaming service "PIA LIVE STREAM", and we'd like to report on the live performance.
Seika never imagined that he would be holding his own birthday celebration at the Olympic venue.
Umi-no-Mori Waterway Gymnasium was chosen as the venue for UVERworld's first outdoor solo live performance. The venue was newly built in Umi-no-Mori Park in Koto-ku, Tokyo, as a waterfront venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Since the event had been postponed, the "UVERworld LIVE 0925-Live Streaming Concert-" was said to be an event to be turned into a small-scale event. Seika probably never imagined that his own birthday celebration would be held at the Olympic Stadium, and that it would be the last thing he would ever do before the event was cancelled Considering the impact of the typhoon; however, it was announced two days before the broadcast that the recording had to be made in advance. However, real-time or not, the performance unfolding in front of our eyes is still a one-shot deal. Along with the announcement, a partially edited teaser video of the show was released on YouTube. I'm sure many Crew (*general term for UVERworld fans) were excited and eagerly waiting for the day of the event.
While waiting for the show to start, the new off-time videos of the members taken by Larry Masashi Oiwa, a familiar face to Crew, were shown again, and the audience enjoyed them. Many of the videos teased Seika, the, but some of them used the video motif of their work in the recording studio to give us a glimpse of their recent activities. At 8pm, a close-up of Seika's fingertips operating the DJ controller with a practiced hand appeared on the screen. he continued with a saxophone solo, followed by the SE "UNSER (DJ Arrange ver.)". The camera work was immediately switched to drone photography, and the overhead composition of the stage was pulled high above their heads, doubling the scale of the performance. Shintaro, Katsuya, Nobuto, and Akira appear in turn and take their places. The instruments are set on the grass on the roof of the boathouse building, and the vivid greenery is quite striking. Together with the location of the isolated island surrounded by Tokyo Bay, the occasional sunset view - buildings and Ferris wheel across the ocean, the Tokyo Gate Bridge and a plane taking off from Haneda Airport and flying across the sky - is a sight that should be familiar to you It seems to emphasize a sense of unusualness.
"This place is even more unobstructed than usual, and we're going to give you a breakthrough performance."
-(TAKUYA∞)
TAKUYA∞ appeared on stage for the first time and started the birthday celebrations with "BABY BORN & GO". Led by TAKUYA∞, the members jumped out of the lawn area and aggressively went out to the wood deck area where camera crews were crowding around the stage to get closer to the stage. The song is a fan favorite as a sure-fire live performance number, but it's been a while since they've played it. They chased after TAKUYA∞ who sang "time to go" and said "Yeah" and "Listen" to him through the screen. Yes, it was such a fun thing to do, and the excitement came back to me on a cellular level. The excitement here on the screen was further boosted by the song "LIMITLESS", which made the audience dance to the upper part of the song, and I couldn't get enough of it. "My name is 'My name is 'Over the world'" and "It is 'Over the world'", this is what UVERworld is all about. Takuya∞ looked at the camera and said, "We're going to show you an outstanding performance in this place where there's nothing to block us more than usual." "Stay on" made me feel more liberated than usual, which was also the magic of the open air. Katsuya and Nobuto sang "Wow Wow Wow Wow Wow" into the microphone and Akira and Seika looked more relaxed than usual as they raised their index fingers and raised their voices. Shintaro's drumming, surrounded by a number of fluorescent tubes, and the way the percussion ensemble members played in tandem with his drumming, as the sky rapidly began to melt and reverberate with the dusk, was truly dynamic.
A sense of scale and exquisite trickery that only UVERworld can create in a single live performance, even a solo one, on two different stages.
as soon as they reached the first peak of the frenzy with their sensational "kyoukai", TAKUYA∞ suddenly said to them, "Let's go, let's go" and walked away. ......? The drone chasing them caught sight of another stage surrounded by nine flickering torches. The Sea Forest Waterway Gymnasium was completely shrouded in darkness, and was equipped with colorful lights that hadn't been seen on the previous stages, making it a complete nighttime event. They had performed at sub-stages on arena tours and dome shows in the past, but to assemble and use two stages for a single live event, even a solo one, was on a different scale. If UVERworld had been able to move from the Nippon Budokan to Yokohama Arena and perform two shows in one day, it would have been a no-brainer. But that would be too bold. I wasn't the only one who gave them a standing ovation in front of the screen.
'Now, now, who can have fun in front of the screen? Who has the best time in front of the screen? I asked you! Let's bump up the volume one more and go craxy from the screen!
Takuya Infinity reached the second stage near the water's edge and encouraged Crew through the camera, and without a moment's pause, "KINJITO" roared into a mass of sound. Flames fluttering in the sea breeze illuminated the 6 members vividly. The passion in each note played and each word sung is so overwhelmingly real that it's easy to forget that it was recorded in advance. It was so real that I could tell that the bond between UVERworld and Crew surpassed even time and space.
Listening to "Home binetsu 39c" now, it's not as if it has faded away, but rather it sounds fresh.
Welcome back to UVERworld Home binetsu 39c! At the MC corner of Shintaro, Katsuya and Nobuto joined him and talked about Seika's birthday and other topics. When Shintaro mentioned that today was the day of the event, the audience answered "Seriously? It's great! I can't wait to hear from you," said Seika. The first band we've used is called "sound goku road"," said Katsuya, to which Shintaro agreed, saying, "Oh, it's our venue, isn't it? He was confronted by Nobuto with a question: "Why are we celebrating today? Furthermore, in accordance with the band's policy that "a birthday is a day when the people being celebrated entertain the people who are celebrated", the setlist for today's show was developed by Seika, and there were some nostalgic songs that hadn't been played at the last two live concerts. When it was revealed that they were in the area, TAKUYA∞ responded by saying "We've been friends since childhood and we were all born in the same area. The place is about 35 degrees north latitude and 135 degrees east longitude, and it's a nice town! And promptly goes on to hint at the next song. Dang dang dang! Shintaro immediately burst out with powerful rhythms saying, "I'm going to be the first one to play this song". They performed "Home binetsu 39c" , a song from their second album "BUGRIGHT", a cheerful song about their days in their hometown, Shiga Prefecture and their first love. It's hard to believe how long it's been since they've played this song, but it's amazing that it hasn't faded away even after listening to it now. Maybe it's the fact that the band's playing and singing skills have improved a lot since then, or maybe it's the fact that the spirit they put into the song is still alive in them, or maybe it's both, and the synergy between the two makes it sound even more fresh. I could see his love for the band in Seika's proud face as he supported TAKUYA∞ in the chorus instead of the saxophone part. It's so nostalgic, but it's good. It's fun to play this song after a long time. I love this song! It was impressive that he looked so happy to hear Takuya's words.
The lyrics, light, water, and flames... In a sense, a very UVERworld-like live performance unfolded with a fusion of images.
As soon as they started to perform "IDEAL REALITY", the LED screen around their feet suddenly lit up. Visually designed lyrics of the song were played and the drone captured the image of the song from above, which was very powerful and fantastic. The second half of the show was "Touch off", a synergy of the flames burning all over the screen and real flames erupting from the burner between the torches. I'm going to go. The order of the songs are back and forth, but the lyrics and images overlap with the six performers in "ConneQt", which adds to the sadness of the song and Seika's crying saxophone synchronize with each other in the ending, leaving an emotional aftertaste, and the constellations that spread out at their feet in "AFTER LIFE" The images of the nebulae and the night sky surrounding them were seamlessly connected, giving me the beautiful illusion that I was floating in outer space.
This is how UVERWORLD always celebrates their members' birthdays at every show: ...... "The first time I formed a band was when I was in junior high school. Me, Nobuto and another friend from my hometown and I formed a band, and all three of us bought guitars (laughs). The band broke up because they thought it wasn't going to be a band."
After finishing "Itteki no eikyō", Takuya began to talk about how he had failed to form a number of bands since then. After that, he had tried to form many bands but failed. When he got to UVERworld, he wanted to form a band with a saxophone, and when he decided to form a band, he told Seika, who happened to have some extra money, "We'll form a band. Go buy a saxophone! He revealed with amusement that he had given the command, and Seika nodded, "I bought it, right? Seika nodded and said, "but when I told Seika to go buy a saxophone, he said, 'Go buy a saxophone! I don't know any band that has such a good saxophone even though it's a rock band, and I think we've made a good band that is the only one.
It's great to be behind Akira as he plays a guitar solo during the "CORE PRIDE" and interlude! TAKUYA∞ and Seika's superb smile is great.
They have spent more than 20 years together and have never wavered a millimeter in their relationship of trust. The pride of the six of them was fully realized in "CORE PRIDE". One of the highlights of the show was the guitar solo at the intermission, which Akira played. The last number of the show was "arubeki katachi". Just before starting the song, TAKUYA∞ talked to the audience and announced that they were going to hold the last live without audience and that they would hold the live with social distance at Zepp Tokyo on November 5. It can't be my imagination that the long awaited announcement was met with loud cheers from Crew. There's no song more fitting to the resolve and courage of UVERworld, who decided to move forward with the belief that there's a good future ahead of them, even in the midst of the corona disaster and with no exit in sight, than "To Be". The phrase "Even if everyone is despairing of your wish Just go ahead with it, don't be afraid of anything" resonates in my heart.
"Thank you very much. I'm sure the world will get better and better. Our future will be brighter and brighter. We don't want to give up on anything. We're going to continue to make our mark on a new era, we are UVERworld!"
There were dozens of fireworks set off amidst the reverberations that were surely a celebration of this day and of the future of UVERworld. Still, how reassuring it is to know that there is a promise for the next one. If we weren't going to release anything, I want to release a song that will surprise everyone and make them want to pretend that we didn't. I'm also wondering what Takuya said when he left. Anyway, I'm looking forward to November 5 (Shintaro's birthday celebration).
"By the way, my own greatest showpiece is the outro of ConneQt!" (seika)
It was my first solo open-air concert, two stages, and a small drop in the bucket. I felt like that was a birthday present in itself. It was the first time I'd ever done anything like that, so it was very special, and it was completely different from any other birthday celebrations I'd ever done. And there were even fireworks at the end (laughs). It was fun for us, and I think it was a great success.
In the setlist, I not only included songs that I wanted to play, but also songs that I thought "Crew would want to hear" in my own way. Surprisingly, we haven't played "Home binetsu 39c" live, but a lot of people are looking for it, including me. Even the staff who saw the setlist ahead of the show said "Really? The staff who saw the setlist ahead of the show were very happy with it. I was told by some of the faithful that the setlist was very bumpy (laughs), but I personally didn't think it was that bumpy. ...... What did you guys think of it? By the way, the biggest showpiece in my opinion is the outro of ConneQt!
This may be the last time I'll be performing live without an audience, and in that sense, it's a memorable day for me. I just want to surpass my previous birthdays every year, and I've actually surpassed them, but there's so much going on this time that I'm not sure what I'll do next year (laughs).
UVERworld LIVE 0925 -Livestreaming Concert-
Friday, September 25, 2020 Umi-no-Mori Waterway Gymnasium in Tokyo / PIA LIVE STREAM
Friday, September 25, 2020 Umi-no-Mori Waterway Gymnasium in Tokyo / PIA LIVE STREAM
<set list>
00. OP Sax Solo~UNSER (DJ arrange ver)
01. Baby Born & go
02. LIMITLESS
03. stay on
04. kyoukai
05. KINJITO
06. Home binetsu 39c
07. IDEAL REALITY
08. Itteki no eikyō
09. ConneQt
10.Spreadown
11 Fight for Liberty
12. Touch off
13. AFTER LIFE
14. CORE PRIDE
15. Arubeki katachi