FJC-only 「Kalafina 9th Anniversary LIVE 2017」Jan 22-23

[george1234]

^ the visa issues was the official explanation/ excuse

 

[MedChemist]

^ the visa issues was the official explanation/ excuse

Did they produce official US documentation to back up that excuse? If not, then all we have is their word to go by. In this day and age when someone can lie their butt all the way to the US presidency, a person's word, or even a corporation or government's cannot really be taken at face value.

edit: ...may not be enough =P
didn't want to sound too untrusting of others heh

 

[george1234]

^ Well i never said that it was true, just that the company / Yuki said that as excuse and not "people" / fans

(Its not just the US president, the current greek gov and other politicians are also coming to power by using lies )

 

[grunty]

george-chan, there was nothing about fans in @MedChemist's post in regards to SAO live.

 

[Atlas Star]

I agree with @george1234 that doing too many live performances can be one of the reasons for HIKARU's voice changing. I tried singing a bunch of Kalafina songs at karaoke recently, with the setlist mostly composed of HIKARU-lead songs (i.e. "blaze", "destination unknown", "love come down", "mata kazega tsuyokunatta") and I surely wasn't using proper technique to belt out those powerful tones that HIKARU delivers. I enjoyed myself, though! but my throat was so tight by the end, that I couldn't even sing "muneno yukue" properly.

I'm just an amateur; but I'm just highlighting the fact that her lead songs are strenuous, and constantly singing in those styles can be damaging to her voice as a whole.

My opinion is that HIKARU should be coached better at how to manage her voice since Kalafina is going on so many tours nonstop. I remember in the UTATANE interview that came with the progressive DVD, Kajiura was filmed "coaching" HIKARU on how to sing a line in ARIA. I wonder if she or someone else is still doing that for her and giving her some criticism of the recent vocal instabilities. HIKARU is the most versatile of the three girls in terms of the roles assigned by Kajiura (c'mon let's face it; KEIKO is the most versatile ;D). HIKARU is assigned the powerful rock-esque songs (i.e. Magia, DU, matakazega tsuyokunatta), but also gets soft and sweet ballads (i.e. Natsuno Ringo, neverending), with the occasional head-voice harmonizations (i.e. fairytale, Hikari no Senritsu). She needs to be properly coached and mentored about how to control all of these different voices.

 

[Seasonreaper]

Hikaru could definitely improve, for sure, but she still sounds good a lot of the time. The problems come when she tries to do certain songs that are on the edge of her range (or at least are now, ala ARIA) as she tends to strain herself to try and reach those notes. The toning down of ARIA in the 9th Live (if it did indeed happen) is an odd choice, but I guess they really wanted to do the KnK batch and had to sing it, and it'd be better to alter it a little to give a better performance overall. We all saw what Hikaru's performance of it during Red Day was like, although she's been considerably better than that since at least, but she's still unable to sing ARIA as well as she could. Luckily there isn't really any other song in Kalafina's repertoire that's quite like it, and even the ones that do have similar notes tend to be more Wakana focussed, and she can handle them a lot better.

The other end of the problem is when she does her rock songs and slips into shouting her lines rather than singing them, which is a habit she needs to break out of. I'm assuming she knows that it's not the right way of doing it, as she's not consistently doing it every time, but it's something that she needs to work on. Shouting rather than singing is more likely to cause vocal problems (see: Eir Aoi) so if she kick that habit then that'll be better both for how she sounds and for her own health.

Still, I trust her to get over this hurdle. I believed in Wakana during her troubles and she's so much more consistent now, even if she doesn't sound the same as she did. Red Day is still by far the worst performance recording we have of Hikaru, so I'm sure she can improve.

 

[MedChemist]

why do people keep defending Kajiura when Wakana herself, in 2011, said that Kajiura was the one who told her to sing in a different voice than the one she's been using.

People say lots of things. Just like how their SAO hollywood live was supposedly cancelled due to "visa issues." It's up to you to decide if you really buy their explanation.

^ Well i never said that it was true, just that the company / Yuki said that as excuse and not "people" / fans

george-chan, there was nothing about fans in @MedChemist's post in regards to SAO live.

Yea I think the confusion arose between ritardando's use of the word "people" and my use of it. Ritardando is referring to people/fans who are defending Kajiura... etc, etc. I am referring to people in general who give statements that may or may not be true given the circumstances, i.e. Wakana's explanation of her voice change and the label/Kajiura's explanation for the cancellation.

 

[george1234]

A more On-topic question: Were there any reports on how the full-size live Marchen sounded like ? Is there anything different than the Anime - size and how is the bridge like ? Or does it follow the boring formula of Tv-size melody x 2 ?

 

[ritardando]

at this point I just couldn't believed myself why did I care. I should learn from @grunty on how to not give a f*ck. I wanted to write a proper reply that would probably be 3 paragraphs long but seeing that it'd be useless I won't. I'll drown myself listening to seventh heaven-red moon, back when their songs are great and they sounded great. At this condition Kalafina going, I'm done hoping for variety and freshness in their songs.

 

[grunty]

I don't think I'm a good role model.

 

[Kugayama]

https://twitter.com/spice_anige/status/825629573442367489

Kalafina9周年記念ライブレポート 高らかに宣言した「今年は皆さんのことだけを考える1年にする」　#kalafina

https://spice.eplus.jp/articles/101770

Kalafina9周年記念ライブレポート 高らかに宣言した「今年は皆さんのことだけを考える1年にする」
SPICER
レポート音楽 アニメ/ゲーム
18:00

Kalafina

画像を全て表示（4件）
Kalafina 9th Anniversary LIVE 2017
2017.1.23 (MON) TSUTAYA O-EAST
Kalafinaにとって1月23日は特別な日である。2008年の1月23日にファーストシングル「oblivious」を発売して世に現れた彼女たちにとって、この日は誕生日である。5周年アニバーサリーから毎年行われているファンクラブ限定ライブは今年で4回目。Kalafinaの9歳の誕生日を祝おうと開演前から会場のTSUTAYA O-EASTは立錐の余地もない状況となっていた。

アリーナツアーを成功に収めた彼女たちにとってO-EASTといえど手狭だ。正直キャパシティが合っていないとも思えるが、この日に、ここでライブをやるというのが大事なこと。そしてそれを理解してくれるコアなファンは渦を巻くような熱量でKalafinaを待つ。

定刻になると会場が暗くなり、「finale」が響き出す。ファーストシングルの次にリリースした完全生産限定盤のリミックスミニアルバム『Re/oblivious』からの選曲。演者一人ひとりに灯が差し込む中、静かに登場した彼女たちが歌いだしたのははじまりの歌「oblivious」。

歌い終わってもマニピュレーター大平佳男が奏でるサウンドは止まらない。拍手をする合間もなく、空気感を纏ったまま「interlude 01」「君が光に変えて行く」「interlude 02」「傷跡」と畳み掛けるように歌い紡ぐKalafina。

ここまでで会場の殆どが気づいたであろう、一曲目の「oblivious」からここまで、彼女たちが結成されたきっかけの作品である、劇場版アニメ『空の境界』の主題歌を作品順に歌っているのだ。

そしてここで初めてのMC。「9周年です!」とWakanaが叫べば会場は割れんばかりの大歓声と祝福の声であふれた。「今日はライブハウスなので、目を見て、呼吸を感じて歌いたいです」とKeikoが楽しげに語り、「もう、ちょっと泣いちゃったんですけど、皆さんを見ていると……」と少しHikaruが声をつまらせる。

「レコーディングの時、当時の全身全霊をこめたんですけど、今しか歌えないARIAを歌います」とHikaruが言って奏でられた「ARIA」、ここからの楽曲はHikaruが参加してからのもの。

「sprinter」「fairytale」「seventh heaven」「snow falling」そして最後の「アレルヤ」まで。昨年末のアコースティックライブでも披露した「sprinter」「アレルヤ」などはやはりバンドアレンジとなり印象を変えて響く。ただですら分厚い是永巧一のギターや佐藤強一のドラムはライブハウスの環境も借りてダイレクトにフロアに突き刺さる。

後半戦はアップテンポな楽曲を中心に展開。「お立ち台カモン!」との声に合わせて登場したお立ち台に登って披露したのは、OVA『クビキリサイクル 青色サヴァンと戯言遣い』エンディングテーマ「メルヒェン」。このダークな雰囲気ながらグルーヴィーな新曲を皮切りに「to the beginning」「magnolia」「destination unknown」「identify」「One Light」と歌いきる。彼女たちのパフォーマンスもやはりホール仕様とは違う、思いっきり走り、騒ぎ、跳ねる。ちょっと忘れていたKalafinaの“衝動”を感じられる熱い展開となった。

MCで今年の抱負をそれぞれが語り「毎年色んな場所でライブをしていますが、今年も続けていきたいです、幸せと笑顔に溢れた1年に!」とWakana、Keikoは「自分の視野を広げたい、そこから刺激をもらいたい、その先に女性がたくさんいたら嬉しい!」と叫び笑いが巻き起こる。それを受けたHikaruは「優しさを出して……男子―っ!」と叫んで大歓声を受ける。「今年は向き合う!というのと、アニメを見たい! 今クールも20本くらい見てるよ！」とアニメファンぶりを発揮したコメントを残した。

2016年はKalafinaにとってどんな年だったのだろう?上海を筆頭に海外で数々のライブを行い、そこからのアリーナツアー・アコースティックツアーとライブだけでも充実していた彼女たちは休むこと無く動き続けていた。これまでどこかベールに包まれるようにその歌だけが輝いていたKalafinaは、今想像以上にファンにその活動を見せようとしている。

『Kalafina LIVE TOUR 2015～2016 “far on the water” Special FINAL』で高らかに語った「これからもKalafinaは旗を立て続けます」という宣言。まさにそれを有言実行するかのように躍動する彼女たちが本編最後に選んだ曲は「into the world」。

美しく三声が歌われ、万雷の拍手の中で微笑む彼女たち。この空間の密度だけはライブハウスでもアリーナでも変わりはない。Kalafinaが持つ“力場”のようなものだ。

鳴り止まない拍手の中アンコールはKalafina最強のキラーチューン「overture～音楽」から。赤い衣装に着替えた彼女たちは定番の指差しパフォーマンスで温度を上げる。興奮冷めやらぬまま「blaze」へ。

「みんな元気!?今日集まってくれたみんなに拍手!」Keikoの声に合わせて会場が祝福ムードになる、アーティストの誕生日(あえて誕生日と書こう)をこれだけダイレクトに祝い、見ている観客も幸せな気持ちになる。空間全体が幸福感に溢れている。

最後に披露されたのは櫻田泰啓のピアノだけで「やさしいうた」、そして会場全体が歌った「五月雨が過ぎた頃に」。普段のライブとはちょっと趣向の違う、だからこそ温かい内容は幕を閉じた。

「今年は皆さんのことだけを考えた1年にしたいと考えています!」と叫んだ彼女たちは名残を惜しむように退場、客電がつき、客出しSEでおなじみの「未来」が流れる。しかし観客の拍手の渦は止まることを知らず、それに応えるように再度Kalafinaが登場。

「イヤモニも外したし、バンドのみんなも着替えちゃったよ!どうする?」と話しているとKeikoが「今流れてた「未来」をもう一回流して、オケの歌の上に重ねて歌うよ!それでもいい?」と言うと観客は大歓声でコレを受け入れる。本当にそのままの3人の歌声。本物のプレミアムな瞬間というのはこういうことを言うのだろう。

「今度はバンドが弾いている本物の未来を聞きに来てね! 1月23日、一緒に過ごしてくれて、ありがとうございました!」そう叫んだ彼女たちの“未来”はどんな色だろうか、きっとカラフルで、だけど一つ一つの色彩はシンプルで、そんな気がするくらい真っ直ぐで、激しく、楽しいライブだった。9年目のKalafinaを見届けながら、僕たちも“未来”に進む。

レポート・文：加東岳史

終演後に楽屋で行ったインタビューの模様はこちらからどうぞ！　http://spice.eplus.jp/articles/101777

セットリスト
Kalafina 9th Anniversary LIVE 2017 2017.1.23 (MON)　TSUTAYA O-EAST

01.overture～oblivious
02.interlude 01
03.君が光に変えて行く
04.interlude 02
05.傷跡
06.ARIA
07.sprinter
08.fairytale
09.seventh heaven
10.snow falling
11.アレルヤ
12.メルヒェン
13.to the beginning
14.magnolia
15.destination unknown
16.identify
17.One Light
18.into the world

＜Encore＞

En.1.overture～音楽
En.2.blaze
En.3.やさしいうた
En.4五月雨が過ぎた頃に

＜Double Encore＞

En.1.未来（オケver）

 

[Seasonreaper]

It's already happened. Compared to SH/RM era they don't sound as amazing as they did back then. That's not to say they don't sound lovely now, the Arena live was great.

Either way it's still a theory, not proven fact even if there is evidence for it. There's also the simple fact that people's voices change over the years as it is.

 

[Seasonreaper]

It doesn't really sound like damage to me either, although Hikaru is evidently straining to reach her notes in some songs and tends to slip into shouting for power on occasion. It's more like she needs to control her voice better, she's still sounding decent a good chunk of the time in their recent releases, nothing like the mess that was Red Day for her.

Wakana has just changed in how she sounds since the early days, but her voice still sounds gorgeous. I'll never forget the chills I got down my spine hearing her sing in Osaka, her voice really is something special.

 

[MedChemist]

But actual vocal damage at their age seems a little far-fetched at best.

Vocal damage can certainly happen in one's 20s if he/she isn't careful. Take Adele, for example. It wasn't too long ago that she had to have surgery to fix blood vessels that began to hemorrhage in her larynx. She's still in her 20s. Fortunately, in her case, the surgery didn't unintentionally cause a change similar to what happened with Julie Andrews.

I'm still fond of how their voices sound now, despite preferring Wakana/Hikaru's vintage voices. The one thing that continues to irk me about Kalafina though is their change in aesthetic. It used to be that Lacrimosa/Magia were the songs that defined them. Nowadays their defining song seems to be any one of their Rekishi Historia tie-ins. I really miss their old style.

 

[Westkana]

just read something interesting on tumblr. apparently according to people at 2chan forum at this 9th anniversary live they lower the key for ARIA live so it's more suited to Hikaru's "new" voice.

I'm personally not surprised. I was already wondering to myself if they would do that, seems like they did. I don't think it's lazy of Hikaru, but rather them doing what they can so they can still perform ARIA (on that note, were Mata Kaze and/or progressive lowered during these lives? Those songs are in pretty high keys as well). And it's not like she didn't try to sing it in the original key- just look at the Budokan & Mexico performances of the song. It's also not even the first time I've seen something like that; the band Evanescence does it all the time.

when Wakana herself, in 2011, said that Kajiura was the one who told her to sing in a different voice than the one she's been using.

If you don't mind, could you provide a link to where she said that? I know Wakana said in an interview that Kajiura asked her to sing in a different voice, but I remember that interview being released sometime after Moonfesta (I remember her mentioning Yane no Mukou ni in it EDIT: she didn't mention that song but she talked about TTB, moonfesta, and Hikarifuru) and the change was so she could help recover since how she sang previously didn't work before.

EDIT: found the interview I was talking about, part I'm talking about in the spoiler.

Spoiler: Wakana talking about her vocal trouble

However, around the time of our 2nd album "Red Moon", I started getting lots of requests for "Kalafina's Wakana", that I began to see how Kalafina was associated with myself, and started thinking "Is it really okay to keep going like this?" After that, during the third album "After Eden", I hit a huge wall.
That was "I can't sing the way I want". Due to my singing skill, I couldn't sing in the ideal way that I wanted. During recordings, I couldn't sing well and even troubled Kajiura-san, and this became a big problem.
Even though I thought I was trying my best, the results weren't coming so it seemed meaningless. It was hard enough with just the recordings, that there was no way I could have handled lives. The time when our third album was the peak of my problems.
For me, that most problematic was the theme song of "After Eden", which is "Eden". I couldn't sing it the way I wanted at all.
I also got some pretty strict words from Kajiura-san. However, I think it was because of those words that I could be here today. If not, I might have kept slipping down. Accepting my failings and thinking "I can't keep being like this" became the basis for the thought "I have to work harder for this".
At the time of "After Eden", I became very highly strung during lives. I kept assuming too much that it would be difficult, that I have thought, "I might not be able to sing this" every time. I became very pessimistic about this.
That's why "Eden" is one of my favorite songs now. Because it was a difficult song for me, I practiced it so many times and did so much work on it, that I can always sing it comfortably now, I think. There are many Kalafina songs like this each time. What sort of song will come next time, which one will be the next "Eden" for me? That's how I always think.
There were problematic periods as well after that. Both when "to the beginning" and "moonfesta" came out, I still felt like I hadn't grasped the actual feeling of these songs. Something inside me was still looking for the right direction, looking for something, but I didn't know what it was.
The key that pulled me out of the mood of "searching for the image of Kalafina" was the song "ひかりふる (Light Falls)". At the start, this song was very difficult for me. That's why I thought that if I can do this song perfectly, I could accept that. Kajiura-san thought the same way when she told me "Wakana-chan, try to do Hikari Furu perfectly".
"Let's clear the difficulties one by one", and work on the minute details thoroughly. Once I did that, I thought "I've finally got it!". By understanding the song "Hikari Furu", I also finally saw my place in the group. That was where I changed. I felt refreshed.

As for why Wakana and Hikaru's voices changing, I think it's a mix of not taking care of their throats and straining too much just to get a certain sound in their voice that was not natural (or changed to not be natural as a voice of their voice naturally changing).

Hikaru I do think was told to sing with a different voice by Kajiura, but not any time recently. If you listen to her in 2010 vs. 2011, there is a distinct difference in her voice (fuller, more bass, less nasal tone). I think singing in this way helped in the short term (she sounded stellar imo 2011-2013) but ultimately damaged her voice. You can even start to hear the damaging effects of it in parts of the Consolation live, Alleluia, and KnGnN.

Ex. for Wakana since I know people will wonder what I'm talking about: oblivious, Lacrimosa, storia & fairytale's bridge in the 5th anni live selection. While singing in these songs, Wakana's voice sounds unnatural and she's clearly straining, even on some lower notes.

 

[Lorde-Kowz]

So it was Wakana herself who decided to change the way she sang.
It's pretty odd that she couldn't sing AE songs with her old voice. The only explanation I can think is that she was using improper technique, but she had that voice for years.

 

[wat11]

"Kajiura-san thought the same way when she told me "Wakana-chan, try to do Hikari Furu perfectly" ....

I am no musician and by no means a music expert but Wakana is simply being OFF-KEY most of the time. It's in the lives and recordings. Particularly Hikari Furu.

I've gotten used to how strained Wakana sounds. but Hikaru... not sure how I'll get used to that.

Keiko on the other hand is the most consistent. However, I somehow think this is also due to Kajiura not using and straining her too much.

I also don't buy Wakana "deciding" to change her voice herself. It's on Kajiura and Kajiura only. We all know Kajiura is a badass and particularly hard on Wakana. Changing voices is one thing and being off-key is another. If Kajiura thinks Wakana sings Hikari furu perfectly, well, there's nothing else to say about that.

tl;dr I am not sure how well trained Kajiura is to coach singers. but if this continues, she will destroy the girls' voices (by having too many lives, singing inappropriately etc.)

 

[Westkana]

Keiko on the other hand is the most consistent. However, I somehow think this is also due to Kajiura not using and straining her too much.

I think it's a combination of this (bc she doesn't have to sing as loud as often) and her having lower notes, which in general are easier to sing than higher notes.

I am not sure how well trained Kajiura is to coach singers.

You make an interesting point. If one looks at her bio, she doesn't have any experience training singers outside of Kala/FJ (was Yuriko trained by YK?). However, Yuuka sang for Kajiura for quite a while, but she didn't seem to have any problems with her at all. Same for Kaori.

 

[sora]

If I remember correctly, Kajiura has stated in the past that she has no interest in mentoring/ bringing up singers because she has no professional training in that area.

My opinion on the matter is that the girls are ultimately responsible for themselves, regardless of Kajiura's influence on their singing styles. They can come to her for advice and suggestions on how to sing a particular song, but it's up to them to practice that in a way that's safe for their voices. After all, only they know their limits.

 

[Kirito]

I wish they would take lessons from Yuriko Kaida lol. AFAIK, she still helps out with Kalafina recordings as backup. And next to Kasahara she's the best singer Kajiura works with, and she's classically trained so she could teach the girls proper technique.

Singing in an unnatural voice doesn't damage anything too much (voice actors do this all the time when singing a character image song). Straining to reach a certain note, however, does. Wakana's voice may have changed, but her range has not diminished - it's actually improved since her head voice can reach higher notes now (RYB).

Hikaru rarely uses her falsetto when she's singing high notes unless she's on harmony, so she shouts her high notes, especially in progressive and Mata Kaze. I reckon those are at the edge of her head voice when she shouldn't be using it. Unlike Wakana, Hikaru doesn't seem to be able to transition between her head voice and falsetto easily, probably due to her singing style.

Kajiura once said during the interview that Kalafina's biggest weakness is that they can cover for their own mistakes - and it's totally showing up here more than ever. Wakana's covering for Hikaru. How will they get past this wall, I don't know, but it better be soon, because it's been 3 years since Hikaru had issues. She seemed to be back in form during the FotW lives, but now it's regressed. I's their 10th anniversary soon too, so one can only hope they're at their best condition when that comes.