N
nodame89
Guest
I didn't write anything about Samidare, only Mirai is in the end.
Kalafina LIVE TOUR 2015-2016 "far on the water"
- Thread starter Kugayama
- Start date
I didn't write anything about Samidare, only Mirai is in the end.
LianaIlia36
I have reached Yuki nirvana
Oh, they played it on the loud speaker. Aww, sorry, I misunderstood. But Samidare acapella would be awesome too.
S
Seasonreaper
Guest
OK, I guess I should write a report.
Getting off the train at Fukushima station I had a pretty good idea where I was going to get to the venue, but within moments we'd already spotted some guys with Kalafina merch heading in the same direction, which gave us a pretty good hint that we were on the right track. By the time we got there around 3pm the merch area was already open, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but it being open wasn't it. Thankfully they seemed to have plenty of stock available and nothing at all was sold out as far as I could tell. They had boxes available for each of the girls and as a collective for giving gifts, I didn't know of this so had no chance to even think about getting anything. The area was rather spacious, with a large counter for purchasing items, a smaller one for... some reason. I don't know what was special about that one, it seemed to have the same stuff? It was in the same room though. There was also a bunch of tables with memorial stamp equipment on them on the other side, along with a FictionJunction Club stall and an Animate stall selling various stuff. The Animate stall had all of Kalafina's releases including the special editions of Consolation and FotW and the FotW and OL vinyls. There was also a stall there selling various Kajiura CDs, I recall Hanako to Anne being there, plus Fiction I and II and both the Best Live collections, as well as both FictionJunction albums and a few singles. There was also a series of flower bunches from various things I couldn't really read there.
I ended up going right to the merch stall upon entry and throwing all of my money at them. Picked up both shirt designs in both available colours (this now puts my shirt count up to 18, still want more
) and both types of towels straight away. I then headed over to the other side in order to acquire one of the bonus exclusive event postcards, picking up a copy of Everlasting Songs as I've been meaning to get it for ages. One presumes that to get the FotW promo posters you need to buy specifically Kalafina stuff as I didn't get one, but got a YK Vol. #12 badge instead. I already have FotW promos anyway so that didn't bother me. Luckily I had two friends there with which to help me acquire the other exclusive event postcard 
. They were planning on picking up stuff anyway and since neither of them are huge Kalafina fans it wasn't too hard to convince one of them to get the other postcard and give sell it to me. One of them got RM and Consolation, whilst the other picked up RM. I totally take no responsibility for their choices. They got FotW posters so I presume it is a Kalaspecific thing.
I stamped my previously-acquired pamphlet with the memorial stamp whilst one of my friends stamped his copy of RM. It was around this time that Daiima made an appearance, and also around the time I realised that I couldn't carry everything I had with me. This of course totally meant I had to get one of the Kalafina bags they had on sale and I may have accidentally ended up buying a bottle of the Kalafina water and a keychain at the same time. We made our way back outside the merch room, shortly after it was closed down in preparation for making queues to get into the actual venue.
After a lot of fumbling around working out how the queue worked we went in and got given a folder full of random stuff, mostly advertisements and the like, plus a FotW tour flyer and a questionnaire. Finding our way to our seats was easy once we got in and it gave us time to relax and realise that the venue is bloody massive and really nice. Having plenty of time until the event started, I went about filling out my questionnaire as much as I could before the actual event had happened, mostly writing so much that I ran out of space
. I have no knowledge of Japanese so it was in English, hopefully someone can read it. I did mention (for the third time actually) that they should come and perform in England and also casually mentioned that they should totally release their earlier albums on vinyl as well. Thinking about it now I should've mentioned that they should have official Kalafina Nendoroids like May'n and Nana Mizuki have, but oh well. Things went dark eventually (a little late but not by much) and the event began 
. I did notice some people were breaking the rules and taking photos during the concert but I sure as hell wasn't going to risk getting kicked out.
Eventually the curtains opened up and revealed some sort of translucent screen upon which they were projecting clouds as Koibito started, the girls appearing in the distance at the top of the stairs and singing the whole song whilst the screen was still down, giving the effect of them being amongst the clouds. It was pretty cool. This of course was only the first song of the set and I must admit, I did shed a few tears. Their performance here was absolutely spectacular, I had no way to fault it at all. The sound was a little off and a little loud at some points but that really wasn't anything to do with the girls or the FBM so I can't complain about them. As I'd expected, everything sounded better in a proper hall with the full FBM backing up the girls compared to the playback gig in France. Sadly other than the regular members of the FBM (and Konno, which I wouldn't mention specifically if he didn't have some performances that he's missing. Luckily this wasn't one of those) there were no guests at all, so no live accordion in Signal nor any Rie Akagi in Far on the Water, for example.
If I recall correctly the screen in front of the stage displayed a huge sign saying KALAFINA FAR ON THE WATER TOUR here.
Following on, Monochrome kicked in as the screen disappeared from the front of the stage and the girls went into full Kaladansu mode. This was the first real point you could see their dresses (and Hikaru's delectable trousers
) properly and I must admit, they've grown on me a lot since I first saw them. Each of their outfits really suits the way I see them. I couldn't see that well due to being in the middle block of the hall, but from what I could tell the girls were all looking absolutely gorgeous as usual. Even at this distance I was still amazed at how beautiful they can be. As for Monochrome, it sounds good live and I reckon once they've played it a bunch it could sound even better, especially with a live accordion. The bassline is still fantastic though 
. I recall there being a lot of pulsing soundwaves and ripples in the backdrop screen in black and white throughout which fits with the name of the song and, now I think about it, also their dresses as well.
Gogatsu no Mahou followed up after this, a song I was looking forward to quite a bit since it's one of my favourites from the album. Honestly though, it didn't actually stand out all that much sadly. Maybe it just needs some more work to truly come into its own? It sounded beautiful, don't get me wrong, but compared to a lot of the rest of the concert it didn't quite manage to reach the potential I reckon it could have.
First MC happened. I can't understand Japanese
. The girls seemed to be enjoying themselves though and I think they said something about being happy to be there? I can't honestly remember stuff much when it's in a language I can't understand.
Sorairo no Usu. Oh Wakana. Oh my. I think I died a little, her vocals here were sublime in every way
. I think it's safe to say that Wakana has gotten over her period of being off at regular intervals because holy crap she absolutely killed it here. Sorairo was already one of my favourite tracks from the album but I think this may have caused it to get considerably higher. Just wow .
Following a ballad theme it seems, going into Lapis. Well, what Wakana just did for Sorairo, Keiko did here. I mean, I know it's pretty common opinion that Keiko's the most consistent vocalist of the three and it's performances like this that keep that going, she was flawless. It's not my favourite ballad (and god Kalafina have a LOT of ballads) but after such a Wakana-heavy album, it's so good to see that this setlist has quite a few Keiko-heavy tracks in it.
Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa up next, and Konno really shows off his worth here. Kagayaku is one of those odd tracks for me that I really enjoy listening to whenever I hear it, but I don't usually go out of my way to listen to it specifically, and I'm not even sure why. I suspect it would've been the same with the live, I'd not have missed it if it wasn't in the setlist but I am very happy that it's here. The whole atmosphere throughout this song worked fantastically in the venue we had as well and the buildup was just wonderful. More wonderful vocals from Wakana as well.
MC time. Still don't know what's going on
. I'm sure Keiko at least said something about her really liking Musunde Hiraku and that they were going to sing it next, but that's about it.
So, Musunde Hiraku. I still don't really like this song much. The live was wonderful for sure but it didn't really do enough to change my opinion on the song itself I'm afraid. I know Keiko loves it but ehh. Being so similar to Mirai and Eden and whatnot pretty much put it in the 'don't really like it' camp right from the start and I never warmed up to those either so I don't expect much different here.
Misterioso was actually pretty surprising. It's the only song on the setlist that I'd heard before since they played it in France and it does indeed sound better with the FBM. What actually surprised me most is that a bunch of people stood up for it and started dancing along with it, I was expecting that kind of thing for songs like Ongaku (and it happened) but to have it here kinda caught me off guard, even if it was likely less than 10% of the people in there. Misterioso isn't one of the songs I care for much either but the bridge is lovely and it was performed very well, so that much I can really appreciate.
Nightmare Ballet was cool to hear live. I'd have preferred Numquam Vincar like at Budokan since I absolutely love the Madoka series OST, but I do really enjoy the Rebellion OST as well. As I think was mentioned before, it was considerably longer than the original version presumably to give the girls time to change and get ready for the next part of the set. The swelling climaxes of the song sounded very powerful with the full FBM working together and combined with some rather trippy rainbow imagery on the backdrop that vaguely resembled some of the more colourful witch world styles in the Madokaverse, plus it worked very well as an intermediary song to prepare for the rest of the concert.
Into the Water started playing shortly after Nightmare Ballet, the stage lighting up to reveal the girls lying down on the stairs in some ridiculously poofy coat outfits that looked incredibly warm to be in, but also pretty cosy. Having the final splash of Into the Water and then going into In Every Nothing worked very well in my opinion, although it's not a combination of songs I'd have ever thought of. In Every Nothing however
. I've always liked this song a lot (although I prefer Tsuioku if we're going by this style of song) and the live performance was majestic. I was kinda worried that the girls would show signs of being tired by this point, but I didn't notice anything of the sort here despite them performing in those ridiculous coats whilst laying down some serious vocal firepower. I think this song had some weird swirly purple and yellow patterns going on in the background 
? I forget what song that was. Going from that took something pretty special to follow it up.
And that's what we got. Yami no Uta was bloody amazing. So much power in the girls' vocals here, especially Keiko. This was definitely one of those songs that sent shivers down my body as it was going on (although quite a few did, mostly because of the girls' vocals) and it just blew me away. I just wish they'd played Red Moon itself because I can imagine that thing being even better than this, and this might be my favourite piece of the whole concert right here.
Believe happened. I thought about the questionnaire during it and forgot what happened in the concert. Whoops
.
MC time. And I don't seem to understand. It's a shame I seemed an honest man. Something was said about Hokage and keyboards and Wakana.
Hokage. I think the main issues I have with this song is that it sounds too similar to numerous other songs and that the vocals coming in right at the start is a little jarring. However, with the live version the vocals seemed a lot softer when Wakana started singing and as such it flowed a lot nicer. Whilst it does sound a lot like many other songs, I think the placement in the setlist meant that it didn't really have anything to relate it to and as such it could stand alone without comparisons and as such, it sounded gorgeous. Wakana once again did a wonderful job here. Man I love that girl's voice.
Usumurasaki up next and being my favourite song from FotW I had high expectations. These expectations were met. Being in that concert hall in the dark whilst having the band and the girls singing this song just worked perfectly. Whilst I wanted to watch what was going on I felt it was necessary to just close my eyes for a bit and focus on listening and letting the sound envelop me and it was really something special. I hope they keep this song in future setlists as it's a wonderful piece of music and stands out as something pretty unique in their discography, especially compared to a lot of the other tracks on FotW. Of all the new tracks, this is the one I'm looking forward to hearing again on a live BD release if they do one. I don't think it'll be quite as amazing as actually being there but it'll be interesting to see.
I think it was here that the girls took their coats off? It was either here or before Usumurasaki I think. They were wearing the same outfits as we've seen before, with Wakana in the blue/white dress which looks silly as hell, it's fine except the front of the dress really sticks upwards and outwards in a ridiculous manner that bugged me a lot. Hikaru had her purple dress which I still think looks great, whilst Keiko had... whatever that pink thing is. It does look a lot less stupid without the massive pink boots but I still don't like it much.
Here we go. The intro riff to Identify kicked in and suddenly everyone's stood up. I for one rather enjoy this song and it's certainly one that gets the crowd going (although honestly I'd prefer Destination Unknown, which sadly might be dropped from tours due to this) but this is certainly something you can rock out to. I think this was the first time that Hikaru really got to me during the concert actually, I've always preferred her when she's doing her more rock style vocals and this allowed her and Keiko to really shine in that aspect. As with Wakana, I think this song shows that Hikaru's gotten past whatever issues she had, her voice sounded really strong and powerful here. I strongly recall one point where all three girls and Korenaga went up the stairs at the back and he threw out some pretty impressive solo work whilst the girls alternated between a little Kaladansu and singing around him.
Going right from that into Signal was amazing. I must say, whilst Signal doesn't quite come across that well in live releases compared to the studio version, it does sound better if you're actually there. It seems to lack something I guess but that's probably due to having to replicate such a song on actual instruments which I'm not sure is even possible. At the very least, it captures the essence of the studio version a lot better in person than it does on the recordings I've seen. Also, Wakana's aaaaaah~ing nearly outright killed me. Holy crap, girl
. Whilst the bass may suffer a bit live, it actually seems to make those aaaaaah~s sound a lot more atmospheric and ambient (or maybe she's just singing it differently?) and god damn it is one of the most gorgeous sounds I have ever heard in my entire life. I know people have said before that Wakana can't sing but after seeing that I outright refuse to believe that such a concept is even possible. The rest of the concert proved that point but this emphasises it to an obscene level. This was also the version that has an extra chunk at the end with more solos. Sadly there was no accordion so they replaced the solo with keyboard followed by guitar if I remember correctly? It was cool, but not quite the same. I still adored this performance however.
Flowing right from Signal into Ongaku and as expected, the crowd went crazy. It wasn't as huge a shift as I suspect it could've been in the past due to having Signal lead into it and have everyone already hyped but it sure works for me. I know some people are sick of Ongaku being played at every single concert but damn I can see why, even now it sounds incredible live. I guess a ton of practice and the fact that the girls really enjoy singing it (I think I recall reading that somewhere in print, but it sure seemed it just from the way they were acting during the performance that they do) means they can pull it off with near perfect clarity live by now. It really does get everyone pumped and bouncing around the place though, and damn it sounds good. The girls' vocals and the instrumentation are just so good at every single moment. I'm certain that the live version is an extended variant compared to the original as well, and not just because of the band member introductions/mini solos.
Continuing the upbeat combo, One Light comes in next. I've always quite liked this song even though I know a lot of people don't, so I'm happy with it being here. Whilst it is a step down after the Signal/Ongaku combo it's still a pleasant song and keeps with the theme of this particular segment of the concert, from the start of Identify up to the end of this, the whole crowd was pumping fists, clapping along, dancing etc. and the girls were actively encouraging it the whole way. Hikaru's super shonen lines sound less obnoxious in the live too, whilst the rest of the song (which is thankfully a sheer majority of it) sounds great. Hikaru's voice continues to be strong and lively here too, she seemed in good shape which is reassuring. More rock soloing from Korenaga here as well.
I think there was a small MC here as well? I vaguely remember them mentioning about Far on the Water.
Far on the Water itself was a lovely performance too. Sadly as I mentioned earlier, no Rie Akagi for the flute solo. Honestly I can't even remember what replaced it, I just recall hearing the song and then realising 'hey wait, isn't this the bit where the flute solo is?'. As I'd expected it makes for a lovely ending piece before the encore though and even now after the rock quartet of songs, the girls don't seem to sound particularly tired out. The vocal work in FotW is still gorgeous and I didn't pick up on anything more than some tiny misnomers which could've just been due to the sound rather than anything else for all I know.
Encore time, the band went off stage first, followed shortly after by the girls, grinning and waving at everyone as they went, and everything went dark. The crowd then started clapping in time.
It carried on until the end of the encore.
The FBM came back on and the backdrop lit up into a bright sunny sky style setup, but no sign of the girls at first. Ring Your Bell (In the Silence) started playing over the speaker system (sadly not a live performance) and suddenly Keiko appeared out of nowhere at the back of the stairs (I still don't know *where from* even now) in her floofy white dress and brandishing a massive white flag similar to the ones on all the merch for the tour. She started swinging it around back and forth in true macho-sempai fashion, shortly followed by Wakana and Hikaru (also in their white dresses) coming on from either side of the stage with similar flags. No swishing though. I wonder why they chose Keiko for swishing a flag around. Eventually they converged near the middle of the stairs and Hikaru and Wakana put their flags into holders on either side of the staircase, Keiko putting hers in one at the centre at the back. Just as they did that, regular Ring Your Bell came into being and they performed it rather well. Ring Your Bell has always been one of those songs I kinda like in studio form but much prefer it live, almost every live performance of it has made it sound a lot better than the studio recording. The one issue I do have with it is that it seems too long for it's own good, and sadly that is still an issue even during live performances.
Storia came up afterwards and even here, hearing it in person, that vocal opening still doesn't sound that great to me. I'm convinced that it's not even due to the girls being unable to sing it as much as it is that the composition and vocal score of that particular part just doesn't sound appealing to me at all. Thankfully the rest of the song is very much appealing and was sung beautifully throughout by all three girls. I guess by this point they were pretty exhausted and I did notice a couple of errors (mostly Wakana I think) but really nothing major.
Final MC. This I do actually recall some of what happened as it ended up with Hikaru trying to sell Kalafina goods entirely in Kansai dialect and ended up butchering it completely. I'm almost certain she was told to do it by the other two girls especially as Keiko broke down into incessant giggling part way through, which was incredibly adorable. There was a lot of back and forth banter between them here and they seemed to be having a lot of fun, even if they did get sidetracked from what they were actually trying to do. I think they were also talking about the member produce goods as well which caused some more giggling from them. God these girls are far too cute for me, it's dangerous
.
And then the final song. After Kimi no Gin no Niwa and Heavenly Blue, nobody really knew what to expect. I did think it might be a case of them performing a different song each concert in the tour (and with Mirai now confirmed for 25/10 it seems that might be it) so I wasn't really sure what to expect, I was just merely hoping it wasn't Heavenly Blue again. It didn't even occur to me that I could've gotten Mirai or Snow Falling which I wouldn't have enjoyed either of. Thankfully though, Keiko said her farewell passage and then said in the smoothest, most marshmallow voice possible 'symphonia' and I was happy.
Symphonia is one of those songs that I never really paid much attention to at first, but has grown on me over time. I think it might still be growing in fact, it's just a really positive feeling song and it makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Sure, there's a lot of songs I prefer to Symphonia that weren't played, but honestly I think it may well be one of the best possible songs to end a concert on in Kalafina's discography, possibly even better than Kimi no Gin no Niwa despite the fact I absolutely adore KnGnN (although at least I saw that in France too). I think the only concert ending song I've seen that's better was Alleluia on Red Day, and that's because that performance of Alleluia was unnaturally amazing. Symphonia here however, was also a damn amazing performance. I didn't notice any issues with vocal capabilities here despite it being the final song after a long concert and it's such an uplifting track that it felt really lovely to end on it, especially with such a good quality performance. I can still vividly remember Keiko's 'symphoooniaa of tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime~' near the start.
Overall this concert was incredible and I wish it never ended. I'd have switched out a few songs if I had the chance to make it even better (Believe -> red moon for one) but despite a couple of songs I don't care for and practically none of my top ten, it was still a phenomenal experience and I'm very happy to have seen it. I just hope I get the chance to see them again in the future because I need it to happen. I honestly can't say enough to those who want to go but haven't done so/been able to do so yet, it's worth it. Make your dreams alive and find a way.
As for favourite performances, I put In Every Nothing, Signal, Ongaku (sorry those who are sick of it being in every live, it's just too good live), Usumurasaki, Koibito and Yami no Uta as my favourite 6 track entries on the questionnaire and I think those are probably still my top. Sorairo, lapis, Kagayaku and Symphonia would probably be the others I'd choose if I had to make a top 10, I was actually thinking of putting Sorairo into the list for quite a while.
Getting off the train at Fukushima station I had a pretty good idea where I was going to get to the venue, but within moments we'd already spotted some guys with Kalafina merch heading in the same direction, which gave us a pretty good hint that we were on the right track. By the time we got there around 3pm the merch area was already open, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but it being open wasn't it. Thankfully they seemed to have plenty of stock available and nothing at all was sold out as far as I could tell. They had boxes available for each of the girls and as a collective for giving gifts, I didn't know of this so had no chance to even think about getting anything. The area was rather spacious, with a large counter for purchasing items, a smaller one for... some reason. I don't know what was special about that one, it seemed to have the same stuff? It was in the same room though. There was also a bunch of tables with memorial stamp equipment on them on the other side, along with a FictionJunction Club stall and an Animate stall selling various stuff. The Animate stall had all of Kalafina's releases including the special editions of Consolation and FotW and the FotW and OL vinyls. There was also a stall there selling various Kajiura CDs, I recall Hanako to Anne being there, plus Fiction I and II and both the Best Live collections, as well as both FictionJunction albums and a few singles. There was also a series of flower bunches from various things I couldn't really read there.
I ended up going right to the merch stall upon entry and throwing all of my money at them. Picked up both shirt designs in both available colours (this now puts my shirt count up to 18, still want more
) and both types of towels straight away. I then headed over to the other side in order to acquire one of the bonus exclusive event postcards, picking up a copy of Everlasting Songs as I've been meaning to get it for ages. One presumes that to get the FotW promo posters you need to buy specifically Kalafina stuff as I didn't get one, but got a YK Vol. #12 badge instead. I already have FotW promos anyway so that didn't bother me. Luckily I had two friends there with which to help me acquire the other exclusive event postcard . They were planning on picking up stuff anyway and since neither of them are huge Kalafina fans it wasn't too hard to convince one of them to get the other postcard and I stamped my previously-acquired pamphlet with the memorial stamp whilst one of my friends stamped his copy of RM. It was around this time that Daiima made an appearance, and also around the time I realised that I couldn't carry everything I had with me. This of course totally meant I had to get one of the Kalafina bags they had on sale and I may have accidentally ended up buying a bottle of the Kalafina water and a keychain at the same time. We made our way back outside the merch room, shortly after it was closed down in preparation for making queues to get into the actual venue.
After a lot of fumbling around working out how the queue worked we went in and got given a folder full of random stuff, mostly advertisements and the like, plus a FotW tour flyer and a questionnaire. Finding our way to our seats was easy once we got in and it gave us time to relax and realise that the venue is bloody massive and really nice. Having plenty of time until the event started, I went about filling out my questionnaire as much as I could before the actual event had happened, mostly writing so much that I ran out of space
. I have no knowledge of Japanese so it was in English, hopefully someone can read it. I did mention (for the third time actually) that they should come and perform in England and also casually mentioned that they should totally release their earlier albums on vinyl as well. Thinking about it now I should've mentioned that they should have official Kalafina Nendoroids like May'n and Nana Mizuki have, but oh well. Things went dark eventually (a little late but not by much) and the event began . I did notice some people were breaking the rules and taking photos during the concert but I sure as hell wasn't going to risk getting kicked out.Eventually the curtains opened up and revealed some sort of translucent screen upon which they were projecting clouds as Koibito started, the girls appearing in the distance at the top of the stairs and singing the whole song whilst the screen was still down, giving the effect of them being amongst the clouds. It was pretty cool. This of course was only the first song of the set and I must admit, I did shed a few tears. Their performance here was absolutely spectacular, I had no way to fault it at all. The sound was a little off and a little loud at some points but that really wasn't anything to do with the girls or the FBM so I can't complain about them. As I'd expected, everything sounded better in a proper hall with the full FBM backing up the girls compared to the playback gig in France. Sadly other than the regular members of the FBM (and Konno, which I wouldn't mention specifically if he didn't have some performances that he's missing. Luckily this wasn't one of those) there were no guests at all, so no live accordion in Signal nor any Rie Akagi in Far on the Water, for example.
If I recall correctly the screen in front of the stage displayed a huge sign saying KALAFINA FAR ON THE WATER TOUR here.
Following on, Monochrome kicked in as the screen disappeared from the front of the stage and the girls went into full Kaladansu mode. This was the first real point you could see their dresses (and Hikaru's delectable trousers
) properly and I must admit, they've grown on me a lot since I first saw them. Each of their outfits really suits the way I see them. I couldn't see that well due to being in the middle block of the hall, but from what I could tell the girls were all looking absolutely gorgeous as usual. Even at this distance I was still amazed at how beautiful they can be. As for Monochrome, it sounds good live and I reckon once they've played it a bunch it could sound even better, especially with a live accordion. The bassline is still fantastic though . I recall there being a lot of pulsing soundwaves and ripples in the backdrop screen in black and white throughout which fits with the name of the song and, now I think about it, also their dresses as well.Gogatsu no Mahou followed up after this, a song I was looking forward to quite a bit since it's one of my favourites from the album. Honestly though, it didn't actually stand out all that much sadly. Maybe it just needs some more work to truly come into its own? It sounded beautiful, don't get me wrong, but compared to a lot of the rest of the concert it didn't quite manage to reach the potential I reckon it could have.
First MC happened. I can't understand Japanese
. The girls seemed to be enjoying themselves though and I think they said something about being happy to be there? I can't honestly remember stuff much when it's in a language I can't understand.Sorairo no Usu. Oh Wakana. Oh my. I think I died a little, her vocals here were sublime in every way
. I think it's safe to say that Wakana has gotten over her period of being off at regular intervals because holy crap she absolutely killed it here. Sorairo was already one of my favourite tracks from the album but I think this may have caused it to get considerably higher. Just wow .Following a ballad theme it seems, going into Lapis. Well, what Wakana just did for Sorairo, Keiko did here. I mean, I know it's pretty common opinion that Keiko's the most consistent vocalist of the three and it's performances like this that keep that going, she was flawless. It's not my favourite ballad (and god Kalafina have a LOT of ballads) but after such a Wakana-heavy album, it's so good to see that this setlist has quite a few Keiko-heavy tracks in it.
Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa up next, and Konno really shows off his worth here. Kagayaku is one of those odd tracks for me that I really enjoy listening to whenever I hear it, but I don't usually go out of my way to listen to it specifically, and I'm not even sure why. I suspect it would've been the same with the live, I'd not have missed it if it wasn't in the setlist but I am very happy that it's here. The whole atmosphere throughout this song worked fantastically in the venue we had as well and the buildup was just wonderful. More wonderful vocals from Wakana as well.
MC time. Still don't know what's going on
. I'm sure Keiko at least said something about her really liking Musunde Hiraku and that they were going to sing it next, but that's about it.So, Musunde Hiraku. I still don't really like this song much. The live was wonderful for sure but it didn't really do enough to change my opinion on the song itself I'm afraid. I know Keiko loves it but ehh. Being so similar to Mirai and Eden and whatnot pretty much put it in the 'don't really like it' camp right from the start and I never warmed up to those either so I don't expect much different here.
Misterioso was actually pretty surprising. It's the only song on the setlist that I'd heard before since they played it in France and it does indeed sound better with the FBM. What actually surprised me most is that a bunch of people stood up for it and started dancing along with it, I was expecting that kind of thing for songs like Ongaku (and it happened) but to have it here kinda caught me off guard, even if it was likely less than 10% of the people in there. Misterioso isn't one of the songs I care for much either but the bridge is lovely and it was performed very well, so that much I can really appreciate.
Nightmare Ballet was cool to hear live. I'd have preferred Numquam Vincar like at Budokan since I absolutely love the Madoka series OST, but I do really enjoy the Rebellion OST as well. As I think was mentioned before, it was considerably longer than the original version presumably to give the girls time to change and get ready for the next part of the set. The swelling climaxes of the song sounded very powerful with the full FBM working together and combined with some rather trippy rainbow imagery on the backdrop that vaguely resembled some of the more colourful witch world styles in the Madokaverse, plus it worked very well as an intermediary song to prepare for the rest of the concert.
Into the Water started playing shortly after Nightmare Ballet, the stage lighting up to reveal the girls lying down on the stairs in some ridiculously poofy coat outfits that looked incredibly warm to be in, but also pretty cosy. Having the final splash of Into the Water and then going into In Every Nothing worked very well in my opinion, although it's not a combination of songs I'd have ever thought of. In Every Nothing however
. I've always liked this song a lot (although I prefer Tsuioku if we're going by this style of song) and the live performance was majestic. I was kinda worried that the girls would show signs of being tired by this point, but I didn't notice anything of the sort here despite them performing in those ridiculous coats whilst laying down some serious vocal firepower. I think this song had some weird swirly purple and yellow patterns going on in the background ? I forget what song that was. Going from that took something pretty special to follow it up.And that's what we got. Yami no Uta was bloody amazing. So much power in the girls' vocals here, especially Keiko. This was definitely one of those songs that sent shivers down my body as it was going on (although quite a few did, mostly because of the girls' vocals) and it just blew me away. I just wish they'd played Red Moon itself because I can imagine that thing being even better than this, and this might be my favourite piece of the whole concert right here.
Believe happened. I thought about the questionnaire during it and forgot what happened in the concert. Whoops
.MC time. And I don't seem to understand. It's a shame I seemed an honest man. Something was said about Hokage and keyboards and Wakana.
Hokage. I think the main issues I have with this song is that it sounds too similar to numerous other songs and that the vocals coming in right at the start is a little jarring. However, with the live version the vocals seemed a lot softer when Wakana started singing and as such it flowed a lot nicer. Whilst it does sound a lot like many other songs, I think the placement in the setlist meant that it didn't really have anything to relate it to and as such it could stand alone without comparisons and as such, it sounded gorgeous. Wakana once again did a wonderful job here. Man I love that girl's voice.
Usumurasaki up next and being my favourite song from FotW I had high expectations. These expectations were met. Being in that concert hall in the dark whilst having the band and the girls singing this song just worked perfectly. Whilst I wanted to watch what was going on I felt it was necessary to just close my eyes for a bit and focus on listening and letting the sound envelop me and it was really something special. I hope they keep this song in future setlists as it's a wonderful piece of music and stands out as something pretty unique in their discography, especially compared to a lot of the other tracks on FotW. Of all the new tracks, this is the one I'm looking forward to hearing again on a live BD release if they do one. I don't think it'll be quite as amazing as actually being there but it'll be interesting to see.
I think it was here that the girls took their coats off? It was either here or before Usumurasaki I think. They were wearing the same outfits as we've seen before, with Wakana in the blue/white dress which looks silly as hell, it's fine except the front of the dress really sticks upwards and outwards in a ridiculous manner that bugged me a lot. Hikaru had her purple dress which I still think looks great, whilst Keiko had... whatever that pink thing is. It does look a lot less stupid without the massive pink boots but I still don't like it much.
Here we go. The intro riff to Identify kicked in and suddenly everyone's stood up. I for one rather enjoy this song and it's certainly one that gets the crowd going (although honestly I'd prefer Destination Unknown, which sadly might be dropped from tours due to this) but this is certainly something you can rock out to. I think this was the first time that Hikaru really got to me during the concert actually, I've always preferred her when she's doing her more rock style vocals and this allowed her and Keiko to really shine in that aspect. As with Wakana, I think this song shows that Hikaru's gotten past whatever issues she had, her voice sounded really strong and powerful here. I strongly recall one point where all three girls and Korenaga went up the stairs at the back and he threw out some pretty impressive solo work whilst the girls alternated between a little Kaladansu and singing around him.
Going right from that into Signal was amazing. I must say, whilst Signal doesn't quite come across that well in live releases compared to the studio version, it does sound better if you're actually there. It seems to lack something I guess but that's probably due to having to replicate such a song on actual instruments which I'm not sure is even possible. At the very least, it captures the essence of the studio version a lot better in person than it does on the recordings I've seen. Also, Wakana's aaaaaah~ing nearly outright killed me. Holy crap, girl
. Whilst the bass may suffer a bit live, it actually seems to make those aaaaaah~s sound a lot more atmospheric and ambient (or maybe she's just singing it differently?) and god damn it is one of the most gorgeous sounds I have ever heard in my entire life. I know people have said before that Wakana can't sing but after seeing that I outright refuse to believe that such a concept is even possible. The rest of the concert proved that point but this emphasises it to an obscene level. This was also the version that has an extra chunk at the end with more solos. Sadly there was no accordion so they replaced the solo with keyboard followed by guitar if I remember correctly? It was cool, but not quite the same. I still adored this performance however.Flowing right from Signal into Ongaku and as expected, the crowd went crazy. It wasn't as huge a shift as I suspect it could've been in the past due to having Signal lead into it and have everyone already hyped but it sure works for me. I know some people are sick of Ongaku being played at every single concert but damn I can see why, even now it sounds incredible live. I guess a ton of practice and the fact that the girls really enjoy singing it (I think I recall reading that somewhere in print, but it sure seemed it just from the way they were acting during the performance that they do) means they can pull it off with near perfect clarity live by now. It really does get everyone pumped and bouncing around the place though, and damn it sounds good. The girls' vocals and the instrumentation are just so good at every single moment. I'm certain that the live version is an extended variant compared to the original as well, and not just because of the band member introductions/mini solos.
Continuing the upbeat combo, One Light comes in next. I've always quite liked this song even though I know a lot of people don't, so I'm happy with it being here. Whilst it is a step down after the Signal/Ongaku combo it's still a pleasant song and keeps with the theme of this particular segment of the concert, from the start of Identify up to the end of this, the whole crowd was pumping fists, clapping along, dancing etc. and the girls were actively encouraging it the whole way. Hikaru's super shonen lines sound less obnoxious in the live too, whilst the rest of the song (which is thankfully a sheer majority of it) sounds great. Hikaru's voice continues to be strong and lively here too, she seemed in good shape which is reassuring. More rock soloing from Korenaga here as well.
I think there was a small MC here as well? I vaguely remember them mentioning about Far on the Water.
Far on the Water itself was a lovely performance too. Sadly as I mentioned earlier, no Rie Akagi for the flute solo. Honestly I can't even remember what replaced it, I just recall hearing the song and then realising 'hey wait, isn't this the bit where the flute solo is?'. As I'd expected it makes for a lovely ending piece before the encore though and even now after the rock quartet of songs, the girls don't seem to sound particularly tired out. The vocal work in FotW is still gorgeous and I didn't pick up on anything more than some tiny misnomers which could've just been due to the sound rather than anything else for all I know.
Encore time, the band went off stage first, followed shortly after by the girls, grinning and waving at everyone as they went, and everything went dark. The crowd then started clapping in time.
It carried on until the end of the encore.
The FBM came back on and the backdrop lit up into a bright sunny sky style setup, but no sign of the girls at first. Ring Your Bell (In the Silence) started playing over the speaker system (sadly not a live performance) and suddenly Keiko appeared out of nowhere at the back of the stairs (I still don't know *where from* even now) in her floofy white dress and brandishing a massive white flag similar to the ones on all the merch for the tour. She started swinging it around back and forth in true macho-sempai fashion, shortly followed by Wakana and Hikaru (also in their white dresses) coming on from either side of the stage with similar flags. No swishing though. I wonder why they chose Keiko for swishing a flag around
. Eventually they converged near the middle of the stairs and Hikaru and Wakana put their flags into holders on either side of the staircase, Keiko putting hers in one at the centre at the back. Just as they did that, regular Ring Your Bell came into being and they performed it rather well. Ring Your Bell has always been one of those songs I kinda like in studio form but much prefer it live, almost every live performance of it has made it sound a lot better than the studio recording. The one issue I do have with it is that it seems too long for it's own good, and sadly that is still an issue even during live performances.Storia came up afterwards and even here, hearing it in person, that vocal opening still doesn't sound that great to me. I'm convinced that it's not even due to the girls being unable to sing it as much as it is that the composition and vocal score of that particular part just doesn't sound appealing to me at all. Thankfully the rest of the song is very much appealing and was sung beautifully throughout by all three girls. I guess by this point they were pretty exhausted and I did notice a couple of errors (mostly Wakana I think) but really nothing major.
Final MC. This I do actually recall some of what happened as it ended up with Hikaru trying to sell Kalafina goods entirely in Kansai dialect and ended up butchering it completely. I'm almost certain she was told to do it by the other two girls especially as Keiko broke down into incessant giggling part way through, which was incredibly adorable. There was a lot of back and forth banter between them here and they seemed to be having a lot of fun, even if they did get sidetracked from what they were actually trying to do. I think they were also talking about the member produce goods as well which caused some more giggling from them. God these girls are far too cute for me, it's dangerous
.And then the final song. After Kimi no Gin no Niwa and Heavenly Blue, nobody really knew what to expect. I did think it might be a case of them performing a different song each concert in the tour (and with Mirai now confirmed for 25/10 it seems that might be it) so I wasn't really sure what to expect, I was just merely hoping it wasn't Heavenly Blue again. It didn't even occur to me that I could've gotten Mirai or Snow Falling which I wouldn't have enjoyed either of. Thankfully though, Keiko said her farewell passage and then said in the smoothest, most marshmallow voice possible 'symphonia' and I was happy.
Symphonia is one of those songs that I never really paid much attention to at first, but has grown on me over time. I think it might still be growing in fact, it's just a really positive feeling song and it makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Sure, there's a lot of songs I prefer to Symphonia that weren't played, but honestly I think it may well be one of the best possible songs to end a concert on in Kalafina's discography, possibly even better than Kimi no Gin no Niwa despite the fact I absolutely adore KnGnN (although at least I saw that in France too). I think the only concert ending song I've seen that's better was Alleluia on Red Day, and that's because that performance of Alleluia was unnaturally amazing. Symphonia here however, was also a damn amazing performance. I didn't notice any issues with vocal capabilities here despite it being the final song after a long concert and it's such an uplifting track that it felt really lovely to end on it, especially with such a good quality performance. I can still vividly remember Keiko's 'symphoooniaa of tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime~' near the start.
Overall this concert was incredible and I wish it never ended. I'd have switched out a few songs if I had the chance to make it even better (Believe -> red moon for one) but despite a couple of songs I don't care for and practically none of my top ten, it was still a phenomenal experience and I'm very happy to have seen it. I just hope I get the chance to see them again in the future because I need it to happen
. I honestly can't say enough to those who want to go but haven't done so/been able to do so yet, it's worth it. Make your dreams alive and find a way.As for favourite performances, I put In Every Nothing, Signal, Ongaku (sorry those who are sick of it being in every live, it's just too good live), Usumurasaki, Koibito and Yami no Uta as my favourite 6 track entries on the questionnaire and I think those are probably still my top. Sorairo, lapis, Kagayaku and Symphonia would probably be the others I'd choose if I had to make a top 10, I was actually thinking of putting Sorairo into the list for quite a while.
Hime_Wakana
I have reached Yuki nirvana
Your report is amazing!!!! Thanks a lot
B
bevan
Guest
Sounds like a blast! Also, for some reason I had this image in mind the moment they appeared with the flags.
Thanks for the report :)
LianaIlia36
I have reached Yuki nirvana
Great report! Sorry just read it now, been busy lately. What was fun was that I was listening to ring your bell, storia and symphonia as I was reading your report on each song. heh Not making that up. I am glad that a few of us got to go and may get to go to this tour. I really want to see their new songs, especially Musunde and Usumurasaki. But I would want Konno there. I hope one day soon (maybe in the next 5 years if I get this job) I will go to Japan and see them there, but for now I have to hope for them back in the states. Do you have a pic of the complete merch you bought? It would be interesting to see it all.
S
Seasonreaper
Guest
I do have a photo, it's my most recent post in the CD Collection thread 
.
I am happy I decided to go for the Saturday performance rather than the Sunday one considering that not only did they end with Symphonia rather than Mirai, but Saturday was the only one of the two with Konno.
I hope you get your chance to go see them in Japan, it's really worth doing. It was practically a dream that I'd ever be able to do it and somehow it ended up happening. Five years is a long time though, so be careful. Don't want to miss your chanceforever.
.I am happy I decided to go for the Saturday performance rather than the Sunday one considering that not only did they end with Symphonia rather than Mirai, but Saturday was the only one of the two with Konno.
I hope you get your chance to go see them in Japan, it's really worth doing. It was practically a dream that I'd ever be able to do it and somehow it ended up happening. Five years is a long time though, so be careful. Don't want to miss your chance
S
shiro
Guest
I read about a lot of people saying they heard HB so I suspected the 11/15 setlist was the same as in HK and it was. (They even sang Alleluia as the encore). I'm guessing it's a permanent change in the setlist then.. [Why couldn't they have started in Osaka? TAT] But anyway, apparently technical issues continued from Osaka and Wakana's throat seems tired...? Hopefully the girls are getting good rests in between these lives and especially since it's getting colder.
Here is the setlist again if people don't want to check the other thread;
01.こいびとの昔語りの夕暮れの
02.monochrome
03.五月の魔法
MC1
04.空色の椅子
05.lapis
06.輝く空の静寂には
MC2
07.むすんでひらく
08.misterioso
09.One Light
10.nightmare ballet(インストゥルメンタル)
11.into the water ～ in every nothing
12.闇の唄
13.believe
MC3
14.灯影
15.うすむらさき
16.identify
17.signal
18.音楽
19.heavenly blue
MC4
20.far on the water
―アンコール―
E1.ring your bell (in the silence) ～ ring your bell
E2.storia
MC5
E3.アレルヤ
Here is the setlist again if people don't want to check the other thread;
01.こいびとの昔語りの夕暮れの
02.monochrome
03.五月の魔法
MC1
04.空色の椅子
05.lapis
06.輝く空の静寂には
MC2
07.むすんでひらく
08.misterioso
09.One Light
10.nightmare ballet(インストゥルメンタル)
11.into the water ～ in every nothing
12.闇の唄
13.believe
MC3
14.灯影
15.うすむらさき
16.identify
17.signal
18.音楽
19.heavenly blue
MC4
20.far on the water
―アンコール―
E1.ring your bell (in the silence) ～ ring your bell
E2.storia
MC5
E3.アレルヤ
S
Seasonreaper
Guest
I'd hope with the times between the lives that they'd be getting rest. Flying to HK could've caused something I guess, hopeful it's just that.
Interesting that they seem to have added in HB as an extra. I wonder if they forgot before
. I was interested to see what songs the other dates would have, I'll be a little disappointed if they keep reusing songs they've done instead of changing each time, although I can understand repeating the ones they use abroad for local lives I guess. Symphonia is still the best I could've gotten so far though, as I've heard them sing Sprinter and Alleluia at least.
Interesting that they seem to have added in HB as an extra. I wonder if they forgot before
. I was interested to see what songs the other dates would have, I'll be a little disappointed if they keep reusing songs they've done instead of changing each time, although I can understand repeating the ones they use abroad for local lives I guess. Symphonia is still the best I could've gotten so far though, as I've heard them sing Sprinter and Alleluia at least.
K
Kirito
Guest
Correct me if I'm wrong, but were Kalafina's setlists always this rigid? For this tour in particular the only thing they've changed each show is the final song and (now) placing HB after Ongaku. If I recall, didn't previous setlists have more variations in terms of the songs not in the album the tour is for as well as the order?
george1234
Moderator
shiro: Was Konno on violin, right ?
at #11 were these tracks in medley style ?
at #11 were these tracks in medley style ?
S
shiro
Guest
1. Yes, I believe so.
2. Nothing about the tour setlist has changed except the position of One Light and the addition of heavenly blue starting from after 10/25.
2. Nothing about the tour setlist has changed except the position of One Light and the addition of heavenly blue starting from after 10/25.
george1234
Moderator
In Oct 25 live it was
8. into the water
9. in every nothing
while here its
11.into the water ～ in every nothing
that's why i ask :)
8. into the water
9. in every nothing
while here its
11.into the water ～ in every nothing
that's why i ask :)
S
shiro
Guest
It's the same thing, really … into the water transitions into in every nothing so it's up to you how you want to write it.
LianaIlia36
I have reached Yuki nirvana
And Alleluia I thought was different, unless you are talking about another live. I like that it went storia to Alleluia, that would be interesting and Alleluia is a good way to end a concert. So I like that they change it up a bit, it makes it so that people who do live in Japan, or go to Japan like season did, will see both shows (or all, but that would be a lot of money heh) so it's how they get them. hehe
aki
I have reached Yuki nirvana
K
Kirito
Guest
Anyone posted this yet? If not, it's more WTF is Keiko wearing. Better than that pink...whatever the hell that outfit was, and certainly more girly, though it looks more like casual clothes instead.
S
Seasonreaper
Guest
It does look pretty casual, but I can honestly see her wearing that during a FictionJunction performance and it working. It's cute.