Yuki Kajiura LIVE vol.#16 ~ Sing a Song Tour 2020 ~

Ugh I wish I lived in Japan right now. I mean, other than the virus being bad now. I want Wakana in the pic next to Hikaru and Keiko! *sigh* I know, she's still under contract... still. It would be great to get them all singing Kala covers. Also songs I want:
a fruitless love
faith
inca rose
Gatherway
the place of eternity
Any other Saeko Chiba song, like Ice Cream or Hikari would be cool, I can see Keiko getting into Ice Cream. lol
 
Supposedly, this concert will focus more on songs with real lyrics so Kajiurago is probably sealed.
More Saeko Chiba (and mebbe Yuuka) songs would be nice. I'd love to hear Keiko sing Hikari, with Yuriko and Joelle singing the English lines.
 
O. Noice. Bloody rabbit. Curious about the lead on that. I'm guessing Joelle since Yuriko has her old secondary vocals part in that...
The other two tracks seem like something Joelle would do live since they're Eri's.
 
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YAY YAY YAY!! I hope Keiko keeps the leading on contractor, I really love her part in the Kaji fes' version
 
It's out, boys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtymGaksGcQ
Alone: Joelle sounds very purty and soft. Liked the ending when she changed to chest voice to prepare you for the next song.
Bloody Rabbit: Brettty good performance, just didn't like one part where Yuriko switched to chest voice before the violin solo and it sounded... not good hue. Better than the one from Vol 10. Wakana singing chunks of it in chest voice was a huge no.
Contractor: I like the new kajiurago better here than in vol 10. Sounds less annoying to my ears. Surprised that Yuriko got a solo. They all did well on their solos.

My only complaint is that Keiko looked dead in every performance, even during her solo. Like, girl, move a little. Even Yuriko was more active. Might've been because of the dress, but, well, don't wear a dress like that if it's going to restrict your movement once the upbeat songs start.
 
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Joelle sounded like an alto in Alone all the time thanks to Keiko backing her but there was a phrase where Keiko stopped, that Joellw sounded really high i was like ouch 🙉. The rest of performance was fine. Yuriko was so happy to perform again and she couldnt restrict her smile during the solo lines. Did Kaori got a solo too ? Why bother bringing a violin when the strings are playback ? 😅 Overall i really liked it and i like the dresses n lightning too.
 
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Been wanting to say this and now i'm sure that Keiko is still very awkward with Joelle. she runs in the opposite direction of Joelle be it in her facial expressions, gesture, and sometimes even emotion on Joelle heavy songs that used to be led by Wakana. i made a mistake of pressing the show ignored content: kowz i know you have the biggest boner for joelle but ngl having you compare everything to wakana is getting old and annoying. its been 3 years, move on.
 
I don't remember a single thing about previous lives so no comparisons to those.

To get things out of the way, I hated the transitions between tracks.

Alone, I don't understand why they had Keiko sing from the start. The intro was always "playful reminiscence" to me, this is just "heavily mellow" from the start thanks to Joelle's delivery and multiplied by Keiko's deep voice. I get that it's a live and it doesn't have to be the same (it wouldn't be regardless, partly because it's just not the same performers) but it just didn't work for me. It gets better once they get past the intro... and then it ends. lolz.

In general, Bloody rabbit was most successful for me. It's very "Kajiura live", presumably thanks to live percussion and other instruments filling the space, rather than just swooshing synths+kb of the original. I liked the new violin at times, and at other times it was just there for the sake of being there.

Contractor... was perfectly fine for what it was (a lotta playback). I just never liked the original which to me always was a different take on those synth+keyboard parts of knk5m12/24/paradigm with a lot of repetitions - same solo parts alternating with the same boring strings or choirs for 4 minutes. The live is much the same and only made worse by having different people perform the solo, which adds to the already formulaic segmentation of the track. On the other hand, it does make it feel like a climax (or encore) with everyone (but Kaori, unless we count the part at 5:40) having a chance to lead. Maybe it would feel better in a full live, rather than just this 8min medley. I liked Korenaga at the end. :p

tldr:
I think seeing this live staging/setup again made me realize I might prefer the studio live format from last year. Seemed much more casual and intimate, no open and empty hall, no flashing lights or forced theatrics (sans the dum split screens in the last part). Would be curious to see if that studio live was just a fluke and I'd dislike another one.
 
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As Grunty, disappointed by the transitions between tracks.

I liked the mad-violin at 2:37, wasn't it an electric guitar in vol.#10 ?
Remind me of those sections in T-elos, wonderland... not sure if Kajiura has done many other tracks like this?

Would have personally liked "Pandora hearts" & "preparation" included, and why not "revolve" as a pause between the vocal tracks and "confidence" to end the medley.
 
I have to say that I've waited till they upload the video (which in my country was really late at night), I like it, but it did not worth the long wait lol.

For me... alone was great, Keiko was awesome, and I like how Joelle sang the song (specially at the last tastiya), but something was missing, I don't know what. I don't think Keiko was uncomfortable with Joelle, but there wasn't any harmony between the two of them. I would love to listen to Kaori and Keiko singing that song.

Bloody rabbit was spectacular, but as some of grunty-san said, it's a kajiura-live song, any four singers would do a great job; I thought Kaori would do Wakana's part, but Joelle did really good, and that violin solo was the best part of the medley. Nothing else to be said.

Then contractor, I like how Joelle and Yuriko started the song, It was a joyful beginning. Joelle solo was ok, nothing outstanding. Yuriko's solo surprised me, I was expecting Keiko on that part, but it was cute. Keiko was outstanding, her voice went really deep, I loved it. It was nice how Kajiura gave Joelle, Yuriko and Keiko a solo, but I would have prefer Keiko to lead the entire song (preferences).

About the girls performance, Joelle was the most energetic one, and Yuriko will always look cute singing. Keiko gave me the vibes of being extremely professional (similar to her performance at Kala's 10th anniversary), maybe because she was to emotional of singing again with Hikaru, maybe because of Joelle, but who knows. Kaori was professional and predominant on the stage as always (even when she didn't have any lead at those songs).

In overall, it was a good live, but as I said, something was missing, and I don't think it's because of Joelle and not Wakana. Maybe is the fact that they are not singing together as much as before, and they lost their harmony capability, yet, I'm just assuming.
 
as some of grunty-san said,
grunty-dono, if you please.lol jk - a grunty's fine

Whether Keiko's presence in this live is due to Joelle (which is an interesting notion in itself), Kajiura/'s music, the dress, the venue or whatever else - I don't know and honestly don't care. I feel like Keiko just came to a serious solo operatic recital rather than a Kajiura live, lolz.

Personally, I think Keiko and Joelle sound perfectly magical together in Alone. I don't feel there's any problems with them harmonizing/blending together. My issue there is only with the structure - the intro in particular, where Keiko's addition is 2much for my idea of this song. (Which is clearly not the same as Kajiura's. ;p) Once they get beyond that opening part, it's all great.
 
I thought Alone was very good. like the mystery vibe and soonyouwillgetabosstheme feeling. thought Joelle's sudden raise in voice at the end is tiny bit awkward but tiny bit. Keiko always needs more front space, nothing new there. Keiko + Joelle sounds good no?

Yuriko's sounded SO inconsistent. at times she sounds like a child but others she saves everyone with her high notes. pff dunno

Contractor... hmm good, still original > live. I feel the singers didn't like the Kajiurago syllables on this one. too many Ks. (this is just feeling and partly messing around xD).

Keiko at 7:20 ah too much maybe eh? but ok the beginning of the solo was so good. :)

actually I think Joelle also had a few hard moments in the high notes in Contractor. will history repe... (shush wat!!)
 
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Very very standard live no surprise so there's nothing to say lol maybe I only like Yuriko kawaii voice here haha. Just nice can't hear car honking in their future lives yass.. Anyway it's true Keiko has that different aura but considering their lives is more restraint nowadays(+studio live) d/t pandemic, there's nothing to hype her(Can't blame her if she's seething seeing Joelle's dress even :psst: ) But seriously, most likely dresses are their own(Kaori's outfit in Place album?) and we probably get new themed outfit for the upcoming lives.

I hope it can get more views in future so they be encouraged to upload the lives in the past (Youtube revenue is not that big but pocket money is nice :goodjob: )
 
I hope it can get more views in future so they be encouraged to upload the lives in the past (Youtube revenue is not that big but pocket money is nice :goodjob: )
I don't really see them uploading much to youtube. This PandoraHearts video is edited from multiple performances and maybe rehearsals (like that "moonlight melody" from vol.15 they were using to promote PriPri live) so that seems like effort to do on a regular basis just for youtube. They don't seem to be interested in uploading archival single camera shot videos... Then again, I'd love to be proven wrong. :)
 
They upload 2 fj lives with a month interval right? Then if they stopped, pretty much promotional-only vids on both companies then (Highway Star and FJM).

Btw @Justisamuel remember what I said about the FJ brand going to trashcan?
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I'm wrong lol I'm expecting for them to use FictionjunctionMusic than Fictionjunction lol
 
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