that foreign music blog🌎

This weekend I went to my first 弾き語り (hee-kee-gah-tah-ri) or, one-man-acoustic. It’s generally when one member from a band brings their acoustic and plays a small show–although I’m not sure if size matters. Still, I can’t help but feel that it’d be rather hard to pull something off like that in a stadium. Maybe. The whole feeling of the concert felt far too intimate, and that seemed to be a big part of it all: for it to be held in some little cafe with fifty people quietly swaying to the melody echoing off the walls. However, because it was my very first experience and Yutaro, bless him, isn’t all that famous yet, it could all be relative to the artist.

Anyway, I wasn’t entirely sure of what to expect, especially with how fans at 2 concerts can be. In actuality, the calm atmosphere, contrary to my expectations, worked more to Yutaro’s favor. He opened up to us in a way that I hadn’t experienced before, and I felt like—the guy that I’d been a fan of for five years—was finally beginning to take shape as someone I could relate to. This may also boil down to my increase of Japanese vocabulary, but it was incredibly heartwarming to get to know him on a more personal level.

As much as I adore Yutaro and his music, my failure to connect with the band during their shows is something I’ve openly complained about on this blog. I don’t know if it’s because the fans don’t often dance or if something in the air never quite sets the right mood, but for the first time, Yutaro actually talked to us. Like really talked, a lot. He even played some covers of songs that he liked. He laughed and joked with us, and told us his insecurities. I felt like I was falling in love with my favorite musician all over again.

While I understand that musicians have their own personalities, and I think Yutaro even mentioned that he never really likes to talk much, I was so happy that he was in the mood that night. Honestly, 弾き語り concerts might be my favorite type of concert now. Who I’d really love to see next is Tatsuya Maki from go! go! vanillas. I’ll go to their concert come April, so I guess I’ll learn how they’re able to connect with fans. Based off their festival performance, though, and their overall…interaction with fans through fan meetings and their fan club services, I probably won’t feel as strong of an impression as I did with Yutaro. Even so, I’m sure hearing acoustic renditions of go! go! vanilla’s energetic songs would be nice.

Rather than go on about the venue and the fans, though, I think I’ll end by saying how this tiny acoustic session made me realize what I enjoy about going to shows in the first place. The performance, of course, isn’t more important than the music, but they definitely go hand-in-hand. But what makes a good show? Is it background dancers? Flashing lights and rockets?? Or is it something as extreme as the ‘death walk’ stunt from Brendon Urie’s performances, when he jumps into the audience and offer hugs? I suppose it depends on the person, but for me, I think it really is about having fun. And what I mean by that, is that artist, themselves, are having fun. This may sound cheesy, but I seem to react much better to performances where the instruments malfunction from the musicians going way too hard and crazy on them, getting caught up in the moment. In the end, who really cares when we’re all dancing together?

I don’t expect Yutaro or 2 to change anything about how they do their performances, as there’s nothing really wrong with them, but I hope that I can connect with the other members as I had with Yutaro at Sole Cafe. I hope I can see them all laughing on stage more often, and really learn about who they are as individuals.