#anyway i just love the word sandpiper. sounds very cute

[bilbao-song]

Stylized Sandpipers on a 17½ x 39-inch burlap background playfully peck away on this wall hanging. Better Homes and Gardens Treasury of Christmas Ideas, 1966.

[chibalein]

Kalafina Live Report - World Heritage Special  Live @ Nikkô PART 2/2

Now it’s finally about the songs :D

Click HERE for Part 1.

The concert began when the lights were darkened and the musicians took their seats, shortly testing their instruments, namely Sakurada at the piano and the Konno Hitoshi Strings… at the strings. Sakurada started by playing a short solo and Kalafina entered the stage in their super pretty white dresses (especially Hikaru looked great!). At this point, I want to mention (which of course you already know) that all songs were in acoustic version. With no big surprise, Kalafina started the special live with “storia”, which sounds quite different without drums and so on. I have heard this song so often by now that it doesn’t really impress me anymore, but this version really got it right and the Cello – aaah, so cool. Those who read my Live Report of the 9+ONE concert in Kitakyushu know that I found the acoustics in the hall very strange sometimes and often the girls drowned out each other, with Wakana often being uncomfortably loud – this wasn’t the case AT ALL in Nikkô. Maybe because of the trees that carried the echo better than an enclosed room, but the acoustics/the sound were great! You could hear each girl and the instruments perfectly without them interfering with each other. This fact made this concert especially memorable, in my opinion.

Anyway, “storia” was a beautiful introduction, while “Mirai” made me feel… well, the feeling you feel when you hear “Mirai”. The stage was illuminated in purple light and gave it a mysterious touch, quite the contrast to the song which is rather bright but not any less disappointing. But I admit, in acoustic version this song gets cooler and the Strings were again killing it (I apologize, but I might use this phrase more often from now on – because these dudes REALLY killed it with their super string power). Kalafina moved around a bit, going from one side of the stage to another, with happy faces and creating a happy mood. Especially Keiko felt the groove and swung around during the instrumental parts. Since there were no upbeat songs played this time, the crowd sat still the whole time, so I felt quite cold at this point.

MC #1 included the traditional introduction of Kalafina. They talked about how this was their first special concert of this kind and their first time in Nikkô/Tochigi prefecture in general. They didn’t fail to emphasize again and again how special the atmosphere and how beautiful sceneries that they have seen were. 

Kalafina continued with “fairytale”, with an absolute stunning beginning by the strings. It is very hard for me to describe the way they played, so I am sorry for that (but no words can convey the actual awesomeness). Well, you know the acoustic version from the Winter Acoustic Album – it was like this, but somehow better. Wakana was simply amazing! She sang perfectly (the whole time actually) and this song in this environment! They chose this one for this very reason, as they said earlier themselves. Keiko’s part on the other hand, was a perfect contrast to Wakana’s. Keiko was deep and emotional, with the Kajiurago bridge in the middle being simply amazing. Hikaru’s “sayonara” was short and cute, but I wish she would/could have done it like in the Red Moon Live back then… Again, the scenery. They illuminated the pagoda and the trees in the background again, adding to the mysterious atmosphere created by “fairytale”. In the final instrumental part, Kalafina moved slowly around, looking for invisible fairies.

The next song was “Manten” – I haven’t heard this song in such a long time that I had actually trouble to recognize it immediately. It was a whole different mood than before, much more dramatic, as the girls were illuminated from behind. Keiko killed her parts while the quartet did their best too. Best thing: the fog machine lol

Kalafina continued with “symphonia”, while being illuminated in red and orange. They really had some fun on stage, another great performance and interestingly different without the drums. Also at this point, it was getting colder and colder.

During MC #2, Wakana talked again about their first time here at Tôshôgû, with its beautiful nature and how people must have lived and felt here 400 years ago. I admit that I did not understand everything during their MCs, as they were talking rather quickly, almost rushing and using some bullshit keigo (Japanese polite form).

Now comes the highlight of the whole concert, at least for me: “Hyakka Ryouran”. OH MY FUCKING GOD. I can’t possibly explain this piece of acoustic gloriousness. During the instrumental beginning the whole stage was covered in deep red (well, no surprise), but when Keiko started it became so much sadder! Dear god, take away the e-guitar and drums from that song and you have a melancholic ballad. Keiko was just perfect. Then the lights changed to blue, with the chorus being suddenly much more dramatic than anime-like as in the original version. But now – the part that gave me literal goosebumps – Wakana’s kajiurago bridge. This goddamn bridge. It’s already beautiful in the original, it’s mysterious and adds well to the mood of the song. In this acoustic version, coming from a loud, rather fast and dramatic chorus, suddenly the singing pace became much slower and Wakana sang in such a sad, emotional way! Just this sudden transition from fast to slow was amazing, but Wakana made me feel actual pain. And then Hikaru – BOOM! She almost exploded with her part, singing louder and stronger compared to Wakana and the music gained speed and drama again, surrounded by red light again. It was a perfect harmony and seriously, this acoustic version of “Hyakka Ryouran” is much better than the original! Please God, make them sing it in the Acoustic Tour, too!

From this awesomeness, it went on with “Tombo”. Again, Keiko fooled me by saying “bla bla we want to sing another song from our most recent single................. Tombo”. Not “Kantankatan”. In fact, they got my hopes so high only to crush them AGAIN, I had to create a meme about my feelings at that very moment.

Seriously, what does a fan have to do hear this “Kantankatan” bitch live? JUST WHAT?!

ANYWAY. “Tombo” came with no suprise though, as it is a perfect song for an acoustic concert. Still, coming from “Hyakka Ryouran”, it felt quite strange, but during its performance the only things that were illuminated were the five-story pagoda in the background and the girls. Very very beautiful (you kind of get the picture from the photos of the news articles and the Kalafina blog posts). Well, and the performance was very nice.

Next song on the setlist was “far on the water”. As predicted, Kalafina would go with their “Rekishi Hiwa Historia” songs and the later “Into the World” wasn’t a surprise either. After rather sad songs, it was nice to have more fun and happiness on stage again. The girls were swinging and moving slowly, often looking past the audience into the future. Now, as I said, it was getting colder and colder and at this point, it was fucking freezing. I was shivering, but was too focused on the concert to use the damn kairo. Here I openly felt envious of all the rich bastards who bought the Kalablanket - it looked so comfy and warm T_T

During MC #3, Hikaru emphazised this cold weather more than clearly. She started rubbing her arms and legs and told us to do the same, making us laugh. I felt so sorry for them, because they didn’t really move during the concert and in those thin dresses, it must have been worse for them than for the audience. However, this provided us with the probably cutest WaKei moment in Kalafina history. Keiko ran to Wakana and hugged her strongly and long, like a child its mother that doesn’t want to be left in kindergarden, to warm herself. THEY WERE SO CUTE!!! And I could literally smell what almost everyone was thinking at this moment: “Let go of Wakana, Keiko. Let go and hug me”.

For the next block, Hikaru told us that they wanted to sing songs that convey a strong wills and desires. So the next one was “sandpiper”. SANDPIPER!!! FUCKING SAN--2§$%AIOSJKDNDFBP??DGJXGFFG!! I actually gasped (quite loudly xD), because I couldn’t believe it and I was like “fucking yes yes YES!”. I love “sandpiper” and wanted to hear it live for so long now, but certainly never expected it. I actually thought they forgot about this song lol This version was certainly dramatic, with a very dominant Cello, which only added to the drama, sadness and melancholy. Hikaru’s expressions were on point as ever. During the instrumental bridge, the surrounding trees were brightly illuminated while Kalafina were looking at them, simply beautiful. Wakana’s small part during the stanzas was not as strong as in the original (in the “After Eden” Live she is almost screaming, as you know), she was softer and quieter, giving Hikaru and Keiko the chance to really shine in their parts. The very last notes were played by the Piano and Cello only, boy this dudes killed it.

The following song was quite the surprise for me, as “Magia” wasn’t exactly a song I’d expect during an acoustic concert. I was like “What? Magia? Is that Magia?”. Which is why it was very strange to listen to, because it suddenly sounded… happier? Nicer? It’s very hard to describe xD When the chorus started, it gained its usual fierceness and strength again and the staff played a lot with the spotlights. I found it a bit sad though, that the girls did not move on stage at all. Hikaru made it up with her voice nevertheless, as she was singing very strongly and loudly, also more clipped, emphasizing every syllable. However, she appeared to have trouble with the “negai”s, as they sounded a bit forced and “out of breath”. However, during the second (or was it the last one?) chorus, I am 98% sure that either Keiko or Hikaru actually got the lyrics wrong! The last line of the second chorus is “kokoro ni furikazasu negai”, while for the last chorus it’s “inochi wo tsukuru no wa negai”. What (I think) happened is that either Keiko or Hikari mixed up “kokoro” and “inochi”, because in that short moment you could hear that it was not the same word being sung. Like I said, I am not completely sure (would love to hear from someone else who was there, whether it happened or not), but if so, then I guess even professionals like Kalafina aren’t safe from lyrics mix-up, right? It wasn’t a bad thing though. What I noticed too, was the missing of the “yeah hey hey” part at the beginning, middle and end.

From “Magia” it continued with “Gogatsu no Mahou”, certainly a song that makes a very nice acoustic version. At this point, I need to critizise Kalafina (yes, it wouldn’t be an original Chiba report if there wasn’t some needless nitpicking). I love “Gogatsu no Mahou”, loved it in “far on the water”, loved it during the 9+ONE concert, so that’s not the point – but dear Kalafina or whoever is responsible for choosing setlists: you chose “Gogatsu no Mahou” OVER “Kugatsu”? I mean, we had the end of September (it was vanishing!!) and the moon was barely visible due to the trees! Even the damn lyrics fit perfectly into the setting and you go with “Gogatsu no Mahou” instead?!

However. Wakana was beautiful as always in that song, while Keiko was dancing again slowly between the musicians during the instrumental parts (almost hippie-like, especially in that dress xD). Maybe I got it wrong, but I felt this song to be faster than usual? At least sometimes.

The Cello and Piano would introduce the next song, “Yume no Daichi” in a very deep way, which again led to not even recognize the song in the beginning. As usual, great performance, great harmony, great shivering.

MC #4 was mainly about Keiko saying again how special this day is for them, followed by the band introduction. Then the audience was asked “Is everyone alright?”, because it was so cold. Everyone laughed, but my feet were totally numb, so NO KEIKO I WASN’T ALRIGHT! Before the concert, the girls were guided around Tôshôgû (see Kalafina blog) and got some energy out of it, as they wanted to experience and cherish (their own) history? Something along this lines.

Well, we were already coming to an end and Kalafina wanted to sing a strong song as the “final” one: “Into the World”, of course. Wakana was very strong here and their harmony was again spotless. Keiko actually moved her arms and body a lot, while the very last line was a bit off-key for my sensitive ears. They traditionally fake-ended the event. While we waited for them to return, I honestly thought “Just get your drink and return, IT’S COLD AND YOU KNOW IT! COME ON, LADIES, GO GO GO!”. It was really cold <_<

For the Encore, Keiko said herself that they will hurry know, as everyone needs to return and catch the train, too. Well, Nikkô isn’t exactly a traffic junction, with the JR train for Utsunomiya (where the Shinkansen is) only going once an hour, so basically everyone needed to return via this very connection, unless they came here with car. Tôshôgû isn’t near JR station, so even an extra shuttle bus was prepared, as the normal busses were not operating anymore, either.

So they sang the last song, “Yasashii Uta”, having all the nice people and places they have met and seen during this occasion in mind. I admit, I never listen to that song, though I don’t particularly dislike it, so I was like “Eh, ok? Great”. For the final act, the pagoda and all the trees behind, left and right of the stage were brightly illuminated (this is the part where probably all the photos for the news coverage were taken, as you could hear the clicking of the cameras quite loudly XD). It was an amazing experience, with the starry sky and this particular song. The atmosphere was cheerful and Kalafina succeeded to convey happy emotions. Keiko hit those high notes like a pro, and it made a great final performance. At the end, they took a bow, waved and thanked everyone, hurrying from one side to another, shouting “Hurry, hurry!”. Keiko and Wakana left the stage, Hikaru slowly followed, waving (so cute xD). Then everyone proceeded to take photos of the stage, as the background was still illuminated and left the area, towards the shuttle busses and towards home.

And that’s it, that was the special commemoration concert in Nikkô. Here are some final thoughts:

1. Unlike during the 9+ONE concert, Kalafina had a perfect harmony with some song surprises, the musicians did a fantastic job in arranging rather upbeat songs into beautiful acoustic versions and conveying this awesomeness at such an impressive set. It was my first acoustic concert of Kalafina, but still I say it was one of their best concerts in general. However, it was very short (it only lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes), I wish it had been longer (since it wasn’t cheap to get there, either).

2. I wish they would have interacted with the fans a bit more. They had a time limit, but they also made this quite obvious, as they seemed to rush through the whole thing.

3. I love how they sung without any technical help, it terms of pre-recorded parts mixed into the live singing, as it is the case during the normal concerts. So, all the kajiurago bridges were sung by them and arranged accordingly and it made the songs so much more beautiful.

4. NO KANTANKATAN!!! GAAARGH!!

5. NO HIKARI FURU!! They did all these illuminations and stuff! I mean, IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES! GAAARGH!

6. Here’s a list with all the songs I would have loved to hear as acoustic version instead of “Mirai”: “Kugatsu”, “Usumurasaki” (they could have done so much with the lighting too T_T), “Oblivious”, “Red Moon”, “Seventh Heaven”, “Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaeteyuku”, or any other song than “Mirai”. They really HAVE to do at least one shitty song at each concert. [/bitchy complaint mode off]

Thank you for reading my long report, I hope you liked it! If you find any mistakes regarding the content, have anything to add or questions, feel free to comment! (Any grammar mistakes you can keep as usual). My next Kalafina Live Report will be about the Acoustic Tour concert in Zama in November :)