In 2005, Kiroro suspended their further activity and finalized their
tour, which was performed when they were in the later stages of
pregnancy. They were going to devote themselves to the care of their
infants. Many fans missed them, waiting for a revival of their
activity. In 2007, Kiroro attended the Song Festival in Okinawa, and
performed five songs. But Chiharu, the vocalist of Kiroro, was again in
the later stages of pregnancy and she just came from and went right
back to hospital. The situation meant that they were going to have
another suspension of their activity. After that the fans had still
been waiting for their activity and they finally came back to stages
and into the spotlight this spring.
The first two performances were held in March in Tokyo, and the last was held in April in Okinawa, in their home village. Everybody celebrated their 10th anniversary in the mainstream scene, and the long-awaited comeback. I attended all three gigs. And I am going to review the last one held in Yomitan-son their home village.
The hall is located next to the village office, where there used to be runways and a huge cage-shaped antenna of the US army. This place always stirs strong emotions within me and I often feel goose bumps due to the contrast of war and peace. It feels like the place is somehow close to heaven, whenever I visit there. Entering the the waiting room of the hall, I found that they posted many photos, published articles and posters across their entire history from indi to mainstream. The performance started with the song, “Nagai Aida”, which means long time. The song was originally composed for a couple getting married, but now they have come to sing it as an apology to the fans for waiting so long. The ordinary style of their performance is that Chiharu sings and Ayano plays the piano and they harmonize during the chorus parts. But they adopted a special style in this tour for the few songs mainly from their high-school numbers, to perform the first chorus in conventional style and the second chorus by letting Ayano sing the main melody.
In the next part of the concert, some extra band members, a guitarist, a bassist and a percussionist joined the two before the encore time. The guitarist in particular was excellent, changing guitars song by song. Kiroro is thought to be an acoustic group but they really have a taste for rock I think. Of course, old fans didn’t forget to wave their hands rhythmically for the song “Last Kiss”.
As well as singing songs, Kiroro acted as MCs and entertained the audience by telling funny stories. Chiharu’s Okinawan dialect was definitely appealing and as healing as ever. The audience enjoyed and laughed a lot at the stories and lost all track of time.
In the middle of the live, according to the custom, Ayano-Corner was held by her piano and vocal solo, singing a couple of songs she composed. The songs are normally sung by Chiharu on the CD, but the composer expressed her own deep feelings for the lyrics.
After the corner, Chiharu came back to the stage, singing increasingly powerful songs. Everybody in the audience felt that Kiroro was really back in the light of the music scene. Moreover, being mothers seemed to strengthen their ability as artists. The final song before the encore was “Kaeru Basho”, the meaning of which is the place to come back. In the last chorus, Chiharu directed her own mike towards the audience, prompting them to sing the scat “Lalala” with them. In the big wave of the chorus, It was really a place to come back for all the audience, resident or not of the village.
In the encore time, they performed Best Friend first, to thank each other and the audience and residents, who brought them up. Then, they had some special guests in Okinawa, elementary school classmates of the village. They sung “Tinsagunu-Hana”, one of the most famous Okinawan folk songs, that teaches children to respect their parents. Chiharu also prompted all the audience to sing with the children. The final song of encore performance was a new song named “Siawase no Tane”, “the Seed of Happiness”. I have heard that the new song has been used in a measle prevention campaign. I felt that the new song was excellent in the melody and the rhyme with enlarged scale and heart. I also felt that it was worth the very long wait to hear this song.
The first two performances were held in March in Tokyo, and the last was held in April in Okinawa, in their home village. Everybody celebrated their 10th anniversary in the mainstream scene, and the long-awaited comeback. I attended all three gigs. And I am going to review the last one held in Yomitan-son their home village.
The hall is located next to the village office, where there used to be runways and a huge cage-shaped antenna of the US army. This place always stirs strong emotions within me and I often feel goose bumps due to the contrast of war and peace. It feels like the place is somehow close to heaven, whenever I visit there. Entering the the waiting room of the hall, I found that they posted many photos, published articles and posters across their entire history from indi to mainstream. The performance started with the song, “Nagai Aida”, which means long time. The song was originally composed for a couple getting married, but now they have come to sing it as an apology to the fans for waiting so long. The ordinary style of their performance is that Chiharu sings and Ayano plays the piano and they harmonize during the chorus parts. But they adopted a special style in this tour for the few songs mainly from their high-school numbers, to perform the first chorus in conventional style and the second chorus by letting Ayano sing the main melody.
In the next part of the concert, some extra band members, a guitarist, a bassist and a percussionist joined the two before the encore time. The guitarist in particular was excellent, changing guitars song by song. Kiroro is thought to be an acoustic group but they really have a taste for rock I think. Of course, old fans didn’t forget to wave their hands rhythmically for the song “Last Kiss”.
As well as singing songs, Kiroro acted as MCs and entertained the audience by telling funny stories. Chiharu’s Okinawan dialect was definitely appealing and as healing as ever. The audience enjoyed and laughed a lot at the stories and lost all track of time.
In the middle of the live, according to the custom, Ayano-Corner was held by her piano and vocal solo, singing a couple of songs she composed. The songs are normally sung by Chiharu on the CD, but the composer expressed her own deep feelings for the lyrics.
After the corner, Chiharu came back to the stage, singing increasingly powerful songs. Everybody in the audience felt that Kiroro was really back in the light of the music scene. Moreover, being mothers seemed to strengthen their ability as artists. The final song before the encore was “Kaeru Basho”, the meaning of which is the place to come back. In the last chorus, Chiharu directed her own mike towards the audience, prompting them to sing the scat “Lalala” with them. In the big wave of the chorus, It was really a place to come back for all the audience, resident or not of the village.
In the encore time, they performed Best Friend first, to thank each other and the audience and residents, who brought them up. Then, they had some special guests in Okinawa, elementary school classmates of the village. They sung “Tinsagunu-Hana”, one of the most famous Okinawan folk songs, that teaches children to respect their parents. Chiharu also prompted all the audience to sing with the children. The final song of encore performance was a new song named “Siawase no Tane”, “the Seed of Happiness”. I have heard that the new song has been used in a measle prevention campaign. I felt that the new song was excellent in the melody and the rhyme with enlarged scale and heart. I also felt that it was worth the very long wait to hear this song.