Castle Park Street Live:Last of the Season 10/22

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Google Bard translated this article from Japanese to English.

Prologue

A bit late, but here is a report on the final outdoor live of the season.

The final outdoor live of the season was held on October 22, 2023, at the Castle Park Street Live (In Japan, it is called "shiroten Street Live", a ticket-free live event held almost every Sunday at Osaka Castle Park.).

There were several booths, but I always book at the booth of a music label called SonicForm.

I'd like to take a closer look back.

Please take care of me.

Lunch on a Bench Far from the Stage

I was scheduled to perform from 1:25 pm to 1:50 pm that day.

Since I have a lot of preparations to do, I usually arrive at the venue about 90 minutes before my performance.

So that day, I decided to have lunch in Osaka Castle Park.

I ate a bento box that I bought at a local supermarket on a shaded stone bench that was directly in front of the stage of the booth where I was performing.

Stone bench where I had lunch

From the bench, I could see the first band rehearsing.

SonicForm booth visible from the bench in front of the booth

During the performance, there are people who sit here and clap or cheer, or take pictures of us with their smartphones. If you take a picture without zooming in, it looks like this.

It's true that there is quite a distance in reality, but it feels a little closer in real life.

* Incidentally, I have blurred the faces of any people in the photos who did not give me permission to use their images.

Once we had finished eating, it was off to the venue.

Return of the Timetable Board

I was disappointed to see that the board with the timetable was gone when I played last time, but it was back, albeit in a much smaller size than before.

siroten timetable board

I would have preferred a larger sign so that I could tell who was playing from a distance, but I'm still grateful that there was one at all.

Equipment Trouble Causes 20-Minute Delay

I put my things in the dressing room tent and went to greet the staff.

However, there was a tense atmosphere in the air. Apparently, one of the microphones wasn't working.

I didn't want to interrupt, so I waited for a while.

Finally, the microphone started working, and I was able to greet the staff and start my preparations.

First, as usual, I spread out the music stand to set up the tripod and QR code pop.

In the process of preparing stands

The first band finally started, but I could tell it was late even without looking at the clock.

As expected, the event organizer contacted me and said, "We are currently 20 minutes behind schedule. This may affect your performance." I told them that I would cut the SE, shorten the transition rehearsal as much as possible, and minimize the MC.

Lucky to be in Summer-Like Weather

The weather in Osaka was unseasonably warm until two days before the live, with highs in the mid-20s. However, the forecast for the day before and the day of the live was for highs in the low-20s.

As the day of the live drew closer, the forecast remained unchanged until the day of the event.

On Saturday, the day before the live, I tried going outside in a short-sleeved shirt at the same time as my performance time, but it was still quite cold.

However, I only have short-sleeved stage clothes.

I was just lucky that the sky was clear.

The sky of Osaka Castle Park on the day of the live

Even at the same temperature, the feeling of the weather is completely different between sunny and cloudy days.

I was excited to play, but as I waited in my stage clothes, I felt a burning sensation. It was definitely summer.

The sun shines brightly on Osaka Castle Park on the day of the performance.

I put on sunscreen just in case and waited for my turn to play.

I thought it was really lucky that the weather felt like summer.

Another Equipment Trouble at Rehearsal with New Cast

The second band's set was over, and it was finally my turn.

I had hoped to shorten the transition rehearsal time, but another equipment malfunction occurred.

The guitar wasn't working.

In the end, we replaced the DI and got the sound working, but when I looked at the clock just before the start of the main set, it was 30 minutes late.

And then, the main set started.

Shoten MC and Songs

In order to avoid running out of time, we decided to cut down on the MC as much as possible.

This was not as drastic as the previous two times, but we still tried to keep the MC to a minimum.

We also shortened the second verses of two songs in the setlist: "Yodo Big River Blues" (track 3) and "Farewell Words" (track 5). This helped us to finish our set on time.

『【10/22】城天ストリートライブ・セットリスト』この記事は1201文字です。（読破予想時間：約2分51秒）はじめに昨日は、僕が出演した今シーズンラストの城天の次の城天ストリートライブでしたね。ハロウ…

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Starting from Zero Audience Again

The weather was great today, and there was a decent crowd for the first two acts.

It was the first time I had seen this kind of crowd since spring.

Even when it was my turn to do a sound check, there were still quite a few people hanging around.

However, as I struggled with a technical difficulty that prevented my guitar from playing, people started to leave, and by the time I started sound checking, there was no one left.

I guess this is one of the drawbacks of technical difficulties in street performances.

For people who simply want to watch a live show without any particular preference, it's faster to move to the next booth than to wait for the start of a live by an unknown artist whose start time is uncertain.

Although I felt a little disappointed, I started the live without hesitation despite the zero-person start.

『ストリートは０人から始めるもの・城天ストリートライブ（2023年7月23日）にて』この記事は5013文字です。（読破予想時間：約11分56秒） ■はじめに今回の記事は、7/23に城天ストリートライブに出演した事を記事にしたものですが、記事タ…

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A Bigger Crowd Than Expected

The show started with no audience, but I was determined to give it my all.

LIve start

This time, before I started singing, I greeted a foreign tourist who was about to pass by in front of me with the Japanese phrase "Welcome to Japan!"

MC for live start

They started dancing and tapping their feet to the beat of my music.

There are a lot of people walking past me today.

I wanted to see what would happen if I stopped singing in the middle of a song to talk to someone who was reacting to my music.

I thought it would be a good way to connect with people and build a relationship with my audience.

I was playing a live show on the street when I saw two girls walking by.

One of the girls was clapping her hands as she walked.

I didn't stop playing, but I stopped singing and said, "Hey, handclap! Thank you!"

She waved back with her hands wide open.

A girl who was walking about 10 meters behind them saw this and jumped up and waved her hands.

I said, "Thank you!" again, stopping the song to thank her.

I was performing at a street performance today, and two little boys were walking by.

I couldn't help but say, "Wow, they're so cute!" as I was singing.

The boys came up to the front and watched my performance.

The boys who watched it in the front

I had a short conversation with them during the MC, and I thanked them for coming.

They were really cute.(♡ >ω< ♡)

When I stop singing and talk to people who seem interested, some of them stop and listen.

From my experience, it's not effective to address the crowd as a whole. People who are not interested in my music will not stop to listen, no matter what I say.

It's better to focus on people who are already showing some interest.

As a result, I didn't have anyone who watched my entire set, but I had quite a few people who stopped to listen to a few songs.

And for the first time this season, I was finally able to sing with a decent crowd in front of me.

The Joy of Audience Interaction

I used to sing at live houses, and I was always under pressure to perform perfectly.

I thought that mistakes were unacceptable, and even if I did make a mistake, I had to cover it up perfectly.I never imagined that I would stop singing to talk to the audience.

I also never thought about shortening a song to sing a shorter version on the fly.

I still think the same way if I were to sing at a live house again.

However, I thought that street performances should be more relaxed and free, so I decided to talk to people who were responding to my music.

It seems that I was right to do so.

I've always seen people passing by while showing some kind of reaction to my singing.

It's not always convenient for me to have a chance to talk to them during the MC, so I have to stop singing to catch them.

However, it's not always the case that everyone will stop just because I talk to them.

In fact, most people don't stop.

But that's okay.

There is no point in forcing people with different interests to stop.

The most important thing is to find people who might actually enjoy my music.

And most importantly, I realized that this kind of communication with the audience is a different kind of joy from the communication during MCs.

In the first place, it's not necessary for people to listen to the whole song from start to finish, or even to watch the whole set.

If I can convey what kind of music I sing and how I sing it, I think that's a success for street performance.

If people are interested, they can always find out more about me later.

In the end, I think the most important thing is to attract people who might be interested in me.

Of course, I know this is not enough, and I need to come up with more creative ways to talk to people.Plus, it was only one time, so it might have just been luck, and I can't verify whether this method was correct.

However, this day's live was so much fun that I couldn't stop thinking, "It was so much fun!"

Overcoming My Fear of "Pure and Sad Defense Song"

I have a song called "Pure and Sad Defense Song" on my album "Liberation". It's a song that I wrote myself, but when I was practicing to remember it, I found it much harder to remember the lyrics than my other songs. Even after I had memorized it, I would often forget the lyrics.

I had already stopped forgetting the lyrics in practice, but because of that, I always felt a sense of unease and anxiety that I might forget the lyrics for this song.

Still, I felt that this song was necessary for the live setlist, so I included it in the setlist for my first live performance after resuming solo live activities this year.

However, I didn't forget the lyrics, but I sang them with a lot of mistakes.

『城天にてライブ復帰第１戦、その長い１日』この記事は11735文字です。（読破予想時間：約28分16秒） ■はじめにこの記事は、単純に一人のミュージシャンの、ライブ活動再開一発目のライブと言う日常の一…

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I have made mistakes with the lyrics for other songs as well. For example, I sang the second verse with the third verse's lyrics, or I made up lyrics on the spot. There are many different ways to make mistakes, but I think it's not a big deal as long as I can fool the audience.

However, with "Pure and Sad Defense Song," I was so anxious about failing again that I hesitated to sing it again, and I've kept it off the setlist this season.

So, I thought that if I changed the location, it might help to erase that bad impression. So, on October 13th, when I performed a live at the Liebee Oji・Yukimaru Square in front of JR Oji Station in Nara Prefecture, I added it to the setlist.

『10/13 皆見つかさ OJI STREET STATION セットリスト』この記事は1123文字です。（読破予想時間：約2分40秒）はじめに 10/13（金）、奈良のJR王寺駅前、りーべる王寺・雪丸スクエアでライブをしてきました…

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The live had two stages. In the first stage, I forgot the lyrics, but I managed to cover it up.

In the second stage, I forgot the lyrics early in the song, so I gave up and changed the song.

I sang the next song perfectly, but I was worried that I would never be able to sing "Pure and Sad Defense Song" in front of people again, like an athlete with a yips.

So, I included it in the setlist for this season's final outdoor live at Shiroten Street.

In the end, I only made a mistake at one point, but I was able to sing the song without forgetting the lyrics.

I don't know if I've overcome my fear, but I definitely feel lighter, and I'm in the mood to sing it again.

Flyers Wiped Out

While this day's accomplishments may seem small to other artists, they were significant for me, personally, as I had just resumed live performances.

In fact, they could be considered the biggest accomplishments of the season.

First, as the title of this chapter suggests, all of the flyers were sold.

During the season, I had been performing 2-3 times a month, and it was rare to have more than one person take a flyer.

Sometimes, no one would take one at all.

In addition, since there were usually only a few spectators, I was able to see people taking the flyers during the live performance.

However, this time, I only saw two groups do so.

I realized that all the flyers were gone when I was cleaning up the flyer stand after the live performance.

I didn't have that many flyers to begin with, but when I looked, the flyer stand was empty.

Empty leaflet stand

This was truly a joy.

And it was unexpected.

In addition, I learned something at the live performance at the Wangji Street Station in Liebell Ouji・Yukimaru Square on October 13.

At that time, as well as at Joten, I had a music stand with a POP featuring a QR code set up 2-3 meters away from me. However, I realized that some people might not notice the QR code because of this.

『出演して良かった・OJI STREET STATION（10/13）』この記事は4629文字です。（読破予想時間：約11分1秒）はじめに 10/22に今シーズンラストの出演になる、城天ストリートでライブを終わらせたのが一番最…

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I learned something during a live performance in Nara's Ouji. A person was standing in front of me on stage, filming my performance on their smartphone. After a while, they noticed the QR code and quickly left after scanning it.

If someone is interested in my live performance but has to leave before it's over, I think they would appreciate having a QR code or a pop-up with my name on it.

I thought that if I put the QR code stand away from my body, people might not notice it. So, I thought to myself as I was singing, "I'll put it in front of me from next time's Shiroten (this October 22nd Shiroten)." Later, I received advice from my producer, who said, "It's better to put the QR code in front of you." It seems that my idea was correct.

In fact, at most one group of people would scan the QR code at a single live performance in the past.

However, there were multiple people on this day.

It is true that other performers often place QR codes in front of monitors.

I thought it looked bad from a live house perspective, but it seems like this is the right approach.

Finally, a Successful Live Video Shoot

The weather on this day was unexpectedly hot, so I half-gave up on the idea of filming the live performance.

However, after the live performance, I checked the cameras, expecting them to have all overheated and stopped working.

To my surprise, they were still working, and I had finally succeeded in recording the live performance in full.

I also checked, and the cameras did not frame out as they had in the past.

The only downside was that two of the five songs were short versions with the second verse omitted, as I wanted to help shorten the live performance.

However, I do not regret singing the short versions on the spur of the moment during the live performance to help with the time-saving.

Epilogue

Thank you for reading.

I will be taking a break from outdoor live performances for the rest of the season (spring is the beginning of the season).

I originally planned to resume outdoor live performances in the spring. However, I have some personal circumstances that I am hesitant to disclose, so it is unclear whether I will be able to resume in the spring.

Regardless, I will use this period of time, which is only about four months, to recharge.

I will be composing songs, recording, and doing other things to recharge so that I can be ready to resume in the spring.

I am not suspending my music activities.

I will still perform at indoor live performances that meet my conditions, and I will continue to compose songs, record, and update my blog and SNS.

I will also be performing at Halloween parties where I will only play the ocarina, and Christmas party events where I will only sing one song.

I guess you could say I am still doing live performances, albeit on a small scale.So, I hope to see you all in the spring when I am finally able to resume activities!

I was so happy to be able to resume solo live performances this season.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of those who gave me the opportunity to perform, as well as to all of the people involved.

Tsukasa Minami.