Group photos at TheWall Gong Guan
As reported previously, the HighApps in Taiwan Ustream started at 9PM JST. The sequence for the bands were not known until just before each band came out, during intervals. It turned out that futuristic rockers avengers in sci-fi were the concert opener, followed by instrumental band LITE. Sakanaction was the final act, thus their actual performance started at 11.15PM JST.
In total they had about one hour, first ending at 12MN JST, but with an encore it ended at 12.15 JST. The band performed far more songs than I had predicted, and it was almost a proper concert with 11 songs.
There was an average of 11,500 current viewers during Sakanaction's set, and by the end of program, there were more than 70000 total views. Also, サカナ(sakana) trended in Japan on Twitter.
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| Sakanaction goods being sold at the event |
The set proved a real spectacle for Sakanaction fans (myself included) who had not watched the DocumentaLy tour live, as it was the first time we saw the album's songs performed live. Full report after the jump.
Setlist
M1. RL
M2. Monochrome Tokyo
M3. Sentorei
M4. Kamen no Gai
M5. Endless
M6. Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu
M7. DocumentaRy ~mixed with Sample instrumental
M8. Rookie
M9. Aruku Around
M10. Identity
Encore
MC
EN1. Night Fishing is Good
Setlists for the other bands can be found here (in Japanese)
Starting off with the beeping sounds and member's voices of RL, the band walked onto stage confidently while as usual frontman Yamaguchi Ichiro bounced onto stage last, holding up a Sakanaction fishbone logo towel. It was obvious that the crowd had been looking forward to Sakanaction, and they cheered happily.
RL blended into an amazing upbeat instrumental which flowed into the beginning notes of Monochrome Tokyo. The chorus easily got everyone in the audience jumping, and was a good start. Yamaguchi uttered a quick "xie xie"(谢谢; thank you), and then it was on to the familiar beats of Sentorei.
Yamaguchi had started out with a buttoned shirt, but he took it off after Kamen no Gai to reveal a white T-shirt underneath. Those who have watched full-length Sakanaction concerts before would probably know he does this all the time as a "wardrobe change". It was amusing as the crowd was cheering, probably wondering if he was actually taking off his shirt since he turned around to unbutton.
As soon as he completed his "wardrobe change", the piano for Endless began. The final chorus was met with a burst of colors as the lights complemented the speed and emotions of the song. And then, it was time for Bach no Senritsu wo Yoru ni Kiita Sei desu.. They did not fly the Bach puppets to Taiwan, but the performance was still great.
After Bach, all five members of the band put on white goggles, headphones and came to the front of the stage, spaced out nicely, with a high table in front of them. On each table was a MacBook Pro, but no one was able to see what went on behind the screens except the band themselves.
The pulse-inducing DocumentaRy came on and the band pressed buttons around on their keyboards. This was not the usual DocumentaRy; it was mixed with the all-too-familiar tune of Sample. Like a usual concert, the amazing instrumental was played for sometime, to build up the audience anticipation and to blend into another song. I thought it was going to be Sample next for sure, but then I heard the beginning tones of Rookie being mixed in. Finally, it blended into Rookie and the band went back to behind their respective instruments as Yamaguchi began singing.
Not too surprisingly, even overseas, the crowd knew what to do during the song's break. The catchy phrase* being chanted along by the audience made Yamaguchi visibly happy. The mood in the crowd, palpable from even a computer monitor, was extremely high. Everyone continued jumping in Aruku Around, and finally Identity, closing the set. The band walked off stage quickly, waving bye.
Now was the audience's turn to do some work. Obviously left wanting more, some people began to shout "one more!", and soon majority were shouting for encore. The band reappeared on stage within a couple of minutes, smiling. Yamaguchi began speaking to the crowd... with English sentences
"We are Sakanaction. Come from Japan. Thank you for having...uh...second...uh...with us tonight. Thank you!"
Giving up, he asked the crowd in Japanese if it was okay to speak in Japanese instead. Some parts he still threw in English phrases in the middle of a Japanese sentence, however. He said the Taiwanese people are "very very kind" and "food is delicious". It was all terribly adorable, and he ended the MC, saying that he wanted to come back to Taiwan again within the year, and said "zai jian" (再见; goodbye/let's meet again).
Finally, they began playing Night Fishing is Good, the last song for the night.
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Screenshots:
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* 見えない夜の月の代わりに引っ張ってきた青い君 (mienai yoru no tsuki no kawari ni hippattekita aoi kimi), not part of the published lyrics but is chanted during the song during lives, and can be heard softly in the song itself.
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