The final performance of iri’s biggest live house tour ever, “iri Live House Tour 2024 “Run”, which visits 12 locations across the country, was held at KT Zepp Yokohama in iri’s hometown of Kanagawa Prefecture.
The BGM gets louder, and the band members appear on the dimmed stage. As the intro to “rhythm” plays, iri appears. The audience erupts in excitement as her husky, groovy, one-of-a-kind singing voice is heard, and they begin to sway with pleasure. In March of this year, iri successfully performed at the Budokan for the first time. Her presence on stage has increased even more. When iri sang “I am my” and pointed the microphone to the floor, the audience sang “rhythm”. An intimate atmosphere flowed from the beginning at KT Zepp Yokohama. When iri said “Good evening everyone”, the floor cheered “Cute!”, and iri seemed happy, saying “I want that (laughs)”. After saying “Please feel free to say it and have fun”, she went on to the electro tune “Night Groove”. Both the stage and the floor were in motion.
iri revealed that she was overcome with emotion at various points during the tour. “I’m sad that the tour is ending today. I had so much fun with the band members. It’s because of these wonderful members,” she said, almost crying, and commented, “You’re inviting the tears yourself.” After singing sadly about the passing summer and the irreplaceable memories between you and me in the mellow mid-tempo ballad “Some,” she continued with songs that shine in the summer. “COME BACK TO MY CITY” featured a refreshing guitar riff from support guitarist TAIKING (Suchmos). As the intro to “Come Away” was playing, iri declared, “Summer is coming. It’s still going to be hot. Let’s have fun!” The rap part brought an even more comfortable breeze. “Are you all still excited?” she asked, counting up and moving on to the electro x 80’s soul dance tune “STARLIGHT.” Both iri and the audience danced happily to the brilliant and tight ensemble played by familiar band members TAIKING on guitar, Murata Shige (Kuchi Roro) on bass, Muraoka Natsuhiko on keyboards, Hori Masateru on drums, and manipulator George (Mop of Head).
Turning to her bandmates, iri said with a bit of embarrassment, “I thought it would be okay to look back on the final show.” “Just like the tour title, it was a month that flew by. I’m enjoying live shows more than before,” she said, looking back on the tour with a sense of regret. After that, she moved on to the last block of the main show. “Sparkle” and “24-25” were performed, and the audience sang along in unison. As the piano rang out, and the lingering sound and expectations for the future slowly grew, iri lamented, “It’s the second half already. It’s over,” and the audience cried out “Eh!” in disappointment. “Thank you. Can we get a little more excited?” iri said, and the latest song “Run,” which is also the tour title, was played. iri’s smooth singing was carried over a free-spirited drum and bass-style track, giving off a thrilling sparkle. The last song of the main show was the disco-funk “Skyscraper.” During the outro, where each band member’s playability exploded, iri shouted, “It’s over!”
The first song of the encore was iri’s signature song, “Aitai wa.” When this love song, which embodies the painful feeling of wanting to see someone, was performed, a voice from the floor shouted, “I’m going to cry!”. Left alone on the stage, iri sat on a chair with her electric guitar. When she muttered, “This feels like the finale,” cheers of “Awesome!”, “Thank you!”, and “I love you!” rose up from the floor. iri said, “This is a good time. I’ll play a song by myself,” and performed “Hajimari no Hi.” The audience listened to the exquisite song with bated breath.
iri announced that the DVD/Blu-ray of her first Budokan concert held in March this year will be released, and with a big smile said, “Budokan was really the best.” She also announced that she will hold a solo concert at Grand Cube Osaka in Osaka on Saturday, November 23rd, and at Tokyo Garden Theater in Tokyo on Thursday, November 28th. As she was about to move on to the last song, TAIKING appeared wearing a T-shirt with a photo of iri and the band members taken at the semi-final printed on the back, and handed the same T-shirt to iri. iri could not hide her joy at the thoughtful gesture of her trusted band member. “See you all at the summer festival. We’ll do it with TAIKI at the end,” she said, and the two of them strummed acoustic guitars and performed “Wonderland.” The audience clapped, and iri did not sing the second chorus, but the audience sang along in unison. At the end, iri and the audience sang together, and the venue became one. iri walked from one end of the stage to the other, waving with a smile, and shouted, “It was the best finale!” Her first tour since turning 30 ended with a very fulfilling live performance.
The earliest advance sale for “iri Presents ONEMANSHOW” is currently being held at the fan club “Wavy Club.” Don’t miss it.
Text by Komatsu Kaori
Photo by Tanaka Seitaro
2. Corner
3. Slowly Drive
4. Season
5. Night Groove
6. Wandering
7. Roll
8. Irrational contradiction
9. Only One
10. Dyeing
11. COME BACK TO MY CITY
12. Come Away
13. STARLIGHT
14. Sparkle
15. 24-25
16. Run
17. Skyscraper
18. I miss you
19. The Beginning
20. Wonderland with Gt. TAIKING
【release information】
iri “iri LIVE at Budokan”
Release Date: 2024.08.28 (Wed.)
(Blu-ray Standard Edition) VIXL-460 ￥5,500 + Tax
(DVD Standard Edition) VIBL-1146 ￥4,500 + Tax
Tracklist:
1. STARLIGHT
2. Sparkle
3. Corner
4. Night Groove
5. I’m not half-doubting it.
6. Watashi
7. Vortex
8. Keepin’
9. Telephone feat. 5lack
10. Flying
11. Shade
12. The Beginning
13. hug
14. Coaster
15. Friends
16. Run
17. 24-25
18. Wonderland
EN1. rhythm
EN2. I miss you
EN3. Brother
*Recorded on March 13, 2024 at Nippon Budokan
【event information】
『iri Presents ONEMANSHOW “East/West”』
Date and time: Saturday, November 23, 2024 (National Holiday) OPEN 17:00 / START 18:00
Venue: Osaka International Convention Center Grand Cube Osaka Main Hall
Price: ADV. ￥8,500
Inquiries: Shimizu Onsen 06-6357-3666 (weekdays 12:00-17:00) info@shimizuonsen.com
==
Date and time: Thursday, November 28, 2024 OPEN 18:00 / START 19:00
Venue: Tokyo Garden Theater
Price: ADV. ￥8,500
Inquiries: Creativeman Productions 03-3499-6669 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday 12:00-16:00)
==
·ticket
Wavy Club Pre-sale (FC Pre-sale)：July 4th (Thurs) 21:00 to July 15th (Mon, Holiday) 23:59
Official first advance sale (e+)：July 22nd (Mon) 12:00 to August 4th (Sun) 23:59
General sales: Saturday, October 5th, 10:00~ e+ / Pia / Lawson / Rakuten Ticket
*All seats reserved
*Only electronic tickets are available.
※Limit of 4 tickets per person
*Tickets can be shared
*Resale for commercial purposes is prohibited
*Preschool children not allowed
Planning and production: Sony Music Artists
