Although it was unfortunately raining from the morning on Saturday, July 27th, the music event “enigma music fes 2024” was held for the first time this year at Sendai GIGS in Sendai, a comfortable city that offered a respite from the intense summer heat.
The event is a new summer festival project in Sendai that was initiated by the hosts, MONKEY MAJIK, a four-piece hybrid rock band based in Miyagi Prefecture, who wanted to “let people know the charm of Tohoku” and “make the summer in Tohoku even hotter”, with a strong sense of local love.
The lineup of performers includes an all-star line-up of artists with deep ties to the band, including TENSONG, HY, Def Tech, ELLEGARDEN and MONKEY MAJIK.
The word “enigma” used in the title means “enigmatic.”
This year’s event, the first of its kind, is said to have infinite possibilities, with no clear direction as to what might happen, and tickets were sold out immediately after going on sale, showing the high level of interest among music fans.
As soon as the doors opened, the standing area was filled with fans of each band, and the tension and anticipation of this first-time event was already heating up the venue. Perhaps sensing this atmosphere, the stage MC passionately declared, “You will all be witnesses to this memorable first event,” and welcomed the first artist, TENSONG, onto the stage.
The members lined up and greeted with a strong “Nice to meet you all!”, and the three of them bowed deeply. “Today, as the first act, we’ll deliver our feelings to you all with all our might,” Takabo (V) said, and the venue erupted in warm applause. The song they chose to greet the audience was “Bye Myself.” In a complete change from their usual good-natured appearance, they started singing candid words, capturing the hearts of the audience. As the song progressed to the chorus, the audience was overwhelmed by the vocal power that was released, but their bodies naturally moved to the bouncing beat, and the venue gradually warmed up. In the next song, “The Courage to be Disliked,” Alfie (DJ) encouraged the audience to clap and jump from the DJ booth, further raising the heat, and without losing momentum, they performed with a spirited performance that seemed to say, “Listen to our songs!”
Time passed in an instant, and after Takabo’s MC, “I wish you all happiness in the future, and I’ll play this song for you,” a beautiful guitar arpeggio played and “A HAPPY RAINY DAY” began. During the chorus, where the rhythm changed, Takuman (G) strummed his guitar along with the passionate singing voice, shaking the venue. They kept the audience captivated until the end, finishing all six songs and delivering a refreshing and emotional stage to the audience, worthy of being the memorable opening act of the first event.
Taking over from TENSONG, HY appeared on stage to the sound of the sanshin. The four members, wearing matching Kariyushi wear, introduced themselves enthusiastically as “HY from Okinawa!” and immediately pumped up the audience with their standard live song “Ryukufukumaru.” Without a break, they called out “Next song! Let’s sing together! 11:00AM” and played the intro, eliciting cheers from the floor and erupting in huge sing-alongs at the chorus.
The venue erupted in cheers as they introduced HY’s signature song “366 Days (Official Duet ver.),” which gained new fans as the story of a drama that aired on Monday nights in April this year was based on the song. The emotional singing voices of Nakasone (K&V) and Niiza (V&G) brought back memories for the listeners, and some people were seen holding back their feelings with their hands on their chests and wiping away overflowing tears.
The mood of the sad love song changed completely, and “Street Story” began with the sanshin and festival drums, which could be said to be the highlight of the act. “I’m going to take you all to a fun place!” they declared, and the audience was drawn into the Kachashi hand dance and shouts of “Iiya saasa” and “Hiyya”, and the venue instantly became Okinawan! The live ended with “White Beach”, where everyone danced together, and the happy afterglow was passed on to the next artist.
Def Tech’s first song was “Like I Do,” with a cappella harmony by Shen (V) and Micro (V). After slowly stretching the audience’s minds, they started to move their bodies naturally to the rhythm of the handclaps, and “High on Life” began, with a chill mood.
“It started off quietly, but from here on Def Tech is going to be mind-blowing. I saw them really soaring during HY’s performance. I think they can soar even higher? Are you ready?” Micro encouraged them, and they continued with upbeat songs like “KONOMAMA” and “Automatic.” The audience responded to the good vibes the duo created by clapping and jumping. Once they had calmed down from their exhilaration, the sound of waves played on the floor and the familiar phrase from “Catch The Wave” began. They were met with thunderous applause, as if to say, “We’ve been waiting for this!”
On this day, they also performed “FANTASY”, which was just released this month. The harmony of the two singers penetrates your heart and makes you want to listen to it on repeat forever. As you are entranced by the relaxing sound that reminds you of a summer evening, Micro says, “This is the last song.” Disappointed voices of “Eh…” can be heard from all around. The last song, which instantly turned such voices into cheers, was the timeless classic “My Way”. After the a cappella intro quietly ended, thunderous exclamations spread and the singalong of the chorus echoed throughout the venue.
The standing floor on the first floor was so packed with people eagerly waiting for ELLEGARDEN to start that it was impossible to move. When the SE for their entrance started, the crowd started clapping and the members took their positions. They started with “Salamander”, whose distinctive guitar riff elicited cheers that sounded almost like screams. The excitement was as high as if they were in a solo concert from the start, and they continued with the same momentum into “Space Sonic”, an aggressive number.
After finishing “Moutain Top”, Hosomi began to talk about an episode, saying, “I’ve known MONKEY MAJIK for quite a long time…” “After the earthquake, when MONKEY MAJIK held an event, I was invited to play and sing, and from then on we gradually became friends. It’s strange. I can now perform a new song in front of the people who became my friends after so many years. If you don’t give up on a new future, there are a lot of things.” The two groups, who seemed to be an unexpected combination, had a friendship that was slowly built up through music. From that flow, many people must have felt a surge of passion when they sang “Kokasen” together with the audience. Leaving an emotional aftertaste, ELLEGARDEN finished all 10 songs, from “Make A Wish” to “Niji”, as if they were burning out, and left the stage.
And the last act to appear in the venue, which had been heated up to a climax by the gorgeous guests, was MONKEY MAJIK, the host of the day and the final act of the event. The live started with the up-tempo song “Nijiiro no Sakana” which started with a call and response, and the audience jumped up and down to the catchy chorus, shaking the venue, creating a sense of unity even in the first song. The upbeat rock song “XYZ” with its intense guitar sound from the intro kept the momentum going, and the familiar sound of a gong rang out. They shouted “I want to fight your brother” and “Let’s Kung-Fu!” and moved on to “Around The World”, the song that made their name known to the world. The members’ voltage seemed to rise all at once as they saw the fans enjoying the live show with their whole bodies, spinning their hands around to the chorus phrase.
From here, a special collaboration stage unique to enigma fes will be held. One of our friends who continues to be active in music in Sendai, HUNGER (MC) of the hip-hop unit GAGLE, made a surprise appearance! They performed the collaborative song “This Is The Night,” and the audience slowly swayed their bodies to the sound of the adult, stylish mood.
Next, Maynard called Hosomi of ELLEGARDEN, who had just given an overwhelming performance, to the stage, saying, “Very very close friend.” The two groups chose the Beatles number “Across The Universe.” It was a band version with TAX’s drums after the intro, and the exquisite harmony of Hosomi, Maynard, and Blaise spread throughout the venue from the moment they started singing. The beautiful harmony of “Jai Guru Deva,” which was repeated in the chorus, seemed to take us to another world, and it was simply enchanting. Taking over the stage filled with such euphoria was HY’s Niiza, who was full of happy aura. “I feel like my dream is about to come true. The moment my dream comes true, I can’t stop my heart from beating, and I’m so happy that it’s crazy. Can you all watch over a man at the moment his dream comes true?” he said, and began playing “Change.” He played the Tsugaru shamisen part powerfully on the sanshin, and the resonant sound electrified the audience. The last song in this zone was “OG Summer”, a collaboration with Def Tech. In the middle of the song, they recreated the dance they performed in the music video, and the party song for happy “old men” brought smiles to the faces of the entire venue.
After expressing their gratitude to the other artists they performed with, the band’s final song in the second half of the show was “Scramble” from their 14th album “CIRCLES,” which was just released on July 24th, followed by “AI am Human,” which was met with thunderous handclaps, and then the classic “Together,” which evokes the sparkle of trees and the smell of the wind, mixing new and old songs to fully demonstrate the band’s charm.
MONKEY MAJIK always gives us good music that adds color to our daily lives. The last song they chose, “Sora wa marude,” is one of them. At the end, everyone sang the chorus together, bringing the event to a happy end.
As TAX said at the end of the event, “This year is just the beginning,” and we can’t help but look forward to “enigma music fes” returning next year as “Sendai’s summer festival” even bigger and more exciting.
TEXT: Minari Yamaoka
PHOTO: AmonRyu
“enigma music fes 2024”
Date: Saturday, July 27, 2024 Doors open/Show starts: 14:00/15:00 Venue: Sendai GIGS (1-4-1 Arai Higashi, Wakabayashi Ward, Sendai City)
Cast: Def Tech / ELLEGARDEN / HY / TENSONG / MONKEY MAJIK
web page:https://www.monkeymajik.com/enigmafes
X (Twitter): https://x.com/enigmafes/with_replies
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enigmafes/
TENSONG
Official website: https://tensong.anla.co.jp/
HY
Official website: https://hy-road.net/
Def Tech
Official website: https://deftech.jp/
ELLEGARDEN
Official website: https://ellegarden.jp/
MONKEY MAJIK
Official website: http://www.monkeymajik.com/
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