Nishina completes largest tour ever with NHK Hall performance; also announces nationwide Zepp tour

Text by Tomohiro Ogawa
Photo by renzo masuda

Nishina’s one-man tour “Feeling” started at Zepp Sapporo in Hokkaido on Monday, February 12th (holiday) and toured all over the country. The tour, which was her biggest to date, held its final stage on April 28th (Sunday) at NHK Hall in Tokyo. We will report on Nishina’s songs and the live performance that proved that her relationship with the audience is becoming increasingly tough.

When I entered the venue, the first thing that caught my eye was the stage set. The stage floor, background, and even the monitor speakers and Nishina’s guitar amp placed at the feet were pure white, like on a cloud. A white flower object is placed at the back of the stage. Nishina appeared on stage with her band members, also wearing white costumes. She plays the guitar and begins singing “Haru Ichiban.” A soft sound enveloped the song and spread freely. When a light rhythm begins to play, the audience clap their hands. “Tokyo Marble” began with a voice-over, “Final Tokyo, how are you?” and a count together with the audience. Nishina walked very close to the audience with a handheld microphone, surrendering herself to the sound as if she was comfortable.

Next, he delivered a fantastical version of “Night Flight” while firing soap bubbles with a bubble gun in his hand, and then went on to “Kedamono Friends” while asking the audience to clap his hands again. During the chorus, the all-too-familiar scene of fluffy tails swaying throughout the audience was also unfolded. Anyway, all the songs have a very open, relaxed mood. The pure white stage set also seems to be an expression of their intention to simply communicate with the audience in a completely blank state. Her current mode, which has changed over the course of her tours, is clearly reflected in the atmosphere emitted from the stage. And with each song, this atmosphere spread to the audience seats, and the entire NHK Hall became enveloped in a very cozy and warm atmosphere.

“Once again, I’m Nishina, thank you for your support. I want to burn myself out so I don’t have any regrets,” he greeted, and the live performance became even more friendly and emotional. “Mashiro,” in which Shina strums an electric guitar under bright red lights, and the band performs in a way that explodes with emotion. “At Night,” the emotion deepens every time you listen to it live, and the groove created by the band. “FRIDAY KIDS CHINA TOWN” shows a fresh expression different from the sound source, and with the updated songs, it feels like Nishina is becoming more and more exposed. The “transparent black and iron red” of her guitar chords rang out and her powerful voice echoed, leaving an especially strong impression, and creating tremendous enthusiasm at the NHK Hall.

After finishing the “one room”, it was time to introduce the band members. In response to Nishina’s request, a voice calls each band member’s name from the audience seats. In response, the members performed sharp solos. This type of communication that brings the audience closer to the audience is something that has not been seen often at Nishina’s live performances. Then, once the venue was warm, it was time to take a break, something we had been doing all along this tour. Maintaining the intimate mood cultivated as MC, the newly released new song “It’s a piece of cake” was performed to the audience’s applause. The chorus of “Lalala”, which was created with the desire for everyone to sing it, spread throughout the NHK Hall, creating a comfortable sense of unity.

In “Darling,” he delivers a polite song that seems to be speaking to him, and in the following “U+,” he points the microphone at the audience and invites a singalong. While performing a wide range of songs one after another, they communicate with the audience in accordance with each song. During the “Sprinkle Cranberry Jam” part, the ball is thrown from a bag. Not satisfied with just the ball, they even threw in a stuffed animal that had been placed on the stage to great applause, and by the time the upper dance beat of “bugs” rocked the venue, the audience was at its peak. You can see that the stronger Nishina’s singing and performance become, the more passionate the audience becomes. The best synergy was created towards the climax.

As the powerful band sound resounded once again, after the “Slow Motion” and “Heavy Smoke” songs, in which the powerful singing voice was heard, Nishina was illuminated by the spotlight and sang “Aoi Yusei.” It’s a great song no matter when I listen to it. You can almost feel the heartfelt song spreading to every corner of the spacious NHK Hall. And in the blink of an eye, the live show came to the end of the main story. “This is the last song,” he announced, and “1999” echoed as if embracing all the emotions contained in the songs performed that day, and with the end credits, the main part of the live show came to a close.

Afterwards, during the encore, after serving “hot milk” on a large scale, he honestly said, “It was fun!” As the title of the tour was chosen from the idea that “feeling is important,” this day’s live performance was filled with such a simple, yet strong feeling. “I can’t become a god or a Buddha. That’s why I like myself and want to create all kinds of things. I would be happy if we could meet again in a place where there is sound.” He sang “Sugar Spot” with the audience, overflowing with his human emotions, and ended with the customary “Ainikoi”. The band’s simple sound made them one with the audience, and the tour “Feeling” created the perfect finale.

Set list

01. Spring first
02. Tokyo Marble
03. Night flight
04. Beast Friends
05. Pure white
06. At night
07. FRIDAY KIDS CHINA TOWN
08. Transparent black and red with iron content
09. One room
10. It’s a piece of cake
11. Darling
12.U+
13. Sprinkle with cranberry jam
14. bugs
15. Slow motion
16. Heavy Smoke
17. Blue Indigo Swimming
18.1999
En1. Hot milk
En2. Sugar Spot
En3. Aini Koi

■Setlist playlist distribution link