A special joint live performance by Scha Dara Parr and STUTS, “Scha Dara Parr & STUTS Presents “Osaka That’s the Joint”, was held at Osaka Castle Outdoor Music Hall on Sunday, June 30th. The two groups performed together at a live event at the same Osaka Castle Outdoor Music Hall in July last year, leading to the holding of “Scha Dara Parr & STUTS Presents “That’s the Joint”” at LIQUIDROOM in Tokyo in December of last year, which led to this live performance.
While the doors were open, pop songs from the 70s and 80s selected by ANI were played, and the show finally started at 5:30pm. First, STUTS appeared on stage alone and played “Renaissance Beat”, while STUTS’ backing band The Cost Performance (Ikichi Sasanuma (Ba.), Koji Matsuda (Key.), Akihiro Mitsuboshi (Drums / Per.), KASHIF (Gt.)), Satoshi Takeshima (Sax., Fl.) & Yusuke Sase (Tr.), and talkbox player LUVRAW also appeared. Finally, STUTS’ ANI, Bose, SHINCO & support MC Robochu appeared and performed “Dubidu What?”. Considering that the two groups joined forces from the 5th song in the Tokyo live, I was very excited to see them perform together from the beginning, and this alone gave me an idea of what the two groups were trying to do.
“Today, various things will mix together like this and we will do “That’s the Joint”! (Bose) – As he said, STUTS started with the beat of hitting the MPC pad to “CHECK THE WORD”, then the song title call & response with the audience to “Lights Camera Action”. Bose again carefully explained, “This is how we will join until the end! Did you understand the intention? STUTS will mix with STUTS, and STUTS will mix with STUTS!” ANI also emphasized that there was no seam, saying, “It will continue seamlessly!” Bose laughed, “That’s what I wanted to say (seamless)!” Although the usual relaxed feeling of STUTS is the same, it is really refreshing to see STUTS, born in 1989, about 20 years apart from the three members of STUTS, mix together.
After introducing “This is a song that was released just after STUTS was born,” they moved on to “B-BOY Literature.” “The next song is also an older song,” they said, before moving on to “After Doobie Noon.” Bose raised his hand to confirm that both STUTS and the audience were seeing each of them for the first time, and said happily, “I think it’s a good mix!”. He then explained about the MPC that STUTS operates, saying, “Those who are seeing STUTS for the first time will go home without knowing what he’s doing!” As STUTS actually demonstrated on the MPC, Bose explained in great detail that STUTS’ songs were sampled and inserted into each pad, just like how he samples drum sounds and inserts them into each pad. Even if you don’t know the functions of the equipment in detail, you can be satisfied just by hearing the amazing music being played, but when you have a detailed explanation like this, you can enjoy the sound even more. I was touched by Bose’s casual consideration that never leaves anyone behind.
After five songs mixed well, the STUTS members left for a while, and STUTS, along with Takeshima and Sase, who are also in his regular band, rapped on “One”. It was emotional to see STUTS jump out from the turntable to the front of the stage, and it was also emotional to see him return to his MPC and rap while playing the MPC. He explained that he is a track maker and producer, writes songs with various rappers, and sometimes sings himself, and also writes instrumental numbers, and then he moved on to “Come To Me”. Sase’s trumpet resounded over the rhythmic beat. I think the charm of STUTS was conveyed to the audience, even to those who were seeing them for the first time.
The STUTS members appeared again and performed a mashup of STUTS’ song “Pretenders” and STUTS’ song “LET IT FLOW AGAIN”. STUTS explained about COSA and Yo-Sea, who produced the song together, and said that the word “LET IT FLOW” appears in the lyrics. Bose replied, “It’s a mashup over 20 years ago,” but I was even moved by the natural mashup of songs from 20 years ago and 20 years later, and I felt like I understood why the two groups were naturally attracted to each other.
Here, human beatboxer AFRA joined in, and first showed us what human beatboxing is, before moving on to “4ch FUNK.” The way AFRA’s human beats and STUTS’ MPC beats play against each other is somewhat battle-like, and simply fascinating. Bose and ANI say that the Showa era drum battle between Kato Cha and Saijo Hideki has been revived in the Reiwa era, but as they have been writing about the difference in numbers such as 20 years and 20 years, it is truly a Showa and Reiwa joint, and I am newly impressed. Then, from “Triple Shot,” where we could hear a joint beat so amazing that it was hard to tell whether it was AFRA’s beat or STUTS’ beat, we moved on to “The latter,” where Bose roughly divides himself, STUTS, ANI, and AFRA into intellectuals and wild people, and compares the former with the latter. The word “polite” fits perfectly in everything they did on this performance, but by deliberately creating a rivalry pattern and splitting the audience into two groups for call and response, the nuances of the songs were brought home even more.
At this point, STUTS left and it was STUTS’ turn. Bose casually asked “What time is it now?” to which ANI replied “Yeah, about right.” There was plenty of back and forth between the two, but after such a joking exchange, ANI said “(The audience) come here to forget about time” and Bose said “Reality is too hard” and it really struck me. Of course, I know they didn’t mean it that way, and I felt the same in the following songs “Junkreet Konguru” and “MORE FUN-KEY-WORD,” but it was simply cool how they naturally and casually exuded a sense of seriousness and seriousness.
STUTS comes back and continues with the previous song, “FUN-KEY-WORD”. After the song, STUTS reveals that about 20 years ago when he was a student, he used to read hip-hop magazines, and because he didn’t have any friends who liked hip-hop, he listened to “B-BOY Literature” on a MiniDisc on the balcony of his classroom. Bose says, “No one liked Jun Miura among us. The same goes for the audience. There are only strange and edgy people.” ANI immediately replies, “That’s normal, right?! He’s friendly, right?!”, and it seems that even though we all try to be normal and friendly, including myself, we end up being strange and edgy, and that the people who gathered were all saved by music. Meanwhile, rapper KMC appears, funky and energetic, after being introduced by STUTS as “a funky, or more like, energetic person!” KMC’s words, “STUTS always brings me to the big stage, and I get to play with the great Scha Dara Parr, it’s the greatest honor for a rapper!” conveyed a sincere and honest attitude of gratitude that could not be expressed with words like funky or energetic. The mashup of STUTS and KMC’s song “Rock The Bells” and Scha’s song “Rinne Rinne Rinne” seemed to be the biggest explosion of the day.
KMC did it with all their might… Here, the STUTS all left again, and they continued to blaze ahead with “STORM”. In particular, the lyrics “I’ll show you, this is HIPHOP” seemed to contain everything KMC wanted to convey. After KMC, who appeared and left like a storm, Suzuki Mamiko (chelmico), who was born in the late 90s and is still younger than STUTS, appeared cutely running. From pretending to sing a refreshing song, they moved on to the winter song “0℃ no Sunday”. As Suzuki rapped coolly, a pleasant breeze blew as if reading the air, making you feel really cool. From such a seasonal song, STUTS said, “I’m going to sing a song about the changing seasons, because there are many different seasons,” and moved on to “Seasons Pass”. Chilling out is too simple, but it’s a number that really calms the heart.
Here, the whole group of STUTS appears again, and Bose describes STUTS singing while playing the MPC as a story of playing the drums, not a song. STUTS also went to a boarding school where cell phones were prohibited, but musical instruments were allowed, and he brought his MPC. He also said that he was influenced by SHINCO because he listened to STUTS’ albums when he started making beats himself. STUTS spoke very passionately and earnestly about STUTS’ influence on his outlook on life, and Bose said, “I’m glad I grew up an interesting kid…” and this also made me feel nostalgic… From there, they performed “Summer Jam ’95,” which was a song by STUTS that was taken apart on the MPC and reassembled with samples, and then moved on to “Summer Situation,” a song by STUTS and Suzuki. The transition was really good, starting with ANI’s lyrics “This song is flowing” and ending with the lyrics “Summer Jam ’95’s” “Summer’s fault”. As is the theme of this joint, the sight of the two groups joining forces after about 20 years, transcending time and space, is truly irresistible…
As the concert drew to a close, KASHIF’s guitar riff led into “Boogie Back Tonight,” a song that ranks number one in my personal top ten. Suzuki’s part, singing in a cool, solid, low voice, and SHINCO matching the beat of STUTS, were all so impressive that the only word that comes to mind was “a wonderful joint.” 30 years have passed since “Boogie Back Tonight” was released in 1994, and the band moved on to “Boogie Baku Baby,” a new song written for 2024. After the song ended, Bose said, “Highly satisfying! Good value for money too!” and I’m sure all the audience members that day truly felt that way. “We performed together here last year and decided to write a song together. Can we just play that song and call it a day?!” Bose’s words suggested that Suzuki and SHINCO, who will be performing together in May of this year,
We moved on to the just-released “Pointless 5 (feat. PUNPEE)”. Before that, Bose said “Schadarapar & STUTS & you” and that stuck in my mind. Of course, it’s the performers who write the songs and perform live, but I felt like he was telling us that the music is completed by us, the people listening to it. The wonderful main part, which was full of such good things, comes to an end.
“We’re going to join in on STUTS’ song. It’s a song that everyone loves, so we’ll join in without getting in the way!” – Bose said, and then the encore began. “Presence” was the ending number for the drama starring Matsu Takako, and was a hot topic because various rappers participated and Matsu himself sang it. At the end of the song, STUTS also happily commented, “It’s like a new version!”, and both STUTS were filled with satisfaction, saying, “It’s great that Matsu sang after I rapped after him!” (Bose) and “It’s so moving!” (ANI). The real last number was the party tune “GET UP AND DANCE” that was released 30 years ago, with all the performers gathering together! At the time, the number was a microphone relay with Robo Sora and other friends of the same generation, and the sight of Robo Sora and young people who were still young or not yet born at the time relaying the microphone was nothing but moving… The lyrics included, “The party is in full swing, please look forward to the rest of the show,” and that’s exactly what the final number was about. At the end, everyone shouted “That’s the Joint!” and took a commemorative photo! It was a very lively joint, but it was also one that made me want to see more.
Text by Suzuki Atsushi
Photo by Pyama @@pyama_17
【event information】
“Scha Dara Parr & STUTS Presents “Osaka That’s the Joint””
Date and time: Sunday, June 30, 2024 OPEN 16:30 / START 17:30
Venue: Osaka Castle Music Hall
Cast:
Scha Dara Parr & STUTS
Organizer: GREENS
Sponsor: FM802
Planning and production: Melody fair Inc. / GREENS
Cooperation: SPACE SHOWER NETWORKS INC.
INFO:GREENS 06-6882-1224 (Weekdays 12:00-18:00)
