This concert will feature the TBS radio program “Yoshio Inoue by MYSELF,” which Inoue is the host of, which is now in its 8th year, and his first full original album “Greenville,” which was released by Nippon Columbia in March 2023. ” worldviews collaborate. The concert, which was held over two days, featured numbers from musical works that Inoue has appeared in in recent years, songs from “Greenville,” and duets and trios with daily guests who have ties to Inoue. It was a concert where you could enjoy various aspects of Inoue, such as his courage as a top runner, his appearance as an artist, his smiling face during talk scenes, and his sharp yet loving tsukkomi.
First of all, I will report on the situation on the first day. The Tokyo Garden Theater, one of the largest venues for Inoue’s previous concerts, was filled with quiet excitement from the audience as they waited for the performance to begin. The sky blue title logo shines on the LED panel above the stage, giving off a somewhat calm and mature atmosphere. This time, Yuichiro Onuki, who regularly appears on “Yoshio Inoue by MYSELF” with Inoue, and Kotringo, who produced “Greenville”, will be the pianists, so one piano was placed in each of the upper and lower positions.
“Greenville” is a conceptual album written by a variety of artists, with the theme of difficulties and scenes that arise in life as presented by Inoue.In this concert, Inoue will share the theme of “Greenville”. It will be a concert where songs will be selected from musical works and will be sung together.
Just like before the start of a musical, when the orchestra finished tuning, images of water ripples and budding plants were projected, and Inoue suddenly appeared in the center of the stage. The concert begins with the song “Prelude” from “Greenville” being sung, “The breath of him waking up on an empty planet” and the beginning of the concert. The composer and director Kaoru Kobayashi will be in charge of composing and directing the concert. For his first concert appearance in three years, Inoue did not opt for a flashy performance, but instead drew the audience into his world, as if he were beginning to tell a story.
After singing the first song, Inoue quickly changed his expression and said, “Good evening, this is Yoshio Inoue! How has everyone been?” At the concert, he excited the audience by telling the audience, who were meeting for the first time in several years, “I’m sure everyone was doing pretty well,” and “During this period, I’ve been growing up just like you.” Ta. Also, in 2021, his 20th anniversary concert was held for only one performance due to the coronavirus, and as an alternative live streaming concert without an audience “‘Yoshio Inoue by MYSELF’ special live streaming 20th Anniversary Festival! ~Rapid live broadcast! 4-hour festival of Yoshio who won’t let you down~”, he looks back on his thoughts. He also talked about his joy in being able to perform songs from his latest album at this concert, saying, “What would happen if we combined “Greenville” and “Yoshio Inoue by MYSELF”?Unlike last time, which was over 5 hours long, I also became an adult. Longer isn’t always better.This time, we will deliver a two-and-a-half hour concert,” he proudly announced with a smile.
When the intro of “Yoroshiku Despair” from the musical “Beethoven”, which premiered in Japan last year, began to play, as a song that connects to “Prelude,” which was born with the keyword “receiving life,” Inoue completely changed the atmosphere he was wearing and was overwhelmed. He brought to mind Beethoven, a man with extraordinary talent who lived his life in spite of despair, and brought back the scenes from the stage in the audience’s minds. Furthermore, from the musical “Elisabeth”, they performed a bass-based arrangement of “The Love That Burns Me”, and also sang the album song “Angels and Demons” with a light rhythm as if dancing. In the following performance of “EL Tango De Roxanne” from “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”, Christian’s concentration was greatly increased, and under the bright red lighting, he sang Christian’s feelings for Roxanne with a powerful voice, receiving a big round of applause from the audience. .
“Timetable”, written and composed by Kotringo, has a bright pop tone with the theme of “being used”. Inoue cited “Lost In The Night,” which had lyrics entirely in English, as the song he was most curious about the audience’s reaction to, and the penlights in the audience seats swayed wildly, as if in response to Inoue’s groove-filled singing. .
At this concert, LED panels will be used as stage art to support the worldview of the song. Colorful pop illustrations and organic images reminiscent of nature and the universe are projected to match the melody and Inoue’s movements, but this effect was demonstrated to its fullest in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” “Chandelier” was performed from “Chandelier”. Dazzling light bursts and falls behind Inoue, who sings Sia’s hit songs with open arms and a powerful visual production that Inoue says is “like a foreign talent,” adding to the excitement on stage. .
The concert featured special guests that changed daily over the two days. On the first day, Kenji Urai and Mario Tashiro, who co-starred with Inoue in the 2022 musical “Guys & Dolls” and are familiar from the “Yoshio Inoue by MYSELF” concert, will be participating. Urai, who appeared with concert goods stickers on his costume and Inoue’s acrylic stand hidden in his breast pocket, answered Inoue’s questions in a deliberately sloppy way, and described the way his “Yoshio green” penlight glowed as “like a lawn.” He drew laughter from the audience by expressing this. On the other hand, Tashiro, who always prepares detailed material for Inoue’s concerts, wears a long jacket in the style of Sarah Brown, played by Rio Asumi in “Guys & Dolls,” and toyed with Inoue’s machine gun talk. Seeing Tashiro’s behavior, Inoue seemed seriously worried, saying, “Because of me, he’s become like a ‘guest comedian’ at other sites,” and laughter leaked out from the audience. The two performed a duet with Inoue, “Luck be a lady” and “First time’s feelings” from “Guys & Dolls,” and they admitted to being “former princes who have now risen in rank.” , each performed the “Prince Medley,” a collection of songs from musicals in which they played the role of Prince. In addition, Urai and Tashiro lively sang “Princess Heart” written by Tashiro and composed by Onuki, despite Inoue’s concern that they were running out of time due to their lively talk, and then left like a storm. Ta.
Inoue’s singing voice seemed to be more relaxed in the second half of the performance, perhaps because the guest’s appearance had loosened up his shoulders. Including “Untitled Poem”, whose lyrics were written by Ryuta Horai inspired by Inoue’s daily life, songs from the album include “Diary”, “Life” and “Memory Garden”, and musicals such as “The Gypsy” from “Jane Eyre” and “ Beethoven’s “Destiny is in These Hands” and other songs, he sang in a variety of ways, showing off his limitless expressive power.
Towards the end, the album song “The Only” and “Shining Star” from the musical “Little Prince” were performed. In the former, Inoue’s cool singing voice lends persuasive power to the lyrics that affirm one’s own individuality, while in the latter, Inoue’s crisp voice resonates with the gorgeous accompaniment of two pianos, Kotringo and Onuki. At the end of the concert, Inoue’s heartfelt singing of “Umikaze for You” filled the space, and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.
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[April 23rd (Tuesday) Setlist]
M1. Opening〜Prelude
M2. Hello Despair
M3. The love that burns me – both angels and demons
M4. El Tango De Roxanne
M5. Timetable
M6. Lost In The Night
M7. Chandelier
M8. Luck be a lady
M9. Feelings of knowing for the first time
M10. Prince Medley ~ Princess Heart
M11. Interlude ~ Untitled Poem
M12. The Gypsy
M13.Diary
M14. Life
M15. Fate is in my hands
M16. Make Them Hear You
M17. Garden of memories
M18. The Only
M19. Shining Star
M20. Sea breeze for you
M21. When the rain stops (encore)
M22. I am an artificial satellite (Encore)
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The first day was a mess, and the second day seemed like it was going smoothly.
As a result, the performance is over the same amount of time, resulting in an “equal” stage typical of Inoue.
the 2nd day. Inoue appeared in a more relaxed atmosphere than the day before, guided by warm applause. However, he says that he is “still not used to it” because it is his first concert in a long time, and because it has a different taste than before. Reflecting on the fact that the first day ended much later than the scheduled end time “mainly due to the efforts of the guests,” they promised to proceed on time on the second day. The setlist was the same as on the first day, except for the guest parts, but the band’s witty talks with the backing band and music director, and the way they encouraged the audience, gave rise to a series of energetic performances. Ta.
The guests on the second day were Kanji Ishimaru, a senior at Tokyo University of the Arts, with whom he collaborated for the first time in 2023’s “Ragtime,” and Asumi, who collaborated with him in “Guys & Dolls” and was a concert guest for Inoue. . First, Inoue and Ishimaru performed a duet of Koji Tamaki’s “Denen,” which they had been preparing for their previous concert, which was canceled due to the coronavirus, four years ago. The penlights in the audience seats rippled in sync with the two’s energetic singing voices, and the voltage in the venue rose at once. Asumi, on the other hand, showed off her presence as her main role by performing “Hajime Toru Omomo” with Inoue, in which Tashiro had sung Asumi’s part while feeling competitive the day before. Furthermore, the three sang a medley of “Elisabeth,” a work they have performed together but have never performed together before. In “Darkness Spreads,” Ishimaru can’t hide his surprise at Inoue’s instant return to Rudolph’s face, and Inoue humbly says, “It’s the same as how to ride a bicycle once you learned how to ride a bicycle.” relaxed. In addition, the audience was filled with admiration for the extravagant, one-time collaborations such as Franz Inoue x Tote Ishimaru x Elisabeth Asumi (Reprise), which was coveted by fans. Even after the guests had left, Inoue continued to sing each song with great care, occasionally looking around the venue as if taking in the sights of the audience.
At the concert, Inoue also talked about his thoughts on the album “Greenville.” Inoue lived in the American town of Greenville for about a year during his adolescence, and said he spent time facing his “nobody” self under unexpected circumstances. It seems that he is now “returning” to the state of mind he had back then, when he was trying to survive each day to the fullest.In this concert, Inoue will talk about the rich time and experience he has accumulated as a musical actor, and the origins of the artist Yoshio Inoue. Their gazes crossed again and again.
Inoue captivated the audience with his amazing performance and entertainer style, singing a variety of songs. When he finished singing all 20 songs and returned from the wings of the stage to a round of applause, he realized that even though he was paying close attention to the progress on the second day, “the same amount of time had passed as the day before (lol).” , give a report that will not betray the audience. Looking back on the two-day concert, he expressed his gratitude, saying, “We were able to deliver each song with care. There were moments when I felt ‘alive’, and I think we had a wonderful time!” After saying this, they entered into an encore with “When the Rain Stops”, which was written specifically for the Hibiya Broadway stage at the Hibiya Music Festival 2023. During the performance of “I Am a Satellite,” for which she was allowed to take photos in the audience, she gave off a happy aura as she sang and danced round and round, and left the stage with a satisfied smile while asking the audience, “Did you do a good job?” .
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[April 24th (Wednesday) Setlist]
M1. Opening〜Prelude
M2. Hello Despair
M3. The love that burns me – both angels and demons
M4. El Tango De Roxanne
M5. Timetable
M6. Lost In The Night
M7. Chandelier
M8. Countryside
M9. Feelings of knowing for the first time
M10. Elisabeth Medley
M11. Interlude ~ Untitled Poem
M12. The Gypsy
M13.Diary
M14. Life
M15. Fate is in my hands
M16. Make Them Hear You
M17. Garden of memories
M18. The Only
M19. Shining Star
M20. Sea breeze for you
M21. When the rain stops (encore)
M22. I am an artificial satellite (Encore)
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