Emiko Suzuki held her 5th Anniversary Live “Nobody Knows” at SHIBUYA PLEASURE PLEASURE on Wednesday, August 28th, where she passionately performed 14 unreleased songs!!!
From the opening, they played three songs that nobody knew in a row. There was no MC between songs. The fans didn’t know when to clap, and an unusual sense of tension hung over the venue.
“Nobody Knows” – all the songs are unknown to anyone
In the first MC, Suzuki explained the meaning of the title of this live show, “Nobody Knows”. She continued, “I’m very nervous about today’s live show. I was scared of today. All the songs are written and composed by me, and they’re all unreleased songs that no one knows, so I was really worried about what everyone would think.” Her words were met with warm applause from the audience, and a smile spread across Suzuki’s face. She then said to the full house audience, “Since these are all songs that no one has ever heard before, no one knows them, so it’s OK to clap your hands whenever you want. There’s no right answer! Feel free to move your body to the songs that you can get into.”
Four songs about heartbreak followed. Suzuki’s singing voice conveyed emotion more than anyone else’s. The audience was not just listening to her talk about heartbreak, but felt as if they were experiencing it themselves, and after each song, sobs could be heard from the audience. This was Suzuki’s unique vocal expression, her uta-jikara.
The intro to the ninth song, “Okami wa Itsumo Okami Rashi ni,” began with a fairy tale-like narration. “Once upon a time, there was a girl named Suzuki Emiko who was pretty and a very good singer. … (continued) …” Now it was the audience’s turn to be captivated by Suzuki Emiko’s story. It was as if a short drama was floating in my head.
Afterwards, there was a long MC session that lasted for over 20 minutes. Suzuki began the long MC by saying, “If you hear what I’m about to say, you might start to hate me.” With a trembling voice at times, Suzuki spoke of the hardships she has experienced since her debut. Most of the fans in the venue were in tears as they listened.
After the long MC, the song that followed was “Nobody Knows,” the title song of this concert. With its complex rhythm and melody, it was as if Suzuki’s thoughts were coming out as sound.
The concert finally reaches its climax. Suzuki’s strong will, hope and reality as an artist. The young and cute Emiko Suzuki from her days on variety shows and TV commercials has become a mature female artist who is pursuing the music she truly wants to play.
Suzuki’s back view as he disappeared backstage after singing the final song of the program, “Reality Show,” was truly cool.
After Suzuki left, I came to my senses and found myself feeling like I had just finished a musical. The applause calling for an encore never stopped.
During the encore, she appeared wearing a T-shirt that was on sale. When the intro started, the audience erupted in cheers and applause. Even if you’re not an Emiko Suzuki fan, everyone knows “Front Memory,” which was the theme song for the movie “Love is Like After the Rain” the year before her major debut. It was the only song that she sang that day that wasn’t one of her own compositions. Suzuki ran up and down the stage freely, and her singing style seemed to have returned to the way it was before her debut.
The encore MC was the usual Emiko Suzuki herself, with her smiles and lively talk filling the venue with laughter.
Finally, she concluded by saying, “Today we performed to look cool, but…we are both Emiko!” and concluded the 5th anniversary concert of her major debut with a huge sing-along with the full house of fans to the song “Keep You Trill,” which she had practiced in advance.
The set list for this concert is “all new and unreleased songs.” She also has over 200 other songs written. Emiko Suzuki’s contract with her label expires at the end of December 2023. Fans are eagerly awaiting the release of these songs as soon as possible.
She has appeared in many major musical productions, including “Moulin Rouge! The Musical!” (Imperial Theater and others), and is also set to appear in the Japanese cast version of the musical “SIX” (EX THEATER ROPPONGI, Tokyo; Misonoza, Aichi Prefecture; Umeda Arts Theater Drama City, Osaka Prefecture) from January to March 2025. Emiko Suzuki is a singer-songwriter and musical actress who is highly skilled in both roles. We look forward to seeing her continue to excel.
[Setlist]
1. SUN
2. Hancock
3 Follow
4. Deliverer
5. Late-night cigarettes
6 Percentage
7 Remnants
8 Summer Song
9. A wolf always acts like a wolf
10. Nobody Knows
11 To the world.
12. Mission
13 Reality Show
~Encore~
14 Front Memory
15. Keep You Trill
[Band members]
Key. Shoma
Bassist: Taiyo Saito
Dr. Wataru Tanaka
Gui. Kenshin Sugimura
[Profile of Emiko Suzuki]
Before her full-fledged debut, she was active in various fields, including appearing in a TV commercial for Koikeya potato chips, singing the theme song “Choosing Hope” for the FINAL FANTASY XV Online Expansion Pack: Senyu, singing the theme song “Front Memory” for the movie “Love is Like After the Rain” (starring Nana Komatsu and Yo Oizumi), and singing the national anthem for the WBA World Middleweight Title Match between Ryota Murata and Hassan N’Dam.
He made his major debut in August 2019. His 2020 song “After All” made it into the top 10 of the Oricon and Billboard distribution charts. In 2021, he released “kIng” (the ending song for the TV anime “Kingdom”), and on November 5th, he appeared at the official project “Kazemachi Odyssey 2021” (Nippon Budokan) commemorating the 50th anniversary of Matsumoto Takashi’s songwriting career.
In January 2022, she released “Canary no Uta”, written, composed and produced by Angela Aki, and on March 30th, she released her first album, “5 senses”.
As a musical actress, she made her musical debut in March 2020 in the Japan premiere of “Whistle Down the Wind ~Innocent Eyes~”. In November, she played the role of Maureen in “RENT”. Since then, she has appeared in various productions, including the reading workshop for the new musical “PARTY” in 2021, the Japan premiere of “Jamie” in August, and SHOW-ism Ⅺ “BERBER RENDEZVOUS” in 2022.
In 2023, in parallel with appearing in the musical “RENT” from March to April, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” from June to August, and “Tokyo Rose” in December, he will release singles digitally for five consecutive months from March to July, and will release his second album “SOUNDS GOOD” on October 27th.
On August 27th, he will hold a solo concert “WELCOME PARTY ~4th Anniversary Live~”, and on November 5th, he will appear in the official project commemorating Hayashi Tetsuji’s 50th anniversary of composition career – The City Pop Chronicle: The World of Hayashi Tetsuji in Concert.
He will appear in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical” at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo from June to August 2024 and at the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka in September.
It has been decided that he will appear in the Japanese cast version of the musical “SIX” (EX THEATER ROPPONGI in Tokyo, Misonoza in Aichi Prefecture, and Umeda Arts Theater Drama City in Osaka Prefecture) from January to March 2025!
