Room 703's "reason for singing" revealed in live performance of a perfect reproduction of their latest work "Dawn and the Cry of the First Birth"

Room 703, a solo project by Okatani Yuna, a rising star singer-songwriter of Gen Z, held the “Room 703 ONE-MAN LIVE ‘Dawn and Cry of Birth'” at Spotify O-WEST on July 6th.

Just as her first solo concert in 2022 was held on July 3rd, she has called that day “Room 703 Day” and it has become a tradition for her to hold commemorative concerts around that date.
This year, their latest album, “Dawn and Cry of First Birth,” will be released digitally on June 28th, and a packaged version of the album will be sold exclusively at the venue starting from the main concert on July 6th, making it a doubly joyous night.

“I have created a work that is like the light of dawn that gently illuminates my heart, which had been imprisoned in complete darkness. I feel as if my soul has finally given birth,” are the words Okatani wrote when announcing his latest work, which succinctly describes the piece.
And on that night, they vividly expressed that worldview through a live performance.

In the center of the stage was a sofa, rug, side table, and CRT television, creating a set that seemed like a physical representation of Okatani’s room, Room 703, with band members Hiromu (Key), Goto Yusuke (G), Makiyama Haruna (B), and Watanabe Shin (Dr) positioned around it.
“I was crushed by the loneliness of the night. The word that always comes to mind is ‘disappear.’ Every day I wish I could reset myself, what is the meaning of this life?” The performance began with these words and “Reset Button.” Based on the five songs from “Dawn and Birth Cry,” Okaya spun a story based on his actual diary, from when he was depressed to when he felt like singing.

In terms of sound, since “Dawn and First Cry” itself is billed as a Studio Session Album, all the songs performed at this concert were newly arranged for the day to match it.
Broadly speaking, the easiest way to describe it would be that it is an arrangement that contains a large amount of jazz elements.
As he stated later in the MC, “Almost everything is new, so I was worried whether people would accept it,” and “Today was the first time that I’d packed everything I wanted to do into it, so I’m really happy that people accepted it.” This stage was a new challenge for Okaya, and there’s no doubt that it was a special night.

At the beginning of the show, he sang “Aoaza” as if pouring out his feelings while hugging his knees on the sofa, then sang “Common Sense” with a variety of fast and slow tempos while holding an acoustic guitar, and then performed “Wonder Night” as the mirror ball spun and handclaps rang out from the floor.
In the middle of the show, she said, “Even on nights when you feel like you’re being crushed, or when you’re consumed by hatred and jealousy, if I put it into a song maybe it can be someone’s salvation. I feel like I’ve found my music,” and she sang “MIRROR” in a musical-like style, “Even when you’re alone, there’s a song for you,” and “Brainwashing,” which was delivered emotionally with just keyboard and vocals. All of these songs from her latest album were memorable scenes.

Also, towards the end of the show they performed their signature song “Nisebutsu Yuusha,” whose music video has been viewed over 27 million times on YouTube to date. It was interesting to see how the original main phrases, such as the intro, had been transformed into a distinctive unison with a strong rock feel, and it was also worth noting that the ensemble with Okatani’s voice added to this was very pleasant to listen to.

She then said, “When is a person born? Is it when they are brought into this world, when they learn to speak, when they know love, when they are glad to be born? When they know pain, when they know love, when they know loneliness, when they know happiness, and each time, my heart cries out again and again. In this way, I encountered many miracles, and a life that was nothing became me. What can I illuminate with this heart that you gave me?” and then she powerfully sang “Birth Cry.”
The main part of the story concludes with “Birth Cry,” a word that is included in the title of the work and the performance but is not included on the album. This song finally brings the story to a conclusion, and it feels like “Dawn and Birth Cry” is a condensed version of Okaya’s current feelings.

The special night came to a close with an encore of “Our Future Plans,” with the band saying, “With the desire to paint an exciting future together,” and they are scheduled to appear at “Shinjuku ReNY 10th Anniversary presents Otouzu” on September 9th, as well as three new shows at Yokohama ReNY beta on September 23rd, LOFT HEAVEN on November 15th, and Harajuku RUIDO on December 22nd (details will be announced at a later date).
“From now on, I would like to face music with all my might and continue singing,” she said.
Once again, both “dawn” and “first cry” are “beginnings” in a broad sense. I look forward to the new chapter of Room 703 and Yuna Okaya that begins here.

(Text: Ayumi Kanata/Photo: Daiki Nitta)

【set list】

Room 703 ONEMAN LIVE “Dawn and First Cry”

2024/07/06(Sat) Spotify O-WEST

M01 Reset button
M02 Blue Blossom
M03 Common Sense
M04 Sing for me
M05 Wonder Night
M06 Barefoot Cinderella
M07 Unrequited Love Walker
M08 Cassis
M09 MIRROR
M10 Brainwashing
M11 FLOW
M12 Human
M13 Non-Buddha
M14 Blue Star
M15 Fake Hero
M16 First Cry
En1 Our Future Plans

(MEMBER)
Key. Hiromu
Gt. Yusuke Goto
Bassist: Haruna Makiyama
Dr. Shin Watanabe

[Live Information]

Shinjuku ReNY 10th Anniversary presents Otouzu

■2024/09/09(Mon) @Shinjuku ReNY
OPEN 18:00 / START 18:30
Cast: Room 703 / Chirinuruwowaka / BONE DAWN / ES-TRUS

Live Schedule 2024 ONE MAN or HOST or FESTIVAL

■2024/09/23 (Monday, holiday) @ Yokohama ReNY beta
■2024/11/15(Fri) ＠LOFT HEAVEN
■2024/12/22(Sun) @Harajuku RUIDO
Details to be announced as soon as they are decided

【release information】

Room 703
“BREAK”

2023.06.07 Release
SPACE SHOWER MUSIC
PECF-3279 / ￥3,000
https://ssm.lnk.to/BREAK

(recorded music)
01. Non-Buddha
02. Fake Hero
03. fliP
04. Reset Button
05. Blue Star
06. Twilight
07. Less than friends, less than lovers
08. Barefoot Cinderella
09. Unrequited Love Walker
10. Monster.
11. Egoist
12. Humans
13. Flowers Smile
14. Lord of the Decaying World
15. Our Future Plans
16. Sing for me