Thanks, Fukuoka!

2004/02/29

I'm back home...
First of all, to everyone who came to Fukuoka Imuzu Hall yesterday, thank you very much. m(_ _)m It's been a long time since my last concert in Fukuoka, so I was a little nervous at first...
Especially since the location wasn't the Livehouse this time...
A while ago, there were concert halls all over the place, so booking a hall was pretty cheap, but now many of them have become livehouses.
However, there are performances that can only be held at a concert hall, so both are good, aren't they.
I've crossed the midway point of the current tour.
I always say that writing about the details of a concert can be hard, but my concerts always have a strong rock flavor to them, I think I've developed a new ambition to do an accoustic live sometime.
Maybe with me playing the piano and singing...
Well, if that happens, it'll probably take place in a little box of a place (a "livespace" or something). If it's going to be just me performing, then I suppose I can go to many different, smaller locales, can't I???
...Hm, I'll leave it at that.
Two locations left.
I'm off...... (-oo-)

Today was...!!! And Tomorrow, Too, Is...

2004/02/27

...the photo shoot for JAM's new "A" shots (including the CD jacket photo). It was in Kawasaki... which is a somewhat scary place (maybe even scarier at night?). Not in the sense of monsters or ghosts or something like that.
Well... if I say any more about the pictures, you won't want to see them, so I'll stop talking. They're very stylish.
I'll give you the inside scoop on the pictures when they're released into the world.
Also! After that, we all went out to eat yakiniku.
I was in the middle of my concert tour and I wanted to store up strength, so I ate a whoooolle lot. (*^^*)
To tell the truth... I know I sound like I'm bragging, but for the first time I ate things like rebasashi, mino, and hatsu! [1]   I've never eaten liver before, even cooked liver... And it was raw meat to boot... I'm smiling a little to myself right now.
I'd heard that the food at that particular restaurant was very good. And Lantis manager Mr. Inoue made some wonderful recommendations, so I felt compelled to try them. In any case, my energy is back.
I have one regret, though... The restaurant served its meals in courses, starting with the rebasashi. The best way to eat a multi-course like that is to eat each course in order, stopping after each when your stomach's full, but I got so full before the end that I didn't even make it to my favorite dish, karubi.[2]   (T-T) Next time, I hope I can eat the karubi!

...So, I've got so many lingering thoughts of extravagance... It was a really delicious meal. m(_ _)m Thanks to everyone for your hard work!

I'm writing something here as an appendix!
Tomorrow is our Fukuoka concert at Imizu Hall.
To the first-timers among you who are coming and to those who aren't first-timers, please have fun! But... the schedule's starting to get really tight. Well then, since I have to wake up early tomorrow, I'm going to take a bath and go to sleep now.
Also, concerning r.o.r/s.
Already 2 months have passed since the disbanding of our unit.
A news article regarding the concert held on December 27 has been uploaded to the news section of Animemate TV's website. Please go check it out.

notes :
[1] 'Rebasashi' is raw cow liver, 'mino' is beef tripe, and 'hatsu' is chicken heart, all delicacies on the typical yakiniku menu.
[2] 'Karubi' is a dish of beef short ribs.

Still Drained from the Concert... (T-T)

2004/02/24

The day after my 2-location tour (yesterday), I was so visibly exhausted (even though I'm usually more energetic than most) that I didn't know if I could keep on going, so I went to have an aromatherapy massage. Usually, when my voice becomes fatigued, I go to have acupuncture treatment, but this time my body as well as my voice was so fatigued... It seems that when my body gets tired, my mind becomes heavy too, doesn't it. And vice versa. So, to energize both my body and my soul, I chose aromatherapy. Among the aroma oils I like the citruses (orange, grapefruit, etc.), so yesterday I used orange oil predominantly. I got a massage that felt more like a shower than the pressure sensation of shiatsu.
Now today, I feel very much revived, but... My voice still doesn't work......

Howeeeevvver!!!
JAM has a recording session scheduled for tomorrow. (ToT)/
!?!? "This is bad!" I thought, but since we'll be singing as a group, it should be OK. (^^)
Well, I've managed to cut down on a lot of chatter this time.
In that case, all of you who went to the Osaka and Nagoya concerts, have you gotten back your strength yet???

Back Home.....

2004/02/22

I've just returned home from Nagoya.
I've been out for several days straight in Osaka and Nagoya, and now my entire body is in pain.... (T=T)
All of you must be in pain, too.... since you were all waving your hands and going all out physically at the concert. Thank you, and good work!!
On this tour, we'll be having Monta as well as the new band members coming along.
I call them "the star members". That is... it's meant to imply that they are not just back-up musicians. Maybe I wanted to call them that because I was the one who chose the band (and because of the band members themselves, too). Each member has such a star quality that they combine with each other, that I think, "Oh, I have to work hard to keep up with the band members!" There's only Fukuoka, Sapporo, and finally Tokyo left in the tour, so I want to keep up my strength and continue to stretch myself at the same time.
It's raining in Tokyo right now. And the wind is really strong...
I pray that the weather will clear up by concert day....

Happy Birthday, Michel!

2004/02/18

Today is Kageyama Hironobu-san's birthday.
I watched just the last part of his concert at rehearsal. For some reason, at the location of the concert I noticed someone carrying one of my merchandise goods (a Her-Day bag), and I instantly felt closer to the bag-wearer. To that person, thank you for wearing it.
Kageyama-san cut his hair!! It looked very cool.
So was the concert.
Good work by everyone involved!

It's Valentine's Day, Isn't It

2004/02/14

It's that time of the year again, isn't it? Since I love big "events" like this, I became very happy just witnessing how every chocolate store on the city streets was filled with a throng of girls.
For the past few years, I've been neglecting the customary chocolate-giving tradition of Valentine's Day, so it was very inspiring for me to see people having so much fun.

In any case, today was another day of rehearsing for the live concert (while doing other work as well T-T).
As you may know, the results to the "The Songs You Would Like to Hear Live Poll" have been published. After much consideration, I've decided to take the top 5 songs and sing them in some form or another at the 5 concerts.
Since we have 5 concert locations and 5 songs, it looks like some of the songs will be randomly chosen to be sung or not sung, depending on the concert. To those who voted in the poll and to those who didn't, I look forward to seeing you there!!

Back Home

2004/02/13

I was in Sapporo for promotionals on the 11th and 12th. I returned home uneventfully late yesterday night. This recent trip to Sapporo was really fun of precious experiences for me. Since I've begun trying my hand at self-producing I've come to clearly sense the importance of the 1-on-1 relationships between people, and the people in Sapporo were truly so excited! And warmly welcoming, too. It wasn't just the fans, but also the staff and everyone else, even(?) the worker at the ramen shop.
I was very happy that many people were able to come to the in-store event and to my first guest appearance on AIR-G "R" (Eki*Suta's live broadcast).
Thank you very much for all of you support. m(_ _)m

On Animelomix!!!

2004/02/08

The cellphone ringtone site "Animelomix", now has all the songs from the new album "ReBirth"! I downloaded my favorite songs as soon as I could...
Yes, it's true--my ringtone is one of my own songs....
Everyone, please please do go download some before(?) the concert tour!

The Chat...

2004/02/07

After the MaBic chat session ended without a problem, I watched "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". Since the final installment is going to start running in theaters soon.
Especially with the concert tour coming up, I haven't had a good chance to watch the video! So I watched it all today...
I now understand, more or less, what happened. (Finally!)

ReBirth Released (^o^)/

2004/02/04

My first original album in about a year and a half is out for sale today. There are many things to say about it; with this "ReBirth", I feel like I've taken the "Brazen" mood of the days when I sang a lot of anime tie-in songs and the "Simpleness" of my self-produced works, and I've added them together and cleaved them apart. I hope the "color", the feeling of this album will become to basis of the color of my future works. In the span of 10 years.... my, I guess I've made into a single thing the music that I listened to and took into myself as a child.
But time continues to fly by.
It's something that we should really want to treasure, isn't it.
The concert tour is coming up on it, too. I'm sure we'll give it our all in that one moment, and I long to burn into my memories the image of all of you who come.