Hi everyone, Kai has offered to write a review of Maaya’s recent live tour for us (thank you very much!!!), and he also sent pictures of his ticket, him with Yuki, and the concert booklet.

Download the pictures here

I must say I’m really envious, I won’t even start listing down the songs I really like from Maaya which she performed in this concert. Without further ado, here’s

Kai’s report on the concert:

This is a personal commentary and song list of Maaya’s Osaka concert I attended on the 22nd of Jan.

The show kicked off with:

1. Vento (a recording I think, I noticed Maaya tended to avoid English lyrics)
2. Get no satisfaction. Maaya started singing while silhouetted on a white screen that dropped and she bounced down the stairs to the stage. It was a really fun and energetic way to kick off the show.
3. Triangler. It was a certainty she would sing this song and I thought it was going to be a bit average. Boy was I wrong; she totally blew me away with how well she sang this. If only Maaya sang for Macross F the way she sang the live version this song would be among her very best anime tracks. I think this is the way Maaya wanted to sing this song, it was strong, gutsy and thankfully without the high notes that I found irritating in the original. Not only was it infinitely better than the Mac F version, its way better than the Fight on Stage version with May’n and Megumi.
4. Loop. A very beautiful song live, she was much better than she was in the PV.
5. Kazemachi Jetto. The Kazeyomi version. The new start to the song is so catchy, I loved it. She did a little dance holding out her hands singing “kono te wo…”
6. Ame ga furu. I think Maaya always sings her own song well so she really nailed this one, very emotional and beautiful.
7. Remedy. This is the first time I heard this song and it really impressed me.

There was a pause here as she chatted with us, talked about her outfits. In her first live, Tanabata, she appeared in a long skirt and now she joked the hemlines on her outfits were getting higher and higher. Then my heart skipped a beat because she said “now I will sing a few of my older songs” which turned out to be…

8. Kiseki no umi! This was a staggeringly good song, an old favourite, the only thing it lacked was the backing vocals but it didn’t matter. Her voice was superb. I really think she needs to do some self covers of her old stuff.
9. Kaze ga fuku hi. This song is one of the best at really showing off how beautiful her voice is. The live version was as good. Maybe the music was a bit strong in comparison to the original, but it was still sweet, gentle and emotional, especially at the end
10. Purarine. This has been the newest addition to my all time best list so it was great to hear it live. Maaya voice was very cute.
There was a pause for a costume change here. Maaya left the stage and the pianist played:
11. Lucy (does this count as a track?)

Maaya wore a dress in pale yellow with ribbon straps that ended a bit above her knees. I think it suited her better than the first outfit. She was wearing the same high black boots.

12. Honey Bunny. She jumped onto the stage singing. I thought she was really sexy, stalking along the upper stage.
13. Makiba Alice. Fun, fun ,fun. This is such a funky song.
14. Tune the Rainbow. A heartbreaking song and breathtakingly beautiful live.
15. Bokutachi wo koi suru riyuu. She spoke briefly about how this was an important song for her. The background was images of the night sky with what looked like Orion’s belt stars visible.
At this point she chatted a bit more and introduced the band. Then she spoke of doing lives, her feelings, being nervous and then sang:
16. Hikari Are. The lighting effect was really well synchronised. As she sang “hikari are, hikari are” the lights grew brighter and brighter. And her voice was, like the original, strong and just wonderful.
17. Mameshiba. She added the “yeay, yeah, yeah, yeah” at the end. Mameshiba has been an enduring favourite of mine so I was so happy to hear it live.
18. Saigo no Kajitsu. Her voice in this was really gorgeous.
19. Kazemidori. For some reason this song doesn’t stick in my memory, I remember it was beautiful though.

Maaya and the band left the stage at this point but came back for an encore.
Encore 1. Maaya changed into a black top with a red necklace or pattern on the front and a pale blue ruffled dress that she must have borrowed from Ranka Lee’s wardrobe. But she did look good. And young, I swear she could still pass as an 18 year old. The rest of the band wore the “We are Kazeyomi” black T-shirt (just like mine heheheh).

20. Platina. Ooh baby, all the old classics. Her voice sounded close to the original but more mature and controlled.
21. Pilot. Funny thing is I don’t listen to this track much but the live made me appreciate how nice it is.
22. Yakusoku wa iranai. Another classic. They even had a recording of the bagpipes.

Encore 2. Maaya came out alone, sat at the piano spoke about learning to play instruments, she made a few jokes about learning to play and she was so sweet and natural.

23. No Fear~aisurukoto. Maaya played the piano alone on stage for this one. Very beautiful too.
24. Poketto karanishite. This was the final song. She walked along the edge of the stage holding out the mic and urged us to sing along to part of the chorus and we all did the “la la la” part together. It was a really fun ending.

To say I enjoyed the concert would be the understatement of the century. As someone who has listened to her for about 9 years it was a dream come true. And I hope in the future I can return and dream again.

Kai you’re sooooo lucky Belated Happy Birthday too!!!

Related Articles:

• Maaya Sakamoto: Kazeyomi Debuts at Oricon Weeklies at #3
• Maaya Sakamoto: Kazeyomi Review (Triangler, Ao no Ether)
• Maaya Sakamoto's Kazeyomi Debuts in Oricon Dailies at #2
• Maaya Sakamoto Kazeyomi Song Samples
• New Maaya Sakamoto CD: Kazeyomi (update 3)
• Kanno Yoko Presents Macross F Galaxy Tour Final
• It is Official:
  Maaya Sings Macross F Intro "Triangler"

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at 7:55 am and is filed under Miscellaneous. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.