[Report] Uchi Hiroki & Rock Na Nakama Tachi Live 2009 (Jan. 2 & 3 @ 12:00 & 16:00)
Here is the quick concert report from the four shows I went to in Osaka (January 2nd 12:00 & 16:00 and January 3rd 12:00 & 16:00). I will write the MCs some other time...
Uchi Hiroki & Rock Na Nakama Tachi Live 2009 (Jan. 2 & 3 @ 12:00 & 16:00)
"QUESTION? LIVE"
1. MEZAMERO! YASEI - Yodo started off the song. They had the PV playing on the screen. I was really happy to have this “Question? Live” segment because I have a new liking to this group… I even bought their group uchiwa, haha! My favorite is the drummer, Yodo, but I like them all as a group. They’re a really talented band and I hope they get more recognition! I hope I can learn more of their songs, too!
2. MIDNIGHT SHUFFLE '08 - It's an old Macchi song. Maybe some of you remember the drama Koichi did a long time ago? It was the theme song for that... I forgot the title but the name of the character was "Ginrou" haha. Yone kept on saying "OSAKAAA!!" to get the place fired up. The fans were soooo quiet on day one (mainly because they were expecting Uchi to show up right away) but I guess they realized that there is actually a segment called "Question? Live" (which was clearly written on the screen anyway) so they started getting the hang of it on the second day, it seemed like.
3. BEAUTIFUL MIND
GREETINGS - Still the fans weren't too loud for them. Boo!! The guys all said Happy New Year’s and Yoroshiku for 2009. “Ake ome & Koto yoro!”
4. PARALLEL WORLD - I think this is my favorite Question song. I love it!!! I loved it when I heard it on Dec. 31st and Jan. 1st, and I liked it on Jan. 2nd and 3rd just as much, lol. Who would have thought that I’d be seeing Question for four days in a row during the end-of-year, beginning-of-the-new-year season!? I also like this other song but I don’t think they played it during this mini-live. I remember the melody but don’t know the song… ughh!! It’s the one that goes “One (something, something) Two (something) Three (something)… WOW WOW!!” hahaha, any ideas???
5. ARE YOU READY?
"UCHI SOLO CON"
1. ALL THE WAY - Just as Question's last song ended, the screen showed a few pictures of Uchi with the Master Key overture kind of music playing in the background. It was nice because the last picture they showed was the one where he was wearing the “Zenkoku Seiha!” t-shirt in Tokyo Dome :-) Then the junior that plays the violin came out to play the intro to the first song. Uchi came up from the middle in a really high rising stage. He was coming up in the dark so no one noticed him until he took off the dark gown he was wearing and revealed his white costume. That stood out even in the darkness, haha. I thought his English pronunciation was really good in this song!! It was weird because on day one, they had the screen with the lyrics right from the start of the song but they showed absolutely nothing the next day. I thought having his face and lyrics on the screen were better than nothing, though. I thought that his singing was REALLY good in this song, but wonder if it was lip-sync… the tone of his voice was too different from the “Hi everyone! I’m back!” which was obviously real. I hope it wasn’t though because it’s the very first song… It was a catchy song though so I was able to sing along by the third show :-)
JUNIOR INTRO - Uchi then introduced the main "Rock" juniors one by one. The screen had a U-shaped LCD around it and the names of the juniors were shown on it. Kiriyama, Nakata, Hamada, Nakama and Senzaki each came out, said a brief greeting and took their places on the instruments. I didn't know that Kiriyama played the bass. Nakata and Hamada played the guitar, Nakama played the keyboard and Senzaki was on drums. All this time, Question was playing their instruments as well. From left to right, there was Gakki (keyboard), Senzaki (drums), Yodo (drums) and Nakama (keyboard) on the top part of the stage and Akun (guitar), Hamada (guitar), Kiriyama (bass), Nakata (guitar), Yori (bass) and Yone (guitar) right behind Uchi in the middle.
2. BELIEVE MY STORY - Yay, V.WEST right from the start! I don’t know about the “Rock” juniors but Question was really playing. During the fourth show I went to, I was sitting in the first row of stands right by the stage (even more in front than the 1st row of arena!) so I kept on looking at the band. It was so nice to be able to see Gakki-sama as much as I wanted to!! LOL The man is amazing… he must have thousands of songs in his head (Question, FiVe, Flat Five Flowers, all the other groups he plays for…) but he never makes mistakes!! How does he do that!? He makes it look so easy, too. I think he’s even busier than Ryo these days!
JUNIOR INTRO - Hey Say 7 West with Yuuma was introduced.
3. LET’S GO! LET’S GO! - Uchi and the “Rock” juniors walked down to the center stage. Now that I think about it, I’m glad I was able to hear/see the Uchi & Shota version of this song before seeing this because the Uchi & Shota is the original V.WEST!!
4. SUKI NA DAKE TODAY - This was cute. Uchi and the Kansai Juniors (big ones) all went to the backstage and danced left and right to this song. On the first day, Uchi was on the same level as the other juniors and they all danced together (Kiriyama, Nakata and Hamada had their instruments with them) but on the second day they changed it a bit and Uchi got on the rising stage so he stood out a bit more. I think this was a good decision because he was kinda lost in the midst of all the other juniors on the first day.
5. IMA, KOKO NI - I think this is the title to this song. It was a cool song and I liked it a lot. It started off with Gakki’s beautiful piano and was rather quiet, so I thought it was going to be a slower song, but nope! The band played a faster tempo intro. It actually kind of reminded me of old J-rock songs (not one in particular but the style itself)… it was a “sawayaka” song for sure. In the middle of the song, the front row of the band (from Akun to Yone) and Uchi all came to the front above the area where smoke comes out and during the guitar solo part, the lights were focused on them in the darkness as they had smoke coming out from beneath them to get the “rock” taste going, haha.
GREETINGS - Uchi said “Tadaima” three times and enjoyed the “Okaeri” response. He said that the next song is something he’s sang a lot a long time ago. He said that maybe some of you don’t know it, but please watch with warm eyes, haha.
6. MASTER KEY - I’d say if you’re an Uchi fan you would know this song, lol. This song was a lot sexier than back in the day. Uchi really grew up, haha! The Veterans and Muro’s second oldest brother danced to this song. I really like the way Bun-chan dances! Kiku’s a pretty good dancer, too. The oldest Muro brother dances okay… he stands out so much though, haha! Maashii is… Maashii, lol.
7. CRAVE IT - Uchi and the dancers got into one line at the beginning of this song. Uchi moved to the center stage for the “dance” segment. He danced a bit on stage, then Kiriyama (G block side), Nakama (A/N block side), Nakata (main stage), Hamada (G block side) and Senzaki (A/N block side) danced one by one before gathering on the center stage. This song had quite a lot of dancing and it was pretty cool! I liked this too. For the first three shows I was able to see Uchi’s face so I was watching him, but for the last show I was behind the center stage so I kept on watching Question on the main stage. They were seriously playing for any kind of song, even a song like this! Of course there’s this main music playing on the stereo but they were adding more live sound to it. Honestly, I must admit that I had always thought that Question was there just for decoration purposes (as in, they were just holding their instruments and kind of playing) but after seeing their lives in Tokyo…it totally changed the way I see them now!!
8. GIVE ME - Nakata and Hamada sang in the center stage with the Veterans (four of them minus Kunta) dancing with them. I think Nakata and Hamada are good singers. I was once again looking at Bun-chan and Kiku dancing during this song.
9. ORE TACHI NO SEISHUN - JITABATA JUNJYOU - B.A.D. came out on the main stage to sing this song. The six of them that were on center stage from the previous song walked back to the main stage splitting into threes. They then joined B.A.D. and the rest of the Kansai Juniors (A LOT of them) for this song. Even the little kids were dancing really hard to this song.
10. DIAL UP - Hey Say 7 West with Yuuma sang in the back stage and center (I think). Yuuma isn’t a bad singer, either. Unfortunately, I was focusing on Question during this song so I don’t remember much from it…
11. ALL OF ME FOR YOU vs. I.ZA.NA.I.ZU.KI - When the intro to All of Me for You was played, I was like “YES!!” because there’s this one part I really wanted to hear being sung by Uchi… it’s in the second verse where he goes “Hitotsu no saibou ga” haha my friend and I like this part. Sadly, he didn’t get to this part because it was like a battle session against I.ZA.NA.I.ZU.KI. I’m going to make a safe bet that this is a NewS song… right??? I liked that song, too. It was as if the place was divided into two, and Uchi first came around from the back stage to the A/N-block side for K8, walked towards the center and then sang NewS on the G-block side. The juniors helped him sing the NewS song, too. He came back to the center stage to sing a little bit more of K8 and then turned to the other side to sing NewS again.
12. STANCE - He had the crowd saying “HOOO!” “HO! HO! HO!” etc. Then he said “We can love we go luck!” and the crowd said “1, 2, 3, 4, stand up!” “We can love we go luck!” “5, 6, 7, 8, dream on!” The arena did that, then the stands, then the whole place. Then we all sang STANCE. I really like this song, too! I miss Shota and Maru’s voices though because their voices fit this song so well :-(
13. KNOCKIN’ TRACKIN’ - For the first time ever I saw the lyrics to this song and finally found out what the hell they were saying! Hahaha. I sang along and tried to memorize the lyrics but it was something totally different from what I had been hearing so I wasn’t able to memorize it, haha. Oh well!
MC - I think I will write this separately when I have the time… MCs for four shows are a lot, haha. During the MC, they showed a message clip from Ryo. Nakata went to tape it. Ryo sent a "good luck" message to Uchi. Ryo also said to cheer on Uchi as well as Nishikido Ryo... heck, everyone! lol Uchi said that he and Ryo have been together for so long and they know each other too much, so when they're alone they don't really talk much. Their phone conversations usually last for like 10 seconds. Kiriyama and Nakama said they actually don't talk much either, but Nakata and Hamada can never stop talking, lol.
14. HOSHI HITOTSU - He said that he sang a different song in Yokohama but since that was kind of like a Christmas song, he wrote a new one. He played the acoustic guitar with Question playing in the background. I’m sorry to say this but his singing SUCKED especially in the third and fourth shows. The first two weren’t too bad, but the third and fourth… no, haha. I guess it’s hard to try and get back to singing right after the MC and all.
15. MERMAID - They get right into this song. They first had like an ocean sound before Uchi started singing. A few juniors came out to dance and sing with him. The first “ha ha” part was on the main stage and during the “lalalala” part they walked down to the center stage.
VETERANS WADAIKO - For a second I thought I came back to Ohkura’s solo concert, haha! The Veterans and this time Kunta as well played the wadaiko. The wadaiko is starting to become their thing!! :-)
16. IZANAU - The “Rock” juniors and the rest of them all came out to play this Japanese-style song. There were Japanese fans (sensu) and umbrellas. Kind of like that drumming segment at Ohkura’s concert minus all the different kinds of drums, haha.
17. HATSUUTA - I’m pretty sure they didn’t sing this in Yokohama, haha. It’s the New Year’s song that they sing at the Johnny’s Countdown. Uchi came out in a pretty cute shiny cap, pink/black striped arm warmers, white non-sleeve shirt and pink pants. During the song, the juniors said their New Year’s resolutions and Uchi said his at the end. He said he wants to do more concerts, want people to have a safe and fun year, etc.
18. NEWS NIPPON - If you can look at the seating image at the top of this report, I have labeled the arenas 1, 2, 3 and 4. That’s the order Uchi went around during this NewS/K8 medley. For this song, he went through arena area 1.
19. NANIWA IROHA BUSHI - Continuing on from the previous song, he went through area 2. The juniors danced around the surrounding stages. Nakata sang the first “Ahhhhh ahhhh ahhhhhh” part that Subaru usually sings.
20. KIBOU YELL - Nakata sang the rap part and the “Bounce bounce bounce with me!” part. Uchi went through 3.
21. TABIBITO - Uchi went through 4 as he came back towards the main stage.
V.WEST MEDLEY - He said “Thanks for listening to the K8/NewS medley. Now, we have songs I used to sing even before that. Here it is, along with some embarrassing old clips from back in the day!”
22. 24 JIKAN WITH ME (V.WEST) - Yay! Even more V.WEST songs! The “Rock” juniors had their instruments back with them. They showed chibi Uchi clips from the V.WEST days. They showed a lot of Shota and Maru, too :-) They’re so cute!
23. AITTE? (V.WEST) - Uchi played the acoustic guitar. It’s such a nice song! Yone, Yori and maybe Yodo were singing the chorus too. Gakki-sama sometimes, when he felt like it, lol.
24. ANSWER (V.WEST) - I like this song too!!! Haha, what songs did I not like throughout this concert, lol. I don’t think I had any!
25. FIGHTER (V.WEST) - MAN I LOVE V.WEST!!!! Can they please come back!? As J-Rock Family?? Pleeeeeease???
26. NIJI IRO NO SORA E - This is the song he wrote the lyrics to, describing his feelings from the days he was suspended. It said stuff like “through long dark tunnels, I continue to walk for light… there are fogs” “please look at me now and follow me” “I’ll never let go of you” “keep the footsteps of life deep inside the heart” or something and he thanked his fans and friends and everyone who’s supported him. For the first show, he was getting teary… but for the rest he was fine :-) The handwritten lyrics were on the screen.
ENCORE 1. SHISSOU! FRIDAY NIGHT - A NewS song that I didn’t know, haha. I also didn’t know that it was a song that Ryo and Uchi sang together! Maybe Ryo will show up in one of the shows today (January 4th) and sing it with him?? Who knows; Ryo and Hina are the only ones that haven’t come yet! By the way… it was kind of interesting because during one of the MCs, Uchi said “Yeah, Tacchon came yesterday… and Subaru-kun, Yokoyama-kun, Maru-chan and Yassan came in Yokohama so only Ryo-chan and Hina-chan haven’t come yet.” I didn’t think anything was weird at that point, but my friend was like “How about NewS?” and I was like “…oh yeah, lol.” For this song, Question came out in the darkness to set things up; the lights went on and the Kansai juniors came out and sang the rap part, and then from the pop-up Uchi came out.
ENCORE 2. DREAMIN’ BLOOD - It makes sense to me now that I know the Friday Night one was a NewS song. I felt like he sang more K8 songs than NewS, but I guess it is about 50/50. It felt a bit more towards K8 because of all the V.WEST songs, which I’m definitely not going to complain about!! During the guitar solo, the juniors and the crowd chanted “HIROKI! HIROKI! HIROKI!” and Uchi was dancing around like a dork, lol. A cute dork, of course.
DOUBLE ENCORE 1. BELIEVE MY STORY - At the first show, he was like “I was heading back to my dressing room, but I heard the ‘Hiroki! Hiroki!’ chants and I couldn’t resist!” and came back for the double encore, haha. Regardless of first or second show of the day, he came out for the double encore and sang this song. In the first show when Ohkura came, they walked around the surrounding stage together. Ohkura was wearing one of the pink happis that the little juniors were wearing during “Izanau.” Ohkura looked quite taller than Uchi.
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Overall, I really enjoyed his concert. It was as if he’s never lost a beat in this “show biz.” He was an idol for sure. I guess because he’s had a few shows in Yokohama already he’s not as nervous, but really, the show was well done. I wouldn’t be surprised if he debuted solo or as a band with the “Rock” juniors… although I don’t know how likely the band idea is, haha. But I’m pretty sure he’s good enough to go solo if Johnny wants to make him. Best wishes to him in the future, no matter what waits ahead of him!!