Guitarist MIYAVI took his samurai style to a new audience on the second day of the large festival in Santiago, Chile.
Sunday November 13, 2011, was the second day of the Maquinaria Festival. It was a great show that hosted artists such as Megadeth, Alice in Chains, Snoop Dogg and Sonic Youth, among others. After midday, Santiago’s Riding Club’s doors opened, and dozens of MIYAVI fans - and fans of other artists - headed in, looking forward to the start of a new day at the festival.
After a short appearance by drummer BOBO during sound check, the moment that everybody was waiting for arrived. MIYAVI came on stage in a much simpler style than in his earlier concerts. He wore a white T-shirt, sunglasses and a jacket in front of an audience that mostly knew very little about him.
He started with a solo on guitar and then said: “Hello Chile (in Spanish), I'm MIYAVI from Tokyo, you wanna rock people?” Then, the strong chords of WHAT’S MY NAME? started. Fans immediately recognized the song that was pretty appealing to the audience in general. During the chorus, MIYAVI kept asking what his name was while the audience answered, yelling in euphoria. This has been one of his trademarks since his days in Due le quartz. At the end of the song, hundreds of brand new fans were born thanks to the original style of the famous guitarist.
The next song was SURVIVE, which made the crowd to jump and wave their hands in the air with its catchy pace. Then it was time for a brief MC in which MIYAVI interacted with the audience, greeting them and introducing himself in Spanish for those who had just arrived. Just before starting to rock again with one of his latest songs, Hell No, he said in Spanish: “We’re gonna have fun tonight!” The song started immediately after and MIYAVI invited the audience to jump and shout “no, no, no” with him during the chorus. At the end of the song, dozens of fans called out BOBO’s name while the show continued on with Music Free.
The song started with a strong drum rhythm. MIYAVI was interacting with the audience and also introduced BOBO. The audience was thrilled during the guitar solo, during which MIYAVI showed his skills by playing the guitar while lying on the floor and holding it behind his back. After the solo, MIYAVI asked the audience to raise their hands and dance the easy choreography of the classic BOOM-HAH-BOOM-HAH-HAH. A song's catchy rhythm made fans wave their hands in the air to the beat. After another great solo, the audience exploded in applause and the artist showed his gratitude with a bow.
By that time MIYAVI counted more than two thousand people in the audience. Then MIYAVI changed his electric guitar for an acoustic one to show the audience his Japanese style with a new version of Jikoai, jigajisan, jiishiki kajou, a short solo that featured a lot of guitar slapping. The solo segued into another classic of the artist, Selfish Love. When the song started, fans started to sing along with MIYAVI while he jumped all over the stage.
The next song was Jibun Kakumei, an old classic that fans had asked for during his previous concerts in Chile and that MIYAVI had promised to play. The excited fans burst out cheering and chanting while jumping to the beat. This song from his indie period sealed his promise to his Chilean fans, and many of them had tears of joy in their eyes.
Afterward, MIYAVI started another MC, but this time with music. MIYAVI took a break and left the stage to BOBO, who played a grand drum solo. He ended up using his drumsticks like katana and struck them against the drums, seriously impressing the crow. Just after this, MIYAVI returned with a magnificent solo. This time he took the opportunity to play with the audience, asking them what his name was again and again in different voices while the the crowd was left astonished by his amazing talent on the guitar.
MIYAVI had broken the barriers of language and culture and had won the affection of more than two thousand people with his guitar skills and showmanship. No one doubted that they were at one of the most spectacular shows of the festival - an unexpected show to many in the audience.
Between shouts for more and wild applause, MIYAVI started another of the fans’ favourite songs, Subarashiki kana, kono sekai -WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD-. The fans sang along from beginning to end. Although he played a shorter version than the original song, MIYAVI kept the audience captivated by spontaneously shouting and getting them to raise their hands throughout the performance. MIYAVI finished the song by saying “gracias” ('thank you' in Spanish) to the audience. Then it was time for a new song, A-Head. This track has a very electric guitar sound, and some well placed drumming gave it power and made it extremely danceable.
Another guitar solo gave way to another MC. To an electronic backing track, MIYAVI started talking to the crowd about how origins and language didn’t matter because everyone was connected. He also talked about the huge earthquakes that happened in the last two years in Japan and Chile and of being strong and moving the earth once again, but with music. With that introduction, he started FUTURISTIC LOVE, a song with a special message that reminded everyone that they were all one no matter what their nationality, religion, culture or language. MIYAVI’s words were literally: “Be One.” The song kicked off a venue-wide party, with MIYAVI and BOBO laying down a killer beat as the audience shouted out “be one!” Everyone was happy and the Riding Club was full of energy. During the middle of the song MIYAVI took off his T-shirt, showing off his new tattoos and stunning the audience once again.
The party continued and little by little, the track gave way to the last song, Are you ready to ROCK? MIYAVI ran all over the stage doing fast and complex guitar solos;he only paused long enough to ask, “Are you ready to rock?” The reply was a resounding "yes!" After a few minutes going hard and heavy, the song took on a more melodic pace and ended with a spectacular guitar and drum solo. MIYAVI bowed to the audience once more and left the stage of his third and biggest performance in the country to tremendous applause and cheering.
At the start of MIYAVI’s performance at the Maquinaria Festival in Chile, the majority of the audience had no idea who he was. But little by little, they fell to the charm of the samurai guitarist, and by the end it was clear: MIYAVI had won everyone over. Even as the staff moved in to prepare the stage for the next show, the crowd continued to talk about the energetic concert by MIYAVI, who will continue conquering the world with his third worldwide tour WHAT’S MY NAME? WORLD TOUR 2011.
Set list:
01. WHAT'S MY NAME?
02. SURVIVE
MC
03. Hell No
04. Music Free
05. BOOM-HAH-BOOM-HAH-HAH
06. Jikoai, jigajisan, jiishiki kajou
07. Selfish Love
08. Jibun Kakumei
MC
09. Subarashiki kana, kono sekai -WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD-
09. A-Head
MC
10. FUTURISTIC LOVE
11. Are you ready to ROCK?
