MORRIE ONE-MAN SHOW “SOLITUDE” at YOKOHAMA O-SITE

From April 29th to May 9th, MORRIE had the first one-man tour starting his solo career. Entitled SOLITUDE Season1, each of the tour’s four performances were given its own episode number and title. The season finale bore the name The tender darkness of Spring.

The intimate all-seater venue was a very suitable setting for this theatrical display of MORRIE’s enigmatic charisma. The stage seemed to be set up for a monologue, upon it, there was merely a microphone stand, guitar effectors, and a small side table with a glass of water. As the blackout indicated the beginning of the recital, MORRIE, clad all in black, calmly appeared on the stage with his guitar. Shortly after, he started to gently strum and sing in his haunting high-toned voice. Opening song Goodnight Reverie created a vortex onstage which drew audiences into the depths of the artist’s existence. The audience sat quietly, their gazes fixed upon him as he played, his guitar sometimes reflected the stage lights. “Welcome to the finale. Please do not fall asleep”, MORRIE said in his deep voice. Laughter was, of course, silenced by the next song Spring Insane. During the song, his unrelenting falsetto flew out gracefully across the hall, holding audience members captive in his inner darkness in which they might feel the presence of his violent spirit within.

His guitar strokes intensified during Sign. What audiences could see was him playing an electric guitar and projecting his voice, but what he invisibly conveyed from there was his visceral solitude. Later, his desert-like mindscape altered the physical reality as Killing Me Beautiful began. His guitar, its sound clear and high, portrayed his spiritual dryness and thirst. Handclaps filled the venue after the song of his reverie finished. Metaphysical and beautiful at the same time, the first part of the show consisted wholly of songs from his solo works.

MORRIE himself seemed to be relaxed; he even shared some of his childhood memories during the concert, such as how he failed to cook a stewed radish and salmon while he was visiting his grandmother’s house. “I realized that I forgot to bring seasonings, and the stew tasted really horrible. It was hard to contain the sense of failure within myself while seeing my grandmother kindly eating it” he said, filling the venue with laughter. “Why I am even talking about such things?” Mysterious he is.

MORRIE then played songs from Creature Creature’s repertoire. During Vanishing, he sung about a solitary journey as if he was longing to dissolve his existence into the cosmic sphere. This existential journey continued into Andromeda. Although Andromeda is a dramatic song that requires delicate modulations, MORRIE created a cosmic atmosphere his vocals and acoustic guitar alone. Dreadful and liberating at the same time, his glamorous vocal tore his reality asunder and released it into the aether. He closed the recital with a rendition of DEAD END’s Heaven, a song he rarely performs throughout his entire career.

During the encore, MORRIE had fans on their feet and swaying along to Luna Madness, another DEAD END song. “Right now YOU’s guitar solo is playing in my brain”, he joked, making fans laugh in the midst of the lunatic rock number. The audience were ecstatic enough to call for a second encore, and MORRIE returned once more. “Twelve-string acoustic guitars produce a beautiful sound, but they’re very difficult to play well” he said before launching into the closing number Serafine, yet another DEAD END classic. For the last time, his barren mindscape filled the venue. With his passionate guitar strokes, he sung out his earnest longing in solitude. Under the dim stage lights, this iconic artist looked transcendently erotic during the song as his vocals expressed an indiscernible mixture of despair and dignity. After the song, the audience rose in a standing ovation.

“Thank you. I’d love to do a recital like this again”, said MORRIE as he bade his fans farewell.

Set List

01.　Goodnight Reverie
02.　Spring Insane
03.　Go Under
04.　Object a
05.　Sign
06.　Kanpeki na sora
07.　Killing Me Beautiful
08.　Vanishing
09.　Last Day
10.　Riding The Night

Intermission

11.　Disquieting Muse
12.　Anohito ni au
13.　Andromeda
14.　Koko dewa nai dokoka
15.　Sen no yami-yo ni
16.　Heaven

Encore

01.　Unchained
02.　Luna Madness

Second Encore

01.　Serafine