THE NOVEMBERS at Shinkiba Studio Coast

To celebrate their ten year anniversary, The Novembers toured around Japan for their –Honeymoon– tour, starting at Shinkiba Studio Coast on November 2nd and ending in Sapporo at the end of the month. Their ten year anniversary makes their set list for the Studio Coast a varied one, reliving memories of their first album but also presenting their newest EP Elegance that had been released only a month before this tour.

The intro of Kurara starts and the members walk up, get ready and play along with the tape, only to take over and draw the audience into their world. The screens on stage show patterns, matching with the chill music. The band uses minimal light resources, keeping the venue fairly dark, with a concentration only on stage. Improvisations and slight differences are applied to the song, giving it a twist, but a fitting one.

From one of their newest songs, The Novembers take the audience back to their beginnings with a song from their first EP, Birthday. The character of the song at first fits the soft atmosphere the first song brought but gets more loud and raw towards the chorus. Kobayashi's high, almost falsetto light vocals are switched and get more depth with clear screams and singing. Their new songs Kokoro hitotsu mochikirenai mama and Hadaka no Mink are heavier live than they are on the album. The bass parts are audibly louder, giving body to the songs.

dnim is the break from their soft, calm side to louder songs and headbanging. The colourful atmosphere fits the up-tempo rock sound and the band members don’t shy away from improvising and experimenting, continuing to do so in the next songs. Improvisation gives the songs extra body, showing the skill and growth of the band.

Tetsu no yume as well as 236745981 give the vocalist the opportunity to display his emotions. During the songs he uses his body to give extra strength to the screams and shrieks that he’s able to bring out, intensifying the atmosphere of the songs. Grabbing the microphone stand he screams out again while the rest of the band headbang to it. A couple of people in the crowd headbang with them, but the majority just watch them perform and applaud when the songs end.

Having released their newest video clip for Kirei na umi he not long ago, they show it to the audience when the song starts. The venue darkens, the focus on the video clip while the band plays in calming blue light, as if the stage is temporarily under water just like the setting of the video clip. The solo is intriguing and longer than the one on the EP, and soon they retreat backstage as the set is over, only to come back for the encore.

The Novembers get back on stage, starting out with a MC to talk about their anniversary before closing the night with Kyou mo ikitane. The focus is mostly on the vocalist as he leads, the instruments supporting him most of the time. During the end, when the stage gets brighter, the instruments get equal to the vocals finally, concluding the concert.

Having played all of their newest songs, their honeymoon is a partial promotional tour for Elegance too. Aside from that, The Novembers took a trip down memory lane and chose songs from their first EP and first album. They went all the way back to their beginning to work their way back to the present, showing growth in their playing and style by improvising, but also keeping a continuity in sound that keeps them The Novembers.


Set List

01. Clara
02. Birthday
03. Chernobyl
04. Kokoro hitotsu mochikirenai mama
05. Hadaka no Mink
06. dnim
07. Tetsu no yume
08. 236745981
09. marble
10. emerald
11. Deru kizu wo sagasu chi
12. dogma
13. Blood
14. Xeno
15. Misstopia
16. Kirei na umi he

Encore
17. Kyou mo ikitane