MORRIE the UNIVERSE “SOLITUDE” Season 5 Episode 34 at YOKOHAMA O-SITE

MORRIE held his fifth one-man tour from September 30th through October 28th. On the last day of his evolving musical journey, he returned to YOKOHAMA O-SITE, the intimate all-seated venue he has always chosen for his SOLITUDE shows.

MORRIE appeared on the stage clad in black, with a white electric guitar. He then started to sing the first song, Melancholia III. His rich high notes and the clear guitar chords created hypnotic waves of sound. Silhouettes of his body swayed on the walls of the venue as he sang. Sometimes in white, sometimes in red, the changing colors of the stage lights enhanced the magical atmosphere. MORRIE also occasionally referred to himself as “Medicine Man” and “Magic Man”. During the second song Sign, his natural modulation between a deep voice and mellifluous falsetto resonated as if it came from a different realm. Later, MORRIE changed the atmosphere completely by playing the honest love song Anohito ni au.

During a short break between songs, he adjusted pegheads on his guitar and effectors on the floor. He spoke as his instruments produced tuning sounds. “Sometimes unexpected sounds come out even when I think I did all the tuning right”, he said. “I’ll play a new song from this season, Epinoia. I wanted to produce a sense of floating on ocean waves. You can fall asleep, if you like, because you can still hear the music. It will heal you.” Blue lights lit the singer as his fingers gently strummed the guitar strings. The transparent ambience that his high notes and falsetto created immersed listeners. The soundscape changed from the ocean to the desert as the show progressed to Killing Me Beautiful. He sang as he relentlessly stroked his guitar, musically expressing his existential standpoint that transcends the duality of good and evil.

MORRIE spoke of Haniya Yutaka’s novel series SHIREI during the show. Then, he introduced the song Andromeda from his other band Creature Creature’s album PHANTOMS. MORRIE’s voice described eternal migration through the universe. At the same time, his precise guitar techniques navigated the song’s modulations of delicate arpeggios and dynamic guitar strokes. MORRIE continued to speak of his philosophy after the song. “Eternity is in here. This life and afterlife are caught in duality. It becomes interesting when we come to the standpoint beyond the duality of good and evil. Truth is beyond duality,” he said.

Later, MORRIE spoke about his experience in the Tottri sand dunes, where Creature Creature’s music video Dream Caller was filmed. “We had to stop the car 1 km before the shooting location, and we actually had to carry the instruments. It took me about 20 rounds to carry all the instruments. Everyone was already exhausted when we started the actual shoot. It was difficult to play music as well because the sounds were absorbed into the sand. It was already dark when we finished the shoot, and we could not find a way back to the car,” he recalled. “I just wanted to speak about the desert. How did I get to this episode? Let’s go to the desert.” Calling You, which is a famous theme song of the movie “Bagdad Café”, started to play. His voice gently drew a soundscape of a hot, dry desert wind.

MORRIE continued to speak about his philosophy. According to him, death does not exist. MORRIE also mentioned the Japanese poet Kasuya Eiichi, and Kasuya’s awareness of the immortality of one’s self. “He seemed to know that there is only nothingness, but he also seemed to know that he has to go on.” MORRIE said before the last song, Hikaru Kouya. MORRIE sang of a solitary journey under the crescent moon, which also may be a metaphor of an existential journey to become nothing.

MORRIE played his solo song Yume Utsutsu during the encore. “I will play SOLITUDE shows again next year. See you again.” MORRIE will perform his second SOLITUDE concert in New York on January 31st, 2018 at Kraine Theater.

Set List

01. Melancholia III
02. Sign
03. Anohito ni au
04. Sleep In The Sky
05. Go Under
06. Epinoia
07. Killing Me Beautiful
08. Cosmos no Nakani
09. Kokodewanai Dokoka
10. Sinen
11. Andromeda
12. Ataraxia
13. Calling You
14. Hikaru Kouya

Encore
15. Yume Utsutsu