heidi. ~Mugen~ at Liquidroom

Spring 2008 is a busy time for heidi.. In addition to two closely placed releases - the single, Rem and the forthcoming album, Innocence - they are participating in Stylish Wave's Spring club circuit and in the midst of it all, their first oneman live at Ebisu Liquidroom.

Girls in heidi. tour t-shirts and cosplay milled around the area in front of the stage as they chatted excitedly or practiced their furitsuke dancing while they waited. There were actually a surprising number of men in attendance; usually a concert within this genre will have only one or two male fans. heidi's appeal is evidently quite wide. The atmosphere had become relaxed and calm when suddenly and without warning, the thumping drumbeat of Kaso began to play. No lights dimmed to give the cue to scream and the audience were caught quite off guard. Hurriedly hands shot into the air to welcome heidi. on to stage one by one. As Kaso came to a close, Yoshihiko strode confidently to meet the open arms of an excited crowd.

heidi. wasted no time as they started immediately with Hakuchuumu. During their last visit to Liquidroom, Hakuchuumu had been the encore, so starting with it this time gave the concerts a nice feel of continuity. The heavy music surged through the crowd; Kousuke's bass was actually turned a little too high as the room vibrated to the beat. Yoshihiko's vocals however were clear, crisp and fluid. He was already sounding incredible. heidi.'s energy and excitement was clearly evident in a great opening song to the live. A strong drumroll from Kiri ended Hakuchuumu and led straight into Nakibue with its infectious guitar riff which earned applause from the audience.

Kuro no ashiato followed, moving the live into heavier territory with flashing lights punching the air. Yoshihiko handled the quick-paced vocals well though, as the energy of the song got the whole room moving. During a momentary patch of calm mid-song, the stage filled with red light as Kiri's drums and some spiky plucking from Nao built into an explosive coda that resulted in the crowd throwing themselves violently forward. Kuro no ashiato was followed by another heavy song in Kane no naru oka. It played out with a slightly sinister-sounding riff in a minor key which became modified with a stuttering sound during the second verse, giving the bridge an electronica feel. It sounded like the guitar equivalent of a vocoder.

After this experimental sound, heidi returned to the familiar with fan-favourite, Yuuyake to Kodomo. When played live, the difficulties of this track are also revealed: the timing between Yoshihiko's vocals and Nao's stabbing guitar could easily sound disjointed if the timing is slightly off but heidi. pulled it off with panache. As Yuuyake ended, heidi. took a small breather with the first MC: a perfunctory quick greeting of "hello" to thank for the support that led to this oneman. "Let's enjoy it to the very end!" shouted Yoshihiko as heidi. swiftly threw themselves into the commercial sound of Machikado Bojou with its reliance on a poppier beat. It stood in stark contrast to the earlier songs played but somehow the sound blended together neatly. All the instruments were perfectly balanced, despite the still pervasive bass vibrating the room.

Hyururi continued this poppy theme with its beautiful guitar-driven introduction. It was a stunning performance and it is for songs like this that heidi. deserve to be seen by commercial audiences. Yoshihiko's vocals were magnificent, handling the high notes of the chorus well. The following two songs however provided the real highlights of the live. Kyoku ni sousou saw Nao's abilities to the full with an almost Pink Floyd-esque guitar solo mid-song. Kyoku ended with a resounding bassline from Kousuke as Nao held his arms up triumphantly. Shinda sekai, meanwhile, changed the pace with the first real ballad. The first new notes were a little flat from Yoshihiko but he was soon belting out the passionate chorus in a way that held the audience captivated. Shinda Sekai is a grand ballad with hints of MUCC and a magnificent distorted guitar solo offering a level of darkness to the proceedings. It was the performance of the evening. Despite a couple of off notes from Yoshihiko it was almost perfect and ended on an abrupt drumbeat to which the audience could only respond to in stunned silence.

The live continued to the second MC with Aru hi no senkoku and the dark, grungy Charles, which seemed slower with a heavier bassline when it was played live. During the MC, Yoshihiko asked the audience what day it was, they responded in one voice: "White Day" (March 14). Yoshihiko replied by announcing heidi.'s White Day present to their fans: a one man tour finishing at Akasaka Blitz. The announcment sent the room into rapturous happiness and a clearly overjoyed heidi. marched triumphantly into new song, Parade, this time very 60s in feel. It was yet another song showing the experimental directions heidi.. seem to be heading in for this newest album. The live finished with Sinkro, Rem, Shinkirou, Sentimental and finally Utakata. After the second MC the members became more animated and the live took on a party atmosphere; Yoshihiko began dancing with bigger gestures and behind, Nao scooted from side to side on the stage. Judging by the reaction to Rem it has already become a firm favourite with the fans. They did not take a single pause as they ran straight through to Shinkirou, courtesy of a drumroll from Kiri and then into Sentimental with furious guitar playing from Nao. Yoshihiko paused only momentarily to tell the back of the room to dance along before handing over singing duties to the crowd who obliged in one clear voice. Utakata was then announced as the final song and through flashes of light masses of jumping bodies could be seen. On stage, heidi. were moving around even more. Nao and Kousuke changed places and finally, Nao stood next to Kiri's drumkit for the end of the song and the end of the live.

heidi. did not take long to return for the encore and they reappeared wearing the adorable tour t-shirts of a lamb saying 'Music saves the Earth'. They began the encore with an MC. All members were encouraged to say something, even quiet, reluctant Kiri to whom numerous members of the crowd screamed "cute!". Initially he wanted to remain sitting behind his drumkit until Yoshihiko ordered the shy drummer out front. Kiri spoke a few words before trying to run back to his drums, only for Nao to inform him that Yoshihiko had stolen his seat. Kiri looked a little lost as he turned to see Yoshihiko's grinning face behind the drumkit. Yoshihiko soon gave Kiri back his seat and returned to sing the final song of the evening: Natsu Ichizu. Starting was a problem though as Kiri missed his beat. They tried again, "Let's do the encore!" shouted Yoshihiko as heidi. began to play the sunny refrain of this super heavy song. There was one final beautiful moment as the guitars died away for Yoshihiko to sing unaided. It finished with drumrolls to which Yoshihiko counted the beats. heidi. mopped their sweating brows and with wide smiles bowed to the audience in thanks.

heidi performed a tight set with much to enjoy within it, including a number of outstanding individual performances. The audience tumbled out of Liquidroom into the persisting rain over Tokyo, though few seemed to notice as the warm party atmosphere of the concert accompanied them back to Ebisu station with thoughts of an approaching oneman at Akasaka Blitz.

Set list:

Hakuchuumu
Nakibue
Kuro no ashiato
Kane no naru oka
Yuuyake to kodomo

-MC-

Machikado Bojou
Hyururi
Kyoku ni sousou
Shinda Sekai
Aru hi no senkoku
Charles

-MC-

Parade
Sinkro
Rem
Shinkirou
Sentimental
Utakata

EN: Natsu ichizu