Plastic Tree - Utsusemi final at NHK Hall

The finale of Plastic Tree's Utsusemi tour graced the NHK Hall in a theatre setting that complimented their surrealist set design of large bronze clocks hanging over the stage perfectly. As the opening music began to play, these clocks started ticking to introduce the band. Paper effect design spread across the 180 degree screen that was positioned behind the band with smudges of paint becoming more and more pronounced as each member arrived to cheers from the crowd. The stage was bathed in mist and blue lights so that one could barely discern the figures on stage but together with the ticking that gradually got louder, it was an eerie and impressive opener.　

Slowly, Sasabuchi Hiroshi's drumbeat began, merging with and taking over from the clocks for the first song, Utsusemi. This subdued piece was a lovely opener. Arimura Ryutaro's movements through the mist were creepily doll-like and utterly entrancing with sweet vocals that fought valiantly against the poor accoustics of NHK Hall. It made way for the lively Tetris that followed with a pacey drumbeat from Sasabuchi. Ryutaro had picked up a guitar to play along with Nakayama Akira with twirly riffs somewhat imitating the Tetris theme. Ryutaro even seemed to rap a little. The playful Pura continued with Zazafuri zazanari and its strong bassline. The sound issues of NHK had sorted themselves out a little, allowing the catchy melody to ring out in clear tones across the theatre. The band was becoming a little more active on stage too, playing with pace changes and jumping around a bit.

A short but sweet MC followed, "thank you, thank you, hello" Ryutaro greeted the audience. "It's our first time in NHK Hall today" The crowd cheered in response. "Peace". "Peace" the audience responded in one loud voice before the band launched themselves into Psychedelism. Through the flashing lights, Ryutaro worked the stage, encouraging the audience to wave through the lighter melody that then contrasted strongly to a storming guitar solo from Akira that together with the swirling psychedelic lightshow, offered a taste of the alternative. After another fun song, in the form of Q, Fiction, offered something slower with spacey drums and a lovely bassline from Hasegawa Tadashi resonating over it. This laid back character exploded with energy in the chorus as Ryutaro displayed the full power of his vocals. It was quite different to Shayou as a funky beat and spiky alarm-like guitars filled NHK Hall with yet another feel of Plastic Tree's music.

"Today it rained in Tokyo but we have seen snow on our tour," Ryutaro announced as the band took another short breather. "I thought I wonder if it might snow again." he continued receiving a few calls from the audience in response. The MC introduced the lovely ballad, Yuki Hotaru. Icy colored lighting filled the stage during the verse to be swapped for a passionate pink as the power of the chorus burst forth. It was a beautiful rendition, although it was matched by the accomplished performance during the next, Melt. Ryutaro's voice was incredible with a falsetto perfectly on pitch that segued into a guitar solo with soaring, ascending notes. This balladic duo made for a stunning mid-live high before the high energy finish.

Dummy Box was radically different from Melt that preceded, so the intervening MC marked a neat division. Its heaviness saw Akira and Tadashi headbang wildly as they played their guitars and the instrumental bridge from Akira was terrific fun with some awesome spiky guitar notes. This led into Alone Again Wonderful World, one of the most interesting experiences of the live as 40s radio music provided the BGM and infused the whole track with an antique feel. It was like a marching song and Ryutaro's dancing on stage reflected that with pronounced gestures.

The setlist flipped back to softness with Balloon for a pretty break before a thunderous injection of energy by way of some twirly Akira riffs in GEKKO OVERHEAD. The audience punched the air enthusiastically and headbanged to the more aggressive sound as the lighting in the hall went as crazy as the music. The audience carried this energy through with shouts of "hey" to the opening notes of Plastic Tree classic, Melancholic. Ryutaro encouraged the audience to sing along with him and they responded with loud voices that would be followed by roars of happiness.

The live began to reach the finale with recent single, Replay. The video montage that had been created for the song was beautiful and almost distracting as scenes of silent movies and ferris wheels played out over the vast screens. It was a relatively relaxed piece as the gentle guitar strumming complemented Ryutaro's pretty vocals in a fitting song to set up the finale neatly.

Ryutaro briefly introduced the finale as the final song of Utsusemi, Kioku Iki, a stunning lullaby of a song to end the live as they had begun. The piano accompaniment to the soft vocals opened the song in a stunningly beautiful fashion before the guitars kicked in and gold dust fell on the stage creating a beautiful and moving scene on stage. Ryutaro joined in with Akira near the end, picking up a guitar to play Kioku Iki out with an incredibly long outro. The members left quietly as the outro played out, leaving only the credits video to roll. The ever polite fanbase waited patiently for the end of the video before they started to call for an encore, allowing the gentle tones of Kioku Iki to float over the audience. When the calls did start though, the room was suddenly transformed from serenity into a cacophony of voices.

Plastic Tree did not keep the audience waiting long though, re-appearing in a more casual dress of hooded sweaters. The first encore song was a good opener with a bright indie sound that encouraged many to dance along. They paused to speak afterwards, thanking the audience for the encore. As each member was chosen to talk after Ryutaro, he picked up a handful of gold sparkles and threw them in an adorable manner at whoever's turn it was to speak. Akira came first. He recalled his favorite memory of the tour, his birthday in the cold of Hokkaido. Sasabuchi also reminisced about the Christmas they spent in Osaka and the extreme cold. "Did any of you catch colds?" he asked the audience. Finally Tadashi spoke, after a quick sprinkling of gold dust from Ryutaro. "This tour has been wonderful" he said "It has really been a lot of fun so for all those who have heard the album and thus come here, thank you very much" before he rallied the various levels of seating in NHK to roar back at him. As the second encore, hate.red.dip.it began, Ryutaro shouted "Are you ok?" then launched into the proper headbanging of the heavy song.　

The first encore concluded with that but the second was again not long in coming. This time a further two songs were played. Ryutaro mentioned that he forgot to talk properly the first time round, so now he would take the opportunity to talk. Like the others, his musings were about the cold, "Snow is nice" he announced in a dreamy tone. The music continued with Ghost, with headbanging through frenetic strobe lights. This powerful song ensured that NHK Hall became a forest of arms all punching the air. Compared to the relatively subdued main set, Plastic Tree ended the night on two heavy songs, the latter being Reset. It was an oldie that got the whole room jumping energetically. Ryutaro joined in the manic dancing, energizing the audience to the last.

Again, Plastic Tree had treated their fans to a beautiful live; stunning production, visuals and above all, incredible music. The tour may be titled "Utsusemi" or "The Real World" in English but what Plastic Tree presented took us away from the mundane rain of reality and into one far more beautiful.


Set list:

01.Utsusemi
02.Tetris
03.Zazafuri, zazanari
MC
04.Psychedelism
05.Q
06.Fiction
07.Shayou
MC
08.Yuki Hotaru
09.Melt
MC
10.Dummy Box
11.Alone Again, Wonderful World
12.Balloon
13.GEKKO OVERHEAD
14.Melancholic
15.Replay
MC
16.Kioku Iki

EN1:
17.Closer
18.hate.red.dip.it

EN2:
19.Ghost
20.Reset