Creature Creature's 'Simone and the Wrath' at Shibuya O-East

This summer, after two years of inactivity, MORRIE returned for two long-awaited performances with his project Creature Creature. This time, the singer was accompanied by Hiro (Libraian, ex-La’cryma Christi) and Shinobu (ex-Guy’s Family) on guitar, bassist Hitoki (ROBO+S, ex-Kuroyume) and drummer; Sakura (S.O.A.P., ex-L’Arc~en~Ciel). These lives sold out quickly with many fans eager to see the star line up, and after a successful live at Osaka BIG CAT on the 17th, Creature Creature took to the stage at SHIBUYA O-EAST for another spectacular performance

The lights turned off, a guitar resounded clearly in the venue, then the silhouette of MORRIE appeared under a spotlight on the misty stage. The live started with new songs Shinkuu and Cluster which had complicated rhythms and changing tunes. MORRIE's vocals were almost like he was talking, so the beginning of the show was like a fantastic prologue. When MABOROSHI, the album's opening song, was performed, Sakura’s drums and Hitoki’s bass pulsed in the flashing light, and the audience raised their hands and waved them to the catchy main melody. In the driving song Zone, the members went to the front of the stage and stirred the already worked up audience even more, with fans stretching their hands towards MORRIE, who sang as he walked around on the stage.

“I haven’t seen you for a long time!” When MORRIE started his MC, the screams of female fans reverberated around the venue among the audience’s cheers. “We’ll play some more new songs!” MORRIE continued, then Black Hole started. It had a complicated structure with slow, heavy unison that repeated like waves and beautiful guitar that was scattered throughout the song. Then, out of nowhere, there was an explosion and MORRIE began to sing falsetto with vibrato and expressed a chaotic dark world. When Hoshitsuki started with clear guitar playing by Hiro and Shinobu, the audience stretched their hands into the air and waved them all together to the main melody.

In the following part of the live, new songs were played successively. In Hien, Shinobu’s clear guitar playing and Hiro’s heavy guitar playing rang like they were twisted on the complicated rhythm and MORRIE sang like he was talking quietly. When the upbeat Sexus started with a clash of the cymbals, all of the members moved to the front of the stage, where Hitoki head banged while playing his bass, Hiro showed off a quick guitar solo, and in the quiet parts Shinobu’s clear guitar playing filled the venue. In the following Es, distorted guitar sounds made by Hiro and MORRIE’s strained voice made a mysterious mood, which suddenly developed into a bright main melody. The opposing elements such as ‘stillness’ and ‘movement’ and ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ in Creature Creature's songs created a dramatic, chaotic world.

Next, a beautiful ballad Kaze no tou which tetsu composed and MORRIE wrote the lyrics to started quietly. MORRIE sang with vibrato, over which Shinobu’s clear guitar playing was scattered like jewels. Hiro played a guitar solo freely and Hitoki swayed his body rhythmically to the steady drum rhythm made by Sakura. In COSMOS BLACKNESS, the mood changed suddenly, and the members played their instruments with a kind of excitement that gave the atmosphere of being at a hot jazz session. Shinobu played synthesizer and a new song, Automatic Extinction, started. This song was a soulful, heavy ballad where we could feel the inner passion of MORRIE who sang like he was talking to us.

Here, the live accelerated in an instant. In Paradise, the band members stirred up the audience from the front of the stage, while fans pumped their fists in the air, jumped and sang all together in the driving main melody. RED started with a heavy guitar explosion, and Sakura played a drum solo with Hiro also playing a quick guitar solo (including some right handed guitar playing). In the new song SWAN, Sakura’s fast, violent drums and Hitoki’s low bass playing portrayed ‘movement’ and distorted guitar sounds made by Hiro and Shinobu rang mysteriously, portraying ‘stillness’. MORRIE struck his own pose as he leant on his microphone stand, changing his expressions as he switched between shouting and whispering. Then Hitoki and Shinobu took a breath together and Haru no kikai started quietly. The slow ballad ran higher and higher, almost like a stream of sound that gradually became a big roaring river.

Answering calls for the encore by the audience, the band members, who had changed their costumes to black T-shirts, appeared on the stage and played the new song Yo. Psychedelic guitar playing from Hiro and Shinobu slashed through the air and the melodies sung by MORRIE gave us a real Japanese feeling that is hard to describe. Answering the second encore, MORRIE appeared and said: “Thank you for coming here today!” He then introduced the members, to cheers from the audience, and when Sakura introduced MORRIE at the end, the audience cheered even louder. In the driving song Sen no yamiyo ni, the audience pumped their fists in the air and jumped, while the members moved around on the stage with happy smiles, keeping the live running high right until the end. With the end of the song the live came to its end, but the clapping and cheers never seemed to stop. The members then appeared and lined up on the stage and thanked for the audience once again, making them scream with delight.

MORRIE, who is highly respected, has influenced many musicians and fascinated all of us with his ability to put his quiet passion into his music. In this live, highly skilled musicians played progressively complicated sequences with original arrangements, keeping us all guessing about what would happen next. It made me realize again that even with all the progress in producing sound digitally, how great real instruments played by real people actually sound. I really hope more people are able to see live concerts of Creature Creature and feel the same thing that I did.


Set list:

01. Shinkuu
02. Cluster
03. MABOROSHI
04. Zone
05. Black Hole
06. Hoshi tsuki
07. Hien
08. Sexus
09. Es
10. Kaze no tou
11. COSMOS BLACKNESS
12. Automatic Extinction
13. Paradise
14. RED
15. SWAN
16. Haru no kikai

En-1. Yo
En-2. Sen no yamiyo ni