Plastic Tree’s performance at Shinagawa Stellar Ball on November 5 was more than just a concert; it was a real show.
Amidst futuristic opening music, bright blue lights beamed out from above. The sound of a spaceship powering up brought lights up on the lunar set. A chunk of metal floated overhead with two rocket ships veering towards it from the right whilst a caricature of the moon hung to its left. Even the drum kit was situated upon a painted mound of moon-rock and six blue-lit robotic scouting towers rose up around the outskirts of the stage, adding the final touch. At last, the band entered, though lighting remained dim.
Drummer KenKen started the night with a rumble. Orange lights beamed down, wandering about the primarily backlit stage to create an eerie image throughout Suimingusuri. Clearly visible was the crowd, gently waving hands towards vocalist Ryuutarou. Meanwhile, under the half-light, his puppet-like movements created a mysterious atmosphere even as lively drums escalated into the final chorus. Completely silhouetted by four high-beams from behind, Ryuutarou bowed deeply. Akira plucked the opening of 1999 as bright search-lights issued from the towers, only occasionally hitting the members who were still mostly backlit as Ryuutarou gently sang the simple vocal melody. At last, the instrumental brought about an explosion of flashing lights, everything going off at once and Ryuutarou could be seen clearly for once, guitar in hand and vigorous strums accenting the music. Seemingly easy if listening only to the vocal melody, Fukurou featured a complicated contrast of melody and music. A duet between swiftly plucking guitarist Akira and guitar-toting Ryuutarou traversed a tripping vocal line which opened the piece beautifully. The chorus was an evolution of the same melody though emotionally deeper due to the force of music and vocals.The piece ended on a strong emotional high, Ryuutarou strumming the final chord.
“We’re Plastic Tree, and the second night in Tokyo has come,” Ryuutarou announced. “Actually this is the beginning of the moon’s second journey here in Shinagawa.” Pointing to the lit moon overhead, Ryuutarou then encouraged the crowd to raise their hands and initiate a countdown. “Five, four, three, two, one… Rocket launch.” Appropriately, Rocket kicked in with a funky guitar solo courtesy of Akira. Ryuutarou spared a bow for the crowd, then launched into his own little world, wandering the stage, arms flailing, and executing loose spins. Bassist Tadashi shared a moment with KenKen through the chorus and then bounced freely during the instrumental. Laid back vocals continued throughout the piece despite a groovy musical line, and Ryuutarou posed to round it up with an arm outstretched and eyes focused on an imaginary world. Akira’s guitar solo under a pink spot set the rock/pop pace of tremolo, lights shining on the whole band as everyone added their own sounds to the music, Ryuutarou sporting his guitar once more. Green and pink lighting created a light mood with the towers reduced to a quarter of their height. Waving on certain lyrics, Ryuutarou had the crowd following along cheerfully. A laid back instrumental saw him playing off against Tadashi whilst Akira broke from the mould, guitar ringing a bright improvisation.
The pretty tune of etcetera was backed by a curtain of velvet night and pinpricks of stars, the lovely music supported by the image inducing the feeling of an expansive universe. The chorus, sung strongly by Ryuutarou, benefitted from the addition of wandering yellow lights like a party of shooting stars. An ominous guitar intro vastly amending the ambience if not the tempo, Rusty’s slow tune took on a darker tone. The strong drums had Ryuutarou throwing himself about in sync with cymbal crashes. Meanwhile, Akira exhibited impressive technique, fingers tripping the strings to create a solo one couldn’t help but pay attention to. The remainder of the song saw the vocalist bending at intervals to force out harsher tones. “Shinagawa!” he yelled. “This is Shinagawa, right?” After a brief chat about the weather, he then announced the next number. “It’s as if you can touch the Moonlight.” Once more backed by the poignant imagery of the star curtain, the ballad featured a swift but flowing melody with ambient guitar. Halfway through the first verse, one of the six towers stretched up, casting its light on Ryuutarou who turned to face the warm glow. The number escalated in such a way that first Ryuutarou began bouncing animatedly to the music and soon, all four members were either jumping or thrashing about, no holds barred. Winding down, the number segued into the digital opening of the trippy Zange ha yokushitsu de. Amidst deep bass and crashing cymbals, Ryuutarou perched on the centre stage podium, slowly carrying out actions as a crowd of hands reached towards the stage, flicking in time with the beat. The musical outtro saw Ryuutarou spinning across the stage whilst encouraging the crowd to jump.
Next came the rock tones of the title song of the evening, Gesekai. Ryuutarou once more lent his guitar to bolster the sound whilst on either side of him, Tadashi and Akira bent over their instruments, getting down. A short but groovy bass solo paved the way for Akira’s wailing guitar, red light washing over him to intensify the moment. The tail end of the number saw an array of yellow spots wandering the crowd, making them a part of the stage. The moment the music stopped and lights went out, shouts rang out from the fans until Tadashi took the microphone. “Don’t you think it’s a bit gloomy that it all ends today? It’s lonely… No, it’s not! Gesekai Ryokou will live on in your hearts so are you ready to go nuts?” “You wanna play, don’t you, Shinagawa?” Ryuutarou added, riling the crowd up for the exciting rush of MayDay. Jumping like troopers, the crowd never failed to respond raucously to Ryuutarou’s prompts of “MayDay” as he squatted on the podium. The instrumentalists really played it up, issuing their own prompts and getting up close and personal with the crowd. Ryuutarou’s waved invitations for louder shouts had the fans waving back enthusiastically and shouting until the very end. With a cute, punk melody but sturdy guitar and drums, National Kid kept the crowd on a high. Even the scouting towers couldn’t stay still, rising and descending steadily throughout the number whilst Ryuutarou ran from side to side, drawing more and more energy from the crowd who sang proudly over the strident music.
GEEK OVERHEAD was definitely a highlight. Flashing red, white and blue lights matched the lively drums and 80’s rock tune not to mention Ryuutarou’s glam-rock vocal style. Back on guitar, his arm flew as he threw in huge strums in contrast to Akira’s tight playing. Shouting in time to rhythmic guitar chords, the crowd was in full swing with heavily pumping fists as the catchy Melancholic blasted off. A yell from Ryuutarou inspired strobing lights and bright drumming from KenKen. At the musical climax, a backdrop of pink and white exploded like a wall of light for a few seconds, creating a spectacular image. The toe-tapping melody only got better and better, the crowd folding in time to the rhythm of the chorus’ B melody and waving throughout the rest, along with Ryuutarou who dived over his guitar. Finally, summing up the set on a calmer note came Andro Metamorphose. Lit by a background of blue stars, the gorgeous guitar melody had both Akira and Ryuutarou well in sync with each other, the vocalist’s smoky tones blending nicely with the two guitars. The smooth escalation of the number had Ryuutarou letting loose over his instrument, the others following suit and pouring their souls into extremely powerful music, the vibrations of which could be felt buzzing through the chest even at the back of the venue. A pause followed by one feral cry and the final chord was struck by all four members in cohesion.
Plastic Tree exited soberly with the exception of Tadashi who shook his bass at the crowd, still caught in the high of the moment. The fans took a moment to recover but soon gave in to the need for more, screaming for an encore. Eventually Tadashi and KenKen made their way back. “It’s such a waste to think this is the last day. Shall we throw in one more?” Tadashi teased. “Just kidding.” Upon his entrance, Ryuutarou only further tortured the fans. “Maybe we will do another day,” he said, thanking the crowd for the encore. By the time Tadashi sorted out some bass trouble, the crowd were more than warmed up and excited to hear the new single, Mirai iro which sported a strong bass line to justify the wait. Adding bouncy guitar and fun drums, the fans wasted no time adjusting to the new piece, waving hands to the music as though it were an old favourite. Next up, Replay began with Ryuutarou going solo on vocals and guitar, caught in the crossbeam of two spotlights. The light melody led to an unexpectedly heavy instrumental and second chorus, the combination of all four instruments drastically contrasted to the diet version of the solo intro. Progressing into heavy riffs courtesy of Tadashi and a forcefully strumming Ryuutarou, the number wound up with sections of crowd headbanging unrestrainedly. Spica reinstated the star curtain with soft, deep drums accenting the softly sung melody. A primarily lyric driven song, the crowd listened intensely, bodies swaying as Ryuutarou poured emotion into the final chorus. The final tableau was of a duet between vocals and guitar weaving a spell over the crowd until, bowing, the members took their leave once more.
Still the audience were unsatisfied, calling for more. Happy to oblige, Plastic Tree returned one final time. After some discussion, Tadashi asked the crowd to go nuts for the sake of those who were unable to make it and on that note, the second encore took off with Hate.red, dip.it. A sick guitar intro had the crowd buried in the music from the get-go. Spinning about and headbanging, Ryuutarou’s broken puppet routine took the piece to another level; dark, heavy and moving. The crowd was just one massive mosh pit throughout. Puppet Talk further kicked up the pace, with speedy drums and a flailing Ryuutarou dancing across the stage. The spectacle could only be described as wild. “Yaaaay!” Tasashi cried. “Let’s do one more song!” A heavy rock number, Psycho Garden was a great conclusion to the set. The dangerous melody of the verses and careless 80’s feel to the chorus had the crowd gladly holding up their end of the bargain, yelling between lyrics along with Tadashi and Akira. A round of headbanging was led by none other than Ryuutarou himself and the double time ending had fists flying speedily to keep up until Ryuutarou leaped from his podium on a final cymbal crash.
Cries of appreciation rose from the crowd even as the vocalist bowed deeply, Tadashi following suit with arms spread wide. Once the other members had said their farewells, KenKen making hearts at the crowd upon his exit, Ryuutarou stepped up for one last admission. “It was a wonderful journey. I don’t want it to end. We’ll be waiting for you at New Year's! Bye.”
With that, he left the stage as moon, rockets and star curtain lit up to offer a final image of the lunar landscape. It was certainly a show to be remembered, lighting and set blending with the music to create that mythical beast in the world of rock – a story.
Set list
01. Suimingusuri
02. 1999
03. Fukurou
04. Rocket
05. tremolo
06. Etcetera
07. Rusty
08. Moonlight
09. Zange ha yokushitsu de
10. Gesekai
11. MayDay
12. National Kid
13. GEEKOVERHEAD
14. Melancholic
15. Andro Metamorphose
Encore 1
01. Mirai iro
02. Replay
03. Spica
Encore 2
01. Hate.red, dip.it
02. Puppet Talk
03. Psycho Garden
