Plastic Tree Ammonite Sho at Zepp Tokyo

May 7 at Zepp Tokyo saw the album Ammonite unveiled live in Tokyo’s largest live house after a tour of the smaller places around town. The set featured a double semi-circle arching to the stage floor with partitions between the circles and a large window in the centre. Of course, to any sci-fi fans, it looked just like a stargate. Also decorating the stage were thin beams creating a magical effect when lit up at once, in groups or in alternating patterns.

Without preamble, the band took the stage and began with Thirteenth Friday, inducing a trance-like state from the get-go. Ambient guitar and gentle, dream-like vocals negated the deepness of the drums or crashing of the cymbals to maintain a relaxed feeling from beginning to end. With its swift vocals, the number restyled for Ammonite, Moonlight inherited the atmosphere and moulded energy into it. Melt brought a heavier feel to the set with Akira’s strong guitar punching in under the halting vocals before mellowing out into the chorus. Then, sporting an intro reminiscent of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, fujunbutsu kicked things up a notch, giving the crowd a chance to rock out a bit. With Ryutaro doubling as guitarist, the number had a heavy edge, relaxed vocals keeping things cool. With the fifth number, I love you so, Plastic Tree managed to cover five varying styles of their music in just five songs, each one rolling neatly into the next. The agitated guitar line raced under Ryutaro’s equally agitated, loose vocal style.

Setsugekka kept Ryutaro on guitar, gentle and poignant amidst beams of blue light. Pushing his voice near the end, the vocalist forced a harsh note into the number until plucked strains brought it to a close, inviting applause. Then came Aria, Ryutaro bopping through the harsh intro. The sweet chorus melody and undertones in the music matched the various water images projected into the centre of the backdrop. The final heavy outtro sent Ryutaro spinning. Incredibly beautiful, Harusaki Sentimental featured lyrics written like a letter. The opening had the vocalist singing only with piano to accompany him, illuminated by a pink glow and a single spotlight. Every hand in the venue was in the air, sweetly waving to the gorgeous music.

A blackout fell in the wake of the number, lights blinking around the perimeter of the backdrop at random. “Yay…” came a dispassionate murmur. “Zepp Tokyo.” The crowd certainly had no problems sounding enthusiastic in their reply. “We’re Plastic Tree. It’s very early yet, but we’ve safely come back to Tokyo.” The crowd yelled greetings like old friends. Then, all of a sudden, a live projection of Tadashi appeared on the backdrop. The symbol “お” (o) appeared endlessly over the live feed, the crowd making the appropriate sound as prompted. Various words began to show up among the lone sounds. Upon Ryutaro’s amused comment, the camera switched to him. “Where are we being watched from?” he asked. Instantly, replies came from all over the world, the text proving to be from live viewers. “Even Pakistan?” Akira exclaimed in surprise. Then the guitarist turned to the live crowd. “Are you good, Tokyo band-girls? Better not underestimate you.” He then began to recite poetry to the delight of the crowd. “1. Where does cold sake come from? 2. Blue sky. Grey clouds. 3. Band-girls love food.” For the record, it didn’t make any more sense in Japanese.

The set came back in just in time with taikutsu Machine With snow flurries on the backdrop turning to static, the number had a strange feel with a lazy undertone but busy music. Following the guitar solo, Akiria ran threateningly at Ryutaro who soon brought the number back in full swing. With a raised hand to finish, there was plenty of applause to go around. Also re-written for Ammonite, Bambi featured as a true highlight of the set. With strong guitar but poppy in nature, the groovy piece had the crowd pumping their fists in response to the barest flicks of Ryutaro’s hands. Meanwhile, Tadashi wandered freely to the music as if suddenly given the gift of mobility. Ryutaro's time came when the music pulled right back, all focus on the vocalist’s soft refrain. Then, guitar in once more, the number built to a head, escalating to a finish with Ryutaro’s arms spread wide, inspiring screams of adoration from the crowd.

“Zepp Tokyo. Are you ready to dance? Then let's. Duet.” Following Ryutaro’s lead, the crowd began jumping. Even Akira danced about to the simple bouncy melody whilst Tadashi bounded, head flicking from side to side. The lights seemed to focus on the audience at times, rather than the band, ensuring that they kept jumping, promising that they would be seen if they stopped. Halfway through, Ryutaro stretched out before receiving a guitar from the staff, the instrumental speeding up all of a sudden. Then Akira dived over to a keyboard near the drum kit before alternating flawlessly back to guitar, the mish-mash of sound artfully constructed right till the very end.

“Tokyo, are you enjoying the one-man? I love you,” Ryutaro mumbled. “Enjoy today as today. Now’s a good time for this song: mirai iro.” With Ryutaro on guitar, the number took off strong, racing through the catchy melody. Then came the old favourite, Melancholic. Halting phrases and flowing refrain leading the crowd to sing along, beams of blue and green lit the stage. Just once, Ryutaro raised his voice and even before he stopped singing, the crowd knew their cue to take over, doing so splendidly. With all hands palm out in the air, the lights fell.

Shouts from the crowd died down until Ryutaro played an acoustic-like entry into the silence, beginning Replay. An image of the moon’s surface filled the backdrop, guitar light under the lyrics but heavy between stanzas. Gentle guitar and bass, military drum rolls under a soft wispy voice, and then all out in the instrumental, the whole band was in total harmony. The following blackout brought well-deserved cheers and applause. Once more, Ryutaro led in, plucking under a soft spotlight. “Sabishinbou,” he said by way of introduction. The solo continued on, gentle, strummed guitar and soft vocals, the perfect lullaby. Only in the second verse did the remaining members join the number. An aurora lit the backdrop, beautifully visualizing the music. If that wasn’t sweet enough, Blue Back maintained the ballad aura for the remainder of the set, the band never in full lighting throughout the number, only the climbing/descending beads of blue in the darkened stage providing any illumination. The mysterious atmosphere was heightened by the ambience of the music and Ryutaro’s soft, low, lyrics full of breaths and pauses. The instrumental saw every beam light up fully, yet still the band remained largely invisible. The number escalated constantly, Ryutaro’s repetition continuing and eventually fading until barely audible beneath the guitar. His yell then blended into guitar, too, the harmonics overwhelming. Without a word, Ryutaro walked off in the darkness. The rest followed. The applause began long before the last chords faded and lasted long after they did. Then began the call for an encore.

“Did someone call for an encore?” Ryutaro asked. “We did!” yelled the crowd. “Darn, they did,” the vocalist muttered. “With boring songs like these I’m surprised you’d want an encore. Well, even though it’s the tour final, we’ll continue on to those places we didn’t get to so it’s not really a final at all.” Once he seemed to be through, the crowd called for Akira. “Our Akira isn’t so easy,” Ryutaro scolded. Eventually, Akira acquiesced to the persistent cries and spent some time joking around with the crowd before handing back to Ryutaro. “Even though it’s the tour final, our journey will continue. Since it will, we’ll go anywhere. Paper Plane.” With a boyish feel, the number had the crowd clapping along or waving through the verse at Ryutaro’s prompt. Meanwhile, the vocalist bopped or spun around as he saw fit, the very picture of innocence. Turning back towards Kenken, the band clapped at him along with the crowd. In response, the drummer wound down to kick-bass, clapping his sticks above his head, the cuteness of the pose encouraging giggles from the audience.

“Having fun at Odaiba?” Ryutaro asked. “Having fun, Tokyo? Wonderful. I have an announcement. On April 6, we released a new album.” “You all know already,” Tadashi whined in dismay. Well, there was still something new to surprise the crowd with: the announcement of a ‘Looking back on the New Year’ concert called ‘Yukupura Kitapura’ at Tokyo Dome City Hall (which is actually JCB Hall.) “This is the live that was supposed to happen in 2010,” Ryutaro clarified. “Also, on June 11 we’ll play in Taiwan. Please pray that we can get by in Japanese. Now since it’s the final, shall we ask the members about it?”

First up was Tadashi. “There wasn’t much trouble this time around. It was very straightforward. Performing these songs live, I really felt we’ve made something great. I thought, ‘Isn’t the Plastic Tree who can make such music wonderful?’”

Kenken’s address got off to a false start as Ryutaro corrected him. Laughing, the drummer said “I thought it was Ammonite S-H-O-W but it’s Ammonite Sho as in ‘little’. Small live houses, that sort of thing. I wonder if you could hear my little riffs.” “If that’s all, we can move on,” Ryutaro cut in. “I really felt the warmth of pura’s fans…”Kenken continued, then gave in. “The rest will be on my blog.”

“As a live-hose tour there was barely any distance between us,” Akira began. “I had a very real sense of band-girls. You can’t feel that type of thing in a studio. Even from this distance you’re all as hot as lasers. I was surprised by many things and I think Plastic Tree really stretched our wings on this tour.”

“A lot happened. It’s a very simple thing, but being able to see everyone’s faces was very special. I thought that was important.” Having allowed the band to say the important things first, Ryutaro moved right along. “Now… Shall we make more laser heat? Our sweat has cooled. Our make-up’s still fresh… I wanna be without make-up by the time this is over. Wipe off our make-up with your laser-like passion!” Spooky came in hard, the Plastic Tree logo up on the backdrop in a graveyard font. Up on his box, Ryutaro wound his arm to juice up the crowd, the music unrelenting even as the crowd cheered loud and clear after Tadashi’s bass solo. Not letting them rest a moment, Ryutaro wound them on and on, taking it easy himself on the loose vocal line. Only in the outtro could the crowd’s voices be heard as loud as they had cheering for Tadashi, shouting in rhythm with the music.

“Zepp Tokyo. You can do better,” Ryutaro repeated three times. “Shall we play more? Shall we? Let’s play.” Angel Dust sent the vocalist bouncing across the stage, bouncing about Akira and then windmilling back to centre. Heavy on the music, the melody was as playful as promised, Ryutaro spanning the stage to play with the whole crowd throughout. When it was over, he stood on his box looking generally mussed. “Tokyo! Sa-e-e Jump!” he prompted. The sudden jump was followed by a multitude of shouts. Whilst the other slowly worked their way around, Tadashi jumped about, throwing picks and bowing, firmly commanding the crowd’s attention until he clashed with Ryutaro in a hug. Then Akira and Ryutaro high-fived the front rows. Jumping up on the vocalist’s box, Kenken raised both arms in a rock salute, then he turned and jumped into Ryutaro’s arms, caught almost too easily. Finally, Ryutaro stood alone, a finger to his lips for silence. “Thank you very much… We’ll do lots of lives! …I’m off now.”

Just like that, Plastic Tree were gone, but they left behind a schedule of the remaining locations projected for all the fans to see with dates set for September and October. Short, simple, and satisfyingly sweet, the evening was a show to be enjoyed and then tucked away as a fond memory to augment the album, Ammonite, whenever played.

Set List
1.Thirteenth Friday
2.Moonlight
3.Melt
4.fujunbutsu
5.I love you so
6.Setsugekka
7.Aria
8.Harusaki Sentimental
9.taikutsu Machine
10.Bambi
11.Duet
12.mirai iro
13.Melancholic
14.Replay
15.Sabishinbou
16.Blue Back

Encore
1.Paper Plane
2.Spooky
3.Angel Dust