Interview] Natsuori Ishihara brings smiles to everyone's faces! The 2nd live "MAKE SMILE" is now available on Blu-ray & DVD!

Ishihara Natsuori 2nd LIVE MAKE SMILE" held at Pacifico Yokohama National Grand Hall on February 20, 2021 this year will be released as Blu-ray & DVD. They sang a total of 17 songs, mainly the latest numbers from their 2nd album "Water Drop" released last August and "Against. For the encore, the latest song "Plastic Smile," which had not been released at the time of the live, was performed for the fans in the audience for the first time.
The interludes that played between performances were also a feature of Natsuori Ishihara's live performances. The theme of this time was a trip to Niigata. The sweet and sour video captured the hearts of the fans. Another highlight is the colorful costumes that she changes as the live goes on. On the occasion of the packaging, we asked her to share her memories of "Natsuori Ishihara 2nd LIVE MAKE SMILE"!

We made a fresh setlist that was different from our previous live performances.

Natsuori Ishihara: The 2nd LIVE "MAKE SMILE" was the first live performance for you in about a year. There were two performances, day and night, and the Blu-ray & DVD to be released this time includes the night performance. First of all, please tell us your impression of the day.

Ishihara It had been quite a while since the 1st LIVE "Sunny Spot Story" (December 29, 2018) that we had two performances in one day. I wondered if I would be able to do it now. So when the night performance was over, the biggest feeling I had was "I'm so glad! I was so happy when the night performance was over. The staff was also concerned about it, so we all shared the joy together.

─ ─ After the daytime performance, it must have been mentally difficult to reset everything for the nighttime performance.

Ishihara: Yes, it was. After the daytime performance, it was difficult to change my mind for the evening performance. I was also under pressure to revive my throat, which had been used for two and a half hours.

─ ─ What did you do to revive your throat in such a short time?

Ishihara: I was careful not to talk as much as possible (laughs). (laugh) The make-up artist told the staff around me, "Don't let Natsuori-chan talk now so that she can rest her throat," but various people showed up, which made me happy. I was so happy to see her that I talked even though I had to be careful about my throat (laughs). (laughs) I was happy to hear the encouragement of the staff members who had helped me in the past but had now been transferred to other departments, and it gave me courage.


─ ─ Although you have to use your throat, you feel refreshed, don't you?

Ishihara: Yes, I felt better for the evening performance, so I am happy about the result.

───How do you feel about the set list of the live performance?

Ishihara The title of the concert is "MAKE SMILE," so our starting point was to make a set list that was different from the ones we have done in the past, and that would cover a wide range of old and new songs. Naturally, we included the new songs from "Water Drop" and the singles released after the album, but we all discussed which songs to include and in what order.

─ I think there were some songs that you felt that this position was the only one for this song.

Ishihara The first song "Face to Face" and the last song "Page Flip" were the first and last songs in the live performance, respectively. They were the top and last songs on the album "Water Drop," and especially "Page Flip" was written with the assumption that it would be sung last at the live performance, so its position was decided from the beginning. But I wondered what to do with the majority of the inside sandwiched between the two songs.

─ So you had a lot of freedom in your song selection, but you thought about it in various ways.

Ishihara: Normally, I would start with a block of refreshing songs and move on to a block of cute songs, but recently there have been more and more energetic songs, so I made the set list for the middle part of the show with that in mind. We would place the cute songs in the second half of the refreshing songs, and then move on to the energetic songs after the MC.

───The "Phoebe Phoebe," "Popera Holica," and "You & I" in a row are the blocks of energetic songs, aren't they?

Ishihara Yes. And in the latter half, I discussed with the staff at length about when to include a ballad. We also changed the order of the dance songs so that the audience would feel freshness.

─ I understand that the set list broke the conventional theory and challenged something new.

Ishihara: We discussed the setlist together, trying to change the flow as much as possible. We worked so hard on the setlist that I realized how difficult it was to decide on the setlist.


───The interlude video "For Your Smile" will be divided into two parts, one before and one after the show, so that was also an important point to consider.

Ishihara: Unlike in the past, this time the story was connected in both parts, so I had a different feeling when placing it. We simulated many times whether we should have a connected song after the video or a song with a completely different worldview to change the flow. The setlist meeting for this concert was really impressive and memorable.