fhána 5th Anniversary SPECIAL LIVE STORIES" Live Report: From this place where we arrived to the continuation of the story

The live concert "fhána 5th Anniversary SPECIAL LIVE STORIES" was held on January 27, 2019 at Nakano Sun-plaza Hall to celebrate the 5th anniversary of fhána's debut. The following is a report of the three-part event, along with the setlists for each part.

First ACT - Presenting the current form of the best songs

＜First ACT
01. calling
02. wonder stella
03. tiny lamp
Hello!
05. moon river
06. comet lucifer ~The Seed and the Sower
MC
07. kesera sera
08. Someday, Somewhere in Time, Somewhere Between You and the World
09. niji wo nori wo knit
MC 10.
10. my uncompleted story
11. aozora no rhapsody
12. divine intervention
13. stardust interlude
MC 14.
14. stories

The lights were turned off and the opening video started to play at the exact time when the show was scheduled to start. It was the same scene as the artwork and teaser video of the best album "STORIES". The road to the destination is bleak and uncertain, leading to somewhere and everywhere. The path is followed by fhána.
The video leads us to the screen, where the words "First ACT" appear.

This "First ACT" was a block of songs from their best album "STORIES.
However, it was not a "live reproduction of the album. The songs were recorded in the chronological order of the album, but the order of the songs for this live performance was the one that was used for this live performance, and the songs were performed by the fhána of the present time, with the sound of the present time.
The best album summed up fhána up to yesterday, and this first act, while performing the same songs, strongly showed the fhána of today.

The opening song "calling," which featured a big groove with the band sound on top of a finely chopped programming beat, was a heady reminder of fhána's strength as a live band. In the outro, yuxuki waga's aggressive guitar, which made full use of feedback and spatial effects, was joined by Junichi Sato's piano, further increasing the heat of the song. These two are simply cool as players of guitar and piano, respectively.

After "Wonder Stella," there were many scenes of kevin mitsunaga strumming the glockenspiel, a small steel zither, alongside a mini keyboard/controller. Sometimes it was just a momentary single phrase, but the delivery of that impressive single phrase in live sound was of great significance on the live stage. In between these performances and maneuvers, Mr. Kevyn's activities as a multi-instrumentalist and multi-performer were also essential to fhána's live performances, as he would take action to enliven the audience.

Mr. Sato also played guitar on "Moon River" and "Comet Lucifer: The Seed and the Sower," and while the Mosulite played by Mr. Yuxuki is a powerful single-coil model, Mr. Sato's guitar has a sharp tone for a humbucker. The Telecaster Deluxe was selected. The guitar combination was presented with the sound of each guitar, which overlapped each other nicely while making the most of the charm of each guitar. The audience responded with loud cheers to yuxuki's guitar solo, which was one of the most exciting moments of the first half of the show.

And then, towana-san. The audience was surprised at her stability as a vocalist who never ran out of breath even after going through the high spurt of "Comet Lucifer: The Seed and the Sower," which was a mix of quietly intense songs such as "calling" and "Moon River" and up-tempo songs with high tones. The stability of the vocalist is astonishing.
What is even more impressive is the fact that the songs are musically thrilling as well as stable. While technically stable, her expression is thrilling. This is common to the other members' performances, but it was especially impressive to see them embody this in their vocals, a particularly physical part of their performance.
The band performed in a spacious hall, and the far-reaching nature of their voices, which could penetrate to any distance, was also outstanding.

The first part of the show was quite aggressive, but after Sato's MC, "Today will be a long journey," the flow of "Kesera-sera," "Soreka no, kita kita to no sekai," and "Niji wo naitomarete" was a bit calmer. Perhaps because of this, the lyrics of the songs reached me particularly strongly.

I don't know what the future holds
　But I believe the miracle that exists here and now belongs to me.
Like the magic we dreamed of
　I found a clear and sunny view
　On a fragile map
"Let's go and see where the story continues
　♪ The story continues into the future ♪
"If we could weave our rainbow from this place we've arrived

Now," "future," "map," and "story" are keywords that appear repeatedly in fhána's lyrics. These words reverberated with various meanings at this 5th anniversary live. I am sure there were more than a few fans who were so moved by the words.

After a short MC, the first act finally came to an end with "Watashi no tame no monogatari -My Uncompleted Story-.

The killer tune "Aozora no Rhapsody" was played by towana-san and kevin-san, who moved to the left and right of the stage to encourage the audience, and Sato-san's piano, yuxuki-san's guitar, and the rhythm section played a chic beat. and then "chu chu yeah!
Please me!
and the audience was left breathless and without you!

The excitement of the audience was followed by "Divine Intervention," which was followed by "Hoshikuzu no Interlude," and the audience cheered loudly as soon as the intro was played.
The curtain fell on the first act with "STORIES," which was performed after towana's words, "Please listen to our newest song next.

After the credits, the screen showed "The story goes on..." and "The story goes on...",
The story goes on..." was left on the screen.
The story goes on..." was left on the screen after a short pause,
After a short pause, the curtain opened on the "Second ACT.
The curtain opened on "Second ACT" after a few moments.

Second ACT - A beautiful scene only possible at a live performance

＜Second ACT＞ 15.
The Color to Gray World
What a Wonderful World Line
17. present location
18. little secret magic
19. do you realize?
20. relief
21. on a winter day with dancing light
22. outside of melancholy
23. white light

From this point on, the setlist was inevitably centered on coupling songs and album songs that were not included in the best of album. The setlist included songs that are rarely performed live, and many fans said "I wish I could have heard this! I'm sure there were many songs that stuck out to each fan.

The opening song was a slow and relaxed song, which seemed to soak in the audience, and then the twin-guitar performance continued with the intense song "Present Place".
The moment the intro to "Relief" began to play, the audience cheered loudly and clapped in unison. The guitar cutting with a light edge, which also utilized spatial effects to build the rhythm, was impressive throughout the song. Also on this song, Mr. Sato moved to the other keyboard for the first time that day. He battled with the guitar with his roaring synth sounds.

Hikari wo Mauu Fuyu no Hi ni" (On a Winter's Day with Light Dancing) was personally one of the more memorable songs of the night. The chorus and other parts of the song were in 5/4 time, and when towana waved her hand as if she were waving a plectrum, some of the audience waved their hands along with her. This helped to create a stronger sense of unity despite the complicated beat structure of the song, which could have been confusing to the audience. The band and the fans created a beautiful spectacle that only a live performance can provide.

The second act was "Outside of Melancholy," in which towana took a deep breath during the intro and outro and sang "thousands of times looped over and over again, here and now," and Sato played a looped piano phrase on top of it, creating heat and silence. The curtain closed with "White light," in which Sato created heat and silence by looping piano phrases and playing over them.

On the screen
Next to the Last Story..." was left on the screen.
The audience clapped their hands and the words "Next to the Last Story..." were left on the screen.
The audience clapped their hands and it changed to "Last ACT.
The audience clapped their hands, and the song moved on to the "Last ACT".

Last ACT ~With all of fhána's love

＜Last ACT
World Atlas
25. cipher
MC
26. kotonoha breakdown

Following the title track "World Atlas" from their 3rd album, the last two songs were "Cipher", which was originally composed as a vocaloid song before fhána was formed, and "kotonoha breakdown", which was recorded on a self-produced album before their debut, like "Hikari Maiu Fuyu no Hi". breakdown", both songs were selected from a place far back in time.

However, as I mentioned at the beginning, I feel that these songs were not a nostalgic look back to the days of old.
I believe that they were chosen to express this special night with all the fhána from that day to today, and to "deliver the songs of that day as the fhána of today".
And.
Our story goes on..."
The message left on the screen at the end was what they wanted to convey the most. It was a night that made me think so.

Set List

＜Second ACT
15. the Color to Gray World
16. What a Wonderful World Line
17. present location
18. little secret magic
19. do you realize?
20. relief
21. on a winter day with dancing light
22. outsdide of melancholy
23. white light

＜Last ACT
24. world Atlas
25. cipher
MC
26. kotonoha breakdown

(Interview and text by Atsushi Takahashi)

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