Interview] Ayachi's natural performance is cool! Ayana Taketatsu's first live house tour "A" is now available on Blu-ray & DVD!

Ayana Taketatsu LIVE HOUSE TOUR 2019 "A"" was held in June 2019. A Blu-ray & DVD containing the Tokyo performance will be released on November 6, 2019. This was her first live house tour, and the content allows the audience to see "Ayachi" deliver her songs in a straightforward manner with a band she knows very well. We asked her to share her memories of the tour that took her to Osaka, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Saitama, as well as her impressions of the Tokyo concert, which was made into a video!

The live house tour was like a high school baseball game at Koshien!

─ I had a chance to see the video of the Tokyo performance of "A". Of course the performance was wonderful, but I also enjoyed the free MC.

Taketatsu Thank you very much. However, I knew that the Tokyo performance would be filmed, so I tried to keep the MC down. At other venues, such as Hiroshima and Osaka, I said what I wanted to say without restraint (laughs).

(laughs) ─ So you had more freedom at the regional performances. I heard that Hiroshima had the smallest capacity of all the venues.

Taketatsu: The capacity was about 200 people. The stage was small, and the band members were right behind and beside me, so there was very little room to move. The distance between me and the audience was very close.

─ Isn't that exactly the atmosphere you wanted to experience on the "A" live house tour?

Taketatsu That's right. The theme of "A" was to get closer to the audience and give them a sense of temperature, and Hiroshima was probably the best place to achieve that. The band members were worried "What if Ayana doesn't want to perform at a live house anymore? It is true that the backstage was amazing. It smelled of cigarettes, the walls were covered with band signatures, backstage passes were posted, and the world was very rich. I was surprised at first because the room seemed to be filled with the rich extracts of various bands, but I found it refreshing. And since there was only one dressing room, we were all together with the band members, so it was fun to be close to everyone. We played UNO together during breaks.


─ ─ That kind of thing is typical of a band, isn't it?

Taketatsu: During the tour, we had a UNO tournament with a point system. The person who lost the most by the last day of the tour was punished with a mimicry game. In the past, we had separate dressing rooms at each show, so I couldn't visit the band members easily. This tour was like a training camp with everyone, and I wondered what it would be like to be in a band.

─ Are there any other venues that left an impression on you?

Taketatsu: The venue in Nagoya was very club-like and oceanic. There was a big mirror ball on the floor, and it was a sparkling live house. It was very mature (laughs). In Tokyo, there was a family restaurant under the live house, and there was a rule that no jumping was allowed.

─ ─ You mentioned this to the audience during the MC.

Taketatsu: I'm sorry, but it seemed that jumping was prohibited here. I was happy to hear that the audience got really excited, even though they moved modestly.

─ ─ In the MC, you also talked about your thoughts on the live house tour. You said that hall shows with elaborate stage sets, staging, and costumes are good, but you wanted to perform in a more natural way in a live house. Did you feel differently about it compared to live concerts in halls?

Taketatsu: It was totally different. In the past, I have often used costumes and interludes to show cuteness, and since I myself love cute things, I was able to be in a wonderful worldview. But this time, when I was allowed to do the live house tour, I thought that in this place, I might be able to make my nose run (laughs).

─ ─ What do you mean? (laughs).

Taketatsu: I felt that it would be a place where I would be allowed to express my human nature to the point of being muddy, and I thought that would suit my personality better. I felt that a live music club was like a high school baseball game at Koshien, where you get covered in sweat and dirt. The heat from the audience, the band, and myself all mingled together, and I felt that it was almost like playing a game. When I put my passionate spirit into everyone, they returned it, and the atmosphere of everyone giving their all was really pleasant, and I was able to work up a refreshing sweat (laughs).


(laughs) ─ You mean you felt like you were playing sports?

Taketatsu: I'm not good at sports, but after the game was over, there was a refreshing feeling similar to the exchange of "you did great" and "you did too".

─ ─ It is a place where you can just sing and perform straight to the audience.

Taketatsu: Since there was no choreography or direction at all in the live performance, I felt that I could not deceive myself. If I was backward or even a little hesitant, the audience would immediately sense it, and I wanted to go into the show with the mindset of always putting everything I had into the performance. I wanted to go on stage without trying to be cute or cool, but just to show my true self as I am now.

─ I think I looked very natural when I was singing and talking.

Taketatsu: This time, only the Tokyo performance was filmed, but I think the way I sang and the rhythm of my voice would have been different at each venue. For example, we sang "HIKARI" with only Shuntaro's keyboard playing for the first verse, so it felt like the two of us were breathing together, and I think we were able to deliver a different "HIKARI" for each venue.