Needless Lyrics Live ~Nagatsuki no kanjou~

Needless Lyrics began their live tour in July, and September 22 was the third monthly live of the tour. From listening to the vocals reverberating around the venue, it was clear that the band takes pride in their songs and that this was going to be an uncommon kind of live. The audience seemed to be larger than last time, and all gave off a feeling of expectation and excitement about what was going to take place. After what seemed to many fans to be a long time, suddenly the stage was filled with blue light and Seiichiro gave the signal to start, after which the lights changed to white and yellow.

Muzuki then appeared on the stage and fans screamed out to him. He was wearing a costume with a tight fitting shirt, and his hair had grown longer from what we were used to seeing in their debut. Fans shouted out, ‘’You are so cool!’’ Mizuki then began singing on the edge of the stage with Seiichirou watching him while he was playing the drums. He played the drums very hard and Daisuke sang powerfully. Yuta, with his bass guitar, gave the necessary support needed to get that great sound that Needless Lyrics is fast becoming well-known for. Seiichirou stood up from playing the drums just before the performance finished, and the whole band finished their first song with a big onstage jump.

Mizuki then addressed the crowd, “Hi! We are Needless Lyrics! Hey! Let the fun begin! What were you looking forward to most? Seiichrou’s smile? Daisuke’s singing? Or my awful MC? (Laugh)” (Mizuki sometimes jokes about his poor talks in his blog.) “Or…this?” Here, he took out a sketchbook. Since they've been doing one-man live concerts, at the beginning of the live they do a "Sketchbook Corner" that makes use of a gadget made by Yuta to write words or sentences. The interesting thing is that Yuta doesn’t read what is written himself, but gets Mizuki to read it, which makes it funny to watch. A big part of the appeal of Needless Lyrics may be that they talk about funny episodes in their performances as well is in their blog. Although other bands may do this too, this group's style of going about it seems to have a unique appeal.

This time the sketchbook showed a story (an episode of the band), and with every page a new part of the story unfolded, evoking laughter from the audience. Too difficult to explain the details here, but very funny. Hopefully they will put it up on their blog for you all too see for yourselves.He finished saying, “Though today’s live has only just started, I’m very glad that everyone’s getting into things. Thank you. Everyone enjoy yourselves and if you can, please, let’s sing together.”

Then moving into the next number, fans, not only those who were standing near the stage but everyone in the whole hall, jumped energetically and sang the lyrics together. Almost all of the fans of Needless Lyrics are women. (Of course, there were a few males.) But the sense of unity in the audience singing and dancing to the rhythm, joining in with the live, was truly impressive.

As the concert moved on, fans moved their whole bodies to the music, and joined hands with their friends, singing with them and having a great time. Mizuki said to the audience, “I started this band in March and came to Tokyo. Then and even now, I often get the impulse to cry but I know that adults shouldn’t. I remember when I gave up music and got a normal job. I often felt the urge to cry. I remember making myself not cry. But now I feel that urge again, this time because I am singing in front of you. So I want to sing this song with this feeling for you. This is Namidagoe.” In this number Mizuki’s eyes were tearful and full of emotion. After the song he said, “Some points I feel like laughing, others I feel like crying. I am so glad to be here on stage. Thank you. All of you.” With that he bowed deeply, and seemed to prove something Yuta had said before: “Mizuki changed Needless Lyrics. For the better.”

Then all of the fans raised their hands and waved them in the air to Kirari. In the lyrics “Egao misete” (show your smile), Mizuki showed us all a big smile. Male fans raised their arms too, and sang moving to the rhythm. In Sharirarirarerra, the fans clapped in time to the music, really getting into the concert. Mizuki was enjoying himself, leaning forward very close to the crowd, singing with them and generally having a great time.

This was followed by another MC from Mizuki: “This is just so much fun! Great! Okay, you guys have to jump higher and clap in the next two songs. Try jumping higher than me!” The fans answered him by jumping up into the air throughout the next two songs, having a great time. “Are you enjoying our concert? I’m having fun! Let’s enjoy ourselves even more!” After their last song, Needless Lyrics told the crowd how thankful they were for such a great audience. Expectedly, fans called for an encore, to which the band were happy to respond to.

Everyone clapped their hands and swung their bodies with the acoustic version of the performance as they were drawn further into the world view of Needless Lyrics. The mood was completely different from the somewhat violent live that had taken place just a few minutes before. The bass was the same, but the tone seemed to change from that of a powerful summer to that of a gentle winter. Between songs they made jokes, and were very natural, not putting on any kind of bravado for the audience. Mizuki even found it hard to sing because he was laughing too much at what his band mates were saying. After he had calmed down Mizuki said, “Please raise your voices, as the next time we meet is about a month away. Let’s make this something to remember.” After the last song finished, the curtain came down with "Nagatsuki no kanjou" (September Sentiment).

Needless Lyrics' music may be difficult for foreign fans to understand because of the Japanese lyrics. However, certainly on a different level we can understand their message through their music and rhythm. You don’t understand what it means, but you do. We look forward to seeing this group play again and hope that they can get overseas to see fans who have been patiently waiting to see their performances on a live stage. Definitely something not to miss.


Set list:

1. Period
-MC-
2. (Untitled new song)
3. Flat
-MC-
4. But I believe...
-SE-
5. Maboroshi
-MC-
6. Namidagoe
-MC-
7. Kirari
-SE-
8. Sharirariraretta.
-MC-
9. Higher ground
10. Misunderstand
-SE-
11. A letter to parents

-Acoustic-
en1. Maboroshi
en2. Sharirariraretta.
en3. Higher ground