Suga Shikao JAPAN-UK circuit at London ICA

author: polina

© 2009 Office Augusta / Photo by Noriko Maegawa

The popular funk singer Suga Shikao played a sold-out live in London as a part of his JAPAN-UK circuit tour. The cozy hall of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London was filled with both Japanese and British fans waiting impatiently for the unique occasion to experience the pop star’s show up close.

The live started promptly, and as the band members started coming up onto the stage, the fans screamed their names and clapped. Suga Shikao, looking smart in his signature sunglasses, appeared on stage last holding a guitar, greeting the fans in Japanese, “We'll rock this house tonight!” and adding “Are you ready?” in English. As the live kicked off with the popular hit 19 Sai, the song in its live adaptation sounding more energetic, the hall immediately heated up with enthusiastic fans clapping their hands and dancing.

A much older song, Story, followed, and the audience clapped rhythmically to the beat. The fans cheered as the set continued with the fresh melodies of Seigi no mikata. As the guitarist played a catchy solo, Shikao walked around the stage playfully interacting with his band mates, and the bassist encouraged the fans to clap and sing along to the song, which they did readily. Shikao thanked the audience and continued the live with one of his earliest hits, Ougon no tsuki, a slower tune in which his soft voice, with a pleasant hoarseness that makes it distinguished, enchanted the audience. Another slow and moving song, Yudachi, followed as the audience listened in eager silence.

In an MC Shikao greeted the audience with a smile. He said that this was his first show in London and took out a copy of the Metro newspaper with an article announcing his live, saying how happy he was about it. He started reading the article with a fine accent but laughed and said that it was too hard and that everyone should get a copy themselves. He then asked the audience to dance along because following were more “club style” songs. LOVELESS started with an electronic introduction, and having taken off his guitar, Shikao danced as the fans clapped their hands to the heavy beat. The next song, 13 Kai no elevator from the latest album, started with more electronic effects produced by the bassist on DJ equipment. The upbeat, catchy melodies of the energetic song had the fans jumping and waving their hands. A gradual transition into the slower Aozora brought the pace of the live down.

As band members left the stage and the lights dimmed, the hall sunk in darkness save for one bright spot on the stage where Suga Shikao remained with an acoustic guitar. As he continued the live alone with the quiet Kimagure, the crowd froze enchanted by the soft and touching melodies, and a smooth transition led into another classic Ai ni tsuite. The band members came out onto the stage once again and the live continued with another slow ballad, Shunkashuutou. The tempo picked up with Asymmetry, which had a more funky touch to it in the live arrangement, and fans once again clapped along to the beat.

Next Shikao introduced the band members – drummer, keyboarder, bassist and guitarist, the latter greeting the crowd in English, “ICA enjoy!” This caused breakouts of laughter. Following the announcement “With these members we present this song to you, here we go!” Party People, the energetic title track of one of the most recent 2009 singles, began. The crowd jumped and clapped, and as the smiling guitarist and bassist came forward with their solos, the fans stretched their arms towards them and cheered. With a heavy bass line transition the set continued onto the title track of the latest album. No member of the audience could keep themselves from dancing to the catchy beat of FUNKAHOLiC, and as Suga Shikao himself came to the edge of the stage with a solo, the excited fans reached towards him.

Next the song Oretachi Funk Fire heated up the crowd, the fans singing “Hey, Funk Fire!” along with all of the band members. Starting with the very energetic drummer, who sang and played a solo, the band members took their turns playing solos on their instruments and cheering the crowd on, making different parts of the live house sing the lyrics in turn. Shikao joked that the British fans probably could not understand that all the lyrics in this song are actually in English and asked the Japanese fans to tell the Brits around them about it. Continuing the song, the band interacted with the audience and made them clap their hands with the drum beat, asking how many times they wanted to clap and fulfilling their wishes for up to 40 claps. As the song ended the whole hall was excited, smiling and in the highest spirits.

Continuing onto the positive melodies of Kiseki, the fans jumped to the upbeat melodies, as Shikao went from one side of the stage to another firing them on. As he tried to stand on a speaker while playing his guitar, the guitarist had to support him from behind to prevent him from falling, a cute episode that caused some laughter both on stage and in the audience. The set finished with the slower groove Thank you, at the end of which the hyper drummer screamed “Hey baby!” As he once again started an incredibly speedy, powerful and skillful solo, the other members pointed at him, cheering and laughing. Smiling widely, Suga Shikao and his band left the stage to the fans’ cheering.

Immediately calling for an encore, the masses started clapping their hands, stamping their feet and screaming for “Shikao-chan”, and quite soon the band reappeared on stage wearing tour T-shirts. Suga Shikao greeted the audience and the band started the encore with the slow paced and calm Progress, a guitar solo ending the song. Shikao then thanked the fans for coming to the live and said he hoped they enjoyed the live as he and the band had a great time. “We will be back soon!” he announced in English, and in Japanese added, “Keep us company for a little longer tonight”, continuing the encore with an older song Doki doki shichau in a groovy arrangement. Shikao’s voice sounded especially sensual and soft in the upbeat and flowing melodies of the song.

The highlight of the live was the concluding song, the energetic and positive dance tune Gogo no parade, during which the fans united doing the song's hand choreography. The band waved to the crowd and left the stage, and the audience continued screaming for an encore for several minutes until they were repeatedly told to stop by the stage workers.

The London show was a great success and a big enjoyment for those lucky fans who had the chance to see it. The variety of the songs in the set list, the interesting live arrangements, the musical skill and entertaining performance of the band, and of course the fascinating stage presence and the mesmerizing voice of Suga Shikao made it a show not to be forgotten.


Set List

M1 19 Sai
M2 Story
M3 Seigi No Mikata
M4　Ougon No Tsuki
M5 Yudachi

M6 LOVELESS
M7 13 Kai No Elevator
M8 Aozora

M9 Kimagure (Solo)
M10 Ai Ni Tsuite (Solo)

M11 Shunkashuto
M12 Asymmetry
M13 (member introduction -) Party People
M14 FUNKAHOLiC
M15 Oretachi Funk Fire
M16 Kiseki

M17 Thank you

Encore
M18 progress
M19 Doki Doki Shichau
M20 Gogo No Parade