T.M.Revolution gathered various famous artists in his home prefecture for the fifth annual Inazuma Rock Festival.
Inazuma Rock Festival, or Inazuma Rock Fes, is an annual music festival held under the auspices of T.M.Revolution (Takanori Nishikawa) with full support from his homeland, Shiga Prefecture. Inaugurated as the Sightseeing Ambassador of Shiga Prefecture, he launched this large event with the wish of being able to do something for his homeland through music.
The fifth annual Inazuma Rock Fes was held on the open lawn of Karasuma Peninsula in Shiga Prefecture on the 21st and 22nd of September. About 50,000 people attended, making this year’s event the largest two-day attendance recorded within the past four years. The 2013 edition of this festival featured an admission-charged “Live Area” and an admission-free “Free Area”. In the Live Area, you could watch live concerts and performances by different artists and comedians, respectively, and in the Free Area, auditions and other live concerts were held among various food booths. In addition, before live performances started, onstage alternated different DJs from radio stations around Shiga Prefecture, turning up the heat in the festival atmosphere.
The performing artists for the first day were Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku,T.M.Revolution, PUFFY, GRANRODEO, SCANDAL, Sonar Pocket, and UVERworld. After opening act Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku, Kusatsu City Mayor Wataru Hashikawa led the opening ceremony for Inazuma Rock Fes 2013. The first performer up next was T.M.Revolution.
T.M.Revolution appeared in black-and-white stripes and a hound’s tooth-patterned costume and started his performance with the song HIGH PRESSURE. He called out to the audience, saying, "Let’s make this event the best one of 2013 here in Shiga!" He then sang HOT LIMIT and the song for Lotte’s gum commercial, Summer Blizzard, which he performed for the first time, exciting his fans.
In T.M.Revolution’s MC, he thanked the audience for coming out and making history with this year’s attendance. "No special skills are needed. Just keep on attacking!! " He then performed his new song, Count ZERO, the opening theme for the Playstation 3 game "Sengoku BASARA 4", and the songs of “Sengoku BASARA” back-to-back enthusiastically: crosswise, Naked arms and SWORD SUMMIT. "Now the Fireworks are lit. All you need to do now is to shoot and bring grace to it!!"
Afterwards, PUFFY went up on the stage wearing a T-shirt with “Overthrow T.M.R." handwritten on it. The duo sang their hit songs, Aino Shirushi, Koega Watashino Ikirumichi, Asia No Shinju and more. GRANRODEO, a unit composed of voice actor KISHOW and creator E-ZUKA, then performed their anime-featured theme songs, such as ROSE HIP-BULLET. SCANDAL and Sonar Pocket followed, both returning from last year.
The final performer of the first day was UVERworld. Hailing from Kusatsu, Shiga Prefecture, they have not appeared back in three years but overwhelmed the audience with their performance. After UVERworld’s performance, a beautiful fireworks display decorated the night sky and indicated the end of the first day of Inazuma Rock Fes.
The performing artists of the second day were Cyclamen, BABYMETAL, HOME MADE KAZOKU, UNISON SQUARE GARDEN, WORLD ORDER, UVERworld, T.M.Revolution and special guest Nana Mizuki. While the crisp blue sky spread out for the second day, Cyclamen appeared on the stage as the opening act. After their performance, Shiga Prefecture Governor Yukiko Kada spoke: "Congratulations on the celebration of this memorable fifth Inazuma Rock Fes. Let's tell this wonderful news not only to Japan but also to people around the world!" As the speech ended, the second day of Inazuma Rock Festival started.
The first performer was BABYMETAL, a three-girl metal-dance group, and the second was HOME MADE KAZOKU, who also made an outstanding performance. Third up was UNISON SQUARE GARDEN, who was the opening act of Inazuma Rock Fes 2009. Then WORLD ORDER appeared onstage wearing suits and glasses, surprising and stunning the audience with their performance.
UVERworld, who performed on the last stage of the first day, appeared again for the second time and rocked the stage and audience. As they finished their last song, they passed the stage to T.M.Revolution, who performed the final stage of Inazuma Rock Fes 2013. Along with loud cheering from the audience, T.M.Revolution appeared wearing a black yukata and started his performance with his new song, Count ZERO, and continued with Aoi Hekireki, LEVEL 4, Albireo, SHAKIN' LOVE, FLAGS, WHITE BREATH, and finally HEART OF SWORD ～Yoake mae～, where he and the audience sang together in chorus.
As soon as T.M.Revolution went backstage, the audience shouted for an encore. Hearing the call, the artist went back onstage saying, "I, the Sightseeing Ambassador of Shiga Prefecture call the presence of the Sightseeing Ambassador of Ehime Prefecture", which is special guest Nana Mizuki.
They sang their collaboration song, Preserved Roses, which was released last May, and their new song, Kakumei Dualism, which is used as the opening theme for the anime "Valvrave the Liberator". Then MICRO of HOME MADE KAZOKU joined the two onstage to perform a special version of Lakers just for this day’s audience as the finale to Inazuma Rock Fes 2013.
"See you again", T.M.Revolution said, declaring that there will be a Inazuma Rock Fes 2014. Large fireworks were then launched from the shore of Lake Biwa, ending the celebration of Inazuma Rock Fes 2013.
