MORRIE the UNIVERSE “SOLITUDE” Season 7 Episode 60 at YOKOHAMA O-SITE

MORRIE’s SOLITUDE concert series concluded its 7th Season on December 7th, at YOKOHAMA O-SITE.

His new song Burn The Twilight started the show. His voice freely changed back and forth between rich and deep vocals and beautiful falsetto during the performance, while the strumming sounds of his acoustic guitar gently spread like wavelets from the stage. MORRIE further guided fans into the mystery of being on the following new song Kodama. He musically expressed the echoes of dreams within “the Universal Spirit”.

“The more I discover, the more mysterious it becomes”, MORRIE said after he changed to a white electric guitar for the next Killing Me Beautiful. MORRIE magically created the soundscape of the desert, the dry wind and the presence of transcendent beauty. As if he was embodying the wind blowing in the infinite realm, MORRIE flawlessly delivered both powerful and sensitive vocals and guitar work during the performance.

“Currently, I am reexamining my physical conditioning as a performer”, said MORRIE before he played the next song Boukyaku Hakusho. MORRIE mesmerized the audience with the song’s haunting melody. MORRIE, in his mellow voice, sung of amnesia as if he was implying at the ungraspable connection between “the Universal Spirit” and the infinite “I” within “the Universal Spirit” itself.

“I always like the desert, and I wish I could go back to Egypt now”, said MORRIE after the song. He talked about the desert he saw on his way to Abu Simbel temples in Egypt before he played the cover of Calling You, which is a famous theme song of the movie “Bagdad Café”. “I really like the soundscape of the desert this song has. I think the song is timeless”, he said. The stage lights lit the singer like twilight. There, MORRIE’s lyrical guitar sounds and sweet falsetto vividly, and also nostalgically, depicted a desert road and dry wind.

“Is the air conditioning too cold for you?”, said MORRIE casually after the song. He had the staff turn off the air conditioning in the intimate all-seater venue. Later, MORRIE played Disquieting Muse. During the song, his whispering voice echoed from the dark stage and created an otherworldly atmosphere. After the song, MORRIE once again changed to his white electric guitar, and switched on the guitar effector on the floor by his foot. “I feel much better thanks to your prayers. It feels like we had a collaboration. It’s interesting”, he said after the song. Then, MORRIE introduced the cover of Sai Yoshiko’s Haru (Spring). “I don’t think her song is dark, and I like the poesy of her song”, he said. MORRIE drew the soundscape of a field of poppies and the sweet presence of a mysterious force.

Finally, MORRIE closed the show with  Atowa Notonare Yamatonare (After Me The Deluge). Toward the end of the song, MORRIE powerfully delivered his vocals while he held the microphone in both hands, as the sounds from the guitar looped on the effector. During the encore, he played Hikaru Koya (The Shining Wilderness). His masterful articulation from the acoustic guitar and vocals expressed the infinite mystery of what MORRIE describes as “This as it is”.

Set List

01. Burn The Twilight
02. Kodama
03. Kage (Shadow)
04. Killing Me Beautiful
05. Vanishing
06. Boukyaku Hakusho
07. Sleep in The Sky
08. Calling You
09. Chinmoku no Himitsu (Secret of Silence)
10. Disquieting Muse
11. Haru (Spring)
12. Atowa Notonare Yamatonare (After Me The Deluge)

Encore

13. Hikaru Koya (The Shining Wilderness)