Plastic Tree brightened up a gloomy spring day.
Even though it was a wet grey day in Shibuya, the fans of Plastic Tree were undaunted. Toting umbrellas and stepping over puddles, they came streaming into the hall the moment the doors opened. As the lights went down, the crowd rose expectantly to their feet. Blue lights flooded a stage shrouded in fog, and the band quietly slipped onto the stage. Though they were only shadowy outlines against the mist, everyone recognized Ryutaro’s distinctive silhouette and screamed loudly for him when he came onstage.
Without further ado, the band started off with 1999. The slow, deep song quickly became a riot of sound, and the fans faithfully raised their hands to this opening. During Fukurou, the lyrics of the song flashed across the screen at the back of the stage like words being typed. The effect was extremely mesmerizing, and the audience could follow along as Ryutaro’s powerful voice spun out the lyrics. Tadashi and Akira both played with their heads bowed in concentration.
As the song ended, Tadashi gave a cute bow, prompting the fans to scream his name. In a short MC, Ryutaro commented on the rainy weather – and left it at that! The audience then begged Tadashi to speak, and he obliged by saying Ryutaro finished the MC too quickly, making everyone laugh. Then the band played Sanatorium, and the beautiful ballad was accompanied by swirls of fog falling from the ceiling. It created a misty dreamscape that lingered into the start of et cetera, which began with Akira playing the intro while bathed in golden light.
Seiza zukuri shifted the mood to hot and heavy as everyone began waving and jumping to the fast beat. Ryutaro got the crowd to yell loudly and led the way into Melt. While the audience headbanged, Ryutaro spun in circles and then stumbled about the stage like he was drunk off the song. Akira finished Melt with a ripping solo that ended almost abruptly, and in the deafening silence that followed, Makka na ito slipped in.
After sunset bloody sunset, Tadashi held an impromptu MC and basically roared at the crowd. The audience screamed back at him with just as much gusto, and Ryutaro egged them on by holding the mic to the fans. Energized, the band began Gagaji. Strange men in robes with cardboard boxes for heads wandered out onto the stage and threw paper at the audience. Tadashi and Akira finally came to the edge of the stage, and the delighted fans shook the floor with their jumping. When the song ended, the strange men left the stage, and Ryutaro asked if they were scary. The crowd responded yes, and this led into the next song, Kaibutsu-kun. In between hard headbanging, the audience chanted the refrain on Ryutaro’s cue.
For Donna Donna, Ryutaro exchanged his electric guitar for an acoustic one and took center stage. While the screen in the back showed a black and white video of an empty street, Ryutaro sang the melancholy song, with KenKen occasionally providing some background. A single lightbulb hovered over Ryutaro’s head, giving the lonely impression of him waiting under a streetlamp.
The transition to Anten was flawless as KenKen played the intro on his cymbals. The drawn out opening took everyone deep into Plastic Tree’s world, and as the glittering mirror balls flashed, it was as if the hall had become a contained universe of sound and light. The song ended with KenKen playing a brief solo to blaring sirens. Then, before the audience could recover from the incredible noise, the band quietly left the stage. Once the fans realized the band was gone, they immediately began an encore chant.
The band returned quickly, wearing their tour shirts and waving impishly at the crowd. KenKen finally took his turn at the mic and began with a cute C.C. Lemon chant with accompanying arm gestures. He then rambled on awkwardly for a bit, which the rest of the band teased him about. The other members also took turns to speak during the MC, and then Ryutaro announced the next song, Tsumetai hikari, would be a farewell to winter.
Akira changed the dreamy atmosphere in the venue as he got the audience to yell louder and louder before the band played Melancholic. Everyone pumped their fists in the air to the fast, wild rhythm and headbanged all the way through. With the mood still high, red lights began to flash and the familiar strains of hate.red, dip.it rang through the hall. Tadashi jumped energetically while Ryutaro did the call and response with the crowd.
As the song drew to a close, the band prepared to leave the stage, with Tadashi going so far as to throw his pick to the fans. However, it seemed that the band didn’t wish for the night to end yet, as they decided to do one more song - Ghost. The screaming guitar got everyone pumped up and rocking out, and Ryutaro gave his all, singing until he was sprawled out on the stage. It was a riot of noise right up to the end, leaving everyone deeply satisfied.
Ryutaro was the last to leave the stage, parting with the words “It was a good live, wasn’t it? Good work, everyone!” After he left, the crowd attempted to start another encore chant, but they quickly quieted down when circus music began to play. The screen on stage showed black and white footage of some trees, and just as everyone began to wonder what was going on, it announced Plastic Tree’s Strange Fruits tour dates in March. It was evident that as the thrilled and excited fans began making their way outside, they were already making plans to see Plastic Tree again.
Set list
1999
Rikashitsu
Fukurou
-MC-
Sanatorium
Et. cetera
Seiza zukuri
Melt
Makka na ito
sunset bloody sunset
-MC-
Gagaji
Kaibutsu-kun
puppet talk
Donna Donna
---Anten.
En01. Tsumetai hikari
En02. Melancholic
En03. hate.red, dip.it
En04. Ghost
