Hirai Ken owns BB King's - and the hearts of his fans in America - with a memorable performance in New York City on August 26.
Upon entering the BB King’s Blues Club on West 42nd Street, guests were quickly taken away from the frenetic lights and hustle and bustle of New York City’s evening rush hour into the dimly lit and underground lounge where Ken Hirai would be performing for the evening. The room was packed with guests young and old, their conversations and laughter becoming a cheery hum as they dined, drank and mingled while waiting for the concert to begin. The earthy wood panelings and the red décor of the venue offered an air of old luxury, warmth and intimacy, a perfect setting for Ken Hirai’s smooth R&B-inspired ballads.
As the start time drew near and the stage crew made final touches to the set on stage, the hum softened to quiet murmurs; nonetheless, the excitement could be felt in the air. A piano track signaled the start of the concert and the room exploded into cheers and applause that increased tenfold when Ken Hirai strode out in a dapper black tuxedo, leopard print tie and newly blond hair. To start off the concert, he sang a cover of New York State of Mind that would have made Billy Joel proud.
After he finished the first song, he gave the first MC of the night, speaking in Japanese as the majority of the fans who came were Japanese. Upon spotting an American fan, he apologized for not speaking in English but hoped that they would be able to feel the emotion in his songs. Nonetheless, he mixed bits of English into the MC, including a bemused “Only in New York” after telling the audience about an awkward situation he ran into in a dark bathroom. Throughout the night, Ken Hirai recalled anecdotes of his experiences in New York City between songs, from a terrifying taxi ride with a high taxi driver to getting booed at in his first performance at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem to the massive blackout that occurred when he was recording Ken’s Bar.
His acoustic guitarist joined him to perform Omoi ga kasanaru sonomae ni… and One Love Wonderful World. The latter was especially upbeat and everyone in the audience clapped along to the beat, enhancing both the song’s cheerful mood and positive message. Next, he was joined by his pianist to perform another English song, Moon River, which led into three more touching ballads. Hitomi wo tojite was especially touching and everyone listened with soft expressions and eyes gleaming with emotion.
Following the intermission, the show continued on and for the second half, his drummer and bassist joined to play. Ken Hirai changed his outfit as well, donning a more casual but stylish ensemble of jeans and an open blue button-down over a white tank top. The crowd went wild for his performances of his poppy songs, like an excellent acoustic arrangement of CANDY, as well as POP STAR and KISS OF LIFE. One woman could even be seen doing all of the POP STAR dance moves during the performance!
The second half of the show also included two more covers of favorite American ballads: Stevie Wonder’s LATELY and Norah Jones’s Don’t Know Why. The wistful, romantic moods of the two songs, as well as his most recent single Boku wa kimi no koi suru, felt right at home in the intimate venue. To finish the show, Ken Hirai performed Love Love Love, which had the audience singing and clapping along.
To make the night even more memorable for the fans that had come to the show, Ken Hirai made one more special performance for the encore: a solo performance of even if on the piano.
Despite admitting that he was quite nervous for the performance and in awe of the fact that he was actually performing on the stage of BB King’s rather than being just an audience member like he once was, Ken Hirai was charismatic and engaged from start to finish. The live was enjoyable not only because of the music, but also the humorous and down-to-earth MC’s. For Hirai’s fans, this will be a night to never forget, and he will surely be welcomed back to New York City with open arms for future performances.
Set list:
01) New York State Of Mind
02) Omoiga kasanaru sonomae ni…
03) One Love Wonderful World
04) Moon River
05) Kimi no Sukinatoko
06) Hitomi wo tojite
07) LIFE is…
- Intermission –
08) POP STAR
09) CANDY
10) LATELY
11) Don’t Know Why
12) Kiss Of Life
13) Bokuwa kimini koiwo suru
14) Love Love Love
- Encore –
15) even if
