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Detailed report of Kalafina“Harmony”～Premium LIVE vol.1～ in Osaka

I found a lovely and super detailed live report of this event and thought I’d translate it for all of you. I am sure everyone is curious about their special premium live, I for one, was dying to find out more about it and boy was it amazing. It’s really unfortunate that I couldn’t make it to this particular event even though I am a fan club member now and I could have easily gotten tickets. It’s mostly because I only recently started my job and I couldn’t possibly get this many days off. *sighs* Oh well, this was Vol.1 so there is gonna be a Vol.2 and I will be doing everything within my power to attend that.

Edit: I forgot to mention that this is a report for the first performance of the evenung. As you may know, Kalafina held two consecutive perfrformances that night. The chosen summer song was different in the second performance!

Without further ado, let’s start with the report 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

The whole live lasted about an hour and a half. When you arrived two people led you to your table and you were served a special drink called “Alleluia” (you could choose between alcoholic and non-alcoholic). For food they later served roast beef with French fries and bruschetta, according to fans, the portion sizes were pretty big.

Right from the start all you could see on stage was the grand piano (since it would only be Sakurada and the girls).

Apparently they wore the outfits which they also wore for their Harmony Magazine photo shoot (see the picture on top of this post!). Edit: Turns out they wore different outfits. The person who wrote the report wasn’t too sure about the dresses

Sakurada and the girls came on stage on time and started with 『Hyakka Ryouran』 which sounded even more dramatic with the new arrangement.

During the following MC the girls asked if the food tasted good and that they themselves haven’t eaten yet but they will surely try it afterwards. Keiko also said that it has been a long time since they last performed before so few people (there were around 300 people at the Billboard Live).

Hikaru introduced the next song as being very nostalgic but for this special occasion they wanted to sing it.

『sapphire』 has definitely the perfect arrangement for a live like this. Next up was 『red moon』. The girls were very nervous about this since the song had to be changed quite a lot to fit the atmosphere of a Billboard Live. The “dark fantasy” theme had to be arranged in a simple manner for the piano accompaniment and they had to put a lot more effort into their vocals. According to fans it was an awesome performance that was still incredibly epic even though it was such a simple arrangement.

Then Keiko went on to talk about how it is still very warm in Osaka even though it’s already September and summer is officially over. During this live they wanna create one last precious memory of summer. [This part is slightly different to what I wrote yesterday. Apparently only one fan got to choose the summer song they would be singing, I thought the entire audience got to pick it.] Anyways, this is how it happened => Keiko was like, “You see the number on your desk, right? Try to feel around below your desk right where that number is! Is there someone who has an envelope sticking to the table?” (That person raised their hand) Keiko: ”Please open it. It’s a love letter *laughs*” [LOL at Keiko kidding around.] Hikaru then explained that there were three summer themed songs written on the paper => Yane no Mukou ni, Natsu no Ringo, Natsu no Asa. The fan got to choose between those three and decided on 『Yane no Mukou ni』. [Good choice!! Although I would have had a hard time choosing between Yane no Mukou ni and Natsu no Ringo. I do like Natsu no Asa but it’s nowhere near as precious to me as the other two] During the second performance of the evening, the lucky fan chose 『Natsu no Ringo』.

Next up was 『Musunde Hiraku』 which was a very bright and “sparkling“ performance according to the live report. 『monochrome』 was apparently one of their BEST and sexiest performances of the evening. The arrangement was very jazz-y and there was a lot of HiKei skinship.

After the next MC it was time for Wakana’s solo. A chair and a table were put on stage for Wakana. Wakana said they thought a lot about what they could do for this special premium live. They decided to include some solo performances. She said it was their first time ever performing solo at a Kalafina live so she was super nervous. Wakana then went on to explain, “We debuted with our single 『oblivious』 which was made for the anime 「Kara no Kyoukai」. There were three songs on that single and then our next release was a single called 『re/oblivious』 which included remixed versions of the songs from our previous single, among them was a song called 『Kimi ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku～acoustic version』. It’s been 9 ½ years since that release, maybe there are even people here who don’t know of the existence of that song. I have decided to pick this song for my solo performance. Back then when the single was released I couldn’t have imagined such things at all *laughs* Being able to stand here in front of you at a Billboard Live, holding fan club events, that’s why I would like to sing this song right now together with Sakurada-san.”

Seems like Wakana’s performance was mind-blowing. There’s nothing but praise for her vocals and people were crying like little babies.

[*crazy sobbing* Why wasn’t I there for this???? T_T]

After another MC it was Hikaru’s turn for her solo performance. She says she had to pick 『ARIA』 because it was the first song she sang working together with Kajiura Yuki so it has a special place in her heart. That’s when Hikaru started being very open and honest about her voice. She is aware that her voice from back then is probably not coming back but for her it doesn’t matter because in these past nine years she has experienced so much happiness, her voice has gone through so many changes, it’s inevitable that her voice would be different. The 『ARIA』 which she is going to sing now is the one she can convey with her current abilities. Fans were very relieved that Hikaru seemed to be taking it all in stride, that she confidently announced she would be singing the song with her current singing voice. This was another tear-inducing and touching performance, fans were very impressed.

[Wish I had been there for this as well!! *sobs* To see Hikaru be this frank and honest makes me want to cuddle her. I am glad she is this confident and doesn’t let the awful criticism get to her.]

In the MC that followed Hikaru explained that for the first time it really felt like she was singing an “aria” (since the literal meaning of “aria” is “vocal solo”). Before, she was always singing it with the other two members on stage but today she was all by herself, she truly felt a sense of loneliness.

Keiko’s turn, “My first time working together with both Wakana and Hikaru was during 「Kara no Kyoukai」 but my first time working together with Kajiura Yuki-san was when I sang 『Kaze no Machi e』 as FictionJunctionKEIKO.” Seems like this performance sounded completely different from previous performances as well as the studio performance. Keiko’s singing was a lot more expressive and the song generally felt like it had a lot more depth to it. Keiko’s voice was quite intoxicating.

[I wanna kill myself for not seeing this performance! Ughhhh! I can totally imagine how it must have sounded. I can never get enough of Keiko’s more expressive singing like in their Winter Acoustic version of Alleluia or most recently in Tombo]

In the following MC Keiko explains, “I know of course that this isn’t a Kalafina song and even though this is a Kalafina Fan Club event I decided to sing 『Kaze no Machi e』. I even discussed this with Kajiura-san and she told me that no matter when or where I wanted to sing this, it would make her very happy. For me there’s a lot of sadness and sorrow associated with this song so I was worried whether or not I should sing it during the event but then Kajiura-san told me if singing makes me feel sadness then that’s not a bad thing, it’s an honest feeling and that’s what singing is about. When singing as a member of Kalafina, it is hard to just be »myself« since we all have our assigned parts but today I wanna become »myself« and I want to sing this song for all of »you«.”

After this they all returned to the stage and talked a little about their impressions regarding their solo lives. They found it really fascinating to watch each other from the back. They ended their show with an encore block. First they sang 『oblivious』 which had a very fresh arrangement with a cappella parts. Next up were 『interlude』 and 『sprinter』. I guess 『sprinter』 was probably a lot like their Arena Live performance. Fans were once again reduced to tears. There was another HiKei moment at the end of the song when they looked at each other and a lot of emotions got conveyed between them.

Last but not least, 『Alleluia』. For most fans it was the perfect song to end this premium live. To celebrate that final song, they decided to name their special cocktail “Alleluia“.

[Keiko mentioned that this was a limited drink for Osaka so I am wondering if the setlist will be different for their Tokyo premium live. I am expecting them to change the final song at least but who knows, maybe the drink itself will be different but it will still be named “Alleluia” so they wouldn’t have to change anything...]

Final note: Non-Japanese fans kept on moaning and complaining about the apparently “horrendous prices” for this event but are you kidding me???!!! Roughly $120/€100 is really NOT a lot for all of this (the intimacy, the exclusivity, the awesome setlist, the special solo performances, the honesty with which the girls shared their feelings and thoughts, a fancy dinner with a fancy cocktail, all of this packed into an almost two-hour long event!!!) They could have charged even more for a ticket and it would still have been a fair price.

Setlist 01.百火撩乱 (Hyakka Ryouran) MC1 02.sapphire 03.red moon MC2 04.屋根の向こうに (Yane no Mukou ni) / 夏の林檎 (Natsu no Ringo) 05.むすんでひらく(Musunde Hiraku) 06.monochrome MC3 07. Wakana Solo 君が光に変えて行く (Kimi Ga Hikari ni Kaete Iku) ～ acoustic ver. MC4 08. Hikaru Solo ARIA MC5 09. Keiko Solo 風の街へ (Kaze no Machi e) MC6 10.oblivious 11.interlude #02 12.sprinter 13.アレルヤ (Alleluia)

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