Seeing Multidimensional Control Mechanism Yodaka in Ebisu ~Destinations Are Unnecessary~

Multidimensional Control Mechanism Yodaka Solo Concert 'RADIATE' and some thoughts on the after-party.

🔹Ebisu LIQUIDROOM

It had been three months since I last saw a live show.
Hayashing (Naohiro Hayashi), the guitar-vocalist, seemed to have lost some weight, his face looked a bit sharper, and his hair had grown out a little, changing the way his perm looked.
He always has a youthful, 'mischievous student' vibe, but today he looked like a 'composed young man'.

The three previous solo shows I saw in Tokyo were at Shimokitazawa Shelter (capacity: 250), Shimokitazawa Shangri-La (capacity: 600), and Shibuya Club Quattro (capacity: 800).
Today's Ebisu LIQUIDROOM (capacity: 1,000) was a solo show that felt like a new beginning, radiating a clearly different energy than before.

That wasn't just because of the larger capacity.
The reason is that all the previous solo shows felt like an extension of the live performances they had built up until then.

This time, with updated SE, arrangements starting from acoustic guitar, song transitions, and songs performed for the first time showing a new side, it went beyond the previous scope, as if I were seeing a different landscape, like moving from the 3rd dimension to the 5th.
Recently, the title track of the EP, 'Odyssey', was the ace, but in the flow of this day, it was breathing as just one song in the repertoire.
He mentioned in the MC that he 'planned the setlist while taking a 2-hour walk,' and I really understood what he meant.

Hayashing, summarizing by saying, 'I realized that the place I'm aiming for is where you all are, thank you,' even looked like someone who had attained enlightenment.

It was sold out, but in terms of experience, I think it was a 'sold out' that had some breathing room. There were also tickets available at the door.
As an audience member, this size of LIQUIDROOM is ideal. It was a very good solo show in a space where I could fully enjoy it.

🔹Live

・It's okay if you're not fast, go at your own full speed.
The usual entrance SE had been renewed to a sound that emphasized a detailed and shaking 'don-tsuku' rhythm.
As opening BGM, dance-oriented songs like Quruli's 'WORLD'S END SUPERNOVA', Sakanaction's 'Inner World', and m-flo's 'come again' were playing, so there was even a pleasure in feeling like the live show started as an extension of that.

Following the SE, 'Highway Lapis Lazuli' started, so I was caught off guard. I had never heard a song other than 'System All Green' played as the first song.

'It's okay if you're not fast, go at your own full speed.'
This phrase sounded more prominent than usual.
It could also be interpreted as if the dimension had shifted from the position of 'cursing a fate that is a lap behind'.

I felt like I saw a new Yodaka.

・By the time I arrive in the city of Ebisu
'Flying Whale No. 52,' the venue erupted when he changed the lyrics to 'By the time my beloved Flying Whale No. 52 arrives in the city of Ebisu' and playfully mimed gripping the steering wheel.

On this day, he used the white Les Paul he has been using as his main guitar recently, and the red Telecaster that was his previous main.
I saw the Telecaster for the first time in a while during 'Flying Whale' and felt like saying, 'Oh, have you been doing well?'

・New songs
There were two songs I heard for the first time live. The new song 'Stardust Eureka' and 'Rice Wife' included in the major debut EP 'ODYSSEY'. These two songs radiated a strangeness that had never existed before.

The new song had a title call of 'Stardust Eureka'. At first, I thought, 'That's extremely Yodaka-like naming. Like 'Highway Lapis Lazuli' or 'Milky Way Traffic'.

However, both the song style and the development were unlike anything before, and before I knew it, I had been taken to an unknown, enchanting land and was dancing while laughing.

Like 'Heaven', when flashy brass is added, I somehow feel a toughness like in a yakuza movie.
At the after-party event later, Hiroyuki Suzuki said, 'It also has a Latin-like groove.' The bass slap was also intense, and it was certainly a rhythm of the sun.
I also felt a gorgeousness and glamour like Showa-era popular songs or a live band performance on a live broadcast. It's a type of song I like.

It was also impressive that the three of them were playing with such intensity. It looked difficult and rewarding.
The fact that the three of them continued to play 'Space-Time Phantom' without showing any signs of fatigue made me feel a mix of being moved and impressed, thinking, 'Wow, they're so energetic,' and I was drawn into the stage.

An SE played that gave no hint of what song it would lead into, and then it broke into 'Rice Wife', so I felt the pleasure of an unexpected development, thinking, 'Ah, I've been had.'
The irregular waltz-like rhythm was comfortable, and this was also a unique song that wasn't in the conventional lineup.

・Loneliness
From a quiet guitar, it led into the intro SE of 'Spin'. A new production.
This is the first time I've heard this song in such a large venue. Hayashing singing quietly on a large stage, bathed in a pin spot. The loneliness stands out.
I like the immersion of hearing it in a small live house with 200 people, but I also soaked in the feeling that it's nice to experience a sense of loneliness from a distance. It's one of my favorite songs.

・Synopsis
I believe this is the third time I've heard "Synopsis." It is the only song performed that day that has not been released as a recording.
I felt the atmosphere had changed since the last time I heard it. Perhaps it was because the arrangement made the synchronized piano stand out more. I felt an emotional resonance that vaguely reminded me of Quruli. At one moment, I even saw Tomoya Tabuchi overlapping with Masashi Sato (Quruli/Ba).

・Mirror Ball
The second half, starting from "Milky Way Traffic," was a familiar progression.
I was watching the stage from a raised area near the mirror ball.“Tengoku”During the song, Hayashing pointing happily at the mirror ball, the mirror ball I looked up at, and the sparkling atmosphere of the venue—the harmony of it all was beautiful, and I packaged it all up and kept it in my heart.

・Playing Behind the Back
While clapping for the encore, a slightly tipsy gentleman started calling out, "Encore!" I haven't heard an "encore" call much lately, so it felt nostalgic, and I joined in for the first time in a while.

During the encore staple "Yakan Hiko" (the second time today), there was a scene where a heated-up Tabuchi played his bass behind his back. A huge cheer erupted from the audience.

Seeing that, Hayashing showed his competitive spirit with a grumpy face. It felt like I could hear his inner voice saying, "I can do that too!"
He showed off a brilliant guitar solo behind his back in retaliation, and Hayashing's satisfied, smug look was, well, it was great.

Tabuchi, smiling as he watched Hayashing, had the face of a completely doting older brother. Hehe.

🔹Setlist

From Natalie.

🔹After-party

Just like the previous one-man lives (Shimokitazawa Shangri-La, Shibuya Quattro), there was an after-party this time too.
It was held at "Time Out Cafe & Diner" attached to the 2nd floor of Liquidroom. Since the capacity is small, the competition for tickets seemed high, and Hayashing apologized on social media.
I always win tickets for Yodaka. (But I always lose tickets for Tomoya Tabuchi's events, which makes me sad. God, please help me.)

When I entered the venue, the same BGM was playing as when waiting for the live show to start. Quruli, Merengue, Yura Yura Teikoku, and so on. The sound, like an analog record, felt incredibly good. As expected of a place attached to Liquidroom.
I've been taken care of by Liquidroom for 20 years (even longer if you include the Shinjuku era), but this was my first time entering this area, so I was excited.

・Hiroyuki's Telephone Shocking
It seems Hiroyuki-san had just recovered from an illness for the live show, so he was absent from the after-party.
Now that I think about it, his expression might have been stiffer than usual. I guessed it might also be because he wasn't used to playing the new songs or "Rice Wife."

However, during the scene where a high-tension Tabuchi rushed at him, he was laughing naturally and happily, so I thought he was the usual Hiroyuki-san.
Everyone who gets attacked by Tabuchi (Hayashing, Kosuke Saito, Takao Suzuki, Hiroki Arai, etc.) smiles, but the champion of the "Naturally Having Fun Championship" is currently Hiroyuki-san.

At Tabuchi's direction, Hiroyuki-san appeared via phone.
Perhaps because they started with a very normal conversation, "[Tabuchi] Are you okay right now?", Hiroyuki-san checked in the middle, "[Hiroyuki] The audience can't hear this, right?" When told it was being broadcast, his "Wait, no way" reaction, which had a bit of a feminine flair, was fresh and made me laugh.

There was also a joke where he said, "[Hiroyuki] The lag on the LINE call is bothering me, so I want you to call my cell phone again. Okay, I'll tell you the number."
It was such a service that the retro famous quote, "Hiroyuki is a bit bold today," involuntarily crossed my mind. (Tunnels' "Kamen Norida." So old.)

I also heard that the newly performed songs and "Rice Wife" were fun, and that the programming Hayashing made was easy to play. I enjoyed a more talkative Hiroyuki-san than when he was participating on-site.

・The Chorus Can Be Low
There was a topic about how "the chorus of the popular song 'Yakan Hiko' is surprisingly low."
The same goes for UNISON SQUARE GARDEN's hits "Orion wo Nazoru" and "Sugar Song to Bitter Step."

As a listener, I had never looked at it from the perspective of "I like it because the chorus is high" or "it's a hit because the chorus is high," and I hadn't even paid attention to it, so it was a realization that, now that you mention it, that's true.

・Stardust Eureka
He revealed that it was his first time using this creative method, as it was made with the intention of being provided to someone else and not with the premise of him singing it himself.
I thought that the impression of a new door opening wasn't just from the sound aspect.

Later, it was announced as a tie-up for a TV anime. I briefly wondered, "Does the atmosphere of that song fit an animation?" but it depends on the type of anime, so I won't know until I see it.

A mystery anime called "So You Were Killed Again, Detective." I watched the released video.
Yeah, it fits perfectly. Since I associated the song with a yakuza movie, it matches the mysterious murder-themed footage perfectly.

・I Don't Want to Make "Song Title" a Special Song
Hayashing said, "I don't want to make 'Song Title' a special song."

It's a song that expresses the determination of his restart as a solo artist and his previous band that disbanded, with both rawness and lightness.
I think many listeners are moved by the phrase, "If I could think that I don't want today to be the last, life would always smile at me; that simple thing, I won't forget ever again."

As a reason for "not wanting to make 'Song Title' a special song," he explained by citing a book in which Hideo Kobayashi critiqued Mozart.
For Mozart, the destination was apparently not the issue. It was not about where one arrives, but that the act of walking itself was the purpose and the expression. (Vaguely remembered, a nuance something like this.)

I took it to mean that rather than straining to create by thinking, 'I'm going to make a special song!', he wants to focus on the process of living the present to the fullest, and as a result, good work will be born—that is what he aims for. I thought it was very Hayashing-like.

And I feel that in a passage from 'Song Title' that I cannot help but be captivated by, he had already hit the nail on the head.
“Not knowing that the place you are now is already it,
Aiming for a Shangri-La, people call that youth”

The paradox that the Shangri-La one seeks actually already exists in the process of living desperately in this very moment.
The idea of not aiming for something, but valuing the way of being itself, is 5-dimensional (where the future and the present are the same world line) thinking, which I find interesting.

・Positioning talk
The live performance looked more mature than usual, but once the alcohol kicked in, it was the familiar Hayashing. The habit of ruffling his hair when he gets tipsy remains unchanged.

Last time he was so wasted he couldn't get words out, but this time, when he asked for a refill of 'beer,' President Honma, who was waiting in the wings, shook his head firmly with a gentle gaze. That figure was just like a mother (though the president is a man), and I felt the affection.

Tabuchi was toasting with beer, but he didn't even get up to go to the bathroom, and it seemed like he hadn't been drinking as much as ever before. His fast talking was spurred on even more.
He performed his duties as MC Tomoya Tabuchi steadily, multitasking by throwing balls to Hayashing to draw out his thoughts, expressing his own opinions, and calling Hiroyuki-san at the right timing.
Since the tipsy Hayashing was slow, Tabuchi looked even more like he was on fast-forward, and I thought he looked like some kind of acrobat. Like someone living life in a rush.

As advice to Hayashing, there was also a scene where he prefaced his remarks by saying, 'This is just a positioning talk,' and shared his own experiences.
I feel like Tabuchi often uses the term 'positioning talk.' Is it a sign of his sincerity toward the listeners, or perhaps an excuse?

Even when Hayashing made reckless remarks, he gently admonished him with the positioning talk of a senior in the industry and parental affection.
My opinion is different; I thought, 'Isn't it fine for Hayashing to do as he likes?' Especially if he doesn't want to aim for the destination that the world calls the correct answer. (As long as he doesn't trouble the president.)

The hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the president gave the wrap-up signal.
MC Tabuchi concluded by telling the audience, 'If you have anything you want to say to Hayashi-kun on your way out, say one word each,' so I wondered, 'Do you have that kind of authority?' but I assume it was an over-service from a highly capable MC. (It was rejected by the president because there really was no time.)

The after-party ended with the drunken Hayashing's'Multidimensional Control Mechanism Yodaka, last train...!' (with a pose of thrusting one arm toward the heavens) line, which invited laughter and was in high spirits.

I made it in time for the last train, but I didn't have time to eat, so I was starving and ate a natto set meal at Sukiya on the way home.

🔹 Self-Liner Notes

When I bought the merchandise, I received a self-liner note for"ODYSSEY" exclusively for those who purchased on the day. I didn't know there was a bonus, so I was happy.
I'm not good at waiting in lines for merchandise, so I was going to give up and do it another day if it was crowded, but I had time to kill before the after-party, and the line broke, so I was blessed with the opportunity to buy it.

Since it is exclusive to purchasers, I will refrain from giving details, but it was literature (a short story) in the name of liner notes. Just as Hayashing himself prides himself on it being a 'good strange text (?).'

I remembered the conversation at the after-party.
At the time of their major debut, he apparently expressed his intention to the important people at the label, saying, 'Just because Multidimensional Control Mechanism Yodaka = time machine, it doesn't mean it's sci-fi.'
It's not sci-fi, it's literature.

When I first heard the name 'Multidimensional Control Mechanism Yodaka,' the first thing I associated it with was Kenji Miyazawa's 'The Nighthawk Star.' I just assumed he liked Kenji Miyazawa.

However, I was very surprised to learn in a magazine interview previously that 'When I named it, I had never read Kenji Miyazawa. Later, when I read 'The Nighthawk Star,' the content was a perfect match for my project, and I felt destiny.'
Can such a thing happen?
Well, you can't help but feel destiny.
It's literature, isn't it.

'Multidimensional Control Mechanism Yodaka, destiny...!'
Isn't it a coincidence that makes you want to say something like that?

#YDK_RADIATE

・Impressions of the EP 'Odyssey'.

・Impressions of the previous one-man live.