Kana Koike Electone & Piano Live 2024 (October 6, 2024 (Sun), at Umeda ALWAYS)

On October 6, 2024 (Sun), "Kana Koike Electone & Piano Live 2024" (organized by Kana Koike) was held at Umeda ALWAYS (Umeda, Osaka).

This live concert featured performances on the Electone and piano by Kana Koike (hereinafter referred to as Kana), a keyboardist, composer, and arranger who has uploaded numerous Electone performance videos to YouTube and TikTok and is also active in live concert events.

The venue was "Umeda ALWAYS," a live house and bar in Umeda, Osaka. A piano was set up on stage, along with a "YAMAHA ELECTONE STAGEA ELS-02C." Surrounding them were numerous cameras for screen projection and recording!

Despite the outdoor temperature being close to midsummer levels even in October, a large crowd (with a male-to-female ratio of about 5:3) gathered to hear Kana's performance, including people who appeared to be studying the Electone or piano, couples, parents and children, and those who specialize in listening to live music, all eagerly awaiting the start of the show.

[First Half]

Kana's first solo live concert in a while started with the fast-paced "Superman Theme," a practice session for which had been briefly posted on Instagram beforehand. She then encouraged the audience to clap along and livened up the venue with a performance of "FIGHTMAN."

At this point, Kana took the microphone to thank everyone for coming, explain the significance of her now-customary autumn Osaka live concert, and mention that she would be performing many songs she wanted to challenge herself with this time.

The performance moved to the piano with the children's song "Akatonbo" (Red Dragonfly). A high rate of nursery rhyme performances is a characteristic of Kana's live shows. This was followed by her signature original song, "Dance of the Red Dragon." This time, it was a rare piano performance. She also mentioned that she is currently producing an album of original songs.

A feature of this venue is that the performance is projected onto a large screen at the back of the stage and on LCD monitors installed on the walls, making it easy to see what is happening even from the back seats. The split-screen views and the camera switching by the venue staff, timed to the musical phrases, were wonderful!

Next, moving to the Electone, she performed Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Mizu no Naka no Bagatelle," a quiet yet immersive piece that had just been uploaded to Kana's YouTube channel in September. Thanks to the live house's sound equipment, I was able to realize once again how many different sounds it contains.

(Kana mentioned that for songs uploaded to YouTube, even those not marked as 'headphones recommended,' you should definitely try listening with headphones.)

The first half concluded with the high-volume "MADNESS" from "Porco Rosso," which is only possible at a live house, and a stunning performance of "Earth -Beautiful Planet-."

[Second Half]

After a 10-minute break, she performed "Mickey Mouse March -Eurobeat Ver.-," which is also available on YouTube.

When Kana mentioned that this performance video would be featured in the November 2024 issue of Monthly Electone, applause erupted from the audience.

(It was published on page 4 of the November 2024 issue of Monthly Electone, in the special feature 'Popular Videos by Music Genre and Tips for Playing Phrases That Sound Great, Learned from Pros.')

Furthermore, a unique feature of this venue is the staff's ability to react flexibly to the MC, instantly displaying relevant information on the screen with exquisite technique, which adds a nice touch to the MC.

Next, after Kana-san talked about attending the Space Battleship Yamato 50th Anniversary concert, she performed the "Space Battleship Yamato Medley," which personally had the biggest impact on me at this live show.

The performance of the Overture, Space Battleship Yamato, and The Scarlet Scarf was a masterpiece. The expression of the female chorus parts was exquisite, and the three-dimensional sound made the image of the Space Battleship Yamato launching vigorously pop into my mind; it even felt like I could hear Isao Sasaki's singing voice. And during The Scarlet Scarf, I was so moved that I was on the verge of tears...

And now, heading toward the end of the live show, a furious sequence of performances begins.

For the performance of T-SQUARE's "CLIMAX" from the Japanese dubbed version of the movie "Gran Turismo," Kana-san was already out of breath. (^^; In that state, she continued straight into a long, 10-minute performance of the "Pictures at an Exhibition" suite!

Personally, this "Pictures at an Exhibition" suite is a song full of memories (it was a single tone back then) that was included in the demonstration software of a computer I bought in the Showa era, so I was very happy to hear it.

And finally, the last song. She moved to the piano for the original song "Mirror Land." Kana-san gave a brief explanation of the song, but...

Personally, it felt like a reminder of the activities of the past few years, where Kana-san started taking YouTube seriously in 2020, performed at numerous concerts, live shows, and events, and even became involved with the apparel brand "ADELLY."

It felt like she was steadily approaching the things mentioned in previous media interviews, and it was a moving performance fitting for the finale, like a trajectory of Kana-san's growth.

[Encore]

After the audience clapped for an encore, Kana-san reappeared. After announcing that still photography was allowed, the 2-hour and 15-minute live show concluded with a piano performance of "Kawa no Nagare no You ni" and an Electone performance of "African Symphony."

This was a very challenging and difficult live show. Kana-san was given a huge round of applause for her performance, and the show ended (15 songs in total). After the show, despite being tired, she also kindly saw us off.

[Afterword]

I have been to Kana-san's live shows many times in the past, but I felt that the setlist for this live show had a completely different atmosphere, and it felt fresh.

Also, since she uploaded practice scenes to Instagram one after another as the live show approached, it was great because it increased the excitement for the show and also allowed the listeners to prepare in advance.

(In addition, ticket sales on teket and the posting of the live schedule in Monthly Electone were also good.)

Thank you very much for the powerful and delicate performances across a wide range of genres again this time, including movie music, classical, anime, and fusion!

Personally, I was particularly impressed by "Mizu no Naka no Bagatelle" and the "Space Battleship Yamato Medley"!

That concludes the live report and my impressions.

*The live photos are from the encore.
(Text & Photography / Electone Performance Video Lover)

■ From Kana's X (Twitter)

■ From Kana's Instagram (includes setlist & commentary)

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■ Wonderful reports from attendees

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAx0wHczkdh
https://www.instagram.com/p/DA54MyCTdKl
https://x.com/hideyoonasica/status/1842866861584851353

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■ Announcement of upcoming live performance

Kana has another live performance (with streaming available) planned in the near future, so I am posting the details here.

Event Name: Kana Koike Piano & Electone Live 2024
Date & Time: Sunday, October 27, 2024, Doors open at 13:30, Start at 14:00
Venue: UENO HALL (Ueno, Tokyo)
(1F of the same building as Ekimae Piano Base On Top Ueno)
Performer: Kana Koike
Content: Live performance featuring Electone and piano
In-person ticket: 3,300 yen
⇒ https://tiget.net/events/332231
Streaming ticket: 2,200 yen
⇒ https://twitcasting.tv/c:hazeatbot/shopcart/319702

*For details, please check Kana Koike's social media and the ticket sales website.

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■ Live Report Back Issues

I have listed the reports of Kana's live performances (piano and Electone) that I have written over the past few times.

(That concludes the live report)