Electric Nights and Unforgettable Sounds: SUPER EIGHT Brings the House Down at Hitachinaka
Live Report from “ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2024 in HITACHINAKA”
“Thank you for letting me experience this for the first time in my 19th year.”The summer of 2023.
SUPER EIGHT made their long-awaited appearance at “ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2023” held at Soga Sports Park in Chiba City.
The five members wowed the packed house, gained momentum with their Rockin’ show, and headlined three festivals that summer.
With each performance, one song at a time, they became flesh and blood, making their music even stronger.
After last year’s Rockin’ event, the big news was that it would be held at Hitachi Seaside Park in 2024, the 25th anniversary year, for the first time in five years, and many music fans were excited.
For SUPER EIGHT, who are also celebrating their 20th anniversary since their debut, being at the sacred site of Hitachinaka is truly a long-awaited dream.
And in this commemorative year, as we began to move forward with a new name for the group, that dream came true.
SUPER EIGHT has evolved through encounters with various music and musicians. The encounter with Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra also gave them great strength.
Since 2018, the two have deepened their bond through music and will step onto the Hitachinaka stage together.
On this day, the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (Ska Para), which is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year in the memorable 25th anniversary of the RIJF and was the best performer on the spectacular Hitachinaka Triumph Return Stage, announced in the second half of the act, “We have a special guest here.””, the venue was filled with anticipation.
When Atsushi Yanaka loudly shouted “SUPER EIGHT!” and five people wearing the same pink outfits as Ska Para appeared, the venue erupted in loud applause.
Yutaka Yokoyama looked a little dazzled and said, “I’m surprised to suddenly be exposed to sunlight,” prompting laughter, while Tadayoshi Okura declared, “From now on, we want to blow you all up!”
Yasuda said that it had been his dream for a long time to collaborate on a song with Skapara under the name “Ano Natsu no Ambiguous ME feat.SUPER EIGHT”. When the frenetic horn introduction sounds, everyone smiles. The members of Skapara and SUPER EIGHT line up alternately, look at each other, and sometimes hold hands while playing the music.
Their appearance was so natural that it seemed to be a testament to the strength of the bond between the two groups.
Kinichi Mogi performed ”Memory Band” and said, “I have another song.” Since the two groups have lived through different periods of time, they can understand each other’s lyrics, and it was so cool to see them sing and play the lyrics with so much emotion.
The SUPER EIGHT stage started around 4:25 pm, when the venue was illuminated by the setting sun and a pleasant evening breeze began to blow.
When the words “SUPER EIGHT” appeared on the venue’s LEDs on the new instrumental version “High Sprits,” there was an almost screaming feeling.
The five people appeared on the GRASS STAGE to the applause of the venue. When Shohiro Yasuda shouted to the audience “Clap your hands!”, a loud applause spread.
The members started playing with Yokoyama’s trumpet. When Maruyama aggressively slapped Tadayoshi Okura’s drums, a surprising applause erupted from the audience. Additionally, Yasuda’s singing guitar and Murakami’s keyboard added spice to the groovy sound.
“Irresponsible Hero”, which can be considered the band’s signature song, began with Yasuda’s encouragement: “Let’s live irresponsibly for today.”
The audience swayed their bodies vertically and agreed with Okura’s lively rhythm.
While playing the keyboard with his right hand, Murakami made a gesture familiar to his fans, and the audience joined in as they raised their hands in the same way.
A typical SUPER EIGHT scene took place there, transcending genres and involving people.
Afterwards, Maruyama shouts, ”Rockin Hitachinaka, can we go? It’s going to get even more exciting…’I told you so!'” and at the same time the intro to “I told you so” begins. Kankuro Kudo’s world-filled lyrics and the punk sound composed by Ginkgo BOYZ’s Kazunobu Mineta further enhance the festival atmosphere. During the song, Murakami greeted the audience with “Say!”, followed by a chorus of “I told you so!”
As the stream progressed, the song “Haraippai” was provided by Atsushi Osawa of Uchikubi Gokumon Club, who brought the venue together at last year’s Rockin. The song has a comedic feel, with the members singing along to the beat and lyrics like conversations and things they want to eat with a lot of emotion, but it’s also an uplifting song that changes tone one after another.
It’s a song that requires skill just to develop, like slowing down the tempo from a 16-bar rock sound and creating a soulful groove, but with everyone singing along, they were able to stir up the audience and give a relaxed performance. Perform. I could feel the experience they had accumulated at festivals in these places. Immediately after the song ended, Yasuda asked, “Can I have another shot?” and shouted “Hara!” and the audience responded with “Ippai!”.
The members couldn’t help but smile at the sense of unity.
At this point, all five put down their instruments, grabbed their handheld microphones, and headed to the front of the stage.
Murakami said, “We are not just a band, we also have songs that we dance to. If you want, please memorize them with us and have some fun with them.” ” dance class. “For all you music lovers out there, once you see this, I’m sure you’ll be able to do it soon!” Murakami said. Then, when the song started, the audience danced along to the catchy phrase “Move forward! Positive!” with their hands in an L shape with their index fingers and thumbs up.
They also showed their dance routines during the chorus and the whole venue enjoyed the participatory live performance.
Also, during their standard live song, “TWL,” the entire venue became one with towels in hand and spinning in colorful circles.
During the chorus, the water cannon rose high and a refreshing breeze blew through the heated room. After dancing and twirling towels, Yasuda asked, “Are your left and right hands okay?” Yokoyama replied, “About three people lost their arms, right?” Murakami replied, “If you feel sore muscles tomorrow, you can go to TWL. It’s not ”Joifuru.” If you have any complaints, report them to Ikimonogakari (lol).” They engaged in conversations that could only be found at a festival.
When Okura began, “This year is our 20th anniversary…”, the audience applauded loudly, and he responded, “Thank you so much for making me say that,” looking a little embarrassed. Introducing the song, he said, “I’ve performed it for over 20 years in Osaka in front of a venue of 1,000 people, and since then there’s a song I’ve sung…” and will be performed for the first time at an outdoor music festival. He continued with the medium ballad “Osaka Romanesque.”
It’s truly a love song for their fans who have been singing it since before their debut, and it’s also a song they sang with great care at the most important moments.
With lyrics that evoke the scenery of Osaka, where SUPER EIGHT was born, and a nostalgic melody, this idol song must have felt fresh to music fans.
Maruyama sings the falling chorus with much emotion, Yasuda plays a fake, high-pitched sound…
The audience listened attentively to the five gentle voices as they looked straight ahead and sang in the slightly sentimental atmosphere created by the sunset sky.
With the glow of the “Osaka Romanesque” still lingering, Maruyama shouted, “Can we still get emotional in the second half?” and there was a huge response from the venue.
The atmosphere changed from calm and started with a punchy “Gori Gori”.
The straightforward, youthful rock has a good sense of dirt that suits SUPER EIGHT well. Seeing them pick up musical instruments and weave pure words had a persuasive force that could only be expected from the five of them, who had overcome many obstacles.
As if we were about to bend further, we headed to “Zukkoke Otokodo”.
As if we had been waiting, the tension in the room increased even more.
The rhythm section of Okura and Maruyama strongly supports the high-speed number, and Yasuda’s powerful guitar adds a rock-like color, creating an extremely bright sound.
The combination of Yokoyama’s direct guitar sound that conveys his honesty and Murakami’s keyboard, which changes the tone and adds depth, created a sound typical of SUPER EIGHT.
They also immerse the audience in their world with their live standard song “Chou Yuki ni Shimadere”. The members swapped their microphones for headphones, and Murakami switched to the keyboard on his shoulder, moving freely around the stage and cheering the audience on as much as he could. As if in response, the venue shook like waves, with calls of “SUPER! SUPER! EIGHT!” and voices of “Ninininininininin”, I could see the audience becoming even more united.
Yasuda said, “A lot has happened to our group (until we celebrate our 20th anniversary), but it was our fans who brought us this far, and we are grateful to everyone who is listening to our music now. Thank you. to all the fans of this artist,” and continued, “Can I sing just one last song? If the song I’m about to sing touches your heart, if it makes you want to cry, if there is something painful in it. When I feel like I’m about to give up, I hope you will listen to it,” he said, expressing his passionate feelings, and performed the final number, “Music ga Hearing Deeteru.”
The audience swayed their bodies and raised their hands as they enjoyed the sound, which was a fusion of SUPER EIGHT’s muddy smell and positive message, as well as rugged rock and pop.
Conveying the song’s strong and warm message, “The future belongs to everyone,” the five members cheered “Thank you so much!” over and over again and left the stage with satisfied smiles.
Perhaps when SUPER EIGHT started appearing at music festivals, there was a stronger desire to compete as a band because it was a traveling venue where the most discerning music fans gathered.
However, through the experience of various festivals, including last year’s Rockin’, they have been exposed to warmly welcomed audiences, and have felt the sense of how they can convey their music directly, and now they want to play their music more freely and purely, it seems like you appreciate it.
That’s why this time they didn’t just focus on the band’s songs, but performed songs and ballads that were sung and danced with a hand microphone, delivering SUPER EIGHT as usual.
His appearance was very muscular and had enough power to shake the hearts of the audience.
