みのりんのライブで盛り上がりました！
The difference between a good concert and a great concert is a number of factors. The obvious ones would be the singer in question, the sound, the choice of music, costumes, while the less obvious would be things like the venue, the organisation and the crowd. Chihara Minori’s birthday concert “Love Live 2006″ was, in all aspect, a great concert.
Minorin’s live singing really was exceptional. As sent has said in his post, her performance is nearly up there with Nana-chan and Yukarin, and she also seemed to do it with so little effort as well. Being the only person on stage, with no band members nor dancers to rely on, Minorin manages to draw all my attention for the entire duration of the concert. She taught us hand gestures, she led the calls and chantings, and she got all of us to sing with her for “La La La”, a song which she wrote all by herself. There is no doubt she really enjoys it and this is reflected in the atmosphere of the concert. One of the highlights of the concert was no doubt her solo performance of 「ハレ晴レユカイ」, where Minorin was singing as well as performing the complete version of the dance, and it was performed better than the same skit done at Animelo Summer with Hirano Aya and Goto Yuuko. Also one of my favourite songs of hers ”Naked Heart” is perfect for the concert atmosphere and I really enjoyed listening to it in a live environment with an enthusiastic crowd. Fans of Minorin were dedicated but not crazily overboard with their affection towards her, so even though the venue was small and packed, there wasn’t a moment where I felt unpleasant, and in the end it all adds to the overall atmosphere.
As for the announcement of her upcoming single, I guess I can say that my prayers had been answered. Minorin really has a lot of potential and it would be sad to see her being sweeped aside because of all the focus on Hirano Aya in the media as of late. Let’s hope that Minorin can make it big too as I would not hesitate to add her to my list of “must attend seiyuu concerts”.
November 23rd, 2006 at 07:41
I don’t know if you were a concert goer in western nations/Aus, but the feeling I get (and from others) is that these kinds of seiyuu shows are very different than your typical concert. Especially when it comes to the crowd. At least, what does that mean in this case? What’s a good crowd for this kind of event?
November 23rd, 2006 at 08:44
At a typical live event, an idol concert for example, there is a fair amount of what is called “calling”. I am not so sure about mainstream JPOP concerts here but I get the sense they are similar.
Calling is basically a series of chants consisting of, but not limited to: shouts of “Hey”, clapping, shouting of the idol’s nickname and occasionally, verse. Calls are usually designed by the “hardcore” fans of any particular idol. Each call is unique per song and is designed to follow the rhythm and beat of the melody. While some calls can raise the overall enjoyment of a live event (it’s a great way to get involved and immerse yourself in the atmosphere), too much calling can lead to a detraction to the overall experience, especially when the calls drown out the vocals. That’s what you’re there for, right? Case in point are some Tamura Yukari events, where the calls for some songs just get out of hand, drowning out nearly every part of the song. Conversely, no calls would make for a fairly stoic event which isn’t that great either. If the crowd doesn’t get involved, the event can turn out stale.
In Minorin’s case, the calling was mostly limited to sections without vocals and overall struck a good balance between the two extremes.