Out of 5 cities of this tour, the place HEAVENESE was looking forward to the most was Shizuoka.
Though it was included in the tour, the concert hosted by the mayor of Shizuoka prefecture, and HEAVENESE was invited to perform as a guest.
The event was a talk-show event in which the mayor of Shizuoka prefecture would talk about the future of Shizuoka with cultural figures and TV personalities.
The night was the first attempt to have this event, and the city decided to invite HEAVNESE as their guest performer.Shizuoka prefecture, the future, and HEAVENESE… it was quite interesting to see what these elements would generate.
The night was a rainy and cold one, but around 3000 people gathered to see the show at this huge concert hall called Grand Ship. The stage was huge. It was actually the biggest stage HEAVENESE had ever experienced.
1.Silk Road
Upon the request of the host, the performance of the show was different in many ways from HEAVENESE’s usual concerts. The biggest difference was that they put the song Silk Road at the beginning. Unlike the up-beat tunes such as ALL of Me, which we sang first the previous night in Nagoya, the ballad was chosen to start out the show. As the song was starting, a huge treasure box appeared on stage, followed by the ninjas on stage to perform some ceremonial acts and to open the box. Though it was something they had never tried before, it did match the opening act of the five HEAVENESE members coming out of the box. The host, who insisted on Silk Road being the first song, was greatly pleased with this dramatic opening act.
2.Mighty Wind
It is the song coupled with “To the place where before I was born” in their 3rd single.The sight in which3000 people joined HEAVENESE to move their hands in the choreography of the song was quite impressive.
3.Tsugaru Shamisen
4.Ninja acrobats
The Shamisen duo and the ninja team had the huge stage to themselves, enabling them to perfrom freely and wildly as they like. There were no wall, no ceiling to worry about! The audience was quickly drawn into the world of HEAVENESE.
5.To the place where before I was born
Since Shizuoka is where the shogunate Ieyasu Tokugawa had his base, Marre talked about some historical story on how he miraculously managed to reign Japan at peace. Then the song was followed, giving a great impact to the audience and leading them to the climax of the show.
The biggest personal owned taiko-drum
6.Together
This song was strongly requested by Mayor Tanabe, who had come to the show at Blue Theater in July. He told us how he was brought to tears when he heard the sound of the great taiko-drum on the chorus of this song. The lyrics and the sound that touched the mayor’s heart was passed on to the people in the city.
7.The solo of great taiko-drum
The HEAVENESE taiko-drum performer Sekine Makoto brought in the personal owned biggest taiko-drum that is waiting for the official recognition of the Guinness world record. The gigantic drum actually looked small compared to the size of the stage, but the performers who were close to the drum was overwhelmed by its enormous sound!
8.3N1
At the middle of the playlist was, of course, the Taiko performance by all the members of HEAVENESE. There is nothing like the sound of taiko drums that reach Japanese people’s heart.
VTR: The story of Mr.Kiuchi Minoru, the vice minster of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Talk session
After 45 ministes of HEAVENESE’s performance, the lights on stage was turned off, and on the screen was a documentary movie on Mr. Kiuchi, a House of Representative member and “a man of convicton,” followed by the appearance of Mayor Tanabe and Marre. The scene reminded us of the United State’s presidential election. The three stated to talk about the future of Shizuoka and Japan.
HEAVENESE’s progress has been nothing but a fruit of being connected with good supporters that understand its mission. The Grammy-Award winner Andraé Crouch, the superstar Sheila E., etc., ..uexpected meeting and friendship with wonderful figures have been the foundation of all the miraculous turns the band has experienced. The connection the band has with the vice Foreign minister Kiuchi has been something truly special for us as well. It was him that suggested HEAVENESE to Mayor Tanabe, and without him, HEAVNESE would never have performed in Shizuoka that night.
The talk-session of present mayor, the vice minister for Foreign Affairs Ministry, and HEAVENESE’s lead vocal Marre was the main even of the night, something the audience was looking forward to. The three men talked quite passionately on the future of Shizuoka and building of a peaceful city. Marre, who has many experiences outside Japan was able to add some interesting and simulative note to the session as well. Among the unique suggestions Marre made was giving Ieyasu Tokugawa the Nobel Peace Prize. He was truly a founder of the great peace in Japan that lasted more than 260 years.
HEAVENESE has been the ambassador of peace in Israel, sending out the message of harmony, the heart of Japan. We are strongly convinced that our activities cannot avoid or ignore the world of politics. Meeting and getting connected to the politicians are not driven by personal greed but are eager to sacrifice oneself for the cause of the country has been a great priviledge for HEAVENSE. Communicating the message of peace with the city mayor and vice minister of Foreign Affairs…it’s truly a part of the unique mission HEAVENESE has.
9.you are good
Following Mayor Tanabe’s speech, HEAVENESE was once again on stage in the afterglow of his speech. The song You Are Good was performed with its usual introduction of festive sounds and voices filling the air.
Though this arrangement was originally made for the performance in U.S.,
now it has become a standard at HEAVENESE’s show. The voltage of the audience rose quickly.
10.LIFT
Then LIFT, a standard number of HEAVENESE.
The audience made a great wave of green lights, the color of Tanabe.
Most of the 3000 people in the hall saw HEAVENESE for the first time,
but their enthusiasm was so great that it even made us wonder why they were so excited.
11.To the Place Before Where I was Born (chorus)
The great climax of the show that night came at this moment. The host, including the mayor, knew the song from Blue Theater in July and wanted to get the audience to sing along with the band, and so it happened.
The story went like this:
Shizuoka city staff “We want everyone to sing that song together.”
HEAVNESE: “But it’s our original and nobody really knows the song in Shizuoka.”
Shizuoka city staff: “So you can play the song in the first half of the show, then everyone will know.”
HEAVENESE: “Does that mean we perform the song twice in one night?”
Shizuoka city staff: “Is it unusual?”
HEAVENESE: “Well, for us…yes…”
But you know, HEAVENESE is good at doing something “unusual.”
We decided to try.
Ikki, the drummer who is from Shizuoka prefecture, was a bit worried though. She said, “the people in Shizuoka are really shy… they rarely sing along in concerts…”
The result?
With Mayor Tanabe and Mr. Kiuchi standing at the wing of the stage, worried about how the audience would respond, the band started to sing the song. The next moment, what they saw was 3000 audiences singing along out loud! “Let us go back to you… to the place where before I was born”… the lyrics of the song talk about life itself. It is also a special song for HEAENESE that was offered at Kurosaki Shrine in an affected city of 2011 great earthquake and tsunami. The miraculous, great chorus of the night with the people of Shizuoka will be marked in HEAVENSE’s history book forever.
