ICHIKO AOBA CONCERT
finally! i was so very excited on the way to see ichiko aoba in berlin together with my dear friend. when we arrived at the concert hall we immediately stood in line for merch with pretty much everyone else there. while we were waiting we got handed a super cute sticker that now sits on my laptop and i of course took my time looking at everyone's outfits as planned! as i expected, people were very fashionably dressed and somehow we all looked very coherent together! tbh in the end, i wasn't super happy with my concert outfit but i decided to stop thinking about it very quickly. i bought a tshirt, the lyric book (YAY!) and after the concert i also bought the luminescent creatures cd ... despite. not owning a cd player LMAO i just couldn't stop myself ...
so yes, needless to say: it was amazing. she was amazing! i sat in third row with pretty much a perfect view and ended up taking so many videos! i originally didn't want to do that because i felt it just isn't very polite to do so at this sort of concert but neither ichiko nor the staff prohibited it. i couldn't help it, whenever i wasn't filming i felt regret seeping in (and right now i'm defintely glad i filmed as much as i did)! she played a lot of songs that i absolutely love but i also felt that some were missing from the set list? she didn't play every song from her new album which the tour is named after, so that i thought was a little odd and unexpected.
i already knew that, but ichiko really is super cute. i can't really explain it adaquately but i think that all her little moments and gestures were super endearing. for example, she acted upset when we demanded an encore by giving her a standing ovation at the end of the concert. or when she thanked us for coming and shielded her eyes from the spotlights she went all ":0" as if to say "oh wow there's THIS many of you?!!".
listening to her sing was exactly as breathtaking as i imagined it to be. i already teared up during the first song ("the rain from light and shadow", especially at minute 1:30 & 2:10). i also definitely found another depth of appreciation for her guitar playing, it was fascinating and really satisfying to see just how effortlessly she creates music. i mean it, it's just so natural for her. even while preparing for the next song she hummed or messed around with her guitar and even for THAT i felt the need to take videos!
for a few songs, she was accompanied by kazuhisa uchihashi who ichiko introduced as her close friend of 16 years (i think) on e-guitar or daxophone. the latter is an instrument that is very unique; it makes animal-like sounds! i immediately associated it with whales singing because i assume that's also what i associate with ichiko but wikipedia says its name is actually based on badgers (ger.:"dächse"). another instance of ichiko being adorable was when she imitated the sounds of the daxophone so she quacked like a penguin: her encore was actually an unreleased song named "goodbye mr. penguin" (if i recall correctly) and it was soooo cute! she said it's about one of her many imaginary friends. ichiko singing with uchihashi's guitar playing was a whole new experience. i am so grateful i got to listen to that, i loved it a lot.
at the end of the concert, two very brave fans went up to the stage and gave ichiko some gifts (i also made a necklace but i was too shy...). ichiko then stuck the letter to her guitar and played a second encore without her microphone or amp. that was the only moment where she asked us not to take videos but to directly look at her – with gestures btw! she didn't talk much during the whole concert yet i felt that we all understood her very well. i got goosebumps. ichiko's raw voice without any amplification sounded so delicate and it created an immeasurably warm & tranquil atmosphere. at that moment i was so so happy to sit in the front.
so yeah after that i felt very compelled to support ichiko with another 15 euros and bought the cd. i wanted to start collecting music physically anyways and this is the perfect starting point >:] if ichiko ever comes to germany again, my friend and i promised to go again.
