marre official site ■ " Marre Live " Concert Report

[ Click this picture to enlarge it. Click the following pictures for a slideshow ]

Ten days after Heavenese returned from their first ever LA tour,
Marre Live took place at Duo Music Exchange in Shibuya (This was the first time Marre performed at this venue).

This Marre Live on November 28th, commemorating the 20th anniversary of his debut, was not to look back over his career, but it was to look ahead to a new beginning.

A big thank you to all those who came from out of town on that cold wintery Monday night during this busy time of the year.

This venue must have felt like KBC for many. It was so similar to KBC in terms of atmosphere that we received many comments about it, one person said, " it was the best venue ever for Marre Live". Mobile Kick Back Cafe was at the venue serving up tasty food.

Marre and his band came on the stage to the sound of city noise. Then they played the opening song, "Edge of Time".

This concert was a kind of a homecoming for Marre who has been performing all over the place. In October, he was in Rikuzen-Takata for the Offering to God feast, and in November he was in Los Angels and performed and put on seven shows for the Don't Forget Japan L.A. Tour. On top of all of that, while in L.A. he sang the Japanese national anthem at the Consulate-General of Japan in Los Angeles.

"The World Too Small" has been popular since his debut. With its Rock sound, it is a real crowd pleaser. Marre had Shibuya in mind when he wrote this song.

Next, the ballad "Emerald Night" was played. It has become a fan favorite since he restarted his solo act in 2009. This song was made available on CD this February, and now has an AOR number representing Marre Live.

#1 Edge of Time
#2 The World Too Small
#3 Emerald Night

The audience was really looking forward to the next song knowing that Marre really likes this unconventional song.
"I don't like Irresolutess" depicts a foolish man who falls into adultery. Marre has counseled many of these men.

#4 I don't like Irresolutess

"Cockroach", the audience finally got to hear this song! "About two decades ago I was going to make my debut with this song, but I am so glad that I didn't" Marre said.
Sometimes this song is talked about during Marre's seminars and lectures, but there are very few people who have actually heard this song making it somewhat legendary.

The main character of this song is hated by everyone, just like a cockroach is. This cynical number expresses this man's endless pursuit.
The lyric of this song was written by Ryouhei Uchida (deceased), an actor, who is known for "Musashi is a Dead Bee".
During the student movement, Uchida gave this song to Marre. Marre made it a solid Rock.

#5 Cockroach

Even though Marre had just returned from the U.S. and had little time to prepare for this show, his band members helped make it great.

Makoto Sato, the guitar player, is a member of the group Pedro & Capricious and Masahiko Kondo's band.
Playing the bass guitar was Makoto Saito and playing the keyboard was Yasuto Arakawa.

Rounding out the band was the enthusiastic saxophone player, TAG; the funky percussionist, Takeshi Ogawa; the drummer from Heavenese, Ikki Iwase; and helping with the vocals, Marre's wife Kumiko and Kota Hori who had personal fan in the audience.

#6 Innocent Man

Next up was the Man and Woman Psychology Corner which didn't exist twenty years ago.

The theme was, "Men are Superman and Women are Cinderella".

This foundational principle has made Marre a best selling author, having sold over 170 thousand copies of his book "Is this the right person for me to marry?".

After a funny skit, Marre's psychology seminar followed.

Having learned the difference between men and women in the seminar, the audience had a quick review through listening to the song "I'm a Marriage Counselor".

#8 I'm a Marriage Counselor

ロック、ポップス、心理学セミナー。そしてこのあとゴスペル。
こんなステージが他にあるでしょうか！？

Next was his new song "One Voice". He wrote this song to represent who he is after twenty years of music.
This song also came as a response to the sorrow he felt because of the March 11th catastrophe.

#8 One Voice

Twenty years ago a record company labeled Marre's music as Spiritual Rock because of the gospel message.
Marre's next song was "Together". This is his purest example of the Spiritual Rock genre. The song "Love After All", closed out the main part of the show.

#9 Together
#10 Love After All

Marre was a solo messenger twenty years ago, now he has his wife Kumiko on the stage.
The new "Marre Live" has begun.

For the encore, Marre played the highly requested song, "A Woman at the Well", which he hasn't sung for a long time.
He told the Bible story of the Samaritan woman at the well in this song.
This song was released as a single a year after he debuted twenty years ago. Marre thought this song would be hard for Japanese to understand because it is an unfamiliar story to them, but it has become a very popular song in Japan and is Marre's signature song.

EC A Woman at the Well

Twenty years ago Marre started out as a musician and now, on top of that, he is an author, a counselor and a cafe owner. What has transpired over these past twenty years has gone beyond what he imagined. The day after this show, Marre started recording new songs which are to be released soon in the U.S. in response to the buzz made from the recent L.A. tour. Another new stage in his life is beginning.

Live Photo : Mikako Ishiguro