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SCANDAL celebrates 15th anniversary at Osaka-Jo Hall, showing off both new and old songs
SCANDAL held their solo concert "SCANDAL 15th ANNIVERSARY LIVE『INVITATION』 at Osaka-Jo Hall" in commemoration of their 15th anniversary on August 21st at Osaka-Jo Hall.
SCANDAL formed in 2006 with HARUNA, MAMI, TOMOMI, and RINA, and made their major debut in 2008 with the single DOLL. Since then, they have gained many fans in Japan as well as overseas, and successfully held their first solo world tour in 2015 with 41 performances in 9 countries. They established their own imprint record label "her" in 2018.
On August 21, 2021, they celebrated their 15th anniversary. Osaka-Jo Hall is a place that holds many memories for these ladies who used to perform street lives on Shiroten Street inside of Osaka Castle Park when they first started out. Tickets for their first performance at Osaka-Jo Hall in 7 years and their third time performing there overall were sold out - In response to that, the concert was also live streamed to a total of 53 countries worldwide.
While the opening video containing arrangements of SCANDAL's songs played in the venue, those in the audience began to stand up from their seats one after another and directed their clapping full of expectations to the stage. When the four band members appeared on the fantastically colored smoke-filled stage where a video was playing on a huge vertical screen, the screen showed four lights gathering into one and blooming into rainbow-colored flowers. The video was made by NAKED, INC., the creative video company that SCANDAL had also collaborated with for a performance at the end of 2020.
As a blue butterfly perched on a flower on the screen, the PIXMOB LED bands on the wrists of the audience members began to glow the same color as the butterfly. The first song SCANDAL chose for this concert was "eternal." This song, released in March 2021, was created with the image of them singing it at this performance at Osaka-Jo Hall, and is filled with a suppleness and strength. The lyrics "Let's go now" sung by HARUNA were also suitable for the opening, and the arena was filled with their beautiful chorus.
The second song, "Kinenbi" (Anniversary), was a perfect song for this concert on the day of their 15th anniversary. The band's smiling faces were projected on the huge screen as the light beats spun by RINA and TOMOMI, and the sweet-and-sour guitar sound of MAMI's upped the excitement of the venue.
Following that was their popular song "SCANDAL BABY" that ranked ＃1 in their song popularity poll. The usual sight of TOMOMI and MAMI snuggling up to HARUNA during the second second verse also excited the audience.
HARUNA welcomed those in the audience and those watching the livestream by saying, "Again, welcome to 『INVITATION』!" - Watching the spectators enter the arena at intervals for infectious disease control had made them misty-eyed.
Next, she talked about their 15th anniversary performance at Osaka-Jo Hall, how they had been planning for many years for it, the joy of being able to hold the concert, and words of gratitude for their fans: "Considering the state the world has been in for about a year, many difficult things have happened for both you guys and us. But since the only thing we definitely wanted to do was to hold a concert together with everyone at Osaka-Jo Hall for our 15th anniversary, we were very scared that things would get worse. It makes us so happy simply due to the fact that so many people gathered here today despite all of the uncertainties. Everyone here who decided to celebrate our 15th anniversary with us and have fun at a concert, we plan to definitely make you guys happy. So, leave everything to us today. Please entrust yourselves to us and enjoy yourselves to the max."
Following their MC where they expressed their determination, they resumed the concert by playing their killer tune "Shunkan Sentimental." HARUNA then took off her guitar, grabbed a mic, and went, "Osaka, let's keep going!" and sang the audience-stirring, solid rock tune "Saishuuheiki, Kimi." The powerful beats of RINA, the edgy guitar sound of MAMI, the robust bassline of TOMOMI with a smile on her face, and the energetic and piercing vocals of HARUNA echoed throughout the venue.
It was immediately followed up with "Ceramic Blue," where the rock-solid band ensemble raised the heat of the venue. Next was their song "Departure" that demonstrates the soft and delicate side of SCANDAL's band sound, and where TOMOMI's sweet vocals shine. The light pink glow from the audience's PIXMOBs reminded one of the cherry blossoms in Osaka Castle Park.
As it was RINA's birthday on the day of the concert, HARUNA said, "Let's have the birthday girl say a few words." RINA reminded fans of her birthday and SCANDAL's formation date, saying, "I, RINA from SCANDAL, have turned 30. There have been many days when the band's formation date and my birthday have happened to be celebrated together at a concert, and I can't believe I've now been in the band for half of my life."
The band's growth was likened to the age of a person with comments such as, "We've been together for 15 years - That's so long," "15 years old... That'd be a middle schooler, right?", "It's adolescence." After that, HARUNA talked about the current state of the band, which has matured over 15 years, and said, "It feels like we're finally awake. We've put out a lot of songs, but we feel like we've finally found something that feels like ourselves, or something that feels comfortable to us. We've been doing this for 15 years, and it's because we've continued doing this that we're happy with who we are now."
When HARUNA said that they were celebrating their 15th anniversary and entering their 16th year, she joked, "We want to keep going - Actually, we don't know how to quit," MAMI and TOMOMI laughed and respectively said, "We don't need to think about that" - "We've never thought about quitting." Hearing those two remarks, HARUNA smiled and said, "We'll probably keep going forever. I'm happy we can still talk about things like this in our 30s." RINA also said, "I'm so glad to have these members."
After that, SCANDAL unveiled their new song "Ao no Naru Yoru no Sukima de" (In the Gaps of the Echoing Blue Night, written by RINA during the pandemic. With their eyes fixed on the stage, the audience listened to this song with a rhythm and guitars that resonate deeply, and that features impressive singing that makes you feel HARUNA's sadness.
For their new song "Ivory" with lyrics and music written by MAMI that was recently released in June, the voices of MAMI, HARUNA, and TOMOMI are set to RINA's heavy beat and create a beautiful harmony akin to sheer pieces of cloth lying on top of one another.
With "Koe," which also features main vocals from MAMI, her light blue Les Paul guitar echoed as she stepped on her effects board, while the audience's clapping echoed throughout the venue.
For "Tonight," which features programmed sounds, the vertical LED screen became horizontal, and video graphics featuring the lyrics directed the stage. The danceable beats and powerful performances made the audience dance.
With a smile on her face, HARUNA said, "This is so much fun! We really do love concerts! Truly! We're able to play concerts again thanks to everyone following the rules and preventative measures, and it feels like we're kicking off to a new start again. I'm glad we got to see everyone during this milestone year."
When it was revealed that comments from the livestream viewers were being received one after another on the monitor in front of them, the comments flowing at high speed were also projected on the LED screen. After touching briefly on the comments, the quartet started off the endgame with a performance of "Kagerou."
Following "A.M.D.K.J.", which ranked ＃3 in the song poll, was "Take Me Out." The audience went wild seeing the band swing their hair around while performing enthusiastically and hitting each note. During the interlude, each of their playing exploded as RINA headed it with her chaotic drumming. Feeling the audience's excitement of hitting the climax of the song without vocalizing became one of the concert's highlights.
After delivering "Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne" with plenty of exhilaration, the quartet enchanted the audience with a skilled performance of "Image." As the members went back and forth on the stage while looking at each other and playing happily, HARUNA shouted, "Osakaー!" with joy at the end.
When the audience loudly applauded their enthusiastic performance, the band had full-hearted expressions on their faces. Then, as HARUNA announced a precious song to them that is a must-play for performances at Osaka-Jo Hall, they began to play "one piece." Their dream of playing Osaka-Jo Hall came true with their first performance there in 2013 where they had also sung this song. They delivered this song with the thought of making a new promise with fans, with the lyrics, "I want to see you again ten years from now amid this scenery I've never seen before." After singing this last song while countless bubbles shined and glittered in the light, the four members gallantly exited the stage.
When the applause for the encore echoed in the arena, the LED screen announced the release of their new single one more time on September 29th. The quartet appeared on stage wearing remade t-shirts from their merch line-up and immediately performed the song for the first time. "one more time," which includes the idea of having fun when watching your favorite artist or listening to your favorite song, has a light sound and pleasant guitar strumming, and featured HARUNA singing expressively with a handheld mic.
The last song of their third performance at Osaka-Jo Hall was "Masterpiece," their re-debut song that was the first release from their imprint label "her." With a powerful band sound, HARUNA comfortably sang, "I'm flying around the world and singing to you," as silver streamers with the messages from the band were launched into the audience. After singing all of their prepared songs and taking a commemorative photo with their backs to the audience, they smiled and said, before taking their exit, "Thank you so much for the best night ever. Let's make sure to meet again! This has been SCANDAL!"
Setlist:
1. eternal
2. Kinenbi
3. SCANDAL BABY
4. Shunkan Sentimental
5. Saishuuheiki, Kimi
6. Ceramic Blue
7. Departure
8. Ao no Naru Yoru no Sukima de (蒼の鳴る夜の隙間で; In the Gaps of the Echoing Blue Night) [New song]
9. Ivory
10. Koe
11. Tonight
12. Kagerou
13. A.M.D.K.J.
14. Take Me Out
15. Awanai Tsumori no, Genki de ne
16. Image
17. one piece
Encore:
18. one more time (New song)
19. Masterpiece
