Kalafina covers "Nowhere" from Madlax

Got this off youtube... thanks for posting it up. :) (note: am not sure how long this clip will last on youtube but if it's gone... sorry.)

Last year, before Kalafina's After Eden Special Live at the Tokyo Dome City Hall, they also performed live at the Animax Musix Fall 2011 at the Yokohama Arena.  If I had known that earlier I would have made plans to go to this event.  But unfortunately, I had already purchased my plane tickets and too many things were already in place that it made extending my leave and changing all the travel plans somewhat daunting and I wasn't prepared, nor did I have the time, to change things around.  To this day, and after watching the above video in particular, I still sort of regret not trying to go for it.

I've always wanted to attend one of the big anisong events in Japan because their concert venues are huge and it looks like so much fun.  The Yokohama Arena, which hosted last year's Animax Musix Fall, can take a maximum capacity of 17,000 people and is one of the larger concert venues in the Kanto region.  The stage design for the Animax Musix Fall 2011 was also really quite cool as it brings the performers quite up close and personal to the audience.  Just look at all that energy in the above clip and how close Hikaru and Wakana get to the audience at one point in the video clip.

"Nowhere" was originally sung by Nanri Yuuka during her FictionJunction Yuuka days, or at least during the days when she was known as FJ Yuuka.  Since it was originally sung by an FJ member, any fan of Kajiura Yuki would know that the song was written by Kajiura and once again Kalafina covers a song written by their very own music producer.

Their cover of See-Saw's "Anna ni Issho Datta no ni" was one year ago at the Animax Music Fall 2010 and it was, in my opinion, a very successful cover version as I liked it as much as and, depending on my mood, sometimes even more than I liked the original version sung by Ishikawa Chiaki from See-Saw.  I liked it so much, I still hope to this day that by some miracle, Kalafina will do a studio version of their cover of this song.

"Nowhere" is perhaps, musically speaking, a less successful cover than "Anna ni Issho Datta no ni".  Musically speaking, I can't say that I like the Kalafina version  more than FJ Yuuka's version.  That's not to say that Kalafina sang it poorly.  I actually think they acquitted themselves very well given their punishing schedule since the release of their 3rd album.  The trio have been so busy with events that they can't possibly have had a great deal of time perfecting songs that aren't their own, especially with all those "After Eden" lives looming in the horizon.

While it's not as polish a performance as "Anna ni Issho...", Kalafina makes up for that lost of smoothness with a great deal of raw energy, enthusiasm and perhaps what I sense is a pure joy of being on stage, living a dream and singing their lungs out.  They seem more intent on trying to convey their love for music and their delight at being able to sing at this event than trying to get everything musically correct. Of course they weren't throwing everything to the dogs either, since they sang in tune but they sometimes sounded a little more like excited, sometimes even slightly breathless, young singers at their first big gig than professional singers giving a flowing and sophisticated performance.  It is this rawness, this joyousness, this desire to reach out and express their passion for their craft that I think makes Kalafina's version of "Nowhere" a pretty damn good version of one of Kajiura Yuki's most popular compositions.

This is what I like the most about watching lives.  I love watching singers that really try and reach out, touch you and connect with you.  It's the same reason why I really like watching Angela live.  Seriously, Atsuko sounds way better in her studio versions.  She sacrifices some enunciation and doesn't always sound that accurate to her studio versions at the lives but Angela makes up for all that by being incredibly entertaining live.  They really seem to want you, the audience, to have a good time and if it means that they sound a little less good because they are too busy jumping around like energizer bunnies, then so be it.

I really do feel that Kalafina has come a very long way since their first stage appearance and even since 2010 when I first saw them live at the "Kagayaku..." live in Dec at the Lemon CC Hall in Shibuya.  Back then, I really did enjoy that live and it made me want to see them live again.  Even so, they seemed a little inhibited, a little bit too cautious perhaps.  However, by AFA11 and at the "After Eden" Special Live, I feel that all three of them seem to care less about getting everything perfect but seem to enjoy the experience much more and in letting go, they seem able to soar much further than before. Even till today, I still feel that Keiko seems to live for the Lives more than Hikaru and Wakana do but that said, the latter two aren't as far behind Keiko as they previously were.  Hikaru in particular has blossomed so much more on stage in the last year or so.  She's usually the shyest and the most inhibited of the three but you can see her enjoy herself so much more than she did before and this kind of happiness can be conveyed to the audience.

So after all that... do I like Kalafina's cover of "Nowhere"? :)  Yes... I do, I like it lots.  Musically speaking, FJ Yuuka's studio and live versions are superior to Kalafina's but it is Kalafina's youthful and joyful performance of "Nowhere" that gives me this feeling... the feeling that music "gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and charm and gaiety to life and to everything" (Plato?))  Hence, why I am certain that sometimes, when in certain moods, similar to my feeling for Kalafina's "Anna ni Issho...",  I too will like their "Nowhere" more than FJ Yuuka's. :)

And it is really Kalafina's and Angela's fault that I am hooked on lives. :)  I've watched several concerts in the past, some by singers that I really liked too, but none have made me hunger for more.  So I blame them because now I will be going to watch FictionJunction live and will also try and watch L'arc en Ciel, Weaver and Applicat Spectra when they come to Singapore. :)

Gosh... look at the time... time to catch some shut eye.... tomorrow is likely to be a long long day at work... :(

Next up... I really hope to try and write up something about the Tan Dun concert I attended about 2 or so weeks ago... but for now... oyasumi. :)