Concert Report: Fujii Kaze’s Stadium Live ‘Feelin’ Good’

Fujii Kaze Stadium Live “Feelin’ Good” was held on August 24 & 25 at Nissan Stadium in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was the first time Fujii Kaze held a live performance in Japan in about a year and a half, and it was attended by a total of 140,000 people over the two days. The following is a report of the concert.

As the planned start time passed, 70,000 people waited with excited anticipation for the moment they knew would soon come. Then, suddenly, Fujii Kaze appeared in the audience area and headed toward the field. He walked slowly among the fans roaring with surprised excitement toward an open space in the field at the center of the stadium. Sitting down at a piano, he quietly started to play. It was not a song but rather the piano arrangement “Summer Grace” (original version: grace). The beautiful melody spread throughout the stadium like a refreshing breeze.

Almost 3 years ago, Fujii Kaze held a free online concert on September 4, 2021 at an empty Nissan Stadium. At the time, people were feeling down about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the music industry was having a difficult time organizing live performances. Based on a desire to change the situation even if only a little, it was originally planned as an invitation-only performance in front of a limited audience, but due to an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections, the piano and song performance was held with no one in attendance. Fujii Kaze sat alone playing the piano in the middle of the huge stadium field. However, at the current show, he was able to play surrounded by 70,000 fans. Normally, the center stage is raised to make it easy for everyone to see, but at this show, similar to the performance 3 years ago, the piano was placed directly on the stadium grass.

“Where has the storm gone. Where have I gone. Seems like I’ve finally turned into freedom” and “All that I’m feelin’ now… is love” – While he cast the words across the venue in ambient sound effects, he gradually stepped up from the stadium field to the stage and started singing the first song “Feelin’ Go(o)d,” a new song that was just dropped recently (the words are some of its lyrics translated into English). Together with dancers dressed in casual clothes, as if their dancing represented everyday life on the streets, he walked freely across the stage and carried his singing voice toward the sky.

At the moment when “Feelin’ Go(o)d” ended, Fujii Kaze completely stopped moving at the center of the stage, and remained frozen in the same pose for more than 60 seconds. Obviously, it was a homage to the legendary stillness of Michael Jackson performing at the opening of “The Dangerous Tour.” Although no audience members fainted (as they did during Michael’s concert in Bucharest), their cheers and whistles echoed throughout the stadium. Time started moving again as the keyboard and bass played a phrase in unison, and we moved on to “Hana.” The song, whose sound was produced with A. G. Cook, expresses his belief in an innermost “flower” that everybody uniquely harbors in his or her heart. His voice was truly tender, but as he sang the song resonantly, it delivered his enduring passion and prayer to the audience in a persuasive manner.

The band provided a great groove for his singing. The concert was the first live band performance since his Japanese arena tour that ended in February 2023 (Fujii Kaze gave live performances with one piano in last summer’s Asia tour and at the LA & NY concerts in early summer this year). The band included Yaffle as bandmaster and on keyboard, TAIKING on guitar, Naoki Kobayashi on bass, Norihide Saji on drums, Takashi Fukuoka on percussion, and ARIWA (ASOUND) and Emoh Les on backing vocals. Eight dancers joined them. In total, 16 musicians/performers including Kaze collectively led the show and delivered vivid performance to the audience of 70,000 people each day over two days (totally 140,000 people) and created a sense of profound liberation across the huge space in Nissan Stadium.

He said, “This is not my show, this is YOUR show. That’s why I want you to sing along with me like this.” His words invited the audience to hum along with him, and he played “Garden.” Before he sang the next song “Tokuninai,” he asked the audience to take part in the song with claps and finger snaps, saying “please imagine that you are liberated from your own frustrating feelings and negative emotions one by one each time you clap hands and snap fingers. Throw all your negativities into the sky over Nissan Stadium and head homeward.” Kaze himself sat down at the center of the stage on its front edge and began to sing. Some singers may passionately arouse the audience early from the concert and create an explosive frenzy. Fujii Kaze, on the contrary, is soulful and free-flowing in his singing, naturally relaxing our bodies and minds. In the first half of the concert, at least.

That all changed when, on the stage, he said “I’m coming to see you!” and put on a headset in a garage built on the stage. Soon, he was riding around the stadium field on his bicycle and singing “SAYONARA Baby.” Only after the song ended, did the audience find the field completely already covered with the darkness of the night. Next up was an exhilarating interlude that delivered a fat hip-hop beat partially mixed with a bounce-like approach. The words “Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you” (the English version of the hook-line of “Kirari”) were repeated and soon joined by the phrase “CASTING CALL.” The superbly cool video, created by his trusted ally Kento Yamada, was screened during this part of the show. Kento Yamada also served as the general director of the live performance.

The interlude was followed by “Kirari,” “Kiri Ga Naikara” and “MO-EH-YO (Ignite).” The danceable songs induced even greater dynamism and euphoria not only mentally but physically also and powerfully raised the heat throughout the stadium. A robot dance was performed in “Kiri ga nai kara,” a spacey funk tune supported by masterful chord progressions, and an additional dance part was added to the performance for “MO-EH-YO (Ignite).” His singing was in perfect harmony with dancers.

The next song was “Kazeyo” which he played with the band for the first time. During “Lonely Rhapsody,” also performed with the band first time ever, Fujii played the piano himself and drew the audience into his own universe. It felt like we were slowly going down deep inside his heart once again. The atmosphere was filled with a deep feeling of fulfillment. As he played the piano, he sang one verse of Shonan no Kaze’s “Koishigure” and then segued into the intro of “Shinunoga E-Wa.” Here, the voices of Fujii, ARIWA and Emoh Les wove together to create a beautiful harmony.

After an interesting interlude of breaking by the dancers to the band’s session, Fujii appeared again wearing a tie and slightly oversized jacket. He started the second half of the concert with “Workinʼ Hard” featuring a tenor sax solo in the intro. This is a kind of stoic hip-hop song created in collaboration with DJ Dahi, who is known for producing records for Kendrick Lamar and SZA, to name a few. “damn,” meanwhile, is one of the songs that present Fujii Kaze’s unique universe of music where he has started opening up a new phase with the album “LOVE ALL SERVE ALL.” He gave it a lilting performance. Soon after, “Tabiji” was transformed into garage rock. The easy evolution of the song proved the durability of his writing.

“Michi Teyu Ku” was performed with the backdrops of meteor shower images displayed on LED screens as well as numerous waving smartphone flashlights. This fantastic sight enhanced Fujii’s soulful singing further, which seemed to soar high above the sky. In “Seishun Sick,” the audience members clapped their hands and became part of the groove, which resulted in a warm exchange of free and happy vibes. “Nan-Nan” was played after the introduction of the performers. “Because everything starts from your heart, feelings or sentiments, if you always stay ‘Feelinʼ Good,’ you can change all the worlds surrounding you.” “Hey, everyone, let’s stay positive together. Hang in there and go for it.” After speaking to the audience for a bit, Fujii said, “Unless I play this song, we can never wrap up our summer season, right?” and started playing the last song of the night – it was “Matsuri,” of course, a tune which marked a significant milestone in his career. After singing this number together with the 70,000 audience, he went around the field by bicycle once again, and finally left the stage.

The Stadium LIVE concert on August 24 was live streamed on YouTube and as many as 280,000 people watched it real time. It quickly amassed over 3 million views as early as in the morning of the 26th. In order to meet this larger-than-expected demand from across the world, the official Fujii Kaze team has decided to extend the archive streaming period for the time being, which was originally set to end at 16:00 on the 26th (the ending time is to be determined). They are welcoming people to watch this video to experience the most up-to-date performance by Fujii Kaze from anywhere in the world. In addition, his official site has posted links to the set list/playlist pages of this concert.

In other news, Fujii’s official site has recently announced “Best of Fujii Kaze 2020-2024 ASIA TOUR” starting from October this year, which lines up nine performances in eight cities across Asia including Singapore. This is Fujii’s second tour in Asia, following the first one where he sang songs solo as he played the piano himself on stage. This time, all the concerts will be held at larger-scale, arena class venues. As shown in his recent music, Fujii Kaze has started to branch out and work with folks with diverse roots and backgrounds. We can’t wait to hear what he comes up with next.