flumpool tour 2016 “WHAT ABOUT EGGS?” ~Singapore Special~ @ MILLIAN SINGAPORE 23072016

On July 23, 2016, flumpool – made up of Ryuta Yamamura (vocals), Kazuki Sakai (guitar), Genki Amakawa (bass), and Ogura Seiji (drums) – again greeted their fans with a concert in Singapore after two years. It might seem not too long a gap in time, but to the fans, the two years had probably seemed like eternity. This time, the concert was held at a spanking new livehouse, with a more sophisticated set-up, and a larger capacity than the previous concert! As the lights finally dimmed, the crowd roared as it signaled the start of the concert.

Kaihoku was, in my opinion, a great opening song as the intro of the song had this mysterious vibe, as if drawing the audience into flumpool’s world. After making sure that the crowd had warmed up with this song, the band jumped right into Kakusei Identity, a song with more rock-and-roll feel that makes you want to jump up and down, like the band members on stage.

Ryuta addressed the audience after the first two songs. “Hello Singapore! We’re flumpool!” The audience responded with screams. “I can’t hear you! Singapore, long time no see! I’ve missed you! Did you miss us? Yes? Are you enjoying (yourselves)?” Ryuta felt that the crowd was not loud enough, and got them to scream louder. “Good! Thank you! This is our second solo live in Singapore. Who has seen us before?” he continued. He asked the members of the audience, who was watching flumpool for the first time, and how they got to know flumpool.

He expressed the band’s happiness to be able to perform in Singapore again, and thanked the audience for making it possible. Ryuta tried to speak in English as much as possible but it came to a point where he was struggling a little, and shouts of “Nihongo!” came from the audience. He immediately protested with, “No nihongo! Here is Singapore!” We’ve got to give him respect for his awesome attitude! He proceeded to ask the fans what they thought of flumpool’s album, EGG, and whether they have bought their copy of it. He even joked that he would hand them a copy or two after the concert, for those who have yet to get a copy.

The next song was DILEMMA, one of my favourite songs in the album, as it has a warm and cheerful feel, and a chorus that is really fun to sing along to. Another great thing about this concert was the fillers in between songs. There were short segments of music that filled in the gaps, setting the mood, and also making time for the band to switch instruments and get ready for the next song. Dear my friend, another heart-warming song, followed. Kazuki’s guitar riffs and solos in this song were iconic and memorable. The song was moderate paced, and soon the audience started clapping along. The next song, Rinne, had a melancholic feel, with Ryuta emotionally belting out the song. It was a good laid back number for the audience to rest before plunging into the next one, Zettai Zetsumei!!! Of course, the song began with a guitar solo by Kazuki! After all the laid back songs, the crowd went wild during this one.

There was a short MC segment, where Ryuta spoke in English as well. “In life, we might have good days and bad days, but I think I am having the best day with all of you. The next song is a song you should know.” This was one of the many songs that flumpool sang in Mandarin during this concert, the Mandarin version of Tsuyoku Hakanaku. I personally prefer the Japanese version, but you’ve got to give them props for singing so many songs in Mandarin! The power of the song was still preserved. After Tsuyoku Hakanaku, flumpool had prepared something special for the fans in Singapore. Kazuki addressed the audience this time, “Hello we are flumpool! Are you having fun? Thank you for waiting for us! Since we are in Singapore, we will sing… Wait wait..We will sing a Singapore song, okay?” Again, the audience screamed as a response.

Kazuki proceeded to strum his guitar, and started singing the National Day Parade 2015 theme song, Our Singapore. Seiji then joined in on the drums, and flumpool led the whole live house in singing “Woahhh ohhh ohhh”. Everyone was pleasantly surprised, and erupted in cheers. Due to the not so enthusiastic singing by audience, Ryuta asked, “Wait…you don’t know the song?” in Mandarin. Kazuki followed with the same question, but in Japanese, “You don’t know the song?” The crowd laughed. The band then led the crowd to sing the short verse one more time.

This was followed by the member-introduction time, by Kazuki! “On keyboards, Isogai Simon!”

Simon greeted the crowd with, “Hello Singapore! Are you having fun?? I’m so happy to be here with flumpool and you guys, thank you!” Next was Seiji! “Hi, I’m Seiji! Oh, so many chio bu (pretty girls)!” teased Seiji, which sent the crowd cheering. “What did he say?” asked Kazuki.

“Chio bu means kawaii,” Seiji explained. We could see that the other band members were rather puzzled about the origin of the word, “chio bu”. Ryuta asked the crowd if it was a Mandarin word, which the crowd responded explaining, “It’s Hokkien (a Chinese dialect)!”

Next it was Genki’s turn to address the crowd, and of course, he went with the flow and said, “Thank you, thank you! You are all chio bu!” Ryuta introduced Kazuki, and Kazuki returned the favour. “And last but not least, the most important member is all of you! All of you are very important to us! From now, I will sing some songs from our album, EGG.”

Ryuta began the next section with a few romantic lines that made the audience go “awwww”. “I feel that it has become harder and harder to express my feelings, the older I get, and the more important the person is to me. But this album has told me how important it is to express my feelings.” The band then chimed in with the next song, Kyou no Chikai. The next two songs, Ubugoe and Ashita Kimi ga Nakanai you ni added to the sentimental atmosphere, as Ryuta serenaded the entire livehouse.

The lights dimmed and the keyboard introduction that was played next was mysterious sounding, which immediately hinted what song was coming next. Yes, it was Yoru wa Nemurerukai? the opening song for the anime, Ajin! Ryuta also put on a hooded jacket, adding to the suspense. Those who have heard this song before would probably know that it is very different from the type of songs that flumpool usually does, but it is definitely a good move, and moreover, it accurately depicts the anime, Ajin. It was nice to see a different side of flumpool, and of course, the awesome guitar solos by Kazuki! This song was really the start of the “high” segment of the concert, with Blue Apple & Red Banana next! flumpool got the audience to sing “Woah ohh ohhh” together. There was a good mix of the songs from the new album, and some of their classics. When the band started the intro of reboot~ Akiramenai Uta~, it sent a wave of nostalgia over the room.

Probably as they were performing in Singapore, they sang quite a few Mandarin songs, including the next one, OAOA by the Taiwanese band, Mayday. flumpool previously did a Japanese rendition of this song, but this time, they sang it in Mandarin! That definitely deserved a big “A” for effort! The fans got really hyped up and sang, “OAOA” at the top of their voices.

The excitement did not stop there, with Touch, another uplifting song, next. Dancing and jumping along to the beat, all the fans were definitely having a good time. After the bridge, Ryuta introduced the members of flumpool again, which received deafening cheers from the crowd. Then came the chance for the fans to use the muffler towels they have brought, in the next song, World Beats! Like what Kazuki mentioned during the press conference, he would like the audience to twirl their towels in the air during this song. “We love Singapore! Thank you, we are flumpool!” shouted Ryuta, as the band took their leave from the stage.

Before the concert, a group of fans were giving out flyers for the encore segment that had lyrics to the famous flumpool song, Kimi ni Todoke, and other instructions on what to do during the encore segment. The time finally came, and all the fans rose to the occasion, singing the chorus of Kimi ni Todoke at the top of their voices. The chorus went on in loop for a total of four times until the band members came back on stage! We could see the big smiles on their faces, and Ryuta happily got the fans to continue singing the chorus, another two more times, until Kazuki had to stop him. “Thank you for your encore!” shouted Ryuta.

Ryuta announced that the next song would be the song for the Canon Photo pass holders to snap photos of the band, and told the rest of the audience without the pass, to “一起唱 (sing together)“ to the Mandarin version of Akashi.There was a short MC segment after the song, where Ryuta expressed the band’s feelings and thoughts about their album, EGG.

“We are very very very happy today!” Ryuta asked the crowd how was the concert so far and how did they like flumpool’s album, EGG. Fans erupted with cheers as an answer. “This album helped us break out of our shells. Some people might say that they like us before, however, we believe that we’ve made the right choice, and we want to thank you for believing in us, and always supporting us, thank you Singapore!” continued Ryuta. This led into the second encore song, Taisetsu na Mono wa Kimi Igai ni Miataranakute, another hot favourite. flumpool even got the fans to sing the chorus on their own, with the Japanese lyrics of the song flashed on the screen. Judging from the loudness of the singing, I guess many of the fans either memorised the lyrics, or could read Japanese!

The fans obviously hadn’t had enough of flumpool, as the cheers and shouts of “encore” only grew louder. “Okay okay, can we sing one more song?” asked Ryuta. During this time, the fans at the front row passed up onto the stage a banner made especially for flumpool, filled with handwritten messages from all the fans. I’m sure that the band members felt the love from all the fans tonight, which made them more inclined to give more encore songs. “Ok, 准备好了(we’re ready) ” said Ryuta, and the music for Hoshi ni Negai wo started!

Were the fans satisfied with the three encore songs? Definitely not! They immediately started chanting, “mou ikkai (one more time)” and “encore”, repeatedly. Kazuki tried to distract the crowd by singing Our Singapore again, but to no avail. The chanting went on and on until flumpool agreed to give us another encore song! The members came together to decide what song to sing. Soon, the moment of truth came and Ryuta said, “This song is very famous in Japan!” The audience was buzzing with excitement as to which “famous song” they would be playing, and they surprised them by singing Hydrangea, a song they had since before their major debut. Naturally, the crowd went wild again.

All in all, the concert set list was very well thought out, including the nice instrumental fillers in between the songs, which made the flow very smooth, right down to the mini-MCs recited by Ryuta at strategic points. It’s amazing how much his MCs in English have improved since the last time flumpool came to Singapore, and we applaud him for his hard work! The same goes to the rest of the members as well. It is from things like this that we can feel their sincerity and dedication to connect with their overseas fans.

The concert was an absolute success, and we will definitely look forward to welcoming flumpool back to our sunny shores again!