夜夢夜夢祭ツアー [English]

What does NightOwl make you feel? Is it adrenaline? Is it passion? When I watch NightOwl in the flesh, I feel alive. Nothing drives me like live music that I adore and NightOwl is near the top of my favourites. After barreling into my life out of nowhere, and completely changing my feelings on an entire subset of Japanese music, they’ve earned a permanent spot in my personal music history. Even after the inevitable end comes, NightOwl will forever remain in my memory, no matter how fickle my mind is. But NightOwl isn’t near an end, instead it has experienced a rebirth. That’s what 夜夢夜夢祭ツアー represents.

Lingering emotions

After attending 全梟会, オハイオ集会, and Turn the Night, I couldn’t stop thinking of NightOwl after returning home. My birthday is February 11, which was right in the middle of 3 夜夢夜夢祭ツアー stops, including 嘉那-chan homecoming. After weeks of telling myself I’m not going to spend do something silly like go to Japan for a short trip for 夜夢夜夢祭ツアー, in January I caved and bought tickets for February 10 and 11, booked lodging, and bought plane tickets. (I had entered the first lottery for February 12, 嘉那-chan homecoming, in October.) The thought of spending my own birthday with my favorite idols after attending both of their birthday events was an irresistible temptation. This would mark the first time I travel to Japan exclusively for chika idols.

Three NightOwl one-mans in a row was something out of a dream. Each day was so much fun. Can you imagine having an amazing experience one day, and know you’re going to experience the same thing tomorrow? That’s a special sort of euphoria. Three days in a row of seeing 嘉那-chan shine and hearing 折原-chan grace my ears? Plus, the closing of those days being 嘉那-chan’s own event?!? Fun! Fun! Fun! Unbeatable! It’s a shame one of these days wasn’t 折原-chan homecoming, even if such a thing was obviously impossible.

Do you feel alive?

NightOwl does not have any songs I dislike. Every song in their discography is one I enjoy. To some this might sound like an obvious statement. Yet, even among my three favorite singers, each of them has at least one song I dislike or have little love for. This speaks to the strength of NightOwl’s members and the various composers and arrangers that have weaved their thread into the tapestry that is NightOwl’s excellent music.

To me there is one NightOwl song that stands above them all and I had the absolute joy of experiencing it once more on my birthday. That song is Feel Alive. How the crowd goes wild at the start, the energy throughout the song, and above all hearing 折原-chan absolutely belt her voice is a mind-blowing experience that I cannot explain with words. The lyrics are something I may never understand, but the English phrase “feel alive” is a perfect description of the impact that this song, and NightOwl as a whole, has on me. Nothing on this Earth can make me feel alive like a live performance by my favorite music acts do. These thoughts are quite the contrast to 折原-chan’s past thoughts on Feel Alive. “Weakness” is not a word that comes to my mind, not when the performance of this song is so powerful, and to me inspiring. Or perhaps, the Feel Alive of today is one that has overcome the walls of the past?

The red-haired singer

Between her activities as an idol, love of anison, and past history with doujin music, 折原-chan is the only singer I follow that is familiar with each subset of Japanese music that I love. 折原-chan has an earnest and intense love of singing… I remember when she covered ノーザンクロス [Northern Cross] in November, a song I’d been thinking for months would fit her voice so well. I was gushing about it during cheki time the next day. On April 6th I forgot to mention that May’n and Megumin sang ライオン [Lion] at ANIMAX; that would’ve been a fun discussion. Something I did mention on April 6th, and holds 2 months later, is that NightOwl has been my most listened to artist over the past year and that is in large part due to 折原-chan’s passionate singing. That and 折原-chan may soon become a singer I enjoy as much as my three favorites… What I didn’t mention was I’ve been listening to two of those singers for around 15 years.

Cheki time with 折原-chan in February was very memorable to me. Talking about my previous post on オハイオ集会 was a welcome surprise and on the 11th she sang happy birthday! Somehow months later 折原-chan remembered that I sang happy birthday for her in November and amusingly 折原-chan mentioned that she only sang in one language. (In November, I sang happy birthday in 3 languages. Perhaps I’ll learn enough Japanese to do 4 languages next time...) For one cheki we were able to talk a bit about NightOwl’s own songs, which was awesome! Being able to talk about music with the core singer herself is a particular delight to me. But it was on the 12th that 折原-chan really surprised me. It was one of 折原-chan’s last post-show chekis, and the madwoman grabbed her phone for translation on the fly! That experience had me grinning like an idiot afterwards, it was so silly and so fun. Thank you 折原-chan, for making me happy.

Purple’s representative

嘉那-chan is the best dancer I’ve ever seen. I have likely said this before, but it is worth repeating. She has a certain style that I have seen only sparingly, featuring such potent use of her core muscles. Many of 嘉那-chan’s movements are filled with subtleties… A small flick of the wrist here, a slight hip gyration there, and a curling the fingers of one hand during an arm motion, among many others. Plus, there are very few, if any, wasted movements. In the past I’ve written about 嘉那-chan’s ability to improvise and this ability still holds true. Yet, these words are insufficient to describe 嘉那-chan’s splendor. Unfortunately, my affinity with the arts is quite low; I’m an engineer by trade, not a scholar of languages nor an expert in fine arts. I confess that I have a mild insecurity; the thought that I can’t/don’t communicate enough of what see, that what I write for chekis isn’t sufficient, sometimes bites at me.

嘉那-chan’s talent is not one borne from chance, but from well earned effort and practice. The number of Tiktok and Instagram dance clips are a mere fragment of all the practice and experimentation that she does. Plus, 嘉那-chan’s been creating more and more choreographies herself! To see 宵々夜, one of her favorite creations, on April 6th was a delight. Having a chance to briefly talk about choreography at cheki time was most insightful. Lastly, strengthening your core muscles as 嘉那-chan does is no simple feat. It is both a challenge and a large time sink to get any results. Take one look at 嘉那-chan’s awesome abs and it’s clear that this effort is paying off. (Don’t look too long!)

I remember the first 嘉那-chan cheki I got on April 6th most vividly. Or rather, I recall 嘉那-chan’s reaction to seeing me, how she got tearful and emotional for a brief moment. It was a scene that I cannot do justice with words. I was very deeply moved by this. Even recalling it now makes me smile. That cheki reminds me of a time during May 2023 where 嘉那-chan had a few sentences translated into English sitting on her phone. That month was only the second time I had went to see NightOwl for chekis; the first was the February prior. For 嘉那-chan to have that message, despite not even knowing if I’d ever reappear, was extremely touching. Language might be a slight barrier, but smiles and feelings are universal. It’s times like these that make me want to keep supporting 嘉那-chan as much as I can. They are precious memories I hold very tightly. Thank you 嘉那-chan, for warming my soul. I still haven’t forgotten my promise to learn Japanese, I will fulfil this some day.

Costumes and fans

The pre-show outfits for February 11 were an inspired choice. I admit I have a soft spot for Chinese dresses, in particular when they look this nice. 嘉那-chan’s hair ornament was an excellent pairing with her outfit and the outfit’s colour scheme suited 嘉那-chan quite well. 折原-chan’s outfit was a great fit to her slim figure and the outfit’s white colour paired surprisingly well with her red hair.

There were two neat items acquired in February. The first was the NightOwl keychain. Now, no matter whether I’m at home or outside I have a small reminder of NightOwl with me. The second was a surprise birthday gift from a 凛音 fan; an awesome deck of cards! It’s now my go-to deck whenever I need cards. Thank you so much!

Speaking of NightOwl fans, they are all a truly lovely bunch. Seeing many familiar faces is always a pleasure. I give particular thanks to えぬさん and ゾンビちゃん for once again lending me invaluable assistance during both of my 夜夢夜夢祭ツアー visits. On February 11, spending time laughing and smiling with everyone after 凛音-san homecoming was a delight. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends to have that day.

Between this lovely lot of people, and of course NightOwl’s phenomenal performance, this was a birthday I don’t think I will ever forget. Thank you to all for such a great time!

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この記事の日本語訳はこちら： https://note.com/lavo_2/n/n3fe12a3c0ca4