Over the Edge 2011/2012

Tatsurou revealed himself in the sound check with the words, “It’s the last one, huh! Let’s go nuts! Ok. Let’s start.”

seek Session

A few broken voices screamed out to Tatsurou despite the empty, misty stage. Dramatic orchestral rock made the way for the final session led by seek of Mix speaker’s, Inc. His hand-picked members included not only MUCC’s Tatsurou on vocals but also Merry’s Gara as well as guitarists Reo of lynch. and Sizna of Moran, Яyo of girugamesh on drums, and finally, on keyboard, Ayame from Matenrou Opera.

The mystery of what kind of music this rag-tag band of all-star musicians would perform was soon solved as Tatsurou and Gara broke into a fast-rock, fully drummed rendition of the American country and western classic, “Country Road.” It was a drastic change from the previous set, and Gara’s voice shone as Tatsurou gave him a chance to sing solo before joining in, the two then singing a Japanese version of the chorus lyrics. Talk about a shocking yet well-received opening number.

“This is the last session,” Tatsurou announced before turning to face the drummer. “But who the hell is that?” he asked. “Who are you? You’ve been playing this whole time.”
Right on cue, Яyo responded with, “I’m Kuro on drums.”

“I’ll say,” Tatsurou agreed. “And the boss on bass. Seek! Now who’s next? Wait, aren’t your lashes long?” he asked, temporarily halted as he gazed at Sizna. “Guitarist–from Moran: Sizna. Keyboard,” he continued. “Looks a bit like Hyde. The world down the whole is what kind of world?” he asked.

“This kind of world,” Ayame dutifully replied, completing Matenrou’s single title.

“Matenrou Opera, Ayame!” The final member gave Tatsurou pause as the vocalist bowed in respect. “Hey! lynch. Reo! And we vocalists are Tatsurou and…”

Gara, wrote with the still-present calligraphy set.”

“Uga? Hey, while everyone else was setting up Gara was taking a bath. We told him we had to start and he swore,” said Tatsurou, satisfied to have shared all kinds of secrets.

“Everyone knew that last song. You should now this one, too. Let’s go!”

For “TRAIN-TRAIN” the double vocalists took turns on solo, backed up by Ayame’s keyboard but when the guitars came in, Sizna rampaged all over the place, easily winning the upstaging award while seek, Gara and Tatsurou all fought valiantly for second place. Just before the very last line, Tatsurou pointed to himself, signally he would sing the upper harmony, and despite the obvious proof of their lack of rehearsal, the song came to a gorgeous end.

“This will be the very last song of Over the Edge, OK? Usually everyone comes running out but I’m not letting that happen. I want to end it singing. It’s okay, right? We two are singing together, after all. These two of us who don’t get along at all are gonna sing this famous song of The Back Horn. We’re gonna sing that ‘Kizuna song.’” With that announcement, the venue entered a ballad atmosphere for the final live music of the night, both Tatsurou and Gara singing out at full vocal strength. Each artist kept their own unique style, Sizna continuing to stand out even in the ballad but the combined vocal strength gave the piece an overpowering edge that allowed for a little eccentricity—or a lot.

“Yeah! Thank you! Have a good new years! Oh, too late? Fine. Merry Christmas!” Tatsurou rambled. As the session stumbled offstage, seek pulled Sizna into a hug then grabbed Яyo, hands wandering suspiciously low before he shook hands with Ayame, obviously glad to have ended the night with such talented co-conspirators.

Members:

V. MUCC – Tatsurou
V. Gara – Merry
Gt. lynch – Reo
Gt. Moran – Sizna
Bs. seek – Mix Speaker’s, Inc.
Drs. girugamesh – Яyo
Key. Matenrou Opera – Ayame

Set List

1. Opening Music: Nausicaa Requiem
2. Country Road
3. TRAIN-TRAIN
4. Kizuna Song