Blog - les 5-4-3-2-1's Three Star Show: report
les 5-4-3-2-1's Three Star Show: report
Two years ago I saw Sally Soul Stew live, essentially a cover/revival band of Les 5-4-3-2-1, but I never thought I could ever see a full show by Les 5!
I've first known of Les 5 around the mid-90's, I think the first time I heard them was when I rented a Cutey Honey anime video and as a bonus there was a promotional show of them performing the theme song. Later I found them again on the Shibuya-kei compilation "Sushi 3003" (German label Bungalow), I was hooked.
Yesterday, Les 5-4-3-2-1 played a full show at a small café in a retreated Koganechō, Yokohama. It was their first show in 15 years, that's as bassist Sally Kubota and singer Hitomi, the band's original line-up. The two were accompanied by keyboardist Nakayama Tsutomu (of Original Love fame, having also played with P5 back in the Sony era, and recently with Arcorhyme). Most songs were just bass, keys and vocal, but some also used an old-school drum machine.
The show was separated in two sets, with a short entr'acte in between. The songs were a selection of the best of Les 5, and also a few rarities.
1st set: uchū de Rendez-vous (rendez-vous à l'univers) / Jazz-ru kokoro (le cœur qui jazz) / otoko no ko onna no ko (un garçon et une fille) / ah oui bonbon / warui natsu (? single B-side apparently, didn't know it)
2nd set: Bond Street (from a Burt Bacharach tribute album) / niji no kanata (au-delà de l'arc-en-ciel) / bus stop (not the Les 5 original, but a cover of The Hollies but with Japanese lyrics) / brand new song! (tentative title: Golden Picnic) / fantastic voyage / and, uhh... I forgot!? :( but it was a song I knew very well!
Encore: un-deux-trois
That show was a dream come true! A bunch of favorite songs ("ah oui bonbon", "rendez-vous à l'univers", "un garçon et une fille", "fantastic voyage"...!) that I thought I'd never hear live, or at least not performed by Les 5 themselves! Plus a brand new song, this has to mean that they're quite serious about coming back, right??!
There was also some very interesting talk. Like that one of the big reasons for them to start as a unit was "Girl Girl Girl", that radio show with Konishi Yasuharu! Hitomi said that they first recorded "le coeur qui jazz" for the show, and later a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", and these repeated invitations are what motivated them to actually record and release their music. However I just checked my Girl Girl Girl CDs and there seems to be nothing by Les 5 on there. I'd really have liked to hear those versions.
After the show I walked up to Hitomi and Sally, and got my "Bus Stop" 12" autographed! Yay! :)
By the way, at the show there was a good news announced! This was supposed to be a one-day reunion thing, but they have already another show booked, on May 23 and this time in Tokyo. Also playing will be Budō÷Grape (MySpace) of which singer Kuminko was part of the audience last night.
I really wish that this means that Les 5 will continue being active on stage, and maybe even releasing new songs!
Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr
Posted on March 21, 2009 at 20:54 | Tweet
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les 5-4-3-2-1, Budō÷Grape: live report
On Saturday I went to Shinjuku Motion where was held an event titled "TOKYO MOR 2nd Stage" organized by Budō÷Grape...
May 26, 2009 at 00:19
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生きたかったんだよね。うらやましいです。
5月23日、東京でやるんですね！情報ありがとう！
Posted by momo 8 on March 22, 2009 at 00:57
はい、新宿でやりますよ！僕も行く予定！
フライヤーからの情報：
5月23日（土）＠新宿モーション http://motion-web.jp/
Open 18:30, start 19:00
2000円 (adv) 2500円 (door) + drink 500円 (予定)
出演： les 5-4-3-2-1、ぶどう÷グレープ、etc.
Posted by Patrick on March 22, 2009 at 01:01
sounds like a fantastic show patrick! i think i picked up the burt bacharach tribute album they are on on my first trip to tokyo back in '99.
Posted by william on March 22, 2009 at 01:51
That's a great cover on there by Les 5! However that CD is still missing from my collection. I'm curious what other artists of interest were on there?
Posted by Patrick on March 22, 2009 at 01:53
I wish too they's release new material, but with Hitomi on vocals... The album La Ronde is one of my all time favourites from the shibuya-kei movement!
Posted by Damian on March 22, 2009 at 01:56
Yes that would be great! Btw that new song sounded like very authentic Shibuya-kei. :)
Posted by Patrick on March 22, 2009 at 10:59