SixTONES‘ Taiga Kyomoto held a live tour in celebration of the release of his album called “PROT.30” under his creative project, ART-PUT. The tour opened in Zepp Nagoya and continued with other Zepp performances in Osaka and Tokyo. In addition, due to the overwhelming number of applications, additional performances have been scheduled at Tokyo Theater Garden on July 10th and 11th.
This was the first time Taiga has held concerts at a live music venue called Zepp, a well-known chain of concert halls in Japan designed specifically for live performances. Taiga really loves the vibe of these kinds of venues because his favorite bands helped him through tough times in his life, and now he wants to do the same for his fans. He also enjoys the sense of closeness and connection it creates with his fans.
I had the pleasure of being able to go on the first date of the tour, in Nagoya, and I am excited to share a report about it for Dumpling Box.
Just before the start of the show, the mirror ball started to spin, casting beautiful blue lights throughout the venue (Blue is Taiga‘s favourite color and one of the main colors of the concept of this tour). Then, everyone began clapping in rhythm, chanting “Taiga!” together. As the band members took their positions, the intro to the first song started to play.
The first song was “Die another day”, a song performed entirely in English, showcasing his versatility as an artist.
Taiga took the stage with a guitar, dressed in a deep ultramarine suit, complemented by translucent brown sunglasses. His hair was styled in a slicked-back, wet look, creating a silhouette akin to a UK rock star emerging from the backlight. This song, with its brief intro leading swiftly into the vocals, immediately drew the audience into the live atmosphere. Hands instinctively rose, and everyone surrendered themselves to the music.
As the stage lights brightened during the last part of the song, Taiga‘s expression was projected onto the large back screen, further elevating the venue’s energy. Everything truly sparkled in that moment.
Next, he performed “WONDER LAND“. The energy remained high, and this song was made to keep the excitement going! Everyone could already feel that the setlist was absolutely amazing, even when the live had only just begun.
At this point, the setlist took a more relaxed turn with the selection of “Over Dub”. The transition to the next song, “Sake to Eiga to Nuts” (“Alcohol, Movies, and Nuts”), was seamless. “Over Dub” is a song rich in character; I found myself completely captivated by its charm.
With “Sake to Eiga to Nuts” (“Alcohol, Movies, and Nuts”), Taiga was a little further forward on the stage (in the first few songs he had been further in the background) and it was so cool to see him use the left and right sides of the stage, singing as if he was appealing to the audience with his heart, making gestures in accordance with the lyrics and encourage the audience to give their all!
“RAY” is a more than perfect song for this kind of live performance. The beautiful guitar arpeggios, the solid low bass guitar, and drums stand out even more when heard live in a rock club, highlighting the rawness of rock. You can feel the beauty of both the weakness and strength this song carries through the vocals, and I was deeply captivated by it.
Then, Taiga followed up with a cover of the song “To Feel The Fire” by Stevie Wonder. He didn’t introduce the song or talk about it during the MC, so if you didn’t know the song, you didn’t know if it was Taiga‘s new song or if it was a cover.
With “Owarasenu Sekai” (終わらせぬ世界), Taiga had the fans sing a part of the lyrics with him, creating a friendly atmosphere.
In the MC, Taiga began by thanking the audience for coming to the first show, and said that the audience were witnesses, or rather accomplices. The words Taiga used made the audience burst into laughter. The MC’s topic was his only episode story, the one that could become a news headline. He had been cutting back on things like ramen and eating vegetables to stay in shape for the live performance.
Even though he worked on his appearance, he got bitten by a flea, showing his wrist near the base of his thumb as he spoke with a laugh. He said if his parents were overprotective, they would have taken him to the hospital, but as a great detective, he could tell it was from not washing the bedding for a week. He didn’t know when the right time was to wash the bedding, and a week had passed.
Then, he showed the flea sticker, and in that flow, he showed a tattoo sticker placed under his right collarbone (a black logo from the tour).
He left the theme “Thanks Flea” for the band, and Taiga went off to change clothes.
The band members spontaneously played a stylish “Thanks Flea,” and after Taiga finished changing, he joined in with a beautiful impromptu lyric and composition for the “Thanks Flea” session.
His next outfit was a pink cardigan over a black shirt. He then introduced the next song called “Kodoku” (狐言) with “It’s a song I sang with great care at the birthday event”, sitting on the amplifier and singing with great care, and the feeling that this song is one of the most important songs that conveys the lifelong Taiga without hiding his true self is transmitted through the live sound to the heart of the audience.
He then gave way to “KOYOI”. The live performance was even better than the original, with a keyboardist playing the piano and synthesizers.
The echoes on Taiga‘s microphone gave the songs a very artistic sound, and his rapping was really cool. Also, the improvised contemporary dance style was just too good to be true!
Then he sang “Blue Night”. Surrounded by laser beams, Taiga singing with the stand mic was incredibly beautiful—both his appearance and his voice. The song made me feel like I was watching a single piece of art, wrapped in both a mature aura and the lingering innocence of youth.
He then paused for a short break to introduce the next song, a cover of the song “Strange Chameleon” by the pillows. Taiga said, “It’s a song from my life that I came across when I was in high school, a song that supported me and saved me because all the lyrics seemed to talk about me, a song that I cherished and wanted to cover if I could ever have a solo live performance.” It was very clear that this song was very important to Taiga, as he conveyed it through music.
Then a video started playing. The BGM was based on a clock-like, heartbeat-like rhythm. It was a theme like an expressive artist Taiga packed into one day.
In the video, Taiga did things like light a match, light a candle, and drink water from a glass bottle. Then, blowing out the candle flame, he went to the studio room where the light shining through the blinds reflected beautiful stripes on the wall.
He took out blue paint and painted the blue flame of the tour’s logo on a lined white canvas. Then, a figure held a film camera while taking a walk in the forest. That figure touched music equipment in a music studio, and at the end, a footage of a drum set in the studio.
Then a real drum set appeared from the lower part of the stage, and the audience gasped.
Taiga was wearing an outfit (black and orange) reminiscent of hide, as in the “WONDER LAND” music video. Taiga sat on the drum set, proving that not only can he sing, play guitar and bass, but he can also play drums!
Taiga‘s drum solo started in the form of a connection to “-27-“. It’s natural that it’s hard to play an instrument where the left and right limbs all move separately, but I could tell that he had practised hard, and it was really good.
Taiga sang “-27” with a gas mask mic with the round red glowing eyes. It was so cool. I’ve never seen this kind of live performance.
The radio voice part of the song was sung with a microphone hanging from the ceiling in the upper part of the stage, and when he moved to the lower part of the stage, he sang with this type of microphone in his hands.
When the song ended, Taiga said: “Let’s give it our all and die together” and I believe that at that moment, all the fans there could only say, “Let’s die together“.
He then followed with “Prelude“, which was the first MV he released as ART-PUT‘s project. This song, with a sense of speed and momentum, was performed at this position in the main part of the live, so naturally it was very exciting!
Then Taiga sang “Kokkeina Fight” (滑稽なFight). The sight of Taiga singing while playing the guitar was so wonderful. The way he approached the guitar, in turn from the bottom to the top, facing the guitarist, looking really lively, happy as he strummed his guitar, filled our hearts with happiness.
That was the end of the main part, and then the audience started shouting Taiga‘s name to make way for the encore.
The encore started with a ballad, called “Akari” (灯り). Taiga’s heartfelt and careful way of singing left a strong impression. Taiga wore the tour T-shirt as well as the wristband.
Then Taiga said: “Can everyone sing?” “Tottsu, can you sing too?”
(Tottsu is Shota Totsuka, a member of A.B.C-Z. He had come all the way to Nagoya on short notice to watch the live—someone Taiga called a precious person. All the fans joined in to send a thank-you to Tottsu.)
Right before the start of the song “Hypericum” (ヒペリカム), he called out, “Let’s make our present bloom!”
Ending the show with this song reflected Taiga’s genuine warmth as a person, and it made fans’ hearts shine just as brightly. This time, Taiga faced the band members and did an air guitar session, syncing with them through rhythm.
All of Taiga’s fans sang together the English sentence: “The yellow flower that never withers.” It was truly moving when Taiga added vocal runs over everyone’s singing.
The best moment came when he stood side by side with the band members, held hands with them, and bowed, saying, “Thank you very much!”
After the band members left the stage, Taiga stayed alone on stage. He said, “I was so moved that I thought I had been singing ‘Hypericum’ for about 10 years.”
Then he remembered that he had forgotten that he had asked the staff to prepare towels by the stand so that everyone could wave towels at “Hypericum”. He sang again the phrase “The yellow flower that never withers” a cappella, and everyone waved their towels.
After that, he introduced the T-shirt used for the staff of the tour (which Taiga said was the one everyone was always jealous of). He asked, “Do you want to see the back too?” and the camera showed the print on his back from the top, where the tour dates and venue names were written. Then, some fans started to murmur, and the words “Tokyo Garden Theater” and the dates were written under Zepp Haneda!
“You all know that, don’t you? You don’t know, do you?” And then, because it was unfair that the announcement was only for those who were there, he posted the announcement of the additional show in real time on the spot, and the kindness of not leaving anyone behind made all Taiga‘s fans love him even more.
The live ended, making the 90 minutes it lasted unforgettable for the people who were able to attend. It was a live where we could witness how much Taiga loves, appreciates, and respects music.
Focusing on his rock roots, Taiga tours live houses in a band style, and is expected to attract approximately 32,100 people at four venues in three cities across Japan.
▼Follow ART-PUT’s official sites!▼
X: https://x.com/ART_PUT33
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@art-put
Website: https://art-put.com/