Sunday, April 28 was the 2nd fan concert produced by the Mond Tränen PhilharmoNikeR / 月の涙オーケストラ / 月オケ / Tsuki Oke / Lunar Tear Orchestra, solely focusing on the music from NieR:Automata. It was completely a fan production with no direct affiliation with Square Enix.
This was my sixth performance as part of an orchestral choir in Japan. I am certainly not a pro, but I always love learning more about music and performing on stage. It’s always great to share this experience with other liked minds.
会場
The Venue
■ Suginami Koukaidou: Large Hall
Photo by Axscom.
Photo by the Official Suginami Koukaidou Website
プログラム
The Program
[ SECTION 1 ]
- a missio[N] ー Prologue
Significance/Nothing～Alien Manifestation～Song of the Ancients/Atonement - nostalg[I]c ー City Ruins
City Ruins/Rays of Light～Peaceful Sleep～City Ruins/Shade - family i[N] desert ー Desert Zone
Memories of Dust～Birth of a Wish～Grandma/Destruction - love is everythin[G] ー Amusement Park
Amusement Park～A Beautiful Song - spirit of inquir[Y] ー Pascal
Pascal～Treasured Times～Grandma/Destruction
< 15 minute intermission >
[ SECTION 2 ]
- l[O]st long ago ー Alien Ship
Widespread Illness～End of the Unknown - g[U]ardian of cradle ー The Forest King
Forest Kingdom～Alien Manifestation～Bipolar Nightmare - from t[H]e deep sea ー Flooded City
City Ruins/Rays of Light～The Sound of the End～Dark Colossus/Kaiju - [I]mitation ー Adam
Copied City～End of the Unknown - fai[T]h ー Become as Gods
Wretched Weaponry: Quiet～Wretched Weaponry: Medium～Birth of a Wish～Possessed by Disease - l[O]nliness ー Eve
Dependent Weakling～The Sound of the End～Vague Hope/Cold Rain
< 20 minute intermission >
[ SECTION 3 ]
- broken bun[K]er ー All-out Attack
War and War～Grandma/Destruction～Crumbling Lies/Front - surv[I]ve ー Support Unit/A2
Memories of Dust～Emil/Despair～Voice of No Return/Guitar～Song of the Ancients/Atonement～Treasured Times - the [K]ey ー Support Unit/9S
Peaceful Sleep～Alien Manifestation～Wretched Weaponry: Dynamic - [A]tonement ー The Tower
The Tower～Song of the Ancients/Atonement～Song of the Ancients/Popola - andro[I]ds ー The End
Bipolar Nightmare～The Sound of the End～Mourning～Vague Hope/Cold Rain - “anyone’s dream” ー Ending
Weight of the World (Nouveau-FR Version)
[ ENCORE ]
- [R]eminiscence ー Emil
Emil’s Shop～Kaine/Salvation～Emil/Despair～Emil/Sacrifice - [E] ending ー Epilogue
Weight of the World / the End of YoRHa
Please note that the title of each piece contains a key letter, and if you tally them all up, it reads:
NINGYOU HITO KIKAI
This is a call-back to the original NieR:Automata PV which added a phrase written in Angelic Script at the very end. The remaining “RE” represents the reoccurring nature of Machine Wars.
記録
Report
[ SECTION 1 ]
First Announcement – [ VOICE ]
Thank you, thank you very much for coming today. There are several things we’d like to ask of you for today’s show. Food and drinks are prohibited within the hall. Please go to the lobby for this if necessary. Photography, videography, and/or audio recordings are strictly prohibited. Should you witness any such behavior, please inform a member of the staff. Please turn off devices that may make sound, such as cellphones, handheld gaming systems, and Pods during the performance. Please refrain from moving seats during the performance. Should a large earthquake occur during the performance, please stay seated and await further instructions from the staff. Many people will be attending today’s concert, so please try not to leave empty seats between you and the next person, to make it easier for others to find a seat. There is no need for applause after each piece, so please enjoy each medley and applaud only at the end of each section. The concert will begin momentarily.
M01 – a missio[N] ー Prologue
— Significance / Nothing – This section first begins with a few measures of some really eerie notes from the flute section with the piano before leading into the next song.
— Alien Manifestation – This piece features the Glockenspiel, which I always enjoyed watching. As the song progresses, the trumpets get the chance to hit some awesome notes.
— Song of the Ancients / Atonement – All of these tracks meld and fade into each other so well. Once this piece kicks off, the strings and trumpets carry the melody.
— Alien Manifestation – Then the piece goes back to the Alien Manifestation melody. Starting alto section of the choir, the other three sections gradually enter the mix. We end the piece on a really powerful note with the chorus, leaving only a few instruments left to finish the piece.
M02 – nostalg[I]c ー City Ruins
— City Ruins / Rays of Light – At the beginning of the piece, the violins and vibraphone again play some eerie notes before the main melody begins with the chorus, first accompanied by the piano and acoustic guitar. Our cue came shortly after the “ta-ta” from the guitar. The first verse was all in unison.
— Peaceful Sleep – Then as the atmosphere shifts over to the Resistance Camp, we get some really amazing solos from the oboe. This piece was always fun to practice because our choral instructor always told us to sing with emotion, as though greeting a lover with the warm sun on our faces; total peace and calm…
— City Ruins / Shade – …until the drums begin this section of the piece, where us sopranos have some fun high notes. There is a part of this section where the choir sings almost entirely a cappella.
M03 – family i[N] desert ー Desert Zone
— Memories of Dust – This piece was originally only given to the alto section to sing, but eventually us sopranos were added to help balance out the necessary volume. I was really grateful for this, since this track was one of my favorites. I really enjoyed singing this one!
— Birth of a Wish – KONO MAMA JA DAME / THIS CANNOT CONTINUE – This was SOOOOOO much fun to “sing”. I absolutely love the tenor lines here; the melody is just so delicious, I wanted to sing it, too!
— Grandma / Destruction – The switch to this song is pretty dramatic, leading in with the trumpets. The choir also carries the melody powerfully before leading back into the desert theme.
— Memories of Dust – The ending couple sections with the xylophone, acoustic guitar, and strings was always a pleasure to hear in practice.
M04 – love is everythin[G] ー Amusement Park
— Amusement Park – The related Amusement Park themes are some of my favorites in the whole game, so it was always a total blast to sing… although the alto section had much of it. My favorite part is after the main melody by the chorus when the strings pick up.
— A Beautiful Song – This section was so much fun to sing!! There are many high notes for us sopranos to enjoy. The parts that was originally sung by J’Nique Nicole were mostly handled by the bass/tenor but was later given to the sopranos later in the piece. What was really fun toward the end was when we entered into HACKING SPACE. The clarinets, an oboe, and a muted trumpet continued to play through this sequence while everyone else remained stationary, perfectly still to illustrate that we’ve entered into the hacking space. Coming out of hacking space was a lot of fun because the sopranos were able to hit those high notes again quite powerfully.
— Amusement Park – The last couple measures of this section return the piece back to the Amusement Park theme and ends with the piano and Glockenspiel.
M05 – spirit of inquir[Y] ー Pascal
— Pascal – At the start of this piece, several people in the orchestra and choir waved large white flags just like the peaceful machines of Pascal’s village in the game. Once the choir begins to sing, I always made it a point to smile (wrote it in my music to remember!) and sing childishly. It was a lot of fun!! The piece also begins with clapping, so during practice, we were wondering if the audience would try to join in and what to do if they tried… but alas, they remained silent and still. lol
— Treasured Times – For this piece, one of our great group leaders Moriharu played the ocarina solo before the choir joins in for the “la la la” bit. Again we tried to sing this as childishly innocent as possible.
— Grandma / Destruction – …until all of that goes to hell with this next segment. The orchestra plays for quite a while without the chorus here, so this is one of the areas where we sat and waited for our next cue. When we enter again with the “Grandma” melody, the orchestra is relatively quiet at the beginning, but then everything culminates together into a massive battle. I remember watching the conductor (as one should lol) at the end, and just the energy by which he exerted in this piece was a sight to behold.
Interlude 1 – [ VOICE ]
We will have a 15 minute intermission. Please take all personal belongings if you leave your seat. Hm? There seems to be an access point on the first page of this pamphlet. Perhaps there’s some secret information hidden within it. I wonder what it could be. Let’s try to hack it!
[ SECTION 2 ]
M06 – l[O]st long ago ー Alien Ship
— Widespread Illness – This section begins mainly with the choir singing some very eerie notes with the strings and piano beneath us.
— End of the Unknown – Once this section kicks into gear with the xylophone/vibraphone and percussion, leading into the passage with the trumpets, the choir sings the massively insane lyrics that depict the first encounter with Adam and Eve.
M07 – g[U]ardian of cradle ー The Forest King
— Forest Kingdom – This piece begins with the xylophone and vibraphone with the horns and piano picking up the underlying melody. Then the choir comes in with a “native” like tone to emulate Nakagawa Nami’s performance.
— Alien Manifestation – One of my favorite additions to this particular rendition of this melody was the triangle. I really enjoyed watching the team of percussionists play through this.
— Bipolar Nightmare – This last segment was performed by mostly the strings and a couple of the horns, especially the tuba. The final abrupt cut off at the end of the piece really captured the tension that had been building throughout the piece.
M08 – from t[H]e deep sea ー Flooded City
— City Ruins / Rays of Light – The beginning of this starts out very quietly with the strings and piano hitting some really eerie notes.
— The Sound of the End – Then BOOM! The drums enter with the bass / tenor following quickly thereafter. This was one of my favorites as well when the soprano gets the melody.
— Dark Colossus / Kaiju – The entrance of this theme was really awesome with the flutes and trumpets, until the choir picks up the melody. The high notes of the soprano line were really fun to sing! The piece concludes with the orchestra utterly killing it. I get flash backs of fighting this boss in the game.
M09 – [I]mitation ー Adam
— Copied City – This piece begins with the piano until the alto and sopranos come in.
— End of the Unknown – I really liked the percussion in this piece, since that is really what leads the whole thing. The chorus was just an added bonus on top of the mix. The timing of some of the slurs was pretty difficult to get right.
M10 – fai[T]h ー Become as Gods
— Wretched Weaponry: Quiet – Again, this was one of my favorite themes. This section started out quietly with the altos and then lead into…
— Wretched Weaponry: Medium – …the tenor and bass starting a little later, and again the soprano line was added yet later for the melody lines.
— Birth of a Wish – “His wondrous Grace has become a god!” “His Grace is a god!”
KAMI NI NARU / BECOME AS GODS – This was another fun track to sing in a “machine” type of voice. The bass / tenor had the delicious underlining melody upon which the rest of us sang “kami ni naru”.
— Possessed by Disease – This was one of the most difficult songs for me in the whole concert, just because of the crazy lyrics and how fast the tempo was.
M11 – l[O]nliness ー Eve
— Dependent Weakling – I seem to keep saying this, but this theme was one of my favorites to sing. We were instructed to sing a little more emotionally, so I tried to do that as much as I could. It wasn’t very difficult with the gorgeous soprano lines later in the song. There’s a segment later in the song where the chorus is featured; you could really hear us well!
— The Sound of the End – This is the part where I started to get pretty emotional during practice sometimes. Just the way the beats of the drums sound like a heartbeat… it’s just so sad.
— Vague Hope / Cold Rain – And then the aftermath of Eve’s battle begins with the alto section singing the melody as each of the other sections are added in little by little.
Interlude 2 – [ VOICE ]
We will have a 20 minute intermission. Please take all personal belongings if you leave your seat. Hm, it seems like this lock in the pamphlet has a passcode, but where’s the code? Oh, I get it! If we use this chip, we might be able to access it! Even if you’re not a Scanner type, you should still be able to access it with this method!
[ SECTION 3 ]
M12 – broken bun[K]er ー All-out Attack
GLORY TO MANKIND – This section begins with our conductor turning to face the audience, and placing his left hand on his chest, he shouts, “人類に栄光あれ！/ jinrui ni eikou are / Glory to mankind!” to which the entirety of the orchestra and choir responds in kind.
— War and War – This theme begins again with a delicious line from the bass and tenor until the alto and sopranos come in.
— Grandma / Destruction – Again, this section is mostly an instrumental depicting this pivotal moment in Route C.
— Crumbling Lies / Front – This part carries the tension of the piece to its climax.
M13 – surv[I]ve ー Support Unit/A2
— Memories of Dust – Just as this portion of the game plays out, we’re back in the desert, following A2 on her journey.
— Emil / Despair – Then a large battle ensues, maybe A2 got too close to the Emil clones…
— Voice of No Return / Guitar – This is mostly an a cappella piece with the acoustic guitar.
— Song of the Ancients / Atonement – This section begins with a huge BOOM of the drums. The violins and trumpets rock out until the choir jumps in
— Treasured Times – This part the piano plays along with the clarinets until some of the muted trumpets come in. Then the piece ends with the choir signing a cappella, “la la la”, with each phrase using fewer and fewer vocalists.
M14 – the [K]ey ー Support Unit/9S
— Peaceful Sleep – As 9S’s segment begins, he awakens in the Resistance Camp.
— Alien Manifestation – This is a great moment that’s lead by the wind instruments, mostly the clarinets, which leads into a gorgeous phrase filled with emotion with the violins.
— Wretched Weaponry: Dynamic – The “Dynamic” version of this song is my favorite of them all.
M15 – [A]tonement ー The Tower
— The Tower – As the piece begins, the violins carry the melody with extreme emotional weight.
— Song of the Ancients / Atonement – This arrangement was both fun and a bit challenging because the soprano line jumped octaves almost every other measure until the melody kicks in. This also features another hacking sequence where the clarinets and percussion continue to play while the rest of the orchestra and chorus pause motionless.
— The Tower – This begins with just the piano and eventually the choir picks up. This, again, was one of my favorites. We were instructed to sing with desperate and hopeless emotion, and I often found myself getting lost in it. It’s such a great theme.
— Song of the Ancients / Popola – This is a minute solo with the cello and xylophone / vibraphone.
M16 – andro[I]ds ー The End
— Bipolar Nightmare – This piece starts off on a note with high tension that’s carried throughout the whole piece.
— The Sound of the End – This segment is meant to portray the final tandem battle with A2 and 9S in the tower.
— Mourning – This is a quite moment filled with sorrow, starting with just a few strings and building up until the choir takes the lead. The tension continues to build and build until the emotion snaps… leading into an interesting portion of the piece that mixes multiple themes into one, as though various memories are mixing together.
— The Sound of the End – There is an extended portion here that is in Hacking Space to depict 9S trying to hack into A2’s systems during their battle.
— Vague Hope / Cold Rain – This portion of the song begins with the Glockenspiel and piano before the choir is added, starting with alto, tenor, bass, and then soprano. At the very end, the choir gets smaller and smaller until the very last note is sung by a single individual to illustrate the death of the characters, their memories fading to nothing.
M17 – “anyone’s dream” ー Ending
— Weight of the World (Nouveau-FR Version) – Emi’s version of Weight of the World begins with the alto and tenor signing together until the soprano picks up the duet with the alto, then continuing on with all four voices of the choir. Toward the end of the piece, the soprano gets a nice solo part for the melody that is nearly completely a cappella.
■ Curtain Call
During the curtain call, flowers were given to our conductor, the concert mistress, and our choral instructor. After the round of applause, Jackass appeared on stage to give our conductor a mackerel… which he ate… and died on the spot. But he was restored to perform the final two encore pieces.
■ Encore
E01 – [R]eminiscence ー Emil
— Emil’s Shop – This medley is basically Emil’s Side Quest. At the beginning of the encore, everyone put on a white flower to represent a Lunar Tear. Starting off with Emil’s shop theme, this was so much fun! I think all of us were able to sing this with relief!
— Kaine / Salvation – This was largely a piano solo with the choir, the alto with the melody.
— Emil / Despair – This section was supposed to illustrate the fight with the Emil clones in the desert. For the majority of this piece, the soprano had an accompaniment sort of arrangement, with some fun high notes and Ahs.
— Emil / Sacrifice – The culmination of emotion reaches its peak here, with only despair and sorrow left. It’s really quite sad, but singing the melody here was fun.
E02 – [E] ending ー Epilogue
— Weight of the World / the End of YoRHa – The beginning of this piece begins like any other, but suddenly stops as a voice begins to speak:
Pod064 to the Conductor: This encore cannot be approved. It is suggested that everyone here participate. When the conductor turns around, please join in singing.
The first time that I heard the voice recording in practice, I just lost it. It was so emotional. The voice was provided by Dandy, a bass member of the choir. For this piece, we had some of the English lyrics, so I helped teach everyone the pronunciation. I even made a demonstration video to help, although I mostly did it just for the fun of it. I dressed up in my YoRHa cosplay for it, too. xD
Anyway, after the message from Pod, there’s a really nice solo segment with the clarinet, oboe and some percussion before the choir and the rest of the orchestra kicks in with the line “‘Cause we’re gonna shout it loud”. Throughout the song, small sections of the choir changes the lyrics to “la” so that by the end of the song, everyone has changed to “la” and closed their scorebooks.
In practice, I was an utter mess at the end of this song. I was hardly able to keep my composure long enough to even be able to sing, but for the actual performance, I was okay until the moment we finished, and then I lost it. haha The whole concert went by so quickly– much, much too quickly.
Final Announcement – [ VOICE ]
This concludes today’s performance. Please be sure not to forget any items behind. If you have any thoughts or messages you’d like to express, please feel free to fill out the questionnaire or write on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #月オケ2019 (Tsuki Oke). My name is Hanae Natsuki, voice of 9S. Thank you, thank you very much for coming.
Yes, we were able to get Hanae Natsuki, the voice of 9S, to provide his awesome voice for the announcements at our concert. The whole audience freaked out and clapped when the said his name.
Additionally, Yoko Taro was also present at the event, sitting in the center of Row 13! Thanks so much for coming and I’m glad you seemed to enjoy the show!
■ The After Party
The after party was held at the Christon Cafe in Shinjuku. I had been to this venue earlier in January for a video game business meet-up. Once there, they had a buffet-style dinner and an open bar. I was able to talk to a ton of people, although I mostly hung out with other members of the orchestra rather than the choir.
■ The 2nd & 3rd After Party
The main after party was either two or three hours, after which those who wanted to stay could for an additional couple hours. I stayed and chatted with the majority of the viola section, who were all really nice. Once that time was up, there were still some of us who didn’t want the fun to end… so we ended up going to all-night karaoke. It was a lot of fun, but I just about entirely lost my voice that night. haha
■ Special Thanks
- Osuke – This was my first time working with our conductor Osuke. He is such an amazingly talented guy; and he made every effort to talk to everyone, often writing down people’s names to remember. He also came to our choir only practices, which was above and beyond what he needed to do–but it helped so much.
- Miyoshi – Our awesome choral instructor. He was in charge of training the choir during our section practices. He was always very entertaining. His catch phrase was “uh-huh”.
- Yuan – Concert mistress, 1st Violin – an extremely talented violinist I’ve had the pleasure to work with at various concerts. She is also extremely kind and fun to talk with; she knows exactly how to build people up with encouragement.
- Moriharu – Our “Tsuki Oke” group leader – Most of the behind-the-scenes management was all thanks to Moriharu. There wouldn’t be any “Tsuki Oke” without her!
- Yasu – Like Moriharu, Yasu also helped to organize the whole event.
- CyberConnect2’s YamaKei – Knowing she is also a big Yoko Taro fan, I invited YamaKei to come to the concert. I wasn’t expecting her to write anything about it, but she just posted this on the official CC2 blog page! Thanks so much for coming and I’m glad you enjoyed the show!
- LunarBattery – A fellow Yoko Taro fan that I had the pleasure of randomly meeting at the NieR Orchestra Concert last year. Thanks so much coming and chatting with me!!