On Saturday, Oct 17, 2015, the Falcom jdk Band ? had its premiere concert. Earlier in the year, Falcom revealed two new musical groups to add to their line up, both being the jdk Band ? (‘theta’) and Real SPiKA, based on the idol group found in Tokyo Xanadu. While Real SPiKA had performed once already at Tokyo Game Show, this concert had both together on the stage at Club Seata in Tokyo.
With the exception of violinist Mizuki Mizutani, the jdk Band ? has an entirely new performer list. They are as follows:
- Mizuki Mizutani (Violin)
- gakia2 (Keyboard)
- maimie (Vocals)
- Koji Sekiguchi (Guitar)
- kosuke (Guitar)
- Yoshinori Yamazaki (Drums)
- Junichiro Sakka (Bass)
Many thanks to @sacred_fox on twitter for the help with the names!
The members of Real SPiKA all come from SO.ON Project, and they are:
The tickets for the event itself were sold out and Falcom put together a live stream (the first done directly by them since their ustream years ago) that ran on youtube. The stream archive is still available if you are interested in seeing it.
The band started with TO MAKE THE END OF BATTLE from Ys II, a familiar song to be performed by the older jdk Band, and from there, they ended up playing the Trails in the Sky SC Evolution version of the popular Silver Will.
Maimie came out on the stage to sing another popular song with the concerts: Maybe it was Fated, a vocal version of Fateful Confrontation from the Trails in the Sky SC soundtrack. From there, she would also lead in with the title songs from both Trails of Cold Steel and Trails of Cold Steel II, Ashita e no Kodou and Sen no Yukue.
At the sixth song, it was time to show off the music from Tokyo Xanadu, and the five members of Real SPiKA came on stage. They began with the pop-sounding Koi no Shooting Star, dancing along with it together. They continued into Wish ? Wing, a ballad that is also from Tokyo Xanadu.
During an MC break after the two songs, Ena Nishida led the band and the audience through a ‘lesson’ in imitating the scream from Tokyo Xanadu’s opening theme.
During this little break, the rest of the band had gotten setup, and Real SPiKA performed Seize the Day, Tokyo Xanadu’s opening theme, with the rest of the jdk Band. They had also got the audience to do the scream with them at the beginning of the song.
After the song, Real SPiKA left the stage, but the band itself continued with the rush of Tokyo Xanadu music by playing one of the boss themes: Raging Rush. Following it, they surprised fans with the popular Overdosing Heavenly Bliss from Trails in the Sky the 3rd and brought out A Gravestone Struck by Lightning from the Trails in the Sky SC Evolution soundtrack. After these tracks, though, the band then returned to an old staple: Overdrive.
To close off the concert, Maimie came back to the stage to sing I Miss You, the ending theme from Trails of Cold Steel, and they launched into yet another regular staple of the jdk Band concerts, Silver Will, Golden Wings from Trails in the Sky SC.
Once the band exited the stage, it didn’t take long for the crowd to begin its chant of, ‘jdk! jdk!’ –and though it took a little longer than usual, the band did return, unsurprisingly, to perform a two song encore while wearing Tokyo Xanadu t-shirts and caps. The first would be Real SPiKA’s Megumi Sasaka and Maimie both singing I Remember You, the ending theme of Trails of Cold Steel II.
Once the song was done, all of Real SPiKA joined the band on stage, and individual members of the jdk Band ? had their introductions as they started to play the final song of the night. In fact, the entire audience was more than happy to join in on the popular shouts for ‘GO FIGHT.’ This vocal arrangement of a Startrader song has re-emerged in popularity with recent concerts, and it made the perfect song to end the night.
More media for the concert can be found at the source links below. I’ve also included the final setlist from the show itself.
The next jdk Band concert will be jdk Band YES! at the Yes Theater in Osaka on 11/1 at18:00. There are no details on who is planned to be at the concert yet, and nothing on whether or not it will be streamed. Tickets are currently on sale through Ticket Yoshimoto for 4500 yen. Like other concerts, though it hasn’t been announced goods will most likely be sold at it, as well. More details to come as Falcom reveals them!
Setlist:
01: TO MAKE THE END OF BATTLE (Ys II)
02: Silver Will (Trails in the Sky SC Evolution / Sora no Kiseki SC Evolution)
03: Maybe it was Fated (Trails in the Sky / Sora no Kiseki)
04: Ashita e no Kodou (Trails of Cold Steel / Sen no Kiseki)
05: Sen no Yukue (Trails of Cold Steel II / Sen no Kiseki II)
06: Koi no Shooting Star (Tokyo Xanadu)
07: Wish ? Wing (Tokyo Xanadu)
08: Seize the Day (Tokyo Xanadu)
09: Raging Rush (Tokyo Xanadu)
10: Overdosing Heavenly Bliss (Trails in the Sky the 3rd / Sora no Kiseki the 3rd)
11: A Gravestone Struck by Lightning (Trails in the Sky SC Evolution / Sora no Kiseki SC Evolution)
12: Overdrive (Ys II / Ys Origin)
13: I Miss You (Trails of Cold Steel / Sen no Kiseki)
14: Silver Will, Golden Wings (Trails in the Sky SC Evolution / Sora no Kiseki SC Evolution)
Encore
15: I’ll Remember You (Trails of Cold Steel II / Sen no Kiseki II)
16: GO FIGHT! (Startrader)
Media and Information Sources:
[ Falcom Fal-Column ]
[ Game Watch ]
[ Gamer ]
[ 4gamer.net ]