A New Chapter of TRUE’s Music - TRUE “Acoustic Live 2022 TRUE NOTE page.1” Official Concert Report

8:00 AM August 20, 2022

Event: Acoustic Live 2022 TRUE NOTE page.1
Date: July 23, 2022
Location: Yurakucho Asahi Hall

This solo concert, which is TRUE’s first one since last November, was based on TRUE NOTE—exclusive video content for her fan club featuring acoustic arrangements of her music. She began her first TRUE NOTE performance with “Happy encount”, followed by other songs such as “HANABI” and “Puzzle”, all in various arrangements.

Before going into her next song, TRUE said to the audience, “I hope that I can create a relaxing space here for you all—as if you were sitting comfortably at home.” She placed the song “Sincerely” midway through the set list, and for this number the song was stripped down to only a keyboard accompaniment, allowing the audience to hear the raw, and grainy textures of her vocals, breaths, and each and every sound coming from the stage as her emotions poured forth. For this concert, rather than wearing in-ear monitors (IEMs) as most artists do, TRUE opted to use only the speakers on stage so that she “could directly hear the audience’s claps and applauses” and connect with them more intimately. On the other hand, since none of the musicians wearing the IEMs could hear the clicks used to keep tempo, they had to listen carefully to each other’s breathing to stay in sync.

I was able to discover a new side to “Sincerely” due to the delicate sounds of this version that penetrated my soul. While the audience was listening ever so intently, the music faded into the next song, “memento,” a more upbeat song that the audience could clap along to. So far, the concert has had a rich song selection that engages, excites, and even takes the audience’s breath away.

Then, after telling the audience a story about her grandfather and her, which is the moment she decided that she wanted to be a singer, TRUE performed a brand new song—“Time Machine.” Just the other day during a YouTube Live that she held on her birthday, she said “I want to make today a special day, so yesterday, I made a new song!” and sang the first verse and chorus of her “birthday song.” In the song, TRUE is an adult who is singing to her childhood self. From the opening phrase with her gentle voice, she sang, “The candles flicker, blow them out and become a new me.” I can almost picture a happy scene with a birthday cake in front of me. It’s a song that I want to fully experience and take in as my body gently sways to the music.

Ever since TRUE was a child, she had an adoration for music, and also for anime songs. The homestretch of the concert consisted of that kind of music, so while carrying her passion for anisongs in her heart and displaying incredible vocal work, she belted out “Dear answer”, the opening theme song to Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation and “Blast!” from Sound! Euphonium: The Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day. Nearing the end of the concert, she continued with “Hello, Good bye”, a song that makes a hopeful wish and has a message of gratitude. Illuminated by the colorful lights on stage, TRUE waved together with the fans and musicians and enjoyed the last number of the night.

After the crowd cheered for an encore, TRUE announced that a future concert, “TRUE Live Sound! vol.6 ～Encount～”, will be held on February 12, 2023. Then she performed one last song, ”MUSIC”, which one could say is her “business card.” And with that, the first page of TRUE’s new chapter was beautifully colored with every color of the rainbow.

Advance pre-order fan club tickets for TRUE’s next concert “TRUE Live Sound! vol.6 ～Encount～” will be on sale until August 21, 2022 @11:59PM. The venue will be NHK Hall, one of the stages TRUE has been hoping to perform on. As TRUE continues to evolve as an artist, I look forward to what she’ll show us next time.