Zazen Extasy

"Zazen Extasy (座禅エクスタシー, Zazen Ekusutashii, Zen Meditation Ecstasy)" is a live show by Japanese music artist Shiina Ringo. It was performed at Kaho Theatre (Kaho Gekijou (嘉穂劇場, kaho gekijou), a playhouse in Iizuka City, Fukuoka, on July 30, 2000. The official name is "Shiina Ringo Jitsuen Kyūshū Zazen Ekusutashī (椎名林檎 (稀)実演キューシュー 座禅エクスタシー, Shiina Ringo (mare) Jitsuen Kyūshū Zazen Ekusutashii, Shiina Ringo (rare) Kyushu Performance Zen Meditation Ecstasy)"

It was released as a live DVD as part of the celebration for the 10th anniversary of her debut on September 17, 2008, by EMI Music Japan.

Outline

The show was a one-night-only performance at Kaho Theatre in Iizuka in Fukuoka Prefecture. That same prefecture also houses her hometown of Fukuoka. Kaho Theatre is built in a traditional Japanese architecture style, and is different from a normal concert hall; it can only accommodate 1,000 people, so tickets were sold in a lottery, which sold out despite the high price of tickets (10,000 yen or roughly $100). She was pregnant at the time, but had not yet gone on maternity leave. Because tickets sold out, the fans who had not been able to purchase one bid on them in auctions at more than several times the regular price. Because so many fans could not get tickets or were not able to travel to Fukuoka, Toshiba EMI broadcast this live streaming on the Web. 17,300 people accessed the streaming live site at once, establishing a record in Japan for the time.

Ringo invited fans who had lost the ticket lottery to come play an extra in the filming of the PV for Yattsuke Shigoto on July 28, when the band members had a dress rehearsal before the public performance. No music was recorded live at the filming, and the sound source used in the video is the recording from the performance at Shibuya Public Hall on April 28, 2000 from the "Gekokujou Xstasy" tour, so at the end of the video you hear the beginning of the next song "Benkai Debussy." She asked all the guests to wear as many red clothes as they could on that day. She was inspired by the vocalist of a rock band who once told his guests to "Wear black to tomorrow's show," and then he was the only one not wearing black. She found this idea amusing.

The scenic design and stage effects were Japanese style and used the shoji etc. All members of her backing band, Gyakutai Glycogen, wore yukata, same as Ringo. She crucified onstage a mannequin wearing a dress like the bandage which she had worn in the former nationwide tour "Gekokujou Xstasy." She also used this Japanese-style idea in her future nationwide tour "Sugoroku Ecstasy" which was recorded and released on DVD as "Electric Mole". A photograph of this day is exhibited in HP of Kaho Theatre.^[1]

Set list

1. "Tsumiki-asobi (積木遊び, Playing With Blocks)"
2. "Memai (眩暈, Vertigo)"
3. "Shoujo Robot (少女ロボット, Girl Robot)"

   She covered the offer song to Rie Tomosaka in person.

4. "Remote Controller (リモートコントローラー, Remote Control)"
5. "Akane-sasu Kiro Terasaredo... (茜さす 帰路照らされど..., The crimson-gleaming sun still shines on my way back, but...)"
6. "Haikei EMI dono (拝啓EMI殿, Dear Sir EMI)"

   She covered Sex Pistols's "E.M.I.", but this song wasn’t recorded on this DVD.

7. "Identity /アイデンティティ"
8. "Byoushou Public (病床パブリック, Sickbed Public)"
9. "Unconditional Love"

   She covered Cyndi Lauper's song.

10. "Sakana (サカナ, Fish)"
11. "Kabuki-chou no Jo-ou (歌舞伎町の女王, Queen of Kabuki-cho)"
12. "Benkai Debussy (弁解ドビュッシー, Excuse Debussy)"
13. "Yokushitsu (浴室, Bathroom)"
14. "My Luxury Night/マイラグジュアリーナイト"

    Originally it was Hatsumi Shibata's song, but she covered the version of Takao Kisugi who is the composer of this song.

15. "Sid to Hakuchumu (シドと白昼夢, Sid & Daydreams)"
16. "Stoicism (ストイシズム, Stoicism)"

Encore

1. "Nippon ni Umarete (日本に生まれて, Born in Japan)"

   She covered the offer song to Rie Tomosaka in person.

Backing band

Gyakutai Glycogen (虐待グリコゲン, Abuse Glycogen) (1999–2000)

• Vocals, Electric guitar: 椎名林檎 Shiina Ringo
• Electric guitar: 西川進 Susumu Nishikawa (1999) → 弥吉淳二 Junji Yayoshi (2000, he is Shiina's former husband)
• Electric bass guitar: 亀田誠治 Seiji Kameda
• Synthesizer, Keyboard instrument: 皆川真人 Masato Minagawa (from Thinners, SPARKY)
• Drums: 村石雅行 Masayuki Muraishi
• Music sequencer：中山信彦 Nobuhiko Nakayama

All concerned

Cinematographer

• ウスイヒロシ Hiroshi Usui

Promoter

• Toshiba EMI
• BEA

Cooperator

• Kaho Gekijou

Notes and references