I'm not 100% positive if the Spiky Goose vid posted is the same as the audio bootleg we have, but I always liked that performance a lot. I think maybe the main reason I like Sawao's voice better back in the day is because now it seems that is voice is nasally. Sometimes I just don't think it works well, but that's just my opinion. Another live performance I like, albeit it's not in front of an audience, is the acoustic Tiny Boat from the Walkin on the Spiral DVD:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVvwPNSqVrI[/url]

Fast-forward to 1:14. It just sounds heavenly.

[quote="Marekenshin"][quote="Rick Lee"]I dunno though, I'm quite fond of the Hybrid raindbow on the Wake Up tour.
Very fond actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7bfctv99HM[/quote]

lol, way to link to the EXACT VIDEO I POSTED EARLIER and missing everything.

@Brye: Pretty tight vids there, but again, compare it to Sawao's vocals on the one that I (and subsequently Rick Lee) posted. The Last Dinosaur vid is pretty darn good, but his voice isn't in top notch shape, there are definitely parts where you can hear that he's been singing for quite a while and his tone is a little thin. As for the Spiky Goose one, as much as I love that song, he still has a problem with going to the back of his throat a lot of the time, especially on the medium-high notes that he has to hold out. Frankly, anything from that era suffers from that problem. He just didn't really know how to sing for quite a while.[/quote]

LOL DAAAAMN!
To be honest, I read Bryes post of hybrid rainbow and for some reason I thought that was Mare! So I didn't see Mares' post of his hybrid rainbow! Haha well that was a big ass fail on my part! Sorry guys! I'll try to redeem myself in a bit

No worries man, just jerkin' your chain.

[quote="Son Goshin"]I'm not 100% positive if the Spiky Goose vid posted is the same as the audio bootleg we have, but I always liked that performance a lot. I think maybe the main reason I like Sawao's voice better back in the day is because now it seems that is voice is nasally. Sometimes I just don't think it works well, but that's just my opinion. Another live performance I like, albeit it's not in front of an audience, is the acoustic Tiny Boat from the Walkin on the Spiral DVD:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVvwPNSqVrI[/url]

Fast-forward to 1:14. It just sounds heavenly. [/quote]

This one is actually really great, I sort of forgot about it. It's not his very best, technique-wise, but it's a damned solid one, without a doubt. Really beautiful stuff right there.

There's never been a question to me as to how much Sawao is "into" the music. After all, that's one of the things that makes these guys great live. He puts so much emotion into the songs, and that's part of what makes the pillows' music as good as it is.

His voice [i]is[/i] more nasally now, but I think he's beginning to add that new technique that others have mentioned already(vibrato, ect.) If he doesn't do that, his voice is going to sound like shit for good. What he can at least do is change his singing approach with his voice, and that's what he's doing now.

This is Sawao's solo performance of Patricia from RSR last year, and I think it's one of his best vocal performances in recent years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zrCM067 ... annel_page

I think the extremely nasal singing period was more around Good Dreams, if I recall correctly...there definitely was a period where he was singing out of his nose, but I think the last few years he's been pretty well balanced for the most part.

I feel like a lot of the Blue Song with Blue Flowers performances are going to be extremely good...but then again, they could end up being pretty mediocre, vocally. I'm really excited to get to hear Lesser Hamster and kimi to boku to otsukisama.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmUDMEchSNA&feature=related[/url]

OH YEAH

The recent version of Akanai Tobira no Mae de is AMAZING. It's actually probably in my top ten now.

I've been impressed recently by his vocals in the performance of Kanojo Wa Kyou, on the Pied Piper tour dvd. He isn't straining as much as he did in the Busters on the Planet version. The overall performance of that song was great. I also really enjoy the vocals on the Wake up! Stand up! and Go! version of Tsuyogari.

I can see that he did sing a little nasally back in Good Dreams era, but he tends to repeat
it sometimes. Hes been doing well for the past months, seeing a clip from the Blue poppies
performance, I can see that his singing will have its ups and downs, still solid performance is always
expected.
As for the Tiny Boat acoustic session from the WOTS dvd, I thought it was studio polished. Sure he did very well,
and it seemed like a dream, maybe it might be. I don't know, but I felt like those were in a way kind of like a
short PV
I can understand that Sawao is getting older, and it gets harder for him to really perform, vocally.
Thats why the vibrato was a good idea, even if he doesn't show passion by screaming his heart out,
we can still see some fire. That Hybrid Rainbow performance was at the end of the show, he might have been
a little tired and wanted to ease up. Its hard going through your show and when you think your done, an encore
awaits you. And your like "Thats great that they want us to play one more, but I'm fucking tired!"
And again, Akanai is one of my favorite live performances by far. Its like my number 3 spot.

I got an idea, its another one of those top 5 things but why not post up your top 5 favorite live performances.
If its on the DVD and you can't upload it, no worries, just list them out. If theres a youtube link, add it on.
Its tedious searching through old live performances on youtube, maybe this way we could have an organized
playlist of our favorite live shows. Just an idea.

I guess I'll start it

1. Hybrid Rainbow (HWTBTHZ)
2. Thank you My twilight (Live at Penny Lane)
3. Akanai tobira mae de (LGTY)
4. Sleepy Head (LGTY)
5. Third Eye (LGTY)

Those were some off the top of my head. I really loved the
Heart is There live on LGTY, but ran out of space.

Okay okay, well here is a performance that I absolutely love, and I MADE SURE that it wasn't posted haha.

TYMT was a really good one Tidus!

Let's See if That's True or Not.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCo5Em17t1k


As for a top 5 live performance, i'd have to go:
1.Tiny Boat; LGTY
2.Like a Lovesong; Pied Piper Tour
3.Ice Pick; Pied Piper Tour
4.Strange Chameleon; Pied Piper Tour
5.One Life; LGTY

But, how badass would it be if they played Something like a romance live? I've been waiting for that for years! I wonder if they'll ever do it.

^Ah yes, that was another live I wanted to link. I was very impressed with the vocals for it, which is great, since Let's See if That's True or Not is one of those "legendary" pillows songs, in my book.

Also, the performance of Swanky Street from Wake Up! Stand Up! and Go! is excellent. As well as the performance of Tsuyogari (better than the Youtube counterpart).

That Lets see if thats true or not live sounded like he was singing through his nose again.
That was during the Good Dreams era, where he really wasn't pushing for any vocal recognition.
It was great performance and I love it just as much as the next Buster, but it didn't do it for me, vocally.
I found this live of Girls Don't Cry and it was during the Scarecrow Single and he did very well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJvsoxodICI

I really love a lot of the PPGTY and LGTY lives, the compilation is great.
And you can definately see that Sawao tried with his voice.

Speaking of Tsuyogari, I found this performance right next to the one above,
same live show in fact. He did decent in this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHear16NLj8

The Tashikame ni yukou doesn't really get good until the final parts, vocally, but it's just such a goddamn amazing song that it's still great, and the rest of the band did fantastic. I'd love to hear a more recent live of that, I'm sure it would be GODLY.

I actually think he's overdoing the vibrato on that Girls Don't Cry video...like he's singing a little extra loud and it's a bit forced as a result. Still damned amazing, getting that electric-acoustic was one of the smartest moves Sawao's ever done. Tsuyogari also has some forced parts, but also has some parts that are 100% awesome vocals. At the very least, the song is amazingly charged emotionally.

He did Tsuyogai and Girls Don't Cry much better on the DVD. I'll try to get those up on Youtube so we can compare.

I have to put this here

Ameagari ni mita maboroshi (Blue Songs with Blue Poppies LIVE)

Fucking unbelievable..