Peter Cetera Solo Live in Japan 2014
Peter Cetera returned to the Cotton Club stage to play in Tokyo on June 8, 10 and 12, 2014. This was his third visit to the venue since January 2012. But to be precise, Peter Cetera has been returning to Japan almost every year since December 2009 for the following shows: October 19 and 20, 2010 for David Foster & Friends Japan Tour; January 22, 24, 26 and 28, 2012 for his own shows; November 12, 2012 for David Foster & Friends Japan Tour; July 27 and 29, 2013 for World Peace Concert "HIROSHIMA" 2013; September 5, 2013 for Toshu Fukami & His Global Friends show. Compared with days of the petition for bringing Peter Cetera to Japan in 2004, I feel I am living in a completely different age. This time Peter Cetera sang the winning song voted by Japanese fans that was not part of the set list. This is my review of the Peter Cetera concert at the Cotton Club in 2014.
On June 8, 2014, there was a very long queue just before the door opened. To be honest, I have rarely seen such a long queue at the venue. At about 5:00 p.m., Peter Cetera appeared on the stage with his backing band, the new Baad Daddies Electric Band, which featured Bruce Gaitsch on guitar, Joe Chemay on bass, Dan Needham on drums, Tania Hancheroff on vocal, Jonathan Hamby on keyboards, Chris Rodriguez on guitar and vocal and Tony Harrell on keyboards. The opening song was "Restless Heart" and was followed by "Glory Of Love", "After All", and "One Good Woman". Then Peter Cetera sang "Happy Man", which was not part of the set list in Japan before. The arrangement was like the original one on the "Chicago VII" album rather than the one on the "One Clear Voice" album.
And after the first surprise, Peter Cetera contacted the band's members and mentioned my name, explaining that I organized the campaign "Vote for Peter Cetera to perform your song choice that is not part of the set list in Japan yet!". Then Peter Cetera started to sing the phrase "How can you say it's over." Yes! It was "Stay With Me", which was the end title theme from the 1987 Japanese space-fantasy movie "Taketori Monogatari -- Princess From The Moon". Produced with a budget of two billion yen ($20 million) and directed by a Japanese film maestro Kon Ichikawa, the film, derived from a 10th century Japanese folktale, became a blockbuster in Japan. The song "Stay With Me" written by Bobby Caldwell and John Parker and performed by Peter Cetera also became a smash hit in Japan. Therefore, Peter Cetera's "Stay With Me" is still very famous among not only the hardcore Japanese fans but the casual Japanese fans. I affirm that the popularity of "Stay With Me" in Japan is almost equal to that of "Glory Of Love". But before this moment, the song was never played before. As revealed on the stage, because Peter Cetera forgot the existence of the song. But thanks to the result of the vote, "Stay With Me" was spotlighted and was finally performed live for the first time ever. So it was indeed a moving and unforgettable moment, especially for the Japanese fans. With the lyrics sheet in his hand, Peter Cetera's first performance was short but sweet and worked the crowd into a frenzy. The audience was impressed by the fact that Peter Cetera prepared only for this special performance in Japan. After the song's performance, Peter Cetera also said that he realized how beautiful this song is, and that he would perform this song in full the next time he comes back to Japan. So we Japanese fans are already looking forward to the next time.
After performing the following songs: "You're The Inspiration", "Beatles Medley", "Next Time I Fall" and "If You Leave Me Now", Peter Cetera sang "I Can Feel It" from his eponymously titled solo debut, which was not part of the set list in Japan before. Peter Cetera said that this song was also chosen from the result of the vote. But the song was not one of them on the vote. The songs from his eponymously titled solo debut on the vote were as follows: "On The Line", "Evil Eye" and "Livin' In The Limelight". "On The Line" and "Evil Eye" were ranked high on the vote list. Hence, I think "I Can Feel It" was chosen by the inspiration derived from the result of the vote.
After performing the following songs: "Hard Habit To Break" and "Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away", Peter Cetera returned to the stage for encores of "Save Me" and "25 Or 6 To 4". The concert ended with thunderous applause and standing ovation. Incidentally, the set lists for all 6 shows in Japan were as follows:
6/8/2014 Cotton Club, Tokyo, Japan
[1st stage setlist]
1. Restless Heart
2. Glory Of Love
3. After All (with Tania Hancheroff)
4. One Good Woman
5. Happy Man
6. Stay With Me
7. You're The Inspiration
8. Beatles Medley
Oh! Darling (Lead Vocal: Tania Hancheroff)
Come Together (Lead Vocal: Chris Rodriguez)
9. The Next Time I Fall (with Tania Hancheroff)
10. If You Leave Me Now
11. I Can Feel It
12. Hard Habit To Break (with Chris Rodriguez)
13. Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
(encore)
14. Save Me
15. 25 Or 6 To 4
[2nd stage setlist]
1. Restless Heart
2. Glory Of Love
3. After All (with Tania Hancheroff)
4. Stay The Night
5. Happy Man
6. You're The Inspiration
7. Beatles Medley
Oh! Darling (Lead Vocal: Tania Hancheroff)
Come Together (Lead Vocal: Chris Rodriguez)
8. Stay With Me
9. The Next Time I Fall (with Tania Hancheroff)
10. If You Leave Me Now
11. I Can Feel It
12. Hard Habit To Break (with Chris Rodriguez)
13. Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
(encore)
14. Save Me
15. 25 Or 6 To 4
As for the set list for this 2nd stage, Peter Cetera replaced "One Good Woman" with "Stay The Night". Also the order of "Stay With Me" was changed. Instead of one of his hardcore fans who left the venue after the 1st stage, some fans showed his several drawings of Peter Cetera during the 2nd stage. Peter Cetera picked up one of them and showed it from the stage. Peter also posed like the cover of his LP "Solitude/Solitaire" with this LP on his hand.
6/10/2014 Cotton Club, Tokyo, Japan
[1st stage setlist]
1. Restless Heart
2. Glory Of Love
3. After All (with Tania Hancheroff)
4. One Good Woman
5. Happy Man
6. Stay With Me
7. You're The Inspiration
8. Beatles Medley
Oh! Darling (Lead Vocal: Tania Hancheroff)
Come Together (Lead Vocal: Chris Rodriguez)
9. The Next Time I Fall (with Tania Hancheroff)
10. Stay The Night
11. If You Leave Me Now
12. I Can Feel It
13. Hard Habit To Break (with Chris Rodriguez)
14. Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
(encore)
15. Save Me
16. 25 Or 6 To 4
After singing "Glory Of Love" on this 1st stage, Peter Cetera asked a female fan in the first row to hold his microphone and rearranged the locations of two fans by himself. After that, Peter made a cheap joke by saying "a couple of my Japanese fans." In the quiet moment after performing "After All", Peter made the audience laugh by saying "very quiet." During "If You Leave Me Now", the band flubbed the intro at first and decided to start it over. But again Peter stopped the song because he could not stop chuckling at the inside joke. Thus, there were memorable happenings. From this 1st stage of day 2, Peter Cetera included both "One Good Woman" and "Stay The Night" in the set list.
[2nd stage setlist]
1. Restless Heart
2. Glory Of Love
3. After All (with Tania Hancheroff)
4. One Good Woman
5. Happy Man
6. Stay With Me
7. You're The Inspiration
8. Beatles Medley
Oh! Darling (Lead Vocal: Tania Hancheroff)
Come Together (Lead Vocal: Chris Rodriguez)
9. The Next Time I Fall (with Tania Hancheroff)
10. If You Leave Me Now
11. I Can Feel It
12. Stay The Night
13. Hard Habit To Break (with Chris Rodriguez)
14. Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
(encore)
15. Save Me
16. 25 Or 6 To 4
As for this 2nd stage, only Jonathan Hamby was on stage playing the keyboards. Tony Harrell was absent. But after finishing "I Can Feel It", Tony Harrell joined the stage and performed "Stay The Night" and the rest of the set as usual. But all members cared about his health condition. So he seemed to feel under the weather. Aside from this, a female fan gave Peter Cetera her several handmade items in heart shape. Peter Cetera picked them up and showed them from the stage.
6/12/2014 Cotton Club, Tokyo, Japan
[1st stage setlist]
1. Restless Heart
2. Glory Of Love
3. One Good Woman
4. After All (with Tania Hancheroff)
5. Happy Man
6. Stay The Night
7. You're The Inspiration
8. Beatles Medley
Oh! Darling (Lead Vocal: Tania Hancheroff)
Come Together (Lead Vocal: Chris Rodriguez)
9. Stay With Me
10. If You Leave Me Now
11. I Can Feel It
12. The Next Time I Fall (with Tania Hancheroff)
13. Hard Habit To Break (with Chris Rodriguez)
14. Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
(encore)
15. Save Me
16. 25 Or 6 To 4
As for this 1st stage, Peter Cetera cited several experiences he and his band members had on the previous day: they watched a morning sumo practice at Tochinoshin's stable; they enjoyed watching The Parrots perform live; some members also enjoyed the Robot Restaurant at Kabukicho area of Shinjuku in Tokyo. After finishing "Stay The Night", Peter Cetera called out to a male fan on the front row and admired his shoes. Then Peter asked him to show it by raising his leg up.
[2nd stage setlist]
1. Restless Heart
2. Glory Of Love
3. One Good Woman
4. After All (with Tania Hancheroff)
5. Happy Man
6. Stay The Night
7. You're The Inspiration
8. Beatles Medley
Oh! Darling (Lead Vocal: Tania Hancheroff)
Come Together (Lead Vocal: Chris Rodriguez)
9. Stay With Me
10. If You Leave Me Now
11. I Can Feel It
12. The Next Time I Fall (with Tania Hancheroff)
13. Hard Habit To Break (with Chris Rodriguez)
14. Hard To Say I'm Sorry / Get Away
(encore)
15. Save Me
16. 25 Or 6 To 4
As for this 2nd stage, Peter Cetera played the same songs as he did on the 1st stage. On this 2nd stage, some fans planned a little surprise for Peter Cetera and his band members with a little help from other fans sitting in the first row: we together used Japanese fans to cool down Peter Cetera and his band members; some fans showed several drawings of Peter Cetera by one of his hardcore fans before the encore.
Anyway, Peter Cetera's tour in Japan 2014 was huge success with amazing work and amazing people. I would like to thank you all involved! Domo Arigato!
