Ryuichi Kawamura(河村隆一) of LUNA SEA breaks world record!

Last year, Ryuichi Kawamura(河村隆一) declared that he would attempt to perform 100 songs in a single concert, a feat that would surpass the 70 songs he sang during his “70 no Monogatari(70の物語)” concert in 2008. The new attempt was originally scheduled for March 13th at the Nippon Budokan(日本武道館), but due to the Tohoku earthquake on March 11th, the concert was postponed until yesterday, May 3rd. And sure enough, Kawamura completed more than 100 songs, achieving a Guinness World Record.

In 2008, Kawamura had achieved 71 songs in 4.5 hours. His goal this time was to reach 100 in 6.5 hours. The concert started at 2:00pm in the afternoon, and after taking three breaks during the show, he finished at some time after 9:00pm. Immediately after the concert, the head of the Japan branch of Guinness World Records presented him with a certificate recognizing his achievement.

Although Kawamura ended up singing a total of 104 songs, his official record is for becoming the first solo artist to perform 100 songs within 8 hours. Guinness currently keeps only three categories for this kind of record – 1 hour, 8 hours, and 24 hours.

Kawamura divided the show into three parts, roughly corresponding to different periods of his career. He started with his hits from the time of his debut, working his way through his discography. He also changed outfits to match the themes of the different parts

Approximately 8,000 fans were in attendance for the concert. In consideration of the power shortages facing Japan since the earthquake, Kawamura performed the show with about 30% less electricity than a typical show.

Source: tokyograph.com