Experiencing Kitaro live is like listening to mother nature traslated into music.
His atmospheric instrumentals invoke a feeling of wonder for the elements. It can be gentle and soothing like the sound of waves lapping gently on a sandy shore, or big and thunderous like the fury of a merciless storm.
The Japanese-born musician's name is synonymous with new age music around these parts. The one-night performance he gave on Thursday night as part of his Love And Peace Tour 2007, was his fourth gig in Singapore.
He last played here three years ago in 2004. "Three years too long for me," he announced, charming his audience right off.
Opening the two-hours set with the 20-minute "Sky And Ocean" from his latest release, "Sacred Journey Of Ku-Kai, Vol.3," the multi-instrumentalist was in fine form.
Moving effortlessly from chimes to flute to synthesizers, the 54-years-old even picked up an electric sitar at one point and jammed along with his five-piece band, trading riffs with his guitarist.
Song climaxes were punctuated by his furious beats on a giant taiko drum, and and even when he was not playing any instruments, his hands were busy making graceful movements as if he were plucking notes out of thin air.
The 7,000-strong crowd lapped it all up, giving him two standing ovations, before the encore and after the finale. Not surprisingly, they clapped the loudest when he performed his most well-known numbers, including the soundtracks from the 1980s Japanese television series "Silk Road" and Oliver Stone's movie "Heaven & Earth."
"It was a good show, very beautiful," said audience member Frank Heessels, 46. The Holland native works in Johor Baru, Malaysia, but he was a big enough Kitaro fan to make the trip across the Causeway to see the musician live.
Judging from the audience reaction, it was a sentiment that echoed throughout the cavernous dome of the Indoor Stadium.