Hoshino Gen

Gen, Bringer of Sunshine to People's Hearts

Gen Hoshino is a man of many talents. Most well known as a member of the instrumental band Sakerock, he also has a solo career as a singer-songwriter, lyricist and also does both acting and voice acting. Gen is a busy, busy man. Which may explain why it’s been a bit quiet on the solo singing front. But now he’s back, as fresh-faced and as good looking as ever.

With his illustrious career you might expect him to be a bit standoffish, but the Saitama-born singer is warm and riddled with self-depreciating humor. On his official website, he has a “Heta Kuso” corner, where fans are encouraged to send in suggestions of things for Gen to draw… badly.

He’s an entertainer at heart, and will do what it takes to win the crowd. Not that they needed winning over—they were lapping it up! His warm, and gentle performance couldn’t have been more appropriate for a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Green Stage. His songs are sweet and uncontroversial, playful and funーkind of like an older brother figure that looks out for you. It was hard not to be touched by the sweetness of it all, as he sang his heart out and brought a ray of sunshine to ours.

As a savvy entertainer, he gave the crowd what they wanted: most of his songs that reached the top ten in the Japanese charts were present. “Gag”, “Yume no Soto e” and “Kuse no Uta”.

What got the loudest sing along though, was “SUN”—the theme song for a recent popular drama series called Kokoro ga Pokitto ne (English title: Crazy for me), a story about a man who loses everything, but finds friends and love as he tries to put his life back together.

He finished with the up-beat Crazy Crazy, sending us humming on our way to the next show.

Setlist:

Kabutsu
Gag
Yume no Soto e
SUN
Kuse no Uta
Kudaranai no Naka ni
Jigoku de naze Warui
Sakura no Mori
Kimi wa Bara Yori Utsukushii
Crazy Crazy