At the end of June, singer-songwriter, composer and guitarist Yutaro Ogida will arrive in Europe for several performances. His stay in Europe will mainly be in the Netherlands, although he also has a few shows planned in the United Kingdom. Ogida is no stranger to the Netherlands; as recently as 2022, he was seen at the Gokan event in Utrecht, organised by JACCU.
Born in Tokyo, Yutaro Ogida spent his younger years in New York and lived in London during his high school days, which was also where he first picked up the guitar. In the 1990s, he returned to Japan and started his professional career as a guitarist. Ogida joined several bands and played many sessions with different musicians to showcase his versatility.
In 2011, after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the musician decided to launch a solo career. He managed to release a mini-album in 2016, entitled I AM, which was followed up by a second mini-album in 2019 with the title I SING. He then decided to tour Japan with the guitar as his only companion. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this was no longer possible and the singer-songwriter started to broadcast performances live from his Flower Studio on YouTube to connect with his fans inside and outside Japan, this eventually became 100 performances.
In late 2021, Yutaro Ogida released his very first album I FEEL, which can be seen as a culmination of Yutaro Ogida’s solo activities. For this release, the singer-songwriter has collaborated with quite a few musicians who are no strangers, including Morgan Fisher (ex-Mott the Hoople), Takashi O’Hashi (Seikima II), Hitomi Saionji (Kishidan), Gyo Tada (The Day Sweet, The Thrill), Showtaro Mitsuzono (ex-B’z support, Wild Flag, Katamali), to name but a few. One of the tracks on the album, ライブハウスの明かり (Livehouse no Akari), is a song dedicated to live venues in Japan and emerged from the crowdfunding campaign for live stage Chicken George in Kobe.
Besides being active solo, he is also the co-founder of Genshi-Shinbo, a very well-known Pink Floyd tribute project in Japan. He is currently still active in several bands and thus can be found almost daily on stage in Japan thanks to all those projects. With one of his side projects, WTARO, Yutaro Ogida recently released something new with rock singer and bass player Showtaro Mitsuzono, namely a 10-song rock album entitled WTARO I. A promotional tour also followed with this release. With rock duo NANKERʼS BEST, consisting of Yutaro Ogida and Morgan Fisher, there will be a performance on 4 June, which can be seen via a live broadcast on YouTube, where the duo will perform original songs as well as old classics. He is also currently still in the middle of his solo tour in Japan, as well as on tour as part of Takashi O’Hashi & The Sound Torus.In addition, he still streams from his home studio every Thursday.
Yutaro Ogida European tour 2023
Friday 30 June, 2023: Foodfestival Trek at Amstelpark – Amsterdam, Netherlands (17.30 – 18.30)
Friday 30 June, 2023: Café ‘t Oude Pothuys – Utrecht, Netherlands (23.00 – 01.00)
Saturday 1 July, 2023: Private party
Sunday 2 July, 2023: Struinen in de Tuinen – Utrecht, Netherlands (13.00 – 13.45)
Sunday 2 July, 2023: Struinen in de Tuinen – Utrecht, Netherlands (14.30 – 15.15)
Thursday 6 July, 2023: The Beatles Museum – Alkmaar, Netherlands
Friday 7 July, 2023: Zoku Soho – London, United Kingdom
Saturday, July 8, 2023: Zoku Soho – London, United Kingdom
There is a possibility of further tour dates being added to the current schedule, for that it is important to keep an eye on Yutaro Ogida on social media for any last-minute updates.
