3 posts tagged “jpop”

I know most of you don't know who Arashi is, or even care, but I just spent 3 hours writing this so you're going to read it.  I'll edit out the concert details because... you don't care.  I don't know when I'll have anything of interest to post next so, enjoy! 

If you want to educate yourself on Arashi before reading: Wikipedia

I don't even know where to start... I got up at 5am and got on the train on time (unlike usual) and got to Shinjuku Station at 7:10am. The weather was not co-operative. It was rainy and pissy and cold. I wore a collared shirt and bright pink t-shirt, light hoodie and my jacket and I was just nice. Met Chelsea shortly after and we hit the bank and Starfucks and took the Subway one stop instead of walking to the meeting place for the bus because it was easier. One of the exits of the subway was right next to the meeting spot and I didn't really feel like tromping around in the rain. Made it on time (early!) and checked in, no problems.

There were a bunch of buses leaving from the same underground parking but ours was easy to find, being bright pink. Oh, the irony. We left on time but caught up in traffic on the way out of Tokyo. We stopped after an hour at a rest stop... I'm not sure why, after only an hour. It was pissing rain and even though I didn't have to go, I peed anyway. We stopped for 20 minutes which I thought was a bit excessive, but I guess if there happens to be a line up for the can, it gives everyone a chance to go. Go back on the bus and away we went.

The bus was pretty plush. I liked it. I would use them again. Apart from the heinous pink interior, the seats were comfy and reclined and even had this bonnet thing you could pull over your face for some "privacy" while sleeping. There were lights and airvents, and even blankets! And the staff was friendly, showing us where our assigned seats were on the chart even though I didn't need their help. If I fail at Japanese, I can at least read and write my name. The next stop was Hamanako, in Hamamatsu City in Shizuoka prefecture. I dozed for most of that leg. Stopped for another 20 minutes at a pretty plus rest stop. It was right on Hamana Lake so there were lots of restaurants and seating and stuff. The rain stopped but it was muggy. :/

We arrived in Nagoya around 1:40pm. We got stuck in some traffic coming into the city but nothing major. I navigated us on the transit to Nagoya Dome and we got there around 3pm. We could have just taken subway but I didn't remember how to do that so I just backtracked from the directions Yvonne gave me to get to her place from the Dome. It took about half an hour and when we got off at the station all we had to do was follow the crowd. There was a bunch of people buying tickets there - moms dropping of their kids for the concert. XD We saw a few people begging for tickets in the station, and a lot more later on.

We got there at 3pm the line for merch stretched all the way around the Dome but we were walking most of the time so I didn't think it would be a problem. We made it through the line to the actual line up for stuff in maybe twenty minutes? They had 6 booths set up on the ground level, with about 6 staff per booth selling goods. They had a booth selling CDs and the Time Con DVD as well. That's where we spent most of our time waiting. Of course, we picked the slowest line... the staff weren't slow but the people were buying so much! Someone in front of us spent 80,000 yen! That's more than 1 month's rent! I bought a bag, a pamphlet, and a group clear file. I was ho-huming about the strap and in the end forgot. I got Andrew's birthday present!

When we got our merch it was about 4:15pm. The doors opened at 4pm but we hadn't eaten since 7am and I was starving. There is an Aeon mall right beside Nagoya Dome luckily so we went and got food. The mall was packed with the weekend shoppers already, but add all the people milling around waiting for the concert... it was a zoo. We tried the food court but it was busy and hot. Japanese people need to learn that just because it's rainy and a bit chill outside it doesn't mean you need to turn on the heat. I wanted to go cheap so we went to the supermarket and got some riceballs and a sandwich and some energy drinks. Again, we had to pick the slowest line. This time it was the fucking staff woman in addition to people buying the week's groceries for a family of four. Every other person in line was going to the concert, if the amount of eco bags was anything to go by. After we got our food, we headed outside and tried to cool off. It was raining a bit when we got to Nagoya but it had stopped by the time we got to the Dome but it wasn't cool enough to cool us off. So, lack of sleep plus overheat plus hunger plus crowds made us quite crabby.

We headed into the Dome around 5pm and got in our seats and sat for an hour since we knew we'd be standing for the 3 hours of the concert. The stage was over home plate and we were sitting on the first base side. If we were watching baseball, it would have been a pretty good seat. We were in the first level of stands, but nearly at the back. Actually, the same seats as when I went to Koda Kumi in Tokyo Dome but closer to the stage. We had a good view of the right stage where they had a carnival tent in the set. There was a little hot air ballon on the top of the set that said "Arashi". I thought it would do something... but it was just for show. We actually could see right into backstage when the curtain was lifted near the end, but only saw crew running around. There was a screen on our side, and we could see the one at the back of the Dome, but not the one on the left. They weren't great seats, it would have been nice to be closer, but when they ran onto our side of the stage and road the floats around the Dome we could at least see their faces clearly. :D

I appologize, I took my camera (which they didn't take.. they had a desk set up at the door where you could hand it over voluntarily... as if anyone would) but didn't take any pictures. I knew from my Koda experience that my camera takes shit pictures with no flash and in a concert the flash doesn't do anything anyway. I was a bit scared to even try to take some video because I've heard that Japanese fans are nazi about that kind of stuff. But I took a little bit! :D This was our view of the stage from my shitty camera phone:

On the screens they had the album Dream Alive logo and played trailers for Kakushi Toride, Hanadan and Yatterman movies. They also did a teaser for 24Jikan Terebi which was cute. They asked each member "Who is the most likely to cry this time?"
Sho: That'll be Aiba-kun.
Nino: I think Aiba.
Jun: Aiba. (So blunt. XD)
Ohno: It'll be Aiba-kun, won't it?
Aiba: (AD: So everyone said it would be you...) Again? Ahh...
Then they all said something about the theme "Oath", Aiba made a pun which I didn't get but everyone else did. It was a laugh.

At 6pm people were still straggling in but the crowd started chanting "Arashi! Arashi!". The Japanese are nothing if not prompt. Soon the lights went off... and the music started up... it was an instrumental with a fast beat and then BAM some pyrotechnics and Aiba on stage! They all did a little solo dance before coming together in the middle of the main stage to open. It started off with such high energy and pyrotechnics!  They sang the first four songs and then did their "Hellos". Jun went first, "Hisashiburi! Iya... Hajimemashite~" "Long time no see! No... Nice to meet you~" because it was the first time playing at Nagoya Dome. Nino did his signature "Irashaimaseee" Welcome and Sho pumped up the crowd with several rounds of "Arashi" chanting.

After Sho ran backstage, the Juniors in hideous clown outfits came out and jumped around and the infamous female dancers (it was also a first time for female backup dancers) had ribbons entertained the crowd until the curtain of the tent open and you could see this giant fucking merry-go-round horse. I knew it was going to be a carnival theme after hearing the "theme" but I was hoping it would be closer to Janet's Velvet Rope tour. Jun was riding the horse, Aiba on a box (a present?) that had screens embedded in the side which gave close ups, Sho on a heart with balloons inside it floating around, Ohno was on thing that looked like bubble tea or an ice cream float that spewed out bubbles. I don't remember the order in the middle, but Nino brought up the rear on a giant sunflower. I can't even describe how awful the costumes were.  Just think: gay mutant clowns.  Luckily, they were the worst of the lot. They stopped at the back of the Dome and the horse and flower elevated when they were singing. They rode the floats around all around the dome and by the fourth song they'd made it back to the main stage.

Ohno and Sho did their solo songs and then the next costume change was classy blue (shiny) suits with dark shirts. They brought out a table and Jun and one of the girls did a bit of skit. He gave her a present but then one of the others grabbed him away? Or went off-stage with the girl? I can't remember now. Oh well. The boys did some pair dancing with the girls which was hot. Arashi in suits are my favourite kind of Arashi but then you have them being manly and leading? I'm sold. When they sang one of the new ballads (called Sirius) they turned on the blue lights and moved to part of the stage on hydraulics that moved them to all different levels. The girls were dancing around them in white, doing some kind of ballet routine which was really quite pretty. I would have thought it would be nice and appropriate to have the constellation on the screens but you can't have everything. And here's the 7 seconds of (shitty) video managed to take:

That blurry pixelated thing is Ohno... and you can kind of hear him singing?

Aiba did his solo next and then they all came back to sing a few more songs together before the MC.  Japanese singers don't do intermissions (in my experience) but they have a break in the middle for 20 or so minutes and talk to each other about random stuff or promote their latest project. I wish I had worked harder on studying Japanese because I think I missed a lot. :( They talked about baseball and couldn't figure out where home base was (Nagoya's team is fairly good and famous?). Aiba talked about some team he was on called "Colours" (gayest name ever) and how even though the season was over, he kept it going? Nino mentioned being pitcher (for the Johnny's team, I guess). It was a bit of crock because Ohno hardly said anything during the MC. Aiba was a little chatterbox, as usual. They walked back to the main stage and Ohno and Nino disappeared. They talked about Jun's movie Kakushi Toride and asked who's seen it and a large chorus of people said yes! Then he asked something else and something else and everyone said yes... but I was lost. They asked who's seen their newest TV show... Then they mentioned Ohno's Freestyle art exhibition and they prepared a special video. The lights go out and you see the gallery and some work and then Ohmiya SK pop out in front of the Ohmiya heads. I had a really hard time understanding it because they put on an accent (kind of like a gaijin? Haha). Yuji was taking the piss out of the guy who made the heads because it looks nothing like him. Then they come out on stage and sing a song about Mikoshi (portable shrines)...? I don't even know. It was just pure ridiculousness. At one point in the skit Ohno is trying so hard not to laugh... Which made it even funnier. XD The other three came back out and talked about the character they created for the tour (a caterpiller) and showed a cute little animation with the caterpiller that turns into 5 butterflies. Aw. Kawaii.

After the video, the next song started and I could see faces on the screens but no bodies on the stage. Then this giant balloon comes out over the stage with the five of them suspended off of it on wires. Aiba and Jun were flipping around and looking down at the crowd, Nino and Ohno were mucking around and Sho looked like he was hanging on for dear life. LOL  They floated across the Dome to the back stage and started singing Fight Song and Nino fucked up.  It was like he forgot to start singing as he was getting lowered. They sang and riled up the crowd, doing flips and mucking around. I think the most I saw from Sho was him kicking his legs a bit. I'm surprised he didn't drop his mic. When Nino got down he looked up and said, "Sho, you haven't done anything!!" and Sho just made a face back. Haha.

Nino and Jun did their solos and then Ohno came out onto our side of the stage carrying the eco bag (one of the merchendise) and gave a speech about it... something about the environment, do your part, blah blah, blah. The next song was called Green and they made it specially for this tour to go along with the bag. They are trying to be more "adult" I've heard (although how much more childish can you get with a carnival theme?) and they're being good idols and sending out a good message. It was a really sweet song. I actually understood some of the lyrics but I can't remember them now. :/ As they sang, they had VTR footage of greenery behind them.

They sang the song Once Again and danced together on the main stage, it was a really good!  They sequeyed into the theme and did member introductions: Aiba did some back flips, Ohno made some really creepy faces, Nino did a "card trick". Then Jun introduced the juniors and dancers and I want to say he was speaking English but I couldn't tell. The first half of the show was actually quiet for a concert. I mean, I could still hear myself as I sang along but after the MC they turned it up a notch.  The last song they did was called Your Song and to be honest, I didn't really like the song that much before I heard it live. I didn't even get around to translating the lyrics. But... to hear the entire room of nearly 50,000 people singing together... it was pretty amazing. I wonder what they felt like on stage, hearing that.

They go off, and the girls next to us start screaming "Arashi! Arashi! Arashi!" for the encore. It was miles better than Koda Kumi but the entire Dome couldn't get in sync. I want to know what that sounds like. For the second Encore, they came out and Jun gave some shpiel about not singing A-RA-SHI and everyone went "Eehhhhh?" He looked a bit sheepish but introduced their new single One Love (theme song for his new movie Hana Yori Dango Final) and they sang that standing on the main stage. It's a really pretty song. Very mature. I am a bit sad they didn't do A-RA-SHI because it isn't often that you see a group still performing their debut song. If they were trying to go for the more "adult" image, I could see them not wanting to do it. But it's classic! Then again, maybe after 9 years, they secretly hate it. XD

Third encore, they came out to sing Pikanchi Double which is probably my favourite song so I was happy that they ended with that. :D We had Sho and Ohno on our side of the stage and as Sho ran past Ohno he totally tried to cop a feel. In a huge way and we totally caught it. YES. That was the best way to end the show. The fangirls around us tried calling for another encore but I knew that was the end so we booked it out of there. Luckily our aisle was right near the door so we were one of the first ones out. We hit a convenience store and rehydrated and waited for the crowds to disapate from the subway before heading to Yvonne's to crash for the night.

It was such a good show and they did a really good job but... I can't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Whether it was the audience being only so-so (better than Koda by MILES but nothing like last year's Time Concert DVD audience) or that we were tired and grouchy, I don't know. Even the guys on stage... they were energetic but I don't know. There were lots of families and kids.  Apparently, you don't cheer for ballads? You politely applaud. At the very end and after each encore, the crowd waved back and clapped politely but that's about it. What?? So I totally cheered, all by myself. In a crowd of nearly 50,000. And I would like to think that they heard me.

Great show and so happy that I got a chance to see them and be in the same room as them and all that mushy stuff but... I would love to go to Tokyo Dome. I've heard that those are the best shows and if the Time DVD is anything to go by, I'm sure it's true. Maaaybe I'll try again next year because you know they are going to do something big for their 10th anniversary but I don't know who I would go with. Maybe I'll go alone.  If I even get tickets. Maybe this show was only kind of meh because they want to do something extreme next year? Who knows.

Arashi~

Here's a taste of what I'll be getting to see in May.  I don't know what my seats are until I get the tickets which won't be here until 2-3 weeks before the show.  Fingers crossed for decent seats but I'd take anything gladly.

GArh I've been trying to upload a video for like 2 hours but my connection sucks balls so I had to grab one off YouTube.  YouTube has been deleting videos like crazy lately so hopefully this one sticks for a while.

Which, by all accounts, should not be me.  I am the most out of shape I've ever been in my whole life.  But I'm working on it. 

I survived my first week at my new job and I love it~!  I've tried to keep myself as busy as I can, and so far I've reserached the origin of my surname, how maple syrup is made and the governmental system of Canada on Wikipedia.  That was actually all done in one day.  The teachers and the staff are all really friendly and it makes things easier.  I'm usually left to my own devices if I have a free period (I usually co-teach 2-3 lessons a day) so I've tried to make myself busy by learning random crap on Wikipedia or reading my fat grammar textbook from ENGL302 that I lugged with me.  Imai-sensei, the 3rd year (grade 9) teacher, has asked me to help her to some marking, which is really fun for me. :D  I love wielding the red pen.  She also asked me to think of a game to teach relative pronouns (which I had to go look up in my grammar tomb) but the internet at school as a block on it so it doesn't show up blogs.  Also Facebook is blocked, so I can't fill up my time with that either.  Although, its not as fun as it used to be, to be honest.  I rarely use it anymore.

Anyway, now that I'm home, I can get to those sites that came up on my search but I couldn't view.  I think Jeopardy is the way to go.  Anyway, I won't get into that.  It's the weekend!  No need to think.

Anyway, I'm fitting in nicely.  Whether it was Nakamura-sensei's own initiative, or the vice-principal or a collective thing, I got officially invited to the Bounen Kai (忘年会, literally "Forget the Year Party) on the 21st.  I've got Keigo's lesson that afternoon but I'll go right after, it'll be fun.  I won't be able to talk with many people, but I will ganbaru and try my best.  I think that means I've been accepted into the school community (at least by the English teachers) and the rest of the year will go well. 

But I feel like a bit of a loser sitting at home alone on a Friday night...  I spent the day cleaning house.  My bathroom was getting really disgusting.  I finally got some tension rods to hang a shower curtain and a little curtain in the kitchen from the dollar store, as well as cleaning supplies.  I aired out my futons and found mold growing on the bottom foam pad.  Fuck!  I guess its not just a summer problem but a winter one as well.  At least I don't have to worry about tatami mats, which are impossible to clean.  I googled "how to clean mold from futons" and found that if you wipe it down with vinegar water and hang it out to dry out for a few days, it should take care of the mold.  I wiped it down, and now am drying it in front of the space heater.  I hope it works.  I sent a frantic email to Yvonne but she hasn't gotten back to me yet. 

Yvonne is probably coming out for Christmas.  The 3 of us, Yvonne, Andrew and I, will probably do a little presenty thing but that's it.  I'm too broke to send presents home to Canada and I wouldn't know what to buy.  Obviously tacky omiyage (souvenirs) type things, like an Engrish t-shirt for Sean and some pretty Japanese fabric for mom, but the postage is going to kill.  Those things will just have to wait.  I got some blank nengajou (年賀状, New Year's cards) so I can send a few of those off but that will be all I can afford.  But Yvonne and Andrew, I should get something for them since they've been so helpful to me over the last 4 months.  ESPECIALLY Andrew for taking me to see Koda Kumi last week.  I had no idea.  He said, "Keep Saturday free, I have a suprise" and we met in Ginza since we can't afford to buy anything there anyway, even if we weren't strapped for cash.  Then we took 4 different trains to get to Suidobashi where Tokyo Dome (a.k.a. The Big Egg, really) is.  I thought we might be going to the theme park there or something, but we were going to the concert at Tokyo Dome!  There were vendors set up at the station entrances selling Koda Kumi stuff, but I didn't piece two and two together.  It was a great performance, she really put on a great show but the audience was kind of... lame.  There no energy.  I wonder if that's usual, because there was no energy at the school assembly I went to on Monday either.  Maybe its just the Japanese way to clap in an orderly fashion, even if it's your best friend or idol.  In any case, it was so fun.  Here's a video from the concert:

Last Angel feat. 東方神起

Koda Kumi