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aibanokokuhaku I don't know where to start.
First of all, there is the hall-- it seats about 2,000 people, spread out into 2 floors, the second floor being significantly smaller than the first. I was orchestra pit (the front 150 seats), 3rd row, near the center, slightly left (in front of mostly Hikaru and sometimes Show-yan). The weather was chilly, windy, yet sunny, and when I first made it to the venue, it was 11:30am-- I was literally the only person there. I decided to go to lunch nearby and come back in an hour. In that hour, a sign asking for the goods line appeared and 12 people were already waiting. I joined the line and waited 2 hours for the beginning of the goods sale. By the time the goods sale began, there were probably at least 1,000 people waiting in line behind me, so I was happy to be early. I was out of the line and with the items I wanted in 10 minutes-- the staff had no problem understanding me and my requests. Thank goodness! Not counting the few Tommy items I got for a friend, here are the goods I picked up for me:
At this point, I still had about 3 hours until doors open for the actual performance. But not to worry! A LOT of KISSES wanted to chat, so we hung out! Here are some pictures (edited for privacy. Also, I didn't ask anyone for pictures; these are all people who asked to take photos with me and sent me copies.)
It happened like a chain reaction. I am very clearly not Japanese so people were looking at me a lot but not approaching me and I was feeling shy. As soon as one person braved talking to me and others realized I could speak Japanese, the floodgates opened, and I made many friends. :)
Before I knew it, it was 5:45pm and so I went in and found my seat. I was enjoying the steady flow of vintage Japanese rockabilly music flowing from the speakers. A popular member of the KISSES community (playboytakabow) was exactly 2 rows in front of me in the very lucky seat 1-27, but I was again too shy to say hello. I mentioned it to him on Instagram afterward and he told me to come greet him next time! Whoops... The seat to my left was empty until just before start-- a 40-something year old in a very beautiful blue embroidered jacket and Union Jack shoes sat next to me. I complimented her shoes and we became fast concert buddies. She was obviously here for Hikaru so I had to put a lot of energy into my dancing to show my respect and support for her sake and for Hikaru both.
As soon as that opening chant of BE MY BABY started I was pumped af. They seem to start every live with that opening and so I salivate like one of Pavlov's dogs as soon as that hits the speakers. To be honest, it was a 3-hour concert, and I don't remember every song they played, and there was a crazy 5-song medley in the mix too, and just ... comedy bits thrown in and a video, and a random chat break with Show-yan and some actors that attended his same middle school... it was chaos. Here are the songs I do remember hearing, in no particular order:
房総スカイライン・ファントム (this was definitely the first song though)
甘い眩暈
湾岸夜想曲～ルシファーズ・ハンマー’９４～
鉄のハート
黒い太陽
One Night Carnival (I have officially heard this song live 3 times now. Great every time!)
恋人 (Finally! And yes, they did the Show x Hikaru kiss, and Hikaru was way too into it)
330 (this was part of the medley for sure. I'll explain the medley thing further down)
雷電 (This song is so good live, it's been stuck in my head every day so far since)
Peterpan Express
スタンディング’ニッポン
キラキラ！
SECRET LOVE STORY
愛 羅 武 勇
勇気
潮騒の子守唄
喧嘩上等
Don't Feel, Think!
トミーのここまで言って委員会（仮）(This was also part of the medley)
幸せにしかしねーから
オールナイトロング (I about died. I love this song.)
ライバルズ
BANG ON! (This was the last song. Wait til I explain how they decided to play it.)
I feel like there were more songs than this, these are just what I can remember at the moment, 3 days after the concert.
So, yeah, after the first song, there was an opening video explaining the theme. Hikaru was all made up as an old man sleeping in a recliner and his granddaughter and her school friend snoop through his stuff and read his diary about how the band was formed. So like, the video cuts and these famous actors are on stage narrating the diary entry, while the members of Kishidan take turns acting out the narrations. It's hard to explain but it was quite cool. Of course, the boys would argue with the narrator sometimes. "I didn't say that!" "Well, it's what's written" "Well, I did NOT say that!" or "I don't talk like that! I wouldn't use that word!" It was a riot. So those narration interludes went on every once in a while.
The medley was a 5 song clusterfuck. The members of Netsubi DANJI of course were there to help out. As each member's song would come on, there were different reactions/dance points we had to do. I was too busy trying to remember what I was supposed to do, but I do remember Matsu's bass solo being pretty epic. 330 was Ranma's part of the medley, and we had to para-para some flowers at him, if you know what I mean. For Hikaru, we had to wait til he jumped forward and do a fighting pose and shout his name. Lol the other girls around me were like "*Satome~*" like all cutely and I growled that shit like I was ready to actually fight and I know we made eye contact so I did it again even louder and he looked so ready to throw down. I'm glad I pumped him up. That man is a BEAST. For his part and Show-yan's part of the medley, they were fighting some other gangsters on the stage and doing crazy jumps and shit. To be honest, through this whole thing, I was shocked at how fit and athletic these guys still are. Like I know all of them don't have publicly released ages, but I know Show-yan is 41. Like wow. I know being active in the fan community and just learning these dances is making me more fit, but damn.
So yeah, at some point Ranma moved to center stage and we were asked to "quietly enjoy" All Night Long. It was so hard to not cheer or sing along too loudly, since with him at center stage singing as softly as he was, I know for the people around me, my sound would have overpowered his. Whoops. He sounded a bit shaky and weak at the mic, like more than usual, like maybe he was recovering from a cold. I wonder if we caught one at the same time. But I enjoyed hearing him sing all the same. So as soon as the song was done, I cheered as loudly as I could.
At another point, the guys did do an acapella song, but for the life of me I can't remember what song it was, sorry! They sounded really good singing as a quintet. They have a good range of voices, to be honest.
Another thing I want to point out was that Akira did a really kick ass drum solo, though it could have been a bit longer in my opinion. He tweeted afterward that he picked up a new technique freestyling during that solo that he wants to use in the future. I wonder what it was.
Everything is a blur, but I do remember Hikaru wearing a cheerleader outfit at some point (was the whole band wearing them? Maybe just Hikaru?) I can't remember because I could only look at his... strong, thick legs and flashes of his red boxer briefs. I just couldn't look away. I was mesmerized, and the Hikaru fan spazzing next to me wasn't helping. I am definitely an easily distracted person.
So near the end of the concert, the band wants to perform one song off of the new album, but they can't decide which song. They brought out a big spinner wheel, some racks of costumes, and they came out in track suits (omg Ranma's orange track suit was so cute on him!) Anyway, they pull one seat number out of a box. I am thinking they put in every seat that had "27" or "127" in the box, which means with my seat of "floor 1, row 3, seat 27" I might have had a chance. Anyway, the winner was "floor 1, row 27, seat 19" and in a sea of 95 percent female fans, a 50-something year old chubby guy with glasses comes ambling down the aisle. It was great. I remember the guy saying he was from Isumi city, Chiba prefecture. He said his favorite song off the new album was "Baumkuchen". That's fine and all, but since they played that at Kishidan Banpaku, I didn't wanna hear it again; I wanted to hear a new song. He spins the giant wheel, and it goes past his song just barely and lands on BANG ON! . The band give the guy a present and send him back to his seat before beginning ... a public clothing change? Oh my God. I mean, they were wearing boxers/briefs and t-shirts under the track suits, but it was really hard to focus and not get aroused. Everyone looked so fine....EVERYONE... and then Hikaru just rips his track pants off and starts dancing in his underwear right in front of us. Just... really enjoying it too much... like Show-yan had to stop him because he was taking too much time. He was just right up in our faces shaking his booty like he was getting paid to...Oh wait. So as Hikaru is finishing getting dressed, Show-yan mentions how members sometimes put on each other's costumes, so they sometimes perform dressed awkwardly. Tommy's jacket was a bit too short for his torso, and who knows if it's his jacket or not really.
Of course, Show-yan chatted up the audience a ton and did his whole, "Kishidan is you guys too, WE ARE KISHIDAN. I love you!" speech. The main message at the end is that they intend to continue on with Kishidan for as long as possible with the fans. I thought that was sweet.
It was such a good time, but I am kind of peeved that they didn't do an autograph session for the first day. My birthday is January 27th, so I guess I'm just going to go to a January show so that I can meet Ranma. So expect another report then! I know there's so much I wanted to say that I am forgetting. All well.
First of all, there is the hall-- it seats about 2,000 people, spread out into 2 floors, the second floor being significantly smaller than the first. I was orchestra pit (the front 150 seats), 3rd row, near the center, slightly left (in front of mostly Hikaru and sometimes Show-yan). The weather was chilly, windy, yet sunny, and when I first made it to the venue, it was 11:30am-- I was literally the only person there. I decided to go to lunch nearby and come back in an hour. In that hour, a sign asking for the goods line appeared and 12 people were already waiting. I joined the line and waited 2 hours for the beginning of the goods sale. By the time the goods sale began, there were probably at least 1,000 people waiting in line behind me, so I was happy to be early. I was out of the line and with the items I wanted in 10 minutes-- the staff had no problem understanding me and my requests. Thank goodness! Not counting the few Tommy items I got for a friend, here are the goods I picked up for me:
At this point, I still had about 3 hours until doors open for the actual performance. But not to worry! A LOT of KISSES wanted to chat, so we hung out! Here are some pictures (edited for privacy. Also, I didn't ask anyone for pictures; these are all people who asked to take photos with me and sent me copies.)
It happened like a chain reaction. I am very clearly not Japanese so people were looking at me a lot but not approaching me and I was feeling shy. As soon as one person braved talking to me and others realized I could speak Japanese, the floodgates opened, and I made many friends. :)
Before I knew it, it was 5:45pm and so I went in and found my seat. I was enjoying the steady flow of vintage Japanese rockabilly music flowing from the speakers. A popular member of the KISSES community (playboytakabow) was exactly 2 rows in front of me in the very lucky seat 1-27, but I was again too shy to say hello. I mentioned it to him on Instagram afterward and he told me to come greet him next time! Whoops... The seat to my left was empty until just before start-- a 40-something year old in a very beautiful blue embroidered jacket and Union Jack shoes sat next to me. I complimented her shoes and we became fast concert buddies. She was obviously here for Hikaru so I had to put a lot of energy into my dancing to show my respect and support for her sake and for Hikaru both.
As soon as that opening chant of BE MY BABY started I was pumped af. They seem to start every live with that opening and so I salivate like one of Pavlov's dogs as soon as that hits the speakers. To be honest, it was a 3-hour concert, and I don't remember every song they played, and there was a crazy 5-song medley in the mix too, and just ... comedy bits thrown in and a video, and a random chat break with Show-yan and some actors that attended his same middle school... it was chaos. Here are the songs I do remember hearing, in no particular order:
房総スカイライン・ファントム (this was definitely the first song though)
甘い眩暈
湾岸夜想曲～ルシファーズ・ハンマー’９４～
鉄のハート
黒い太陽
One Night Carnival (I have officially heard this song live 3 times now. Great every time!)
恋人 (Finally! And yes, they did the Show x Hikaru kiss, and Hikaru was way too into it)
330 (this was part of the medley for sure. I'll explain the medley thing further down)
雷電 (This song is so good live, it's been stuck in my head every day so far since)
Peterpan Express
スタンディング’ニッポン
キラキラ！
SECRET LOVE STORY
愛 羅 武 勇
勇気
潮騒の子守唄
喧嘩上等
Don't Feel, Think!
トミーのここまで言って委員会（仮）(This was also part of the medley)
幸せにしかしねーから
オールナイトロング (I about died. I love this song.)
ライバルズ
BANG ON! (This was the last song. Wait til I explain how they decided to play it.)
I feel like there were more songs than this, these are just what I can remember at the moment, 3 days after the concert.
So, yeah, after the first song, there was an opening video explaining the theme. Hikaru was all made up as an old man sleeping in a recliner and his granddaughter and her school friend snoop through his stuff and read his diary about how the band was formed. So like, the video cuts and these famous actors are on stage narrating the diary entry, while the members of Kishidan take turns acting out the narrations. It's hard to explain but it was quite cool. Of course, the boys would argue with the narrator sometimes. "I didn't say that!" "Well, it's what's written" "Well, I did NOT say that!" or "I don't talk like that! I wouldn't use that word!" It was a riot. So those narration interludes went on every once in a while.
The medley was a 5 song clusterfuck. The members of Netsubi DANJI of course were there to help out. As each member's song would come on, there were different reactions/dance points we had to do. I was too busy trying to remember what I was supposed to do, but I do remember Matsu's bass solo being pretty epic. 330 was Ranma's part of the medley, and we had to para-para some flowers at him, if you know what I mean. For Hikaru, we had to wait til he jumped forward and do a fighting pose and shout his name. Lol the other girls around me were like "*Satome~*" like all cutely and I growled that shit like I was ready to actually fight and I know we made eye contact so I did it again even louder and he looked so ready to throw down. I'm glad I pumped him up. That man is a BEAST. For his part and Show-yan's part of the medley, they were fighting some other gangsters on the stage and doing crazy jumps and shit. To be honest, through this whole thing, I was shocked at how fit and athletic these guys still are. Like I know all of them don't have publicly released ages, but I know Show-yan is 41. Like wow. I know being active in the fan community and just learning these dances is making me more fit, but damn.
So yeah, at some point Ranma moved to center stage and we were asked to "quietly enjoy" All Night Long. It was so hard to not cheer or sing along too loudly, since with him at center stage singing as softly as he was, I know for the people around me, my sound would have overpowered his. Whoops. He sounded a bit shaky and weak at the mic, like more than usual, like maybe he was recovering from a cold. I wonder if we caught one at the same time. But I enjoyed hearing him sing all the same. So as soon as the song was done, I cheered as loudly as I could.
At another point, the guys did do an acapella song, but for the life of me I can't remember what song it was, sorry! They sounded really good singing as a quintet. They have a good range of voices, to be honest.
Another thing I want to point out was that Akira did a really kick ass drum solo, though it could have been a bit longer in my opinion. He tweeted afterward that he picked up a new technique freestyling during that solo that he wants to use in the future. I wonder what it was.
Everything is a blur, but I do remember Hikaru wearing a cheerleader outfit at some point (was the whole band wearing them? Maybe just Hikaru?) I can't remember because I could only look at his... strong, thick legs and flashes of his red boxer briefs. I just couldn't look away. I was mesmerized, and the Hikaru fan spazzing next to me wasn't helping. I am definitely an easily distracted person.
So near the end of the concert, the band wants to perform one song off of the new album, but they can't decide which song. They brought out a big spinner wheel, some racks of costumes, and they came out in track suits (omg Ranma's orange track suit was so cute on him!) Anyway, they pull one seat number out of a box. I am thinking they put in every seat that had "27" or "127" in the box, which means with my seat of "floor 1, row 3, seat 27" I might have had a chance. Anyway, the winner was "floor 1, row 27, seat 19" and in a sea of 95 percent female fans, a 50-something year old chubby guy with glasses comes ambling down the aisle. It was great. I remember the guy saying he was from Isumi city, Chiba prefecture. He said his favorite song off the new album was "Baumkuchen". That's fine and all, but since they played that at Kishidan Banpaku, I didn't wanna hear it again; I wanted to hear a new song. He spins the giant wheel, and it goes past his song just barely and lands on BANG ON! . The band give the guy a present and send him back to his seat before beginning ... a public clothing change? Oh my God. I mean, they were wearing boxers/briefs and t-shirts under the track suits, but it was really hard to focus and not get aroused. Everyone looked so fine....EVERYONE... and then Hikaru just rips his track pants off and starts dancing in his underwear right in front of us. Just... really enjoying it too much... like Show-yan had to stop him because he was taking too much time. He was just right up in our faces shaking his booty like he was getting paid to...Oh wait. So as Hikaru is finishing getting dressed, Show-yan mentions how members sometimes put on each other's costumes, so they sometimes perform dressed awkwardly. Tommy's jacket was a bit too short for his torso, and who knows if it's his jacket or not really.
Of course, Show-yan chatted up the audience a ton and did his whole, "Kishidan is you guys too, WE ARE KISHIDAN. I love you!" speech. The main message at the end is that they intend to continue on with Kishidan for as long as possible with the fans. I thought that was sweet.
It was such a good time, but I am kind of peeved that they didn't do an autograph session for the first day. My birthday is January 27th, so I guess I'm just going to go to a January show so that I can meet Ranma. So expect another report then! I know there's so much I wanted to say that I am forgetting. All well.
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Date: 2021-03-11 04:58 am (UTC)I love all the details about the fans and the super fans (they sound friendly, and I'm glad!) Everyone sounded so on brand when you were recounting the events. I can only base my insights on what little media I have on the band, but I can imagine Ranma onstage and awwww I really want to protecc him!!! I don't know why I am just now noticing how ripped Hikaru Saotome was (he might still be, but the only shirtless footage of him I've seen are all from the early aughts) -- must have been distracted by all that big hair??? But the red briefs were a GREAT detail, and I'm so happy you did not leave it out. These guys, such exhibitionists -- changing onstage holy shoosh. The Tommy detail made me lol, and am looking forward to more mentions of him around your blog (I hope so - he is my bias.) <3