Thursday, May 21, 2009
KAT-TUN Round 3!
I got lucky and got out of school early on 5/20. What better way to spend my free time that go to the Tokyo Dome for Kame's day! And this time I took notes.
This makes it my 3rd time going to the concert. The first time I had arena seats and the second time F1 stand seats. This time I was way out there in the 2F stand seats, but was also pretty much center stage, which was nice. Because it was a last minute decision, I didn't have a ticket when I showed up at the stadium. Not a problem though. There were several scalpers selling tickets and one agreed to sell me a seat for 2,000 yen. Seeing as the face value of a ticket is 6,500 yen, that was a great deal even though the seat was not so good. I was worried that buying from a scalper would be a bit shady, but it wasn't. Most of the scalpers seem to be girls that had friends cancel or who got better seats at the last minute and just wanna get a bit back for the tickets they bought.
This makes it my 3rd time going to the concert. The first time I had arena seats and the second time F1 stand seats. This time I was way out there in the 2F stand seats, but was also pretty much center stage, which was nice. Because it was a last minute decision, I didn't have a ticket when I showed up at the stadium. Not a problem though. There were several scalpers selling tickets and one agreed to sell me a seat for 2,000 yen. Seeing as the face value of a ticket is 6,500 yen, that was a great deal even though the seat was not so good. I was worried that buying from a scalper would be a bit shady, but it wasn't. Most of the scalpers seem to be girls that had friends cancel or who got better seats at the last minute and just wanna get a bit back for the tickets they bought.
From the high seats, the floating planets before the show starts are really cool looking. They also look nothing like the planets they are supposed to represent but I will forgive them cause they still look cool. I didn't even notice the planets the other 2 days.
I was really excited for the show because it was Kame's day and the day before was Jin's day which I had heard was amazing, so I was expecting big things! The boy is all about fan service so I expected to see some love. I was sad that I missed Jin's day, but I had to work. Before the concert even started, I stopped by the 7-11 to grab some snacks, drinks, and a pen so I could take notes. I also wanted to stop by the restroom, bu the line was ungodly long.
The show starts with cartoon versions of the boys getting into a shuttle and the big floating planets drift down behind the stage. I really like the pork or chicken comment during the cartoon bit, as if they were on an airplane or something. While the shuttle thing is happening, there is a junior on the stage acting like ground control for the shuttle. Then all the members were introduced, with Jin getting the most screams, followed closely by Kame. Sometimes I feel bad for the other band members cause the volume difference is so noticeable.
I love the first outfits they wear. Very heavy on the silver sparkles. First song was Rescue. Again, lot's of fire effects for this song. Even electronic flames on the screens to match the real ones. And there were a ton of Juniors in red dancing around. At the end of the song, Jin blew a little kiss. Next was One Drop. This song had a bunch of sound problems on the other 2 nights I went, but was fine this time around. A lot of water effects for this song.
Next was Lips and then Yorokobi no Uta during which a bunch of Kis-my-Ft2 members in green were pretty much molesting each other. Then it was Keep the Faith, which ended with a bang of fireworks. Following that was Don't you ever stop which was another song heavy on the flame effects. Jin was really into singing this song and Kame messed up his lines a bit. Koki took off his jacket and made it look like he was tossing it into the arena, but it was actually caught by a staff member. Next was White X-mas. The other time I saw this song, the stage was completely covered in fog, but it looked like the fog machines weren't working, so the effect was lost. Kame whispered his 'Christmas' in the beginning like he always does and got a thunderous scream.
Then it was Sadistic Love. Koki got some Akame love and there were these crazy green laser lights that I never noticed before. Next up was 1584. I really like the feudal era theme going on in this song. A bunch of juniors run around with these huge flags that are similar to the one I had to hold up during a parade that I was a samurai for. Those things are dang heavy! Kame was sexy as always and got caught up a bit when he was flying around with the black and white ribbon things. Then Koki starts his taiko thing, which is pretty cool and starts his solo, Pierrot. This song has definitely grown on me and is one of my favorites. They did the motorcycle cage thing. I noticed today that Koki's mic is all flame decorated which was awesome. Then is was time for Junno's, um, cloud song as I have dubbed it. Koki and Junno sang together for a bit. Then the crowd screamed at a random point during the song. I was confused until I realized it was because Jin had come out to get on his platform. Next, Maru does his beatbox thing and then they 'rescue' more Hey! Say! Jump! members. During this time, Jin kicked Junno off the 'rescue cart'. How mean! The 2 guests were in Gokusen 3 and will be in the movie with Kame. After a failed Maru bungee attempt, they bowed to him and he sang Cherry with them.
Then it was the song they sit in cages an float around for. Kame was hanging upside down of his and Ueda was bouncing up and down on the cage he and Maru shared and screaming at Maru to bungee! Jin just sits in his and does nothing. Next was the Jump up song. When the Juniors were running off the stage, Jin was bowing to them. Way different from the first day where I saw him try and kick one!
Then it was MC time. They all bowed a lot and did funny things to get the audience to scream. Junno's funny thing was ignored. They went over all their current projects once again. Following the MC was Water Dance, then Moon. Then it was time for the other bands. Kis-my-ft2 sang Fire Beat, which is really growing on me, and the other group sang Vanilla, or something. Seems to be a bit to racy of a song for such young boys. Then it was Real Face. I love the song but really hate the purple suit Kame wears during it. Then it was time for Kame's song choices. He chose I like, some song I didn't recognize, the make it world wide song (yay!), and I wanna be your lover song. Jin messed up the last song's lyrics bad and apologized mid song.
Next is was Ueda playing the piano and his solo. The Maru's solo and run around the stage screen thing, then Wonder! Still in love with this song. Jin bowed to the crowd at the end of the song. Then it was Battle of the Kings. First was Ueda vs. Junno. The had a battle with red and blue balls on the screen, but then brought out huge guns! Junno did a bit of acting from Romeo and Juliet and then Ueda blasted him with the gun and a bunch of streamers and sparklers came out. Very cool. Next battle was Koki vs. Nakamaru. They did impressions. Then it was Kame vs. Jin. They did their air battle thing and Jin died right away, again. Jin got thrown around a bit in the end and looked a bit freaked out. Ueda helped Kame down to the ground and gave him a big hug. Then it was Wilds of my Heart and Neiro. Encore was She said and Peaceful Days. They did not come out for a second encore.
After the concert I headed for the train station and came across something that wasn't there the last time. Unofficial concert photos! Yay! As I started to poke around and check out the photos, a bunch of cops came and made them leave, but they had a shop setup nearby. The shop was really small and squished, but I got my photos. All the photos were sold in sets of 4 for 500yen a pop and I got 2500 yen worth. I really wanted a good pic of Kame in his kimono, but most of the photos were of him all wet. And Jin had a ton of good shots. He is really photogenic. I wanted them all, but made myself pick only 3 of his sets. I can't wait for the official photo book to come out. They even handed out shiny silver flyers for it at the concert.