Saturday, May 16, 2009
Tokyo Dome Concert!
I've recently become a bit obsessed with a Japanese boy band called KAT-TUN. They are holding a massive 8 day concert in the Tokyo dome and I went to the very first day of the concert on 5/15. I bought my ticket from a re-sell shop in Harajuku the day before the concert. Spent 2 man on an arena seat in the A16 section. When I bought the ticket I had no idea how the stadium was setup and thought I was buying what I now know to be called a 'stand' seat. When I was at the shop I just assumed a 'stand' seat was one where you had to stand and thus was on the floor and not in the stadium seats and that 'arena' was a spot in the stadium seats. Boy was I wrong, but it ended up working out well for me cause my seat was amazing! Here is a pic of my ticket!
The A16 block was on the far right side of the stage, if you are facing the direction of the stage. It was really far from the back stage but really close to the giant main stage (though way off to one side) and right next to a ramp where the band members run up and down. So, while I wasn't super close to any particular stage I did get an up close and personal view of all the band members as well as a crap ton of Juniors who seemed to be everywhere at all times.
The biggest down side to the day was that I got to the concert late! I think I might have missed a train connection, which made me a bit late, and I was made even later by the fact that I had to go check in at my hostel. I arrived during White Christmas, which was a surprise because I didn't think they would perform that at the concert seeing as it's a Christmas song and all and it now mid May.
Because I was late, I didn't have one of the light up ball things that everyone else had, which made me sort of sad. I also noticed that everyone had uchiwa's. Uchiwa's are traditional Japanese fans. They usually come in pretty flower patterns and what not, but the ones at the concert were self made and decked out with all sorts of various sparkly things and the names of band members in neon colors. I obviously did not do my JE concert research! However, I made friends with the Japanese woman sitting next to me who told me about the uchiwa and where I could go to pick up supplies to make my own. Her English was pretty good and she was good at speaking in simple Japanese that I could understand so we ended up talking during the slow periods of the concert. She was actually a big Kis-my-Ft2 fan, who were one of the secondary bands in the concert, and would go crazy whenever one of them passed by on the ramp (which was quite often). After the show, I took my picture with her. Got a few glares from the guards, but apparently they are okay with you taking a pictures as long at its not in the direction of the stage. Either that or they decided it wasn't worth trying to explain the rules to the gaijin. Here's the pic!
The biggest down side to the day was that I got to the concert late! I think I might have missed a train connection, which made me a bit late, and I was made even later by the fact that I had to go check in at my hostel. I arrived during White Christmas, which was a surprise because I didn't think they would perform that at the concert seeing as it's a Christmas song and all and it now mid May.
Because I was late, I didn't have one of the light up ball things that everyone else had, which made me sort of sad. I also noticed that everyone had uchiwa's. Uchiwa's are traditional Japanese fans. They usually come in pretty flower patterns and what not, but the ones at the concert were self made and decked out with all sorts of various sparkly things and the names of band members in neon colors. I obviously did not do my JE concert research! However, I made friends with the Japanese woman sitting next to me who told me about the uchiwa and where I could go to pick up supplies to make my own. Her English was pretty good and she was good at speaking in simple Japanese that I could understand so we ended up talking during the slow periods of the concert. She was actually a big Kis-my-Ft2 fan, who were one of the secondary bands in the concert, and would go crazy whenever one of them passed by on the ramp (which was quite often). After the show, I took my picture with her. Got a few glares from the guards, but apparently they are okay with you taking a pictures as long at its not in the direction of the stage. Either that or they decided it wasn't worth trying to explain the rules to the gaijin. Here's the pic!
I was so overwhelmed by the concert and taking everything in that I didn't bother to take notes and thus sort of forgot the specifics, but there are definitely some memorable moments that stood out. First is Kame's 1582 solo. OMG! That boy is insane. He got into this huge cage that was raised into the air and then he fell from it! I now know that is was a stunt person, but that day I actually thought it was Kame falling like that. I thought I was gonna have a mini panic attack. Koki's motorcycle thing during his solo was also quite cool. I thought it is was actually him riding around the metal ball cage on the motorcycle, but later found out it was not. The King battle confused the crap out of me, but Kame was swinging over my head for part of it, so my confusion was quickly forgotten. During the MC they talked about Gokusen, which comes out the in July and about Jin's upcoming movie Bandage. During this time, some Hey! Say! Jump! member was rescued by the group and Maru tried to bungee! He backed out though and everyone sort of booed him. I felt bad for him.
After the concert was finished, I got in line and purchased some concert goods. I knew I'd be going to the concert again, if only to see what I missed by coming late, so I got one of the light up balls. I also got a towel, water bottle, key chain, poster, and some pics of Akanishi Jin, who is currently my favorite member. I had to wait in a huge line to get them and it wasn't till I reached the front that I realized I could have gone to a different gate that had no wait at all. Oh well. A few more pics to wrap this up including pics of various KAT-TUN features that were outside the stadium, and a picture I sneakily took of the stage after the concert was finished.
After the concert was finished, I got in line and purchased some concert goods. I knew I'd be going to the concert again, if only to see what I missed by coming late, so I got one of the light up balls. I also got a towel, water bottle, key chain, poster, and some pics of Akanishi Jin, who is currently my favorite member. I had to wait in a huge line to get them and it wasn't till I reached the front that I realized I could have gone to a different gate that had no wait at all. Oh well. A few more pics to wrap this up including pics of various KAT-TUN features that were outside the stadium, and a picture I sneakily took of the stage after the concert was finished.
