98. V6 "Live Tour 2011 Sexy. Honey. Bunny!" Concert Report, 2011.09.24, Kitayell

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW I JUST SAW V6 A LITTLE OVER 24 HOURS AGO. THIS IS GOING TO GET REALLY WORDY AND I CAN GUARANTEE IT WILL BE SPAZZIER THAN MOST OF MY ENTRIES BECAUSE HOLY SHIT I JUST HAVE SO MANY GODDAMN FEELINGS AND EVERY EMOTION I THOUGHT I COULD FEEL, I FELT. YOU PEOPLE CANNOT BEGIN TO COMPREHEND MY EMOTIONAL STATE

And for those waiting for my report about using Johnnys International, that will come later. Documenting ALL MY FEELINGS is far more important. Also, I'm writing this on my iPod at Narita and on my flight home and yeah, kind of a pain. Oh, and before we begin: ATTENTION: SHIPPERS, I DO NOT GIVE A GOOD GODDAMN ABOUT YOUR SHIP, SO PLEASE DO ME A FAVOUR AND KEEP YOUR ASININE COMMENTS TO YOURSELF. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated

I was seated with other international fans in the F block of Kitayell about 6 rows up from the walkway between two super nice girls who flew in from Seoul (if you're reading this, hi!). Understand we had a good view of the stage. Here is a picture of it!



If you've been living under a rock and haven't seen anything about the concert, the idea this time is that they wanted to cover as much ground as they possibly could, so instead of the standard central, forward-facing stage with walkways going around, they're basically performing in the round and cris-crossing the arena via walkways and performing on a stage in the center of the arena and stages on the right and left side of the walkways.

What you need to take away from that long, rambling paragraph (well, sentence, really) is that each member came out from each corner of the arena and on both stages. AND SOMEONE UP THERE MUST LIKE ME BECAUSE GUESS WHO CAME OUT ON MY SIDE. I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT: HE IS A FUCKING DEMIGOD WITH SWAGGER THAT JUST DON'T STOP AND A BODY THAT WILL NOT QUIT AND HE HAS BLACK HAIR AGAIN AND A MUSTACHE LIKE HE HAD IN A CERTAIN MUSICAL AND TURNS ME INTO A BLUBBERING FUCKING MESS. The correct answer is Sakamoto and if you did not get the answer right, you can get the fuck out of my house until you've thought long and hard about all the bad decisions you've made thus far in life that have caused you to have been led so astray.

Well, first the lights went off and the overture started and I may have screamed as I processed my emotions and looked around to see who was coming out where. Tonisen came out on the left side of the arena, Kamisen on the right (usually I'd say stage right or stage left but the lack of a central stage makes that kind of difficult). So, yes, Tonisen on my side, and Masa was RIGHT THE FUCK IN FRONT OF ME. I can guarantee I screamed. THE MAN IS SMOULDERING. AGAIN, DEMIGOD BATHED IN HOLY LIGHT, ETC ETC.

I'm going to apologize now if I don't remember every little thing that happened like I did with "Kinkakuji." There was a lot to take in.

First song was "will." They sang the first verse at each corner of the stage and then met up in the centre before the chorus. Okada had on a fedora and Ken was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat. which seemed a little dichotomous with the suits they were all wearing but it's Ken, so I really shouldn't be surprised. And in case you forgot, the song is awesome, the choreography spectacular.

SPEAKING OF SPECTACULAR CHOREOGRAPHY -- "OK." They started making rounds of the arena in threes and so didn't do the entire dance BUT STILL. THAT SONG. THOSE MEN.

Oh, I almost forgot. So when they were doing "will" and joined up centre stage, Go totally slipped and fell :( poor lil feller. (I'd put that up in the paragraph about "will" but then I'd have to break up my seque into "OK" and that's unacceptable).

IT WAS RIGHT ABOUT THIS TIME THAT SHIT GOT REAL. WHY? BECAUSE "BREAK THE WALL," THAT IS WHY. THAT IS MY SHIT AND THE SONG I MOST WANTED TO SEE. AND OH MY VARIOUS GODS, IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. The jumbotron in the centre of the arena (it's a basketball arena, just so we're clear on the layout of everything) started with one of those 80s-esque radar animations -- you know the ones. Green perpendicular lines going back and forth across the screen. AND THEN AFTER "BREAK IT" - HOLY SHIT EXPLOSIONS AND SMOKE AND GREEN AND PINK LASERS FUCKING EVERYWHERE. THE DANCE WAS RIDICULOUS AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT WAS MORE AMAZING THAN I COULD HAVE EVER HOPED FOR. I'd be more specific, but I was also glancing at the jumbotron a lot to check the lyrics of the song to see if I'd gotten them right. What can I say? I'm a perfectionist. A perfectionist who was only off by 1 word. I rule, just in case you didn't know.

I mean this sincerely: V6 are wonderful showmen. They're classy as fuck and put a lot of thought into their concerts. It's appreciated, bbs.

SO THEN THERE WAS "CRANK IT UP" and I think they went back and forth across the walkways at this point but I only really remember everyone doing the "Hoooo!" with their penlights.

Then the jumbotron flashed "2011.08.24" "new single" "Sexy. Honey. Bunny!" and then they went off. It's a mad fun concert song. AND THE PELVIC THRUSTS REALLY DROVE ME INSA-A-A-A-A-A-ANE. Go really likes the choreography during the breakdown, because every time they did it, he had the biggest fucking grin on his face.

And then for whatever reason, we had the total downer that is "１２ヶ月." It's like they wanted the show to be a total emotional roller coaster. On a somewhat related note, another point of the whole "let's cover ALL the arena" thing was that they went up and around on cranes at each end of the stage. I want to say Okada was on my side first and then Ken after that, but again, emotional roller coaster, kind of hard to process it all. Ken looked like the saddest little panda when he was up in the crane :( He has the saddest sad face I have ever seen.

TO TOP IT ALL OFF, THEN THOSE SONS OF A BITCHES IN TONISEN CAME OUT TO SING "days -tears of the world-." THAT WAS THE SONG THAT STARTED MY TONISEN STANNING. But it was beautiful and oh god, THEIR VOICES. MY OVARIES COULD NOT FUCKING HANDLE IT. If I didn't have such a cold, black heart, I would have started crying. They all came out together, but during each member's part in the first verse, the two who weren't singing dropped below the stage. This was on my side of the arena, btw. Inocchi was in the centre, Nagano on his left, furthest from me, and Sakamoto on his right, closest to me. And I swear, one of them was slightly flat during the choruses. Masa kept checking his earpiece but it didn't sound like it was he who was slightly off.

And just as I'm doing my best to not weep openly, there's Go on my side of the stage, on his back with one knee bent, with the stage underneath him illuminated. Also, fog machine. Obvs he started "官尾" lying on his back. When he did the "shh..." he brought his hand down toward his mouth and then sat up before the first verse. The whole dance was a lot more low-key than I was expecting (half-hoping, really. I have a very dirty mind and that song, um, does things to me). But still. The choreography was really chill and it was mostly just him groovin out centre stage with four light bulbs dangling from the ceiling (which he switched on by tapping them during the commands in the chorus). Quite classy.

And then Nagano sang "桜色桜風" and my insides turned to mush. Hearing the man's voice is like being wrapped in a fuzzy blanket straight from the dryer on a cold, rainy morning. His outfit was really ... Nagano-ey. A creamsicle-coloured scarf, and a white sport coat and dress slacks and shoes. Gorgeous. And they dropped little paper flowers from the ceiling! Adorable.

AND WHILE WE'RE ON THE SUBJECT OF GORGEOUS MEN WHO TURN ME INTO A GIANT PILE OF GOO -- MAA-KUN DOING "HAPPY BIRTHDAY". The choreography was so cute. It was basically like "Shelter" and "MIX JUICE" where he had all the other members dancing with him (first Go and Ken, then Nagano and Inocchi) because he's a goddamn CEO. Nope, not a boss -- a CEO and just the classiest of gentlemen. And as a classy gent would do, he picked one audience member whose birthday it was, wished her a happy birthday, and asked her to blow out the candles. Because while I wasn't looking (the jumbotron was scrolling a list of birthdays), a platform came up centre stage with lights shaped like candles. She blew, the lights flickered like candles and went out. Nice touch. THE OUTFITS WERE SO LOVELY. I wish I could do a better job of extrapolating on them instead of telling you all about MY EMOTIONS. I do remember Masa's vest was orange. Not creamsicle like Nagano's scarf but more a light tangerine, I think? I DON'T KNOW. YOU'LL SEE WHAT I MEAN WHEN THE DVD COMES OUT.

"New Day" and "Catch" are so beautiful I can't even. They walked around the arena during these, I think. Nagano came out first during "New Day" after changing again (obviously, since he's the first Tonisen member who sings on the song). THEIR VOICES. THEIR. VOICES. Pretty sure they threw a couple balls into the audience during "Catch" but none of them were on my side at the time and I was too into the song to notice. I FUCKING LOVE "CATCH," OKAY, AND AGAIN, LOTS OF EMOTIONS MAKE IT HARD TO REMEMBER THINGS.

"Walk" was super neat, since they basically spent the whole song going back and forth on the walkways and over the crowd in the cranes. The video screen was day and night shots of LA from above. I know it's LA cos a) I grew up near there and b) you can't see shit from the air above LA. There were also a few clips of them in their motorhome on the way to Vegas. "Walk" was my least favorite song on the Sekubani single, but the way they all went around to the different cranes and stages was really well choreographed. You done good, Go.

And then it was MC time and Inocchi told us to have a seat. They first talked about how it was really cold in Sapporo (seriously, unnecessarily cold. I'm glad I happened to have a sweater with me or I would have shot myself), then about Nagano going out to eat (of course) and then talked about the basic stage design: how it's 360°, that it's been 10 years since they've done a concert like that. He asked if there were people who were there for the first time, and a good few people said yes (including yours truly, natch), those who'd come to see every tour, to which a large portion of the crowd responded, and he laughed that they were verterans or experienced or something like that. I don't know; it was a word I hadn't heard before, I'm sorry! I'm only JLPT 2-ish. But anyway, he said those of us there for the first time should become veterans like the others (oh, Inocchi <3). After that, he talked about how usually they have the main stage but this time, they're all basically standing in a circle with their backs to the audience and I want to say it was Maa-kun who remarked that the alternative was them facing the audience but having their backs to each other (to which I thought that there are worse views than cute little V6 butts). Inocchi, forever the optimist and spazz, responded that he could just turn around to the audience when he wanted to ask if they agreed about something. I promise, it was really hilarious and totally Inocchi-ey so you'll just have to hope they put all the MCs on DVD again.

After his little moment, he introduced today's topic: photos and asked everyone if they remembered what the first photo they took together as a group was. There was a lot of back and forth while they tried to figure it out. Inocchi asked Okada if he remembered, cos Okada was being Okada and sort of zoning out. Okada thought it was right around the time they had their first press conference (or something like that. I was zoning out a little, too).

Which segued into "make fun of Okada" time. It started out with Inocchi saying Okada really likes photography and stuff (Okada agreed) and said Okada never really takes pictures of the other members. Okada was like, "you guys always act so weird whenever I try." (I don't know what you're complaining about, Okada. I'd sell the souls of everyone I hold dear for the chance to follow V6 around and photograph them being themselves). And for whatever reason, they got on the subject of nude photos and how Okada's done a fair few semi-nude ones. So they asked him what he thought about doing them and the poor thing was just so embarrassed. He didn't even want to talk about them ad had his back to the audience and was absentmindedly shoving the little flower petals from Nagano's solo around and Nagano was like, "are you cleaning the stage?" (CAN WE TALK ABOUT NAGANO'S VOICE AND HOW GORGEOUS IT IS CAN WE PLEASE)

They finally got Okada to start talking and he talked about his Men's Kishin shoot where he was out at the beach with that one photographer guy (if you don't know what I'm talking about, they talked about it on an episode of "Gakkou e Ikou!" during the search for the schoolgirl to be a model for Paris Fashion Week. Before they took whatsherface to Paris, Okada took her to do a photoshoot with the photographer dude). So anyway, he's talking about the underwear he was wearing (the other members were all surprised he was wearing any at all during the shoot) and how awkward he felt. I forget how the seque went, but I think someone asked if dude was one of those photographers that talks back at you when taking pictures, all "that's good, that's good!" (he said it in English, bee tee dubs). And I think Inocchi started talking about how stylists will sometimes come up between shots and fix your hair but they don't really even fix anything. And Ken was like, "omg, this one time, this stylist came up and fixed my pants" (demonstrating what he meant on Go) "and i was thinking all like, you didn't even fix anything!" And then he did it to Inocchi and Inocchi was like, "knock it ooooffff!" And Okada was like, "you see those sorts of photographers on tv and think they don't exist, but they do. Seriously, they do." Inocchi asked Okada how he felt doing nude photos and filming nude scenes and Okada's like, "dude, there are children here!" but he said how he did that Men's Kishin shoot and An-An around the time he was doing "Tokyo Tower" so it sort of felt like nude shoots/scenes was all he was doing then.

Now that I think about it, this might be out of order but again, DVD. Buy. Watch. Yes.

So they decided the talk about nude photos was probably inappropriate, so Inocchi brought things around by saying how they'd gone to LA and Vegas for the tour booklet and all that and they each had a digital camera and camcorder and took their own photos and videos of the trip and were gonna show us some of them. Inocchi showed us one they all took together when they were up at Calico Ghost Town (it's outside Barstow on the 15 on the way to Vegas. My mom took my sisters there when they were little but I've never been) and was talking about how he had asked everyone to pose (just to be kind of dorky, basically) but Okada still looked cool or something (again, zoning in and out). That brought us back to how Okada thinks the members can't take normal photos of each other, so Inocchi showed us one Ken took of Inocchi squatting, looking at his camera. It was really well done and if you were reading this, kyashiichan, you would love all Ken's photos cos they're just like the ones you like to take. Pretty sure after this Inocchi showed us a comparison shot of one of the pictures Okada took, with Nagano doing a Jackie Chan pose (no, really, they were all like, "hahaha, dude, you look like Jackie Chan!") and Okada was like, "see, this is why I don't photograph you guys!" and Nagano and everyone else defended Nagano's dorky pose. Then we had another comparison shot from Ken's camera of I want to say Nagano in profile looking off into the distance, looking lavish and perfect, then a shot from Okada's camera of Go striking an incredibly flamboyant pose. And everyone laughed at him.

And as Inocchi started to seque to the next topic, Maa-kun goes, "WAIT, YOU'RE DONE?!" and Inocchi's like, "yeah..." and Masa's all, "but there weren't any shots of me!" and Inocchi goes, "well, see, I realized that, but actually, nobody took any shots of you but this one where you're in the background in Nagano's shot" and they zoomed in on Nagano's profile shot and there's this blurry-ass little figure sitting on a bench in the background with his knees curled up to his chest. AND THE POOR BABY JUST FLOPPED OVER. STRAIGHT FELL TO HIS KNEES AND COVERED HIS FACE WITH HIS HANDS.

I think it was after this where they talked about going around Vegas and how all Nagano did was eat, and Inocchi said how he got everyone's cameras from them (I gathered that processing the pictures and stuff was his job this time) and how, when he plugged in Nagano's camera, there were over 300 pictures of food. Then there was a good bit of back and forth between the others about how Nagano would make everyone wait to eat until he could take a picture of their food. Go hadn't said much, so Ken asked Go what he thought about Nagano taking pictures of his food and Go was like, "honestly? It got irritating." And they laughed. And I laughed. They also talked some about what Go ate while they were in the US but I totes forgot ;_;

OK, so I forget exactly when in the MC this happened, but I think it was Inocchi who said how Sakamoto was 40 now and he said thank you and Inocchi said he didn't look 40 at all and then all the members were talking about how they all look really young still (it's true, they do). And Inocchi said how Go doesn't look 32 (he really kinda does, though, but mostly only when you're face-to-face with him like when I talked to him in NYC) and Go got all indignant and was like "HE DOESN'T, EITHER!" and pointed to Ken. And errbody laughed.

After talking about Nagano and food, Inocchi mentioned how Nagano had been on a ton of food shows lately and Nagano was like ":DDD" Then they went around and talked about what all they'd been doing lately. Okada's been doing filming for "Tenchi Meisatsu" and thinks it'll be out sometime next September, to which Inocchi remarked that it'll have basically been almost a year exactly between his movies. And also that "SP: Kakumei-hen" is out on DVD. Masa said he'd been living his life, and everyone laughed, but I kvelled. He apparently just got back from a trip somewhere (he didn't say where, just that he'd gone on one). Go said he's got his next run of "Kinkakuji" coming up in January. Everyone asked if he was going to shave his head again, and he looked so pained saying that he was going to have to cos he hates shaving his head and the person who does it always yells at him or something, I don't know. And the other members made fun of his not-quite-bald little head ♥ Ken's got "Lovely Baby" next month at the Tokyo Globe, and Inocchi was impressed that it's going to be at the Globe and talked about how he saw the poster for his play. And for whatever reason, Ken mentioned how the photographer for that was the same one who did the poster for "Alibi no Nai Tenshi" and I guess the two were talking about Maa-kun or something? and it made Maa-kun indignant. And Inocchi has "Asaichi," of course.

Pretty sure this was when Inocchi mentioned that they obvs have a new single out and mentioned all the shit you'd get if you bought each version of the single there at the venue: the giant postcard came with the Honey version, the photos with Bunny (or vice versa, I don't know. I bought them all, so I can't even remember), and stickers with the regular version. Ken showed off the postcards (and makes a very good Vanna White), Go showed off the stickers, and Okada the photos? I think. Inocchi narrated the whole time. And also commented on how well Ken showed off the postcard. And went on to explain how you can write messages on the lips stickers and post them up on a giant... poster... thing in a tent outside the venue next to the booth where they were selling the CDs/DVDs. He said they were going to have ones for each different city in which they were performing and read them all. Go emphatically agreed that he does go through and read them all.

After whoring out the CDs, Inocchi brought it back to their trip and how, since you couldn't hear the sound in the videos before, they were gonna show us some of them (while everyone changed for the next song). The first was Ken filming them in their motorhome sitting around while Inocchi and Okada made up dumb songs. Then Ken panned to Nagano and asked him to narrate for them and he did this really stupid tour guide voice, all "LAS VEGAS IS..." There were a good few shots of their motorhome driving down the road, and of them just sitting around and UGH IT LOOKS LIKE SO MUCH FUN GOD DAMMIT WHY CAN'T WE BE BESTEST FRIENDS AND GO ON ROAD TRIPS TOGETHER ;___;

The next clip was of them at Calico and Go said how it was like being in the Wild West. Ken took some video of the BBQ chicken or some shit they were eating for lunch. And also took a video of the design of the floor and gave me vertigo cos he kept spinning around.

The next clip switched back and forth between Ken and Okada's cameras. See, what had happened was Okada was standing outside and looking through the window at everyone else still inside eating their lunch and Inocchi said he looked like a stalker. Ken went up to the window and looked back out at Okada, so the two of them are just standing there with their cameras pointed at each other, and the clip cut back and forth between them two or three times. Inocchi was like, "what kind of relationship do you two have?"

The last was of them on the Calico & Odessa railroad. They're so wonderful and I love them so much and oh god, I pray to all my various gods that they put that footage on the DVD because you people cannot understand how hilarious and fantastic it was.

Following that, we again sent my insides over Victoria Falls with "only dreaming". YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THIS SONG MEANS TO ME. THERE MAY HAVE BEEN REAL TEARS IN MY EYES. Inocchi hit all his notes! I was so proud of him. And the cameraman loved Maa-kun because every time they did the "何度も何度も呼んで" and "何も何もいらない" they panned to him looking goddamn fucking bewitching and sensuous and I JUST COULD NOT HANDLE IT. Seriously, there were times throughout the whole concert were I was certain I was going to break my damn uchiwa and/or penlight because I was gripping them so hard.

ONE OF THOSE TIMES WAS DURING "MISSION OF LOVE!" I just love that song so much and the choreography for it was fantastic. I WILL NEVER STOP INSISTING THAT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED AS ITS OWN SINGLE.

AND "MEDICINE" OH GOD. Love the song, love the choreography for it, etc. etc. If I don't remember much about a certain song, it's probably cos I was busy glancing at the jumbotron to see the animations they had and the fonts they used for each song's lyrics. I love fonts okay don't you judge me you don't know my life! But really, the typeface and the animations all really had a sort of 80s nostalgia feel to them. Not to the point that it was cheesy, but ... ok, it did get cheesy at certain points. I did also appreciate how they did the full songs. There were only a few where they didn't.

Okada peaced out at some point during the song to come out for his solo, "ヨロコビノウタ". And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon us, and the glory of the Lord shone around us. Yea, I looked there upon the Okada as he sang, and he brought us good tidings of great joy. And neat little animations of flowers and butterflies all across the ceiling.

OH GOD, HOLD THE FUCK UP. I realize I haven't described the stage at all. So, if you look at the fullsize pic of the stage (go ahead, you can scroll up. I'll wait), if you see those silver bits. Those raise up and light up and lit up in rainbow colours and I want to say it was during "OK" or "Crank it Up" that they kept switching places on them. So anyway, that part goes up, and so does the little centre part. That was where the cake was, by the way.

NOW THAT THAT'S TAKEN CARE OF, the centre ring of the stage came up and Inocchi was there in a blue button-up shirt with a harmonica and his guitar, looking very much the part of a chill dad who totally plays in a band and embarrasses you in front of your friends. He had four microphones at each of the four corners. Inocchi came up, Okada said, "congratulations," and Inocchi was like "lol thanks." Okada then introduced Inocchi and said how this was the song he wanted to hear most in concert. And something about how during rehearsal, he didn't even realize that was that song? I DON'T REMEMBER, I'M SORRY. But they were there, and they were laughing at each other, and it was hilarious. Then Okada asked him why he had the four mics there at all and Inocchi mentioned he was going to move around the stage on his own. Okada laughed and was like, "ok, good luck with that" and said how this was the longest he'd been out on stage after his own solo so far on the tour and asked us all to listen and listen well to Inocchi's solo.

Once Okada finally shut up and went back below stage, Inocchi introduced himself, readjusged his harmonica and sang "遠いところまで." I will not even try to lie to you -- I skip this song every time it comes up. It's not that I don't love Inocchi, it's that the song gets on my nerves and reminds me of all the basic as hell country music to which I was subjected growing up. But I still paid close attention because I love Inocchi and it was cool to see him move around at different points to sing directly in front of each sector of the audience. Plus, playing the harmonica and guitar at the same time aint easy, so he gets bonus points for that.

After that, Ken came out from the opposite stage and set a glass slipper on a red velvet blanket... thing on a pedestal, bowed to it, and then covered it up with the blanket ... thing. To the sound of high heels click-clacking away, he walked to centre stage and then it was time for my favourite "READY?" solo, "悲しいほどに ア・イ・ド・ル” ～ガラスの靴～." The dance wasn't terribly complicated, per se. It was kind of like when he danced to Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" during the "Have A Super Good Live" con. His shoes and shirt were neon yellow, because he would totally wear neon yellow shoes.

While Ken got changed for the next song, they each had a little montage of them dancing as they came up at different points around the walkways.

Can we talk about how V6 can do almost any genre of music and do it flawlessly? I seriously fucking hate that word (thanks, Arama) but I mean it: fucking flawless. That is what "You Know?" was. And sparkly. Their suits were black and very sparkly.

"air" was fucking fantastic. Remember the see-thru curtain Kamisen used when they did "Are You Ready Tonight?" in the "We Are Coming Century Boys" tour? They used that again for this one. They danced in a circle on the raised centre ring with the see-thru curtain hanging from the centre of the jumbotron and different blue and white light animation... things playing on it. And when it got to where they do the "I love you" after Masa's "yeah yeah yeah yeah," they had "I love you" animations I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT BUT YES. AND LET ME TAKE THIS MOMENT TO REMIND YOU: THEIR. VOICES. They're just so beautiful and that song is my life and again, tears in my eyes.

Before we move on to discuss "Supernova," let's review the dictionary definition of "torment," just so we can all understand each other.

noun
1. a state of great bodily or mental suffering; agony; misery ; 2. something that causes great bodily or mental pain or suffering ; 3. a source of much trouble, worry, or annoyance

I have long since said that songs like "Shelter" and "NEXPLOSION" are sexual frustration in song form and was fairly certain no song could ever be more frustrating and torturous than those. Oh, how wrong I was. See, I knew there was going to be pole dancing. I thought I was prepared. But then the beat kicked in and they started singing. And the lyrics OH GOD THE LYRICS. All I could think was that it was a V6 "What's Your Fantasy?" BECAUSE IT WAS. And don't misunderstand -- it's not like they spent the whole song grinding up and down the pole or anything, but they definitely used them. Oh, how they used the poles. Grinding down and back up while facing the pole. Grinding down and back up with their backs to the pole. And then -- AND THEN -- THEN THEY RAN TO THE POLE AND SPUN DOWN IT.. I'm gonna be honest with you guys here for a minute. We're all family here, right? We understand each other. If I'm being entirely honest? I may have moaned audibly and had to catch myself from fainting through almost the entire song. I think I pissed off the girls behind me when I went "OW OWW!" really loud after the song finished (long hair, don't care~)

If "Supernova" is not released on a CD or as a bonus with the DVD, I will channel the power of my rage, use it to take flight, and go on a bloody rampage at the Jimusho until my demands are met. Everything about the song and the performance was fucking on point and I WILL NOT BE DENIED MY SALACIOUS V6.

And then while I tried to calm myself back down, we had "GUILTY" which has Nagano's hip rolls. JUDGE ME ALL YOU FUCKING WANT, I DO NOT GIVE A SINGLE OUNCE OF FUCK. But on the real, it was fabulous having them do this song on the 360 stage. Totally gave me a new appreciation for the choreography.

AND "逢いたくて." MY HEART. MY POOR HEART. I could not stop listening to this song when I first heard it, it was one of the ones that hooked me on V6 (and was so surprising because I was like "holy shit they can actually sing") and hearing them sing it live? Oh, lord.

And on top of all those emotions, I knew we were nearing the end of the setlist, so I started to go throught he five stages of grief.
Denial: "No, it can't be almost over, I just got here we just started the show"
Anger: "GODDAMMIT WHY DOES IT HAVE TO END"
Bargaining: "PLEASE DON'T END COME ON DO AN EXTRA ENCORE OR SOMETHING"
Depression: "I DON'T WANT IT TO END FUCK LIFE FUCK EVERYTHING"
Acceptance: "It's going to end at some point, just enjoy the rest of the show"

Which certainly didn't make "明日の傘" any easier. The song already turns me into a blubbering, pathetic mess on its own, but hearing it live and having them right there and THE STAGE DESIGN oh god, I was trying so hard not to cry. They were up on the raised centre ring during this one, and blue rope lights dropped down in a ring around them to make it look like they were under an umbrella. IT WAS SUCH A NICE TOUCH. I COULDN'T TAKE IT. I STILL CAN'T. I'M HAVING TO HOLD BACK TEARS JUST THINKING ABOUT IT.

And then they thanked everyone and said goodbye and went backstage under the stage nearest to me.

Everyone started chanting "encore," although we were all really unsure of the rhythm of it, but there was chanting and V6 obvs came back out. And my unrealistically high expectations aside, the encore went by way too fast.

"グッデイ!!" will always and forever be my shit. Masa was jumping around during the downbeats in the verses to get everyone to yell and raise their penlights.

They only did the chorus of "本気がいっぱい" but Okada had us do the "hey!" like, five or six times.

Again, they only did the chorus of "Darling." Same with "Cosmic Rescue," but they did do the dance for that, so I was satisfied (fucking love that dance so much).

For "愛なんだ," they only did the breakdown and the chorus. I'm sure by now you see why I said the encore went by way too fast.

They did the first chorus, verse, and second chorus of "Honey Beat" and that was all but doing the furitsuke with everyone was awesome so it was okay.

Then Inocchi got errbody fired up and was like, "let's do it one more time!"

And so the beat starts to drop for "Sekubani" and it gets to be where Masa goes "SEXY!"... only he didn't say anything and the song started and everyone looked back at him like "DUDE WTF" and he looked back at everyone like he'd totally just had a complete brain fart, all "what? OH GOD FUCK MY LIFE" and looked so embarrassed. It was so cute. My lip would not stop wibbling. HE TOTALLY FORGOT HIS PART. I ABOUT DIED, SERIOUSLY.

During everything from "愛なんだ" to "Sekubani," they were each going around on the different cranes and walking back and forth across the walkways. Also, during the encore, Ken was, for whatever reason, wearing a racoon cap. Dude straight-up looked like friggin Davey Crocket. All I understand is that I do not and cannot understand him. He was also the only one wearing the panda shirt. Everyone else just had the towels hanging out their back pockets.

Again with the going backstage, again with the chanting (this time it was "one more time!" (in Nihongoes, of course)) and they came back out and said thank you and all that but that was it and I got indignant and went, "wow, really? REALLY." And then it was over and me and the girls next to me said goodbye to each other. I went back to get more goods since the panda shirt was just too fucking cute, got more shop photos for cool people, and then went back to my hostel.

IF YOU MADE IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THAT, I CONGRATULATE YOU. FOR YOUR TROUBLE, HAVE SOME PRETTY PICTURES.



The shopping bag, which was cleverly concealed in that little panda coin purse. The coin purse is two kinds of fuzzy and I fucking adore it.



The three versions of Sekubani and all the schwag that came with them.



The most gorgeous being on the planet and my ratchet uchiwa that I was rushing to finish making at my hostel all Friday night and Saturday day



Shop photooooos



The silvery tape stuff ♥



My actual ticket and the questionnaire that came with it. For reference, they always put your name on tickets, but I clone brushed mine out because like hell am I telling you people my full name.



THE CUTEST LITTLE CUP IN THE CUTEST LITTLE BOX



HOW ADORABLE IS THAT PANDA I MEAN COME ON



Pen light! I only bought some of the things because I only had my Chrome bag and Arashi "Scene" tour tote bag with me on this trip and totally wasn't going to have room for much more. But everything is super cute. And I did end up buying the tour tshirt and I'd model it for you but I look ratchet and jet lagged as all hell from travelling for 24 hours.

And now we're at the very end for real and if I forgot anything? Fuck it, you can just watch it on DVD. Be happy I remembered as much as I did. It's also almost 4AM and I have to be up to do Important Adult Things in 4 hours! GOOD NIGHT!

Comments

[bunny-d-kate.livejournal.com]

Keeping my asinine shipper comments to myself...

Thanks for writing this! Every new concert report just makes me that much more excited. OMG JUST TWO MORE WEEKS!!! (*__*)
Everything sounds so perfect! The stage, the costumes, the set list, the choreographies, THE GUYS!! Well, I didn't expect anything less from them really <3
And holy shit I can't wait to see Supernova!! ..though I'll probably faint.. multiple times.. XD;;
lol I'll also go broke because I basically want to buy ALL THE GOODS!! It's all so adorable!

Anyway, thanks for writing everything down in such detail. It was great to read :Db

[miyakekenwings.livejournal.com]

wow
this report make me HAPPY, crazy...
thank you!!! I wanna see their performance will release on DVD ><
Panda is so cute!i love all the Goodies! I think this is Okadakun's idea

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

Ken designed all the goods this time. He loves pandas, so it was his idea.

[malena-tomoe.livejournal.com]

the goods are so cute *O*!!! I just love them... I need my sakamoto uchiwa he is so handsome, I totaly love him *o*. You are so lucky, thank you for share the pics :)

[eskarina77.livejournal.com]

I didn't have time to read all your report...I just wanted to see what you had thought about SUPERNOVA!!!!
And I agree...if needed, I would agree to go and brek into Avex if necessary to release it.
THEY CAN'T LEAVE THAT SONG LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!


(I'll read the rest of your report tomorrow...just got back from E.R. because of Kendo >.>)

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh, what happened?! D: Are you okay?

AND SERIOUSLY, IF THEY DON'T PUT THAT SONG OUT ON SOMETHING I JUST... I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'LL DO BUT I CAN PROMISE IT WON'T BE QUITE RATIONAL

[eskarina77.livejournal.com]

I'm alright, my 'opponent' missed my head and I received shinai in the eye (I was afraid I would have anything so I went to E.R. to check immediatly...but it's OK)

If they don't put SUPERNOVA anywhere, I was thinking about burning down Avax or anything....(well, not for real....but thinking about it doesn't make me rational either)


About feedback, did you already send it back? One of the reason why I didn't plan to go via jticket was because they announced which concert were open too late for me to change my holidays....announcing it a little bit earlier would have been great ^^

And did I mention how wonderful Sakamoto is on stage? I was really astonished! He has such a charisma!!!!!!

[eeyore-kun.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the report, very details and emotional indeed. I got the same feeling too about Sakamoto, he's just a perfect man, look, height, body and voice ♥.♥ I am Okada fan but riida stole some of my admiration, he's worth it! Now they tie in the 1st place for me. I can't believe someone used to tell him that he can't sing? hello? that person must be deaf and blind >.< Also with Nagano, his voice in live concert is much better than his recording, I love singers can sing better in live than in recording.

So this year concert they taking a different approached with centre stage, huaaah!! I totally miss out! I really hope they release the DVD although it can't compare with watching it live! next year next year next year!!!!!

[eeyore-kun.livejournal.com]

can i make a suggestion about the feedback? can you please mention to them to please allow the international fans to watch more than once, in different cities if we have too, it's good for tourism ;) not so much for the wallet :p

look forward for u experience with j-international ^^

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

I could NOT believe how much more beautiful in person Sakamoto was. I just... I honestly thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Everyone is gorgeous in person but that man. THAT. MAN. Same with Nagano's voice. It always makes me wibble, but live? Sobbing.

I'll think about that. I haven't thought much about what I want to say, really, since I've been so busy getting ready to start grad school in a couple days. It would definitely be nice to be able to go to more than one show, though, for sure.

[neivaxx.livejournal.com]

Trying to collect my thoughts after reading about all of that awesomeness, because it pretty much turned my brain into mush. I'll be flailin' and sobbin' all over the DVD when it comes out, that's for sure.

I'd love to see the t-shirt if you have time! It is the most adorable concert shirt I've ever seen - especially that little tail on the back.

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

If they release it on DVD (I don't see why they wouldn't), you'll definitely love it, I promise. Each tour gets better than the last.

I tried to take pictures earlier of the shirt, but I just can't get a good enough angle on it (at least with the mirror I have). It's adorable, but honestly, it's a tent (which was really comfy for the 8-hour plane ride back, though, I won't lie). Ken said he likes big tshirts on girls, but I didn't realize just how big the shirt was until I put it on. I could see it being really cute if you wanted to wear it out, though, with a giant black belt low on your hips, black leggings, and maybe pair it with a couple extra long black and whtie beaded necklaces. You'd be your own private 80s night, but that's in again, so might as well go with it.

[toshism.livejournal.com]

Awesome report!

[edneichon.livejournal.com]

supernova~ ne...i cant wait to listen..this is like the 8th time i read about how amazing that song is..i also hope the song to be included in their next single~
nice report...many emotions girl...u died like a hundred times..totally get it xD ....i love the goods for this tour..are very cute~ like expecting bunnies u got pandas nee....i envy u..but thanks a lot x sharing ur experience ^^

[bitterbee.livejournal.com]

That panda is so adorable that it's actually kind of incongruous for it to be saying "Sexy Honey Bunny!" with a sweet smile on the tote bag. &hearts

Holy cow, POLE DANCING? Are they TRYING to cause a riot? The only reason the crowd didn't rush the stage was that everyone's knees had completely given out. That had better be on the DVD. If not, count me in on storming the office with pitchforks.

And now I have to go to work and try to be sensible all day with these images in my mind. Damn, V6.

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

I love that Ken just decided to do his own thing and have everything be pandas because he loves them so much. But it's better than the alternative, which is cheesy little bunny ears and that could just go very wrong very quickly.

Seriously, the pole dancing is just overwhelming and the lyrics were like "NEXPLOSION: The Sequel." They can't deprive us of it on DVD. It's cruel enough already on its own.

[1foxmulder.livejournal.com]

Amazing report! Dying to see this on DVD.
Thanks so much :D

[miyunn.livejournal.com]

You did came to their Sapporo Live!! I was there too! I was so moved, the show was just awsome! And their are really cool! Okada is my favorite member but I love all of them now!! I was going to post my report too, but it's not that different from yours so I'll keep it for myself! ^^
Ohh you keep the lips stickers! Are you going to put them on your refrigerator like go said?? XD

Did you came alone to Sapporo? Are you here yet?

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

Aww, don't feel like you don't have to post yours just because I posted my long-winded, rambly one!

I did actually put one of the lips stickers on the poster thing, asking them to come to the US ^^; I totally forgot Go said we should put the stickers on our fridge XD I'll probably put it on my laptop if there's room.

Yeah, I came up to Sapporo by myself on Friday afternoon and left first thing Sunday morning to get back in time for classes.

[miyunn.livejournal.com]

Ohh that was a really fast/busy trip!! ^^
I met up with kusamanko on friday to show her some of Sapporo spots, if I did know you were here I'd called you too!
But I think you were really tired from the flight, right?
That's good that you didn't get the Typhoons last week!

I just wrote a report for the MC but it is in portuguese and it would take soooo long for me to translate it!
I'll post just my general thoughts of the live and some pictures later!
Are you japanese descent? Because you understand japanese very well!!

Ahhh and I loved Supernova♥!!! It's so intense! But I didn't remember much thing because when I saw Okada sitting on Inocchi's knees my mind went blank! XD (it was on Supernova rigth?)

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

It's ok, I kind of wanted to explore Sapporo on my own. I spent the day in Odori and the night hanging out at my hostel. I actually got to Japan last Tuesday and spent Tuesday through Friday in Tokyo with my best friend before going to Sapporo. I was there during the typhoon, actually, and kept getting rained on the entire time XD

And no, haha, I'm not Japanese. I'm actually Irish-American. If you were waiting outside the arena and saw a blonde girl, that was me.

I don't even remember when that happened. I was too busy focusing on Sakamoto, Go, Nagano, and the lyrics on the screen during the song to pay much attention to anyone else XD

[imiris.livejournal.com]

Finally finish reading your report. Great effort. :)
I think I actually saw you on first day outside the arena, since there were not too many blonde girls, probably you are the only one. (0_0)

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

Oh, neat! :D yeah, I was definitely the only blonde I saw at the concert. I think I only saw maybe 3 other white people in Sapporo the entire time I was there. So I definitely got a lot of looks from people, haha. That's crazy you saw me!

[imiris.livejournal.com]

It was during supernova, definitely. I was facing okada's pole dance at Arena 2nd raw on the 2nd day, which killed me too much. I am glad I survived from that dance after all.

[j-4ever.livejournal.com]

your concert report is friggin fantastic.

now I REALLY wanna go! Everything sounds amazing~

I really really hope this is on DVD

'cause if not... Johnny, I'm comin for you.

[42detsune.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the super-hyper-like-I-was-there-too concert report! A perfect tide-me-over till the DVD is released, or maybe more like WHY-ISN'T-THE-DVD-OUT-YET tide-me-over. ;)

[splatteredjeans.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the concert report! I was at the Sapporo concert too! It's the first V6 concert I've seen. They're so much skinnier in person @_@.

And that's so cool you were able to get a snapshot of the concert hall!

[evrita.livejournal.com]

I loved reading your concert report. feel like I'm there too with all those emotions... hope I can go seing them again in the future. thx

[spsn.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the concert report. I went to the Fukuoka one, gotta say, V6 is awesome entertainers!!!!! I was like NOOOOO, so fast ending? when I just realized they're saying arigatou, hehehe... They better release DVD for this tour because it's totally a very cool concert!

[under-an-oak.livejournal.com]

Thank GOD for your report. My friend and I went for their con in Niigata and exhaustion coupled with spazzing (OUR FIRST TIME SEEING THEM LIVE) and a lot of things were a delightful blur. God, I DO remember well how GORGEOUS Sakamoto was ;A;

Praying praying praying the DVD comes out soon!

[imiris.livejournal.com]

I just read MC part and notice one thing that all photos showed on screen was taken by inocchi, not other members.
It's really hard to write a report, you are great. I was there for Hokkaido 2 days 2 ：）

[sociologique.livejournal.com]

Pretty sure they weren't. I distinctly remember him saying Ken took that shot of him looking at his camera, and how Okada's pictures were always goofy. If I'm wrong, I'll correct myself when the DVD comes out.

[frothies.livejournal.com]

i stumbled upon this pretty late but i enjoyed this riveting, moving post! XD