The first week or so….

The usual note to any reader: Yes there is often not a lot of detail in my “reviews” but remember they are for my personal use – the next ones will only get worse since I only have one day left to post about the next 30 shows

 

2015.11.29 IDOL EXPRESS LIVE – Studio Earth 

Located right next to Tokyo Tower it gave me a chance for some sightseeing without actually making plans for it.

On my way to the show

It was a good show with a lot of groups I liked,  Akishibu Project, Screaming Sixties, elfloat, CANDY GO!GO! and Ready to Kiss. I would end up seeing many of those groups again…. and again so I won’t be going into details here. Funny story: When I went in they were trying to get me out because they didn’t sell tickets to Tokyo Tower, I finally managed to get them to understand that I was there on purpose to see idols.

This was the depressing building that housed the concert, right next to Tokyo Tower

Link to event

 

2015.12.01 JAPAN IDOL SUPER LIVE 2015 vol.6 – TSUTAYA O-EAST 

Again a really nice lineup for me, Nama hamu to yaki udon, Ready to Kiss, Baseball Girls, Moso Calibration, Akishibu Project – also while I’m not crazy about the music I have to say both Festive and Ciao Bella Cinquetti (formerly called “The Possible”) are excellent performers.

And this was the show I got my first 2-shot, I had been kinda iffy about it, but wattstax had been teasing me and saying I couldn’t be considered a real fan until I got a cheki. So I got in line expecting to buy something but when it was my turn nothing was for sale so I got a bit confused because I never thought you simply paid to get your picture taken with a girl, but that was how it worked. Since I had no favorites at that point I just picked the closest one which happened to be Arakawa Yuuna. I was happy to have it out of my system but when I told wattstax about, he added it had to be with a group he liked!

Link to event

 

2015.12.02 COSMICBOX vol. 15 – Shibuya eggman 

I picked this event based on the shallow reason that I think Rinahamu is the cutest thing ever and one of her projects called BPM15Q were performing. Also I really liked the video “Shit End” video by “Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da” (no idea there is a short for their name) so that convinced me I had to go.

Anyway, the venue was kinda awful mainly because of smoking. Smoking IS restricted to certain areas most places but when the venue is this small it doesn’t really matter that you can only smoke at the bar!

This was quite a different show compared to normal idol shows. First off there was a DJ (POCHI) playing songs and behind her a girl then started to paint a picture which she would continue with the next couple of hours while the idols were performing (yes very artsy).

First up was a group of girls dressed as business women called “Kichohanakansha” they only played one song so it was hard to get much of an impression, next was Yuri Shinohara, a solo idol she was very cute but can’t recall anything else! Then there was a group with a name that I can’t translate “Shōjo kakka no intānashonaru”, they were absolutely weird and wonderful, I didn’t know it at the time but Risa Satosaki is a member of this group aside from doing her solo stuff. (below is a video of their performance at the same club a month earlier)

They were a pretty hard act to follow and  “Otome Corporation” really didn’t make much of an impression on me neither did the next solo idol again I can’t remember anything about the performance aside from her being cute, her name was Yuzumochiko Miko. Finally “Zenbu Kimi no Sei Da” went on, just as expected I liked them a lot but the performance was nothing too special. More solo idols, this one went by the name “tenkawa uchū”, unlike the two previous solo idols this night she wasn’t hyper and happy looking but rather looked kinda bored, it took me a while to realize that it was her concept, once it dawned on me I enjoyed her awkward show a lot, unfortunately it turns out she stopped as an idol soon after and now goes by the name “Imagawa uchū” what she does exactly is not clear to me!!!

The last act was BPM15Q…. but I left shortly into the second song I couldn’t take it anymore, it’s just not my kind of music

All in all a very mixed night – I didn’t like the venue, BPM15Q were terrible (to me) and I didn’t get a cheki with Rinahamu, BUT I liked that it was a completely different experience compared to most idol shows and “Shōjo kakka no intānashonaru” were amazing 🙂

Link to event

 

 

2015.12.03 We are the idol vol. 4 – Shibuya-REX 

Another shitty small venue, no smoke this time since the smoking section was separate but the stage wasn’t very wide and it was pretty cramped.

I picked this show because I knew and liked JyuJyu from live videos and I had seen the Maison Book Girls official videos but I wasn’t really sure if I liked them or not.

First up was “Firosofī no dansu” I guess their theme was to be funky-sexy idols and while their music wasn’t to my liking I liked their performance. Next was “Hauptharmonie” a weird group with a German name and many of their song titles are German as well, some of their songs are really good and they were quite entertaining. Maison Book Girl, after seeing them here I still wasn’t convinced but after I got the album I’m a fan, I guess it’s one of those groups where knowing the songs makes it better! JyuJyu, they started off with their more “controlled” songs and being very stylish and neat but got more “wild” with each song. I didn’t stay for any chekis because it was so crowded.

Link to event

2015.11.28 PASSPO☆

This was the first major event of my trip, my favorite group PASSPO☆ did two concerts in one day, and I was especially excited about this since they would perform as BAND PASSPO☆ and I never saw them play before.

The concert was held at Shinagawa Stellar Ball which was also a first for me, I got a little lost but I was there in good time and met Clem outside before the first concert, we talked a bit and waited for our numbers to be called out – it was Clems first PASSPO☆ show and as I recall he bought everything, t-shirts, hoodie, towels and probably also some photos, I just got a towel (old design) because I didn’t really like the design of the new t-shirts – come to think of it Clem also bough a glowstick in the wrong color 😉 We got our drinks and went in and waited for it to start.

Before PASSPO☆ started we got a few songs from Puchi PASSPO, they are a pretty cute group and I can enjoy their songs although they are still a bit rough, however compared to how they were a few months earlier they had improved a lot.

PASSPO☆ started off as BAND PASSPO☆ and played “Wanted” which is probably the heaviest song they’ve done as a group it was nothing short of amazing, they proceeded to do four more songs as a band – since Sakotee was on indefinite hiatus Naomin had been promoted to lead-guitar and Yukkii had taken over on rhythm-guitar. After the 5 songs they took a short break and came back and did their “usual” idol performance. At some point the spotlight fell on Yukkii/Naomin and the members took turns to read letters of thanks to the two members for stepping up and working hard to make it possible to perform as BAND PASSPO☆ again, obviously I understood nothing of what was said but I didn’t have to to get the point.

BAND PASSPO

After the first concert Clem wanted to get a 2-shot with Morishi and went to look but it seemed like she was doing handshakes at the time so he would go back later! So Clem and I went to get something to eat before the next show.

The second show again started with Puchi PASSPO, this time there was no BAND PASSPO☆ but overall I liked the 2’nd show better for some reason. They announced that they had signed with CROWN records and their first single would be “Mr. Wednesday” but they didn’t perform the song at that time. My memory is a little off but I think it was in the second show they did a medley of songs each representing a year and it included “Tracks” which they hadn’t performed since Makkochan left, Aipon took over Makkochan’s part in the song and afterwards she talked a bit about Makkochan (again I didn’t understand anything), they also played “Growing Up” again with Aipon taking Makkochan’s part – while neither of those songs are my favorites I got pretty emotional over it (I didn’t cry like Aipon tho).

Aipon during “Tracks”

Clem never got his 2-shot 😦

And that will be the end of the run-sentences for this time.

Other sources:

Natalie report on concert and some great photos

PASSPO☆PHOTO

 

It’s been a while…

I’ve put off posting about my last trip for too long, in fact I’m going back to Japan next Thursday so I guess it’s about time to get it done – this won’t be a very informative write-up, it’s mainly notes for myself that I can look back on, so take it as such.

2015-11-25/26 Arriving

For this trip I decided to save some money on accommodation since hotels are pretty expensive in Tokyo. I did consider a hostel but I really like my privacy so I ended up renting an apartment through Airbnb – it’s more expensive than a hostel but cheaper than a hotel and you basically have a real apartment with a small kitchen which is nice.

Like last time I prepared a bit for the trip by changing my sleep pattern to be closer to Japanese time. It’s not really a big deal, over a week my end goal was to go to bed at around 18 and getting up at around 2,  I can already say I experienced no jetlag at all. I also decided to rent a portable Wi-Fi device this time since I wasn’t sure about the quality of the internet in the apartment (last time I just got a SIM-card). Finally I bought tickets for the most important events, I knew they most likely wouldn’t sell out but better safe than sorry. (I got tickets for PASSPO☆, Muto Ayami, You’ll Melt More).

My flight to Japan was on the 25th, the flight was pretty uneventful and boring, I did watch a really good sentimental Japanese movie called “The furthest end awaits”, I tried to get some sleep and I think I managed to get 3-4 hours or so.

Having safely arrived at Narita Airport at around 10:30 I headed straight for the Airport post office, having been there before meant I didn’t have any problem finding it, I got my portable Wi-Fi device and headed for the train station where tanked up my Suica with 10,000 ¥ and went to get the train to Tokyo. At around 13 I arrived at my apartment which was located in the eastern part of Shinjuku in a mostly residential area and nowhere close to any of the interesting stuff. I obviously already knew the apartment was small but damn… it was really small, like 2m in width and 6m in length but it had all I needed a fancy lavatory, a shower (no bathtub), a small kitchen, a washing machine (full size) an open closet, a table and a chair and a futon. I pretty much instantly took a shower (I had been traveling for 24 hours) and then I went shopping for groceries at the 7-11 and went back home, I kinda wanted to go to a show but I was really tired so I just spent the day unpacking and went to sleep pretty early.

 

2015-11-27 SUPER REACH FES vol.2

After a good night’s sleep I woke up early and started thinking about what to do – yes I didn’t plan anything aside from idol shows for my trip, so I decided to go to Tower Records and looked a bit around the Shibuya area. An online acquaintance and fellow PASSPO☆ fan called Clem was also in Japan at the same time and he had just been sightseeing the whole time, so I had asked him a while ago if he didn’t want to go see some random idol show to experience the idol show atmosphere so we agreed to meet for a show that evening.

This show was at ReNY which an be hard to find the first time, it’s located in what seems to be a business area of Tokyo and the sign at the door is quite small. I remember last time I was there I went out for some air and happened to run into a bunch of Indonesian guys that had been running around in circles not being able to find it, I was kinda proud to be able to show them where it was.

Anyway, I went there from the start but Clem didn’t arrive until much later and by that time my right knee had started to hurt really bad, this was a thing that would bother me the entire trip (turns out I have osteoarthritis of the knee) so I left soon after he arrived, this meant that we didn’t get to talk much that day. As for the show it was the usual kind of “many idols” show, 2-4 songs with a little MC and then on to the next act, I actually quite fancy those kinds of shows since if there is a group you don’t care for you can take a break. Anyway the most noticeable new act for me was “Nama hamu to yaki udon” translated to English it means “Raw ham and baked noodles” one girl is ham one is noodles, they are a sketch based idol duo and even if I can’t understand a word they say I find them very entertaining, some other groups from the lineup this night that I liked was Baseball Girls, Ready to Kiss and Candy Go!Go!

Muto Ayami @ 稲毛K’S DREAM 2015-07-26

This concert was held in Chiba Prefecture however it’s fairly close to Tokyo so it wasn’t really to much of a problem getting there in fact it only took me about one and a half hour to get there.

Because I’m always worried about being late for things I went in good time but it  wasn’t hard to find 稲毛K’S DREAM at all so I was more than an hour early and no one was even there,  so I walked around the neighborhood a bit and eventually headed back to Inage station to find some shade (because it was like 40 degrees). I went into a konbini to get something to drink and eat, I bought some bottled water and a couple of bananas and went outside and started to peel a banana while doing so I must have  dropped my empty bag which made a salaryman that passed by give me the evil eye probably thinking “damn foreigners”.  I will get into this more in a “Japan guide” but for now just remember don’t litter it’s considered very rude. (I obviously picked up the bag and disposed of it properly). Eventually I went back to 稲毛K’S DREAM and some people had shown up and the place was now open.

I went inside and asked if someone spoke English and talked a bit to a young woman about merch and stuff but since the doors weren’t officially open yet I went outside (in the heat) again. More and more people arrived and lined up. I would say compared to the other concerts I had already attended it was generally a bit older guys (like 40-something year old) but ofc there were younger ones and girls as well.

Since there still was a lot of time before we could get in I was getting a bit bored so I thought I could strike up a conversation with someone and I asked without addressing anyone in particular “can any of you speak English?” no one answered I made eye contact with a few people and they waved their hands as in “no”. Suddenly the girl from the club came out and looked at me as if I needed help (apparently some guy went a got her), I told her thanks but I don’t need help. So another failed attempt at being social in Japan.

Ok it was time for the doors to open, the girl from the club started calling out numbers and since I know no Japanese not even the numbers this is always a tricky part at concerts, I had a fairly low number though so I counted how many people got let in and when I knew my number was about to come up I showed her my ticket and she said “wait”, more people were let in and she then asked to see my ticket again and told me to wait again after a couple of more people were let in she pointed at me and I went in. Inside I went straight for the merch I bought everything I didn’t have

There were also some armbands but I couldn’t figure out how to get them you might have needed a merch ticket to get them but I didn’t get any since I didn’t buy any CD’s. Oh well!

I went downstairs where the concert was to take place and it was already pretty crowded I found a place on the left side close to the wall (subconsciously I always seem to do that) it just so happened to be just behind the small women only section, and there in front of me stood Hiyo-Metal all dressed in AYM merch and some woman was with her probably her mother. The place filled up more and more and soon I could barely move.

Eventually a familiar song played on the speakers and suddenly someone was talking, it was DJ-Ayami she played some songs and spoke a bit but since I don’t understand Japanese I have no idea what was going on, at some point the curtains were drawn and we could see the stage it was true to the theme of “traveling alone” suitcases, clothes on hangers and a clothes stand with coats and hats, the background were colored ropes and yarn (similar to that seen on the merch).

FINALLY Ayami appeared and the crowd roared she sang a couple of up-tempo songs and then did some MC, she got off to a good start with “konbanwa” (good evening) and it was like 1:20 pm people laughed and then Ayami laughed realizing her mistake, next thing she took off  some angel wings that she had been wearing and the crowd went “Ooohhhh” (as if she was stripping) Ayami had her back to the audience at the time and turned around kinda perplexed but somehow figured out why people were “oooohhhing” and looked all red and embarrassed and shook her hands as in “no-no”.  After the MC she continued with some more up-tempo songs, I think I already mentioned that the place was absolutely packed and I basically could not take my hands up from my side without pushing people and when I got them up it was the same story getting them down again so I decided not to participating in the cheering, being taller than everyone also meant that people were clapping right next to my face and hitting me in the face with their towels but I survived to tell the story. The tiny Hiyo-Metal had plenty of space in the women only section and she went all bonkers and danced and sang along with Ayami, Hiyo always looks kinda “blank” in her videos but without an audience she was just a happy kid having a great time. The show was ending and Ayami did the obligatory two song encore but after that people were still cheering very loudly and she did another encore that I don’t think was planned, after that the lights went on and it was all over, everyone left in an orderly manner, most people seemed to have saved their drink-ticket so the bar was really busy handing out water bottles.

At the exit they handed out a drawing with the set-list that I assume Ayami did herself.

Bigger (readable) version

All in all a great concert but the venue was way too small for her (that was intentional though she was playing the same places that she did a year earlier).