Day 1: We did some sightseeing in the morning, but still ended up at the venue several hours early. There was a fan club members only area with cardboard cutouts of the members that you could take pictures with. Concert T-shirts and the yacht Arashi debuted on were on display. I was kind of disappointed that they were basically discriminating against foreign fans, but I just told myself that it wasn't Arashi's personal decision. After everyone entered the concert venue my grandfather snuck in and took pictures for me though!
There was a booth set up where I bought my mother and I penlights since they were sold out at Shirokiya.
We got in the Ticketmaster line which was about five blocks long and I was surprised at how well we organized ourselves. (The local staff was absolutely no help, but more about that on Day 2...) Ticketmaster had to stand for several hours, but fan club members got their chairs in advance and entered the venue before us... However, the wait wasn't too bad because we met some nice fans from California and chit chatted about our favorite members, songs, dramas etc. One of the girls' boyfriend was kind enough to collect everyone's money and go buy bottles of Arashi water for us while we held our place in line. (Everyone pretended it was their favorite members sweat. Don't lie. Haha)
At 4:30PM the gates opened and the line moved smoothly and swiftly. We got our tickets and chairs, snuck some pictures with some more cardboard cutouts, and were presented with leis from the members!
Day 2: What a nightmare. We arrived a little later than the day before and I don't know what happened, but there was no line; just a huge mass of people. It was extremely hot, people were cutting in line, breaking through the barricade, arguing, and apparently there were at least a few instances of fights and spitting on each other. I was so disappointed in some fans' behavior... Eventually we noticed that local staff were taking people from the back and funneling them into the middle through a gap in the barricade. Just. Why? That made people really upset too. Once we finally got our tickets I saw people on stretchers under the first aid tent. Somehow they ran out of chairs, so we just ran to our section because we knew it was getting close to start time. We hadn't been standing there for more than a few minutes when it started and I'm sure there were still plenty of people who had yet to enter.
Opening
Everyone was focused on the opening movie when we started to hear screaming and what sounded like a propeller from behind us. We turned around and lo' and behold there they were, flying in on a private, Arashi-fied helicopter. Up until this point it still didn't feel real to me. But suddenly there they were. The real thing, in the flesh, not through a TV screen. For the first time in my life. I could hardly believe my eyes.
There was a camera on the outside of the helicopter, showing the member's view, and on the inside showing Ohno-kun and MatsuJun who were sitting in the front. They landed backstage and got out of the helicopter wearing red suits with black accents and sunglasses. They walked down a red carpet, taking off their sunglasses or peering over the top, acting like Hollywood stars and entered from behind the stairs on the main stage, which split in the middle and slid apart, and Jun greeted the crowd, "LET'S GO, HAWAII!!!"
They started with their debut song, A・RA・SHI. I think they did a lot more dancing than normally, especially for older songs that they usually walk around during. Nino, Ohno, and Aiba-chan did cartwheels; Ohno one-handed!
I got to do call and return with the real Arashi for the first time! "When I say 'lucky', you say 'man'!" Lucky Man!
They did their intros during the interlude of Gorimuchuu. They were mostly normal except for Sakurai Sho who of course changed his to, "How's it going, Hawaii?!" I'm surprised Ohno-kun didn't say "aloha" instead of "hi".
I got to dance Hadashi no Mirai with the real Arashi! The end of the hanamichi rose up and they danced PIKA☆NCHI and PIKA★★NCHI DOUBLE.
After a video clip of the members looking back on their accomplishments they came back out for Love So Sweet wearing yellow shirts, and white and blue striped, sailor themed jackets.
During Oh Yeah! Ohno-kun and Sakurai Sho went past on the moving stage. I was in the sixth row, so I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure I made eye contact with Sho on the first day!
They all got together on the rear stage to dance Kitto Daijoubu and Step and Go together.
They spread out again during Happiness and sprayed the audience with water. If I had to rank the member MatsuJun would be my least favorite, but I think he spent the most time on our side of the vanue. I don't like his acting and we kind of tease him sometimes, but you never would have guessed from how excitedly we screamed his name when he came past. Haha I love all of them after all. I think he has very good stage presence.
I'm pretty sure it was during Believe that Aiba-chan slipped or tripped on something while dancing. During the MC Sho talked about how the choreographer complimented him on a certain jumping move. The other members wanted him to demonstrate so Nino started singing acapella. I discovered that they don't know all of the songs perfectly either because they had trouble remembering the lyrics when trying to start in the middle of the song. Haha
I was surprised they sung 5x10 so early on. They changed the lyrics for their 15th anniversary. I don't think I've ever yelled so loudly before in my life as when they sung the final "thank you." I hope they know how grateful and appreciative their fans are of them. I don't know how I'm going to live without them when the time comes...
MC
Day 1: I hadn't noticed when they were so far away, but Nino joked that his face was so red that it looked like he'd been drinking. I looked up at the screen and he was as red as a tomato. He sat down at the edge of the stage and didn't join in the members' chit chat. At the time I didn't think much of it. I actually thought he was just being his lazy self. Later I learned that he hadn't been feeling well. He and MatsuJun left to change first and he was the last to come back out. By this time his face color was back to normal so I hope he received some sort of treatment backstage and felt a little better for the rest of the concert.
Day 2: Sakurai Sho was very thoughtful. He apologized for the fact that many people didn't have chairs and told us that they would be passing out more soon. He basically carried the MC both days. On Day 2 he commented on this and then joked around, pretending he was a talk show host with MatsuJun as his guest. Nino came back earlier this time, and for some reason Sho couldn't decide which exit he should use. Nino left again when Ohno-kun and Aiba-chan came back, saying he needed to use the bathroom. After he disappeared MatsuJun turned towards the audience and told us that they could hear Ohno and Aiba backstage in their ear pieces, freaking out, "It's sour! It's sour!" and that Nino had actually gone to eat a lemon (to combat heat fatigue?) When Nino came back again he rubbed his eye on got lemon juice in it.
I enjoyed their singing, but I love just watching them have fun and interact with each other too.
Now the members were in more casual clothes and Aloha print jackets. They walked past the audience to the "Hawaiin stage" which was to the left of the main stage. On Day 1 everyone nearby surged over and surrounded the stage. On Day 2 they held people back with a white rope. They sat on crates decorated with the concert's theme and sung Hawaiin arrangements of My Girl and Everything with local musicians backing them. MatsuJun was at the end of the stage closest to us and as I watched him I was moved to tears. It finally sunk in. He wasn't so far away that I needed to use binoculars or look at the giant screen. He was just close enough that it finally registered. That's the real MatsuJun. He's actually a real person after all. Not just a character on their variety shows.
On Day 2 we knew that for Summer Splash! they would get on the moving carts to leave, so we purposefully stood in the back of our section so that we would be in the front row when they went to the Hawaiin stage. Ohno-kun, Nino, and Sakurai Sho came towards us and MatsuJun and Aiba-chan went in the opposite direction. I don't think I will ever be able to be that close to them again for the rest of my life. This was the only good thing about the local staffs unpreparedness. In Japan there is a metal barricade and several feet between you and the members. There was a white rope and a couple of feet between us. If I had taken a couple of steps and jumped up I could have touched them. I was so amazed and my brain was trying so hard to take it all in that I have more difficulty trying to remember what they looked like when they were right in front of me than when they were on the main stage.
And then it happened. The most incredible moment of my young life. As Ohno went by I yelled his name, but he was looking past us, at the people behind us. As Nino came towards us I yelled his name... and he looked at me. And he smiled. And he waved. At first, again, it didn't feel real. It felt like when he smiles at the cameras on the concert DVD's, but then I realized he wasn't looking at a camera lens. The real Nino was really looking at me! Then he was gone and I realized that I was crying. Not silent tears like when I was watching MatsuJun. Like. Ugly crying. The store manager and I were joking about fan girls and face melting before I left and I was surprised at myself. I knew Nino was my favorite member, but even I wasn't aware that I liked him that much. It's kind of scary to think that another person is capable of bringing up that much emotion in me with just a glance... On the drive back to the hotel I was thinking about the concert and I realized that for once in my life I made Nino smile instead of the other way around. I was able to give back just a tiny bit of the incredible amount of happiness he's given me over the past five years and that's more than I could ever have asked for out of this trip.
Next they sung one of their concert favorites, CARNIVAL NIGHT part 2 and Ohno-kun finished with a back flip! On Day 2 MatsuJun the gentleman put his arm out in front of him as he was getting ready and wiped up the water on the stage with his own jacket!
After another video clip Arashi sprung out of the stage in black and gold outfits and sung Monster with fire spinners behind them.
It really started to pour during Dare mo Shiranai and eventually even Ohno-kun and MatsuJun's perfect hair fell down.
The PARADOX choreography was even cooler in person. Somehow I managed to miss Nino's butt move on Day 1, but I made sure not to take my eyes off him on Day 2 and let me just say it was glorious.
Next was Your Eyes during which the end of the hanamichi rose up in different levels.
After Meikyuu Love Song they put on pink jackets/vest.
I missed Sho and Ohno's heart during Troublemaker.
Ohno-kun went by on the moving stage during Wild At Heart and on Day 2 he was smiling and pushing rain water off the edge onto the fans beneath him.
For GUTS! they went to the back stage and got into their individual, rising platforms. A lot of fireworks went off to the right and one of the Japanese women standing next to us whom we had been chitchatting with during intermissions suddenly handed me a pair of glasses. (I think they were AraFes goods.) She was pointing at the fireworks and saying, "Arashi! Arashi! Arashi!" When I put them on all of the explosions looked like Arashi's mascot! How?!?!
It kept raining during Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi and Nino and Aiba-chan (and Sho, again) finally went past us on the moving stage. I think that was the only time Aiba-chan was near us. His smile was even more beautiful in person! He must the nicest person in the world. The only time I've ever seen him get mad was when he was in a haunted house and got so scared that he almost wet himself. Haha
Encore:
Arashi came back out in white suits for their speeches.
On Day 1 Ohno became so emotional that he started to cry and had to stop talking for a few seconds. He tried to start again, but couldn't find his voice. He covered his face and made an apologetic sign and everyone cheered him on. I think it's unusual for Ohno-kun to show his feelings like that and it made me cry too.
On Day 2 Aiba-chan was so emotional that he couldn't look at the audience. He kept turning around and MatsuJun told him he needed to look at us when he spoke. Haha MatsuJun's eyes were red and his voice shook, but I think he ended up holding back his tears.
The screen showed lots of old photos during season as well as before and afters of Arashi on the yacht and the one lane road.
Bittersweet. If I'm not mistaken, this was the first time they sung this, GUTS! and Dare mo Shiranai live?
I noticed they haven't been singing Fight Song during recent concerts. I think they replaced it with Energy Song ~Zekkouchou Chou!!!!~ since people voted for it for AraFes. At one point Sakurai Sho came down the hanamichi towards us and was spinning around in circles, his coat flaring out and I thought, "He looks like he's having so much fun." I don't think concerts are only for the fans to have fun. I hope that Arashi enjoys themselves just as much as we do.
They gathered back on the main stage and sung the first part of A・RA・SHI before leaving the way they'd entered. A camera followed them down the stairs and watched them board the helicopter again. Sakurai Sho pretended to kiss the camera both days. They flew around the venue waving as the audience sung the end of A・RA・SHI to them. I doubt they could hear us over the propellers though...
Afterwards
It took ages to empty the parking lot. We saw many cars drive past with people waving their penlights in the back seat. I guess they were still having their own private concerts. Haha
Our shoes were covered in the red, volcanic dirt on Day 1. We thought that was bad, but after the rain on Day 2 they had several centimeters of red mud caked onto the bottom. There were so many girls in cute clothes and fancy, platform shoes which I'm sure are ruined... It was pretty gross, but I'm actually glad I got to experience an Arashi concert in the rain! The only thing I was a little disappointed about was that they didn't sing solos, but I still had the best time of my life!
Since they live streamed both days in Japan I suppose it's possible that they recorded both, but I wonder which one they will use for the DVD?
Day 1
Pros: The audience was really in sync and energetic. Ohno-kun cried.
Cons: I think something was wrong with the mic/speaker settings. Ohno-kun and MatsuJun sounded like chipmunks. I wonder if they can fix this during editing?
Nino was ill. I think it would be easy for them to edit this out if they wanted to though.
Day 2
Pros: Audio was fixed. It rained.
Cons: It rained. By the end of the concert several of the screens were broken. There were big gaps in the crowd at the beginning since not everyone was able to enter on time. The audience wasn't very in sync for some reason. They messed up the timing at the end where MatsuJun asks, "What's our name?" and at one point almost completely stopped chanting for the encore.
We'll see.
Finally, I learned that I am a selfish human being after all. I thought that my life would be complete after I met them, but now I want to see them again more than ever. Sometimes I miss them so much it brings me to tears. I'm so jealous of the people who have "seen them so many times I've lost count." I definitely won't be able to make it to the DIGITALIAN tour, but I've started saving for their 2015 tour already. Wish me luck for the ticket lottery! :)
I'll be uploading more photos to my Facebook, Xhirachu Xhu!
