Arashi Time con review and MC

Arashi concert review w/MC

This is a post i made in JPopMusic.com/forums for a concert review for Arashi:

 

I'm home... hisashiburi~

I went to the Arashi con in Kanazawa on 8/8 (exactly a year from the '08 Beijing Olympics!) so its been a while, I couldnt get my hands on a computer. >.<

Well, I bought all the uchiwa's (2x Sho's for a friend). Arashi, Sho and Aiba's posters. a pamphlet. and a strap. (I bought more Arashi stuff when I went to Harajuku though) .

The stadium itself was very small, and it didnt have any stands, so everyone got arena seats. I was right smack dab in the middle, but right next to the aisle/railing for the moving stage. So I got to be under the stage and next to the small individual carts. We were between the middle and the back stages, so it was great!

I regret not taking note of the songlist cuz I cant remember the order at all. They did sing a lot of old songs though. I think all (or close to it) the songs from Callandra's list were sung, but in different orders. They didnt sing Jidai though. And for the MC, they sang "Typhoon Generation".

They talked a lot about the making of "Typhoon Generation" before they sang it. Like at first it was first supposed to be an all slow song and there wasnt a speed up in the middle, and there was a different title that was a lot cooler; but Johnny-san was like "it sounds too cool for you guys" and changed it.
and then Nino was like "Johnny-san made me make the dialogue opening to the song in like an 8-hour notice. I had no choice, so I kinda asked around some senpai's and came up w/ this one."
and when the title changed to "Typhoon Generation" Sho told us how he was amused/hekonda since their single's names from their debut were all like "A.Ra.Shi", "SUNRISE Nippon" "TYPHOON Generation" and "Kansha Kangeki AME ARASHI".

and then they sang it. Sho missed a whole line of his rap part very randomely right in the middle. speaking of which!

Nino lipsynced! in "A Day in Our Life" his voice was singing when he wasnt; and he noticed it. He had this face like "uh-oh, shit" and then he looked sideways at Sho who looked back at him (he wasnt singing at the time) and the two of them did this random dance for about 10 seconds. it was funny...

I dont like the song "WAVE", even if they sing live for me. but everybody doing the wave was pretty cool. aslo a great performance in "Taiyou no Sekai". Sho's rap was great (made up for not singing "Lucky Man")

I LOVED "Cry for you" they had this Harry Potter thing going though with the black robe and hood in the beginning with these wierd white masks and two of them (i know one was Aiba) did this slow fighting choreograohy on the middle stage and the lights were made super dark and there were the green laserlight (superawesome) and they had fog too.and then after their slow dance the staduim went dark (but we could the the two moving to the front stage from opposite sides and they took off their robes and mask) and then all five of them were there when the song started and the green laserlights came back on and it was one of my favorite perfs. the fire thing was done in this song like four or five times (in the front stage), but we could feel the heat (really hot) in the middle (roasted fans in the front row)

I liked all their solo's, especially Ohno's. but I think Nino had the loudest cheer (besides Jun's, wich doesnt count) I never really listened to Nino's solo that closely before the con, but its lyrics are the sweetest, its not sad. I loved how they did the rain effect throughout the stadium, and wrote "?????" (arigatou) at the very end.
Jun's was funny. period. the song wasnt very good, but it was funny. I didnt see him go up, so he just kinda appeared on the ...beam (not exactly the cieling) and his hair was like... a saiajin (from Dragon ball) which is like how Ohno's hair shoots up like no gravity. He didnt sing when he was doing the MJwalk, not until he got on the middle stage. but then he flew again to the front.
Aiba's solo had a great beat. he sang it very well. although i dont know if i like it better than "Itsuka no Summer" theyre both good.
Sho was too hot . sitting on the red couch. I still dont like it when he says "baby" in the beginning though, gives me the creeps (T_T) I'm not sure, but I think the dance was a bit similar to "Yume de Iikara"
"Song For Me" is my favorite Ohno solo. Believe it or not, I didnt think Ohno's voice was anything special until this con. I knew he was good at singing, but its something different. This song made me realize how beautiful Ohchan's voice is. its different live.

uhh, jumping back to the MC, it started when everyone gathered on the middle stage. and they were drinking water and wiping their sweat off w/ towels. and then Sho did his "Ase Beam" (Sweat Beam) at Aiba. and Aiba was like, "I'm sweating a lot too, but I cant do that!, Nee Sho-kun, how do you do that?"
Sho: "Aiba-kun... come over to my house sometimes" --?--
Aiba: "Ah, Ive been to Sho-kun's house before, like... a couple times...etto, like 4 or 5 years ago?"
Ohno/Nino/Jun: "Oremo, oremo" (me too, me too)
Aiba: "and Sho-kuns room is like... Sugoi!" (?-- "There's like, you open the door, and there's his bed, his desk, and this HUGE bookshelf! and no room!!" (?--
Sho: "aa, soudane.. " (yeah, thats right)
Aiba: "and his TOILET!" (?--
Sho: "... toilet ga nani?"
Aiba: "The lid opens up automatically when I open the door!!" (?-- "Suggee daro??" --?--
Nino: "Sore, futsuu janai?" (isnt that normal?)
Ohno: "Aa, oreno datte doa o aketara lighto ga jidou teki ni tsuku yo" (the light turns on automatically in our toilet)
Fans: "Eeee!?!?!" (?--
Ohno: "demo saa, chotto nagaku ugoitenakattara ne.." (but if i stay still for too long...) (?--
Nino: "Wait, wait, wait. Ohchan, kore, shabette mo daijoubu?" (is it okay to talk about this?) (?--
Ohno: "Yeah, yeah, yeah, dont worry.. tabun" (?) " sorede sa, 'shita' no hou o yatteru to saa..." (and when i'm doing the 'under' one)
Sho: "Eh, chotto chotto! 'shita'tte, docchi dayo! ryouhou tomo shita janai noka?!?!" --??-- (wait, wait! which do you mean by 'under'! arent they both 'under'?!?!?)
Ohno: *looking embarrased and laughing super hard* "sore wa..." (thats..)
Nino: "'shita' kara deru nara, 'ue' kara mo deru no ka?!?!" (?-- "nee, riida..." (if there's 'under', then is then an 'over' one?!?!)
Ohno: *after stop laughing* "... sore jaa katai hou" (?/"eww") (...then the harder one)
Jun: "Thats gross!"
Ohno: assuming position of what he's demonstrating "so i'm sitting like this right? and then suddently, the lights go off, so I do this..." *from the sitting position, he jerks/throws his body sideways while still sitting* (??--
Aiba: "is that a washlet?" (washlet=those high tech toilets which you can wash your butt with a click of a button *water sprays up*)
Ohno: "yeah, yeah, it feels good"
Aiba: "Washlets are so complicated!" (?-- "mutsukashii yo ne?"
Jun: "Eh, doushite?" (why?)
Aiba: "well, we recently got a washlet, and were not used to it! one night my mom was drinking a lot, and then she looked like she was about to throw up (he said gero) so she was like 'chotto, toilet' so she went all doubled up and then thats when i heard her 'oeeeee' throwing up and then *Aiba made this intypable pathetic noise between drowning and throwing up* and then i thought, 'oh, mom's probably drowning in the toilet' so me and my dad rushed to the bathroom, and her head was above the toilet seat, and water was spraying in her face!!! cuz her hand was on the button accidedntally!!! (???--
*a moment of laughter since noone was in a state to talk*
Nino: "but thats not a problem whether or not you're used to a washlet!"
Jun: "Aiba-chan, SUGOI ne.."

-end of part one MC- continuing

Aiba: "lets talk about Ishikawa, Kanazawa" (pause, and then fans cheering)
Nino: "(hanashi ga tonda!)"
Sho: "soudane, Ishikawa to ieba... Ishikawa no minasan... ayamaranakya ikenai koto ga arimasu!" (yeah, speaking about Ishikawa, i have to apologize to everyone here!")
Fans: "Ehhhhhhhhhhh!?!?!?!?"
Nino: "Sho-kun, what do you mean?"
Sho: "well, on my radio show, i was doing this summers review, and i was listing the new places we as Arashi was planning to go to, and i listed, 'nantoka, nantoka, ISHIKAWA'
*some fans "ehhhhhhh?!!!!?"*
Sho: "Sou! Arashi has been here, at this very stadium, for a concert before!"
Fans: "EHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
Sho: "and a fan who heard that wrote me a letter telling me that Arashi performed in Ishikawa on their first concert tour 6 years ago... so i did an apology on the radio. but then i messed up, and accidendaly said the wrong city..."
Nino: "Sore, hidokunai? Sho-kun..."
Sho: "Hai, and right now, i would like to make a proper apology to everybody here... Hontou ni gomennasai! gomennasai! *Sho-kun lowering his head*
Nino: "Omae, maiku tsukatte ayamarunoka?" (?--
Sho: *lowering his mike* "ISHIKAWA NO MINASAN, HONTOUNI GOMENNASAI!!!!! GOMENNASAI!!!!" *barely audible if youre far away, but i heard it* (?--
Nino: "Yoroshii"
Aiba: "Sokka, but has anyone been here besides for a concert?"
Sho: "I have for a school trip."
Fans: "Ehhhhhhh!!!"
Nino: "(motto warukunai?)"
*and then they talked about that, but it wasnt too interesting*
Aiba: "Konya, nani taberu?" (what are we gonna eat tonight?)
-silence-
"Eh?"
(?--
Nino: "Aiba! Hanashi tobisugi!" --??--
Jun: "Dokokara tabemono no hanashi ga detekurunda yo!?" (Where the hell did the topic of 'food' come from?)
Sho: "Aiba, nani tsukatteruno? Majide?" (?-- (Aiba, what are you on, seriously?)
Aiba: "Ehhhh? ahaha, soukana~? sorejaa, kyou, FREE de itte masu kara" (??-- (Really? well then, today, I'll be going FREE)
Nino/Jun: "ahaha, nani sore?" (whats that?)

-end of what i remember, but thats about half the MC-

and then they walked to the front stage and nino and Sho stayed while the other 3 went to change. they talked about YamaTaro; did the dance, etc,etc. and then when the three of them came back out, Nino and Sho went back to change.

I have to say, the MC was a 100x better than I expected, and it was one of my favorite parts of the con. (I even remember the conversation)

then we only had one encore, they sang like 3 songs while throwing the tablets (there were no balls) i remember "Fight Song" and "Happiness"

for fight song, they did the strap jumping thing. everyone watch the vid on youtube if you dont know (the news promo for the con)
it was hilariuous cuz noone could sing cuz it hurt so bad. so alll we could heard was like grunts and "iteeeee!!" even when the singing part started! and then in the air Nino wrapped his legs around Ohno and Ohno was painfully laughing and groaning while being swung around the air with Nino.

Overall, it was awesome! It was also my first concert ever, so I remember a lot of it. I want to go again next year.