REVIEW OF BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR, JAPAN
※これは元々ＦＢ掲載用のレヴューだったので英文になってます。
REVIEW OF BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR
JAPAN
Date:
September 13 (Sat) and 14 (Sun), 2014
Time:
Open 16:30, Start: 17:30
Venue:
Event Hall, Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan
Audience:
Approx. 17,000 in total (8,500 per day)
First of all, their shows during 2 days were just awesome.
It is virtually impossible for me to describe precisely how it was awesome by words in English or even in my native language.
I was greatly impressed by their concerts, and now, am much more into BABYMETAL than before. I'm in "serious condition" so to speak :-)
1. WHO CAN STOP BABYMETAL ?
2. BEFORE THE SHOW
3. THE GIRLS
4. KAMI BAND
5. MOSH’SH PIT
6. GOODS & MERCHANDISES
7. SPECIAL GUESTS
8. BITS & PIECES
9. NEXT STEPS FOR BABYMETAL
10. NO EXIT FROM BM FANDOM ?
1. WHO CAN STOP BABYMETAL ?
It seems they have caught the wave and are now riding on it. It would be impossible for anybody to stop them. They are in great shape and in full swing now.
They must be "invincible" in heavy metal arena. I can hardly come up with any band or artist who can actually top BABYMETAL now. BM style is much too unique for anybody to copy or overcome.
Nobody can stop BM.
OK, then, my question is ...
“Who can stop me ?” :-)
BM are simply and absolutely irresistible for me.
The more I see them live, the more I am into them, and, as a result:
1) I spend time limitlessly with their CD/DVD, YouTube, magazine, booklet, etc. I have to work but spend the least amount of time for it. BM stay in my mind always.
2) I spend money to the very last 1 JP Yen for their goods like CD/DVD, box set, T-shirt, towel, hoodie, and etc.
How can I stop these ?
How can I get out of here ?
Where is the exit so that I can go back to my life ?
Wait.
Do I really have to go back there ?
2. BEFORE THE SHOW
On 13th and 14th, there were two major artists who had concerts at different halls in the Makuhari Messe area.
One is of course, the world's coolest heavy metal female trio & their band, and the other was a sweet & fancy male folk duo, YUZU.
People in the Makuhari Messe area could be divided into two groups.
The people who wore formal uniform (i.e. cool black T-shirts), and the ones who wore ordinary clothes or colorful T-shirts.
I like YUZU as they have a lot of nice songs, but when compared them with the coolest girls, there was no comparison possible, to be brutally honest.
However, there was one thing in common between them.
Fox !
Some of YUZU fans had fox masks.
Difference is that, for YUZU, that is just a fox, not a Fox God like the one for BM.
3. THE GIRLS
Over the months (July - Sept.), the girls have experienced really a LOT.
Concerts in France, Germany, and UK including Sonisphere.
Concerts in the US including opening act for Lady Gaga, and the one in Canada at Heavy Montreal.
Concerts in Japan at O-EAST and Summer Sonic.
On 13th, I was in Block A of the hall that located just in front of stage. There was a space between stage and audience area with the distance of roughly 5 meters for video camera and security guards.
Since I was constantly being carried between the rows of 3rd/ 4th and 7th/8th by the guys around me in the mosh'sh pit during the show, I could see the girls from 7 – 8 meters away the closest. When I saw them in July at O-EAST, the distance was almost same.
Their synchronized choreography looked more perfect than before in terms of its scale, speed, and integrity.
I can easily compare the latest BM with the past, because their set list have not changed so much since June when I saw them for the first time.
Their move when dancing was perfectly synchronized but they did not appear like robots or cyborgs, I mean, they could keep themselves as duly human and living cuties on stage.
They were very much talented, needless to say, and, I want to emphasize that each one of them has tough body, frame (bone), chassis, engine, spring/ shock absorber, and brain :-)
People say their music, choreography, outfits, makeup, and etc. are excellent. Also, they say that the girls’ band members and staff members in production team & management team are all experts in each area.
That’s true.
They are awesome !
However, I reconfirmed at Makuhari Messe that the key of BM’s success is the fact that Su, Yui, and Moa are greatly talented, cute, adorable, and attractive.
All in all, BABYMETAL are those three girls themselves.
The 16-year old girl was controlling the crowd by her singing voice, choreography, and eyes during the show. The crowd was completely fascinated by this girl and her team mates.
Regarding the performance, her voice on the second day was better than the one on the first day in terms of stability. Also, on the second day, the volume balance between her voice and the band was better, I thought.
Her makeup appeared to be a little bit different. Probably because her eye shadow was darker than usual (?).
Just like at Summer Sonic, her presence on stage was like the one of goddess or queen with dignity. She must be an ordinary high school girl off stage, but what I felt for her on stage was nothing but sincere respect.
At any concert, Moa is always willing to make eye contact with audience all across the hall - she really is a master of communication. Her smile with dimples is priceless.
One thing I noticed this time was that, unfortunately, she looked to be very tired at encore on the second day, as she was very sweaty and her move did not seem to be perfect. It might be natural because it was the final part of the 2nd day …
Another thing I noticed that looked to be different from the past was that she seemed to be somehow “sexy” or hot or whatever (Hope you know what I mean :-) ).
Well, she was cute, yes, as always, no doubt.
However, I felt that she showed something that was not only cute but also somehow more adult than before.
As some of you may be aware, Moa obviously has huge potential to be a "hot chic" or a gorgeous lady in the future.
As she is also really smart, and I guess she loves to drive man as she likes, her husband (far in the future, hopefully) will be younger than her, I guess :-)
At Makuhari Messe, Yui showed us the most significant growth among the three when compared to the past.
First of all, her cuteness has been sharpened to a dangerous level. I was afraid how many guys were killed by her kawaiiness.
It has been boosted possibly by the confidence she got during the tour in overseas. With the positive reaction from crowd at the concerts and festivals in Europe and North America, she must have got a feeling like "I can make it !".
Positive feedback from media and on internet might have helped her as well.
And, all of those have given her very strong confidence, and boosted her cuteness, I presume.
Secondly, her communication skills on stage were drastically enhanced.
Back in June at O-EAST for example, she looked to be a little bit shy in communicating with the audience or at least not very active, while Moa was positively or even aggressively trying to contact the crowd. Yui’s shout was not very clear, and it sounded like she was reading a short line in scenario/ script to me in June.
However ….
This time, her smile was veeerrry natural (and ultra kawaii of course), and she was looking over the crowd in a calm manner.
For her, performing in front of 8,500 people at Makuhari Messe might not be a big deal at all as she had dealt with a huge crowd that included genuine metal heads at festivals in UK and Canada. Again, something she learned over the months must have given her strong confidence.
Oh, by the way, she gave me a headache once at the closing of the first day - she could not open the BABYMETAL flag properly as she was holding wrong corners. She was trying to open, and changed the corners to hold after a few seconds, and successfully opened.
That's OK.
That's really YUI :-)
I was very glad to see her to have grown significantly. For some reason, I tend to think of her as if I am her brother or even dad :-)
4. KAMI BAND
Leda and Boh played for 2 days.
Fujioka and Maeta for 13th, and Oomura and Aoyama for 14th.
These 6 guys were fantastic. Their technical skills are perfect as rock musicians.
I noticed that the drumming styles of two drummers were a bit different.
Drums are one of the most important part that determines the groove of music.
I was wondering if it was okay for the girls to have different grooves depending on drummer, in other words, if they can adjust themselves to different grooves for the same song so easily as per drummer. Probably, it may be okay for them as they actually do so (?).
For "Megitsune", vocal harmonizer type of effector (or something else that is similar) was used, I thought, as Su's voice was accompanied by a beautiful harmony. Same sort of effector might have been used for "Akatsuki" as well some time ago, if I remember right.
5. MOSH’SH PIT
My location on Sept. 13 was Block A, Arena with ticket # 340, which was just in front of the stage - craziest and most dangerous area seriously :-)
At the opening of the show or immediately after the start of "Death" intro, my hair was pulled very strongly by a guy behind me (My hair is very long just like Kami band guitar players :-) ).
I looked back to shout, but realized that he was not pulling my hair, instead, he was jumping with his body bending forward too much to see the girls, so my hair was “sandwitched” by his body and my back, and pushed down badly.
I lost control of my body very many times in the pit but I did not fall down.
Why ?
Because I was pressed VERY hard by the guys around me literally from every direction. I got difficulties even in breathing. Sometimes, I was pushed so hard, and both of my legs floated from the floor :-)
I am pretty sure that the guys in front area or in the center of mosh’sh pit were in the same situation as myself.
There was a constant flow of crowd surfers ahead of us.
I also felt the lack of oxygen there.
On internet, some Babymetallers are eagerly discussing if WoD and mosh including circle mosh are allowable or not at BM concert.
I admit that it is not totally safe, especially Block A was worst in that regard. I actually got 7 - 8 bruises on legs and arms, and still have muscle ache now. However, BM is a heavy metal band, so I think WoD and mosh should be accepted in general. In Block A, there were some who got drunk heavily. It is not cool at all or even against rule or manner, I think.
At concerts of other rock artists, I sometimes encounter “diving”. Some excited guys go upon stage, and dive into the crowd - not sliding onto the crowd softly for surfing, but it is diving, i.e. jumping off from stage into the crowd. It could be extremely dangerous, but fun as a matter of fact. Although I have never dived, I took care of a couple of guys dived from stage.
No need for diving at BM concerts by the way :-)
In the mosh’sh pit of BM, one guy was hanging up a piece of dry squid while the girls were singing “Uki Uki Midnight”.
= > “Geso geso. Ika-geso ga tabetai. Atashi wa surume-ha nano. Yada yada. Ojichan mitai.”
The squid was a real/ actual smelly one, but, fortunately, it was packed in a transparent plastic bag.
On the second day, I was in the peaceful area, Block H on the 3rd floor. It located in the right wing toward stage. Everybody was standing during the show and quite loud, but basically, it was a safe area.
In Block H, I could appreciate the show in a very relaxed manner, although my friend was annoyed by a guy next to him who was shaking light stick back and forth.
6. GOODS & MERCHANDISES
Rule of thumb I think is to go to the venue on the FIRST day, 4 or 5 hours before the sales start.
In my case, on the first day, I got an appointment, so it was 30 minutes before the opening when I arrived there, and it was totally impossible for me to get anything.
Some tweets told me that, at 8:30 a.m., there was a long queue in merchandize area. Also, it was said that it was 6 a.m. when the first guy appeared there.
On the second day, I arrived there at 12 noon, 2 hours before the sales start.
I was in the queue for three and half hours. It was 1 hour prior to the door opening when I left the goods area..
The queue for goods was burned by strong sunshine. I got enough suntan :-)
A lot of items were being dropped from the list as they were sold out as time went on.
I could get what I wanted except one item. All the T-shirts had been sold out by the time I got to sales clerk/ casher, so I had to abandon “Gimme Choco” T-shirt.
What I purchased were hoodie with hand-drawn illustration, towel with hood with BM logo, and BM plastic bag.
7. SPECIAL GUESTS
I did not see them directly, but some sources say below people were confirmed:
Chairman, CEO, Amuse Inc.
President, CEO, Tower Records
Uncle of Su
Elder sister of Su, a member of Nogizaka 46
SG girls incl. the graduated
And, a lot more from the industry including journalists, editors, writers, and etc.…
8. BITS AND PIECES
1) This is business as usual - some haters engage in secret maneuvering for example at 2ch by daydreaming and building up imaginary stories from Makuhari.
As a regular practice, I would be busy for the time being with enjoying their fantasies :-)
2) I found this time that the girls had extremely clear skin :-)
They are entertainers, which means their job is to perform in front of people, so it is quite natural that they take the very best care of skin. But their extremely smooth skin impressed me a lot.
3) It was fun for me to see those "crazy" Babymetallers who gathered at Makuhari Messe. Variety of people of different ages, some of them got perfect costume like BM girls and Kami Band. Age ranged from 3-4 years old up to 70 + years old or so, I guess.
4) On the following day after the second show (Monday, a national holiday), my black T-shirt got white lines and dots in places.
I could not immediately figure out what they were.
Actually, it was salt out of my sweat.
9. NEXT STEPS FOR BABYMETAL
1) Before the shows in Makuhari, I expected:
- New song would be played
- Announcement of additional shows during 2014 in Asia and/or in some regional areas in Japan would be made.
However, I could not hear either one.
Instead, the first show in 2015 at Saitama Super Arena was announced.
BM can now fill Budokan and Makuhari Messe with 9 - 10K + people.
Next step is Saitama Super Arena to mobilize 20 - 23 K people (at "arena" mode for concerts, etc. 35 K + at "stadium" mode for sports event ).
Which hall/ arena/ dome to be used next ?
Probably, Tokyo Dome whose capacity is 50 - 55 K for concert.
I do hope it would happen in 2015.
What about in overseas then ?
I have no specific idea, but probably BM can get at least 2-3 K constantly, and 7-8 K at max in 2015 ? Or could be closer to 10 K ?
Of course, it depends on country though …
2) Another focus is put on "Kouhaku Uta Gassen 2014", a music program that is aired by NHK (public broadcasting station) via TV, AM/ FM radios on December 31 every year.
It is very much an honor for new faces to be invited there, and the fact whether a certain artist/ singer is invited or not is one of the most commonly used yardstick when s/he is evaluated by general public.
If BABYMETAL is invited to this program, they will possibly be perceived as a genuine national level female group in Japan.
Some may say, however, that BM is a metal group, hence do not have to be a mainstream, but it is not too bad to be more popular in Japan anyway.
10. NO EXIT FROM BABYMETAL FANDOM ?
My "BABYMETAL weekend" was over after the show on Sunday.
I am now enjoying fruitful monotony everyday being bothered by day-to-day chores.
But, at the same time, my feeling of "loss" has been getting serious since Sunday evening up until now.
Am I much too addicted or attached ?
There is no exit from this fandom ?
More fundamentally, does an exit exist ?
Okay.
I may not have to escape, because I am having sooo much fun with BABYMETAL. I am more than happy to get along with them to the end of the world :-)
It is my great pleasure to be able to lead my life in the same age with BABYMETAL, hehe :-)
Go, BABYMETAL, go !
