EXO Greeting Party in Japan 'Hello!' 12/04 report

Set list for 12/04 evening

VCR Intro

Let Out the Beast

History (K & M ver.)

- talk & introduction -

MAMA remix

Miracles in December (D.O., Chen, Baekhyun, Luhan + Lay on piano)

Don't Go

- UFO Game + Sehun's birthday celebration -

Wolf

Growl

365

Lucky

- some unseen footage from behind the scenes -

 -END-

 (note: not too sure about the sequence for the last 4 songs, but it should be like this since I remembered the last song was Lucky)

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  Oh well I was really lucky to be able to get the ticket for 12/04 evening time(the exact day and time I wanted) via lottery, thanks to the help of my dear friend after failing a few times. It HAS to be on the 12th, at night because it's baby Sehun's birthday celebration! Although the seat was a different story(HA!) so here it goes:

The concert was held at Saitama Super Arena, a huge stadium enough to sit 37,000 people. On my way there I spotted many obvious EXO fans headed to the same destination. Once I reached the station, this is what I saw-

Some girls were standing in the middle of the station, holding up placards trying to buy or exchange tickets for the day (seeing this made me feel grateful to my precious ticket)

 Tour goods area, by the time I got there the cap and T-shirt were already sold out :<

 Entrance for the lucky fans who managed to score a good seat (my entrance was up at the back)

Actually, I did check the seating plan after getting my ticket from my friend so I already knew it was pretty shitty. But I thought it could have been worse, so as I walked I was still crossing my fingers, UNTIL- Alright shit. I mean literally. This place was friggin HUGE. For a moment I thought I was watching the World Cup. Then, I started to climb to my seat. Yes climb, like hiking. It was not only high but really steep too. A few girls were blocking me so I held onto the rails as I climbed in case I fell over and died. I think for the first time, I could understand how deer Lulu felt from his height phobia. (Luhan~ you will need to overcome this if you ever want to watch Man U in Old Trafford)

This was my seat. Last row of the highest floor. Had a nice view of the stadium.

 At least I got a seat :'D Others were waiting outside in the cold still trying their luck for a ticket in.

 They started playing the intro VCR. Then Let Out The Beast. Kai was a beast, a dancing one and he's so perfect. History was next. Then it was the introduction time. They introduced themselves in Japanese- some were quite good like D.O., but some were... Luhan and Kris were speaking gibberish. I thought they would be the best in Japanese since they could speak a few languages but they were still adorable. Also, Baekhyun seems to be having a sore throat.
The intro was short and sweet before they continued with MAMA remix ver. followed by Miracles in December.

Grand piano onstage for Lay + D.O. Chen Baekhyun and Luhan the vocals for MID

While all the main vocals were amazing live, Luhan's voice stood out to me even more. His voice is stronger and melodious live and I love his singing even more than before. I really hope he gets to sing more or even get his own solo song someday.

After MID, the rest of the members joined the stage for Don't Go. Then it's time for the UFO 'batsu' game thing, only it's not really a batsu game if all the pictures shown were so cool and cute(for Luhan's) Lulu's picture was him wearing the koala hat from EXO Showtime and when the MC asked if he still treasures it, he did the Juon 'errrrr' and admitted that he doesn't know where's the hat anymore. Oh this deer...

During the talk, the members brought out a cake for Sehunnie. We all sang the birthday song for him and he seemed touched? with his poker face. He was moved but he said he won't cry because it's the first time meeting the fans in Japan.

After the celebration, EXO continued with Wolf, Growl, 365 and ended with Lucky. It was really an enjoyable night and happy moments always seem so fleeting. The members left the stage and a VCR was played. That's the finale for the night. The members had to perform 5 times in 3 days so it was just the 3rd performance. Despite having such a packed schedule, I hope they could get enough rest.

I am fortunate enough to be able to attend and meet EXO for the first time. I really hope to see them again somewhere, possibly closer. Their concert was outstanding and out of the Kpop concerts I've been too, it was one of the best, despite being just a 'fan-meeting' for roughly 2-3 hours.
(so glad there's someone interpreting Korean to Japanese so I could understand what they were saying)

Their comeback 'Overdose' is something I'd been looking forward to. Please do listen and buy the album once it's out!

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!

SID live report 「OUTSIDER tour in Shibuya 17/4/2014」 「シド LIVE in 渋谷公会堂, 4月17日」

After a rather dramatic turn of events, I managed to get my live ticket, had it sent to my hotel (just in time!! or rather, it reached me just the day before) and so I went. :'D

This isn't my first time seeing SID perform, but it is a first in Tokyo. In fact I'd really wanted to see them live in Japan, at least once. I am so glad it happened...


Reached the live hall at about 5pm to check out the tour goods before the show, and the first thing I noticed was how interesting the fans were- some dressed in lolita, some were quite young(how did they manage to have funds remains a mystery) and others were middle-aged housewives(or seemed so). The rest were normal people like you and me, dressed in casual clothes like we went there after shopping in Shibuya(which I did). Also, don't be surprised if suspicious men approach you to ask if you have a ticket (to buy or sell) these are stinking scalpers who earn a living ripping off earnest fans and live-goers.

So while waiting for the time to pass...

 

 Sales of tour goods and gacha machines. No queue!

When the doors opened at 5.30pm, no pictures were allowed inside. There were congratulatory flowers from Hyde, PS Company bands (Alice nine, the Gazette etc.) so on. 5 big boxes for the fans to put their gifts for Mao, Aki, Shinji, Yuuya or シド as whole.

I was seated at the 17th row, not too far but not exactly near, although the fans behind me were saying how near it is. Maybe I didn't know what to expect D:

sneaked one last photo to gauge the distance!

Time for the live. The stage setup was a retro, quite suited for the OUTSIDER album, I think. The members entered the stage one by one starting with Yuuya, Aki, Shinji then Mao. They began with laser (the lighting effects were awesome), followed by CANDY (can I say I love the way mao screams?) I can't exactly remember when was the intro, either before or after V.I.P.

When Mao spoke, he sounded a little hoarse..? I thought it was just my imagination, which proved to wrong as it got worse throughout the live. But I would say, he sang really well despite his throat issues. I was blown away and Mao was right- the OUTSIDER album sounds even better live! He mentioned that when he was listening to it, how everyone sounded- Aki's bass, Yuuya's drums, Shinji's guitar, his own voice- how awesome it was. (Yes he complimented his own voice hah)

The furi for Circus was really fun and tiring. Lots of jumping and everyone was hyper, especially Mao. After MUSIC, Mao was saying how amazing music is. Imagine how it would be like without it, and proceeded to do his usual movement during performances and pretended to sing in mute- it was hilarious. There was also a talk session about how eroi Shinji is and the rest seem to agree. Aki was showing off his 眩し outfit. It was brighter than grandma's disco ball. Maybe that's why he kept shaking his ass? He usually moves a lot when he plays but I haven't seen him shaking his ass this much. I liked Yuuya's top though, looks like some designer wear. Mao was wearing military pants with a black outer jacket(which he eventually took off)

Then they continued with 迷路, one of my favorite tracks from the album! No furi for the song though. Hug sounded really beautiful with Mao's live singing. He put in so much emotions while singing it perfectly. Even Akai Te and darling was perfect, despite his sore throat. How he hit those high notes remains a mystery but, Mao is indeed amazing!

During Anniversary and Summer Lover, Mao crawled between Shinji's legs (really, what an energetic old man) I was exhausted by then D:

Then they proceeded to perform some old songs like Re:Dreamer and Dear Tokyo. 懐かしい~

After a brief goodbye, 15 minutes of wait and screaming encore, they were back onstage. (on twitter today Mao mentioned he wants to tell fans remember to scream for encore *heart* lol)

By that time, Mao's voice was nearly gone... I guess he tried really hard that night, but he still had enough energy to jump off the stage(?!) ok even the staff was caught offguard.
Some songs from Hoshi no Miyako album were performed. Last two songs were Natsukoi and Sympathy.


At the end each of the members took turns to say goodbye, it was an enjoyable night and everyone was really into it. When it was Yuuya's turn, his message was quite heavy as he expressed his gratefulness and all. It was quite hard to swallow until Mao's turn, which left many fans crying when he left the stage. I don't remember the exact words he said, only how it moved me to tears...maybe it was his sincerity? (oh man I don't even cry during lives and this is rare)

I love シド. Thank you for everything. All the best for the rest of the tour!

Which concludes this live report. Hope you have enjoyed it :D


Set list-

01.laser
02.CANDY
03.V.I.P
04.サーカス
05.CELEBRITY
06.MUSIC
07.迷路
08.hug
09.赤い手
10.darling
11.ANNIVERSARY
12.サマラバ
13.Re:Dreamer
14.Dear Tokyo
- ENCORE -
01.恋におちて
02.キャラメル
03.Sweet?
04.smile
05.夏恋
06.Sympathy

 From the tour T-shirt

Introduction

Hello world,

I created this blog with travel log in mind but I will also be writing live or event reports and occasional translation stuff. Feel free to leave comments and I'll try my best to reply them.

Upcoming trip- Tokyo, Japan.

Upcoming lives/events-

4/12  EXO 'Hello' Greeting Party in Japan (also Sehun's birthday)
4/17  シド 渋谷公会堂
4/19 CLAMU talk & handshake event