credit marcasitevah from livejournal
many thanks to her....
SMAP Concert
So, here is my report of the con, finally.
I stayed at my friend Mindy's place Friday night. We left and picked up Pam on Saturday morning, and then drove to Niigata. We got to the con really early to buy goods. OK, they bought goods and I sat in the shade holding our spot there. Lucky me! It's really because I only wanted a few goods and they wanted more. The penlights were pretty cool. They are giant balls. The button makes it change colors. From the package (or as best as I can remember):
1 Push – Sparkling Sapphire
2 Push – Glowing Emerald
3 Push – Kaleidoscope
4 Push – Shining Jewel
5 Push – Off
Before the concert, my friends told me that I should be Tsuyoshi's fan. So, for a few weeks, I planned to be his fan. When they made my uchiwa before the concert, they decided I should be Goro's fan. Not that I was upset or anything, but I was a little surprised. I don't have a favorite in SMAP so it didn't really matter to me whose fan I was. It was just a shock to my head to change so fast! Mindy is a Shingo fan, and Pam is a Nakai fan. Our friend Lisa is a Goro fan, while Cat and Samantha are Nakai and Kimura fans, respectively. Which meant that we didn't have a Tsuyoshi fan in our group, but what can you do?
First, a word about our seats. We were on the first row of the stands. Right by the hanamachi on one side of the stage. In plain view. Fantastic! Even better – two rows behind us there were three (yes three) hot (very hot) fanboys. Anytime we turned around they were right there! And they screamed – well, two of them did. One was a Nakai fan. The other a Tsuyoshi fan. It was totally adorable.
So, to start off the concert, we watch naked baby SMAP on a screen. They crawl around and talk in the jungle. Then, some animals come, and they run off. Eventually, they turn into adults (and there is a black bar to cover their privates). They jump and then appear! Like we predicted they came "flying" down from the top of the stage to the end of the center stage. (One of the themes for the con was "fly" so we figured they would fly).
I don't know enough about SMAP songs, and I sure as hell can't remember the set list, so the rest of this report will be a bit scattered. They sang a few (three?) songs in these dark red textured costumes they appeared in. Then, they ran off stage, and we got to see SMAP as jungle animals. Kimura was a lion. Tsuyoshi was a parrot. Nakai was a monkey or sloth or something. Shingo was a lizard or chameleon. And my memory is failing me as to what Goro was. Anyway, Tsuyoshi talked a lot. Shingo ate a bug. It was funny.
They reappeared, this time in more non-costumed clothing. Shingo had on a lot of bright pink. Tsuyoshi wore some funky blue patterned pants. Nakai had on yellow. Takuya and Goro didn't stand out as wearing crazy clothes. They sang some more songs and danced. They did the Locomotion song as well, which was a little silly.
Now, my memory gets a little hazy. I think when they disappeared this time, they showed us some of the 3-D footage. Before the concert started everyone got a pair of 3-D glasses. Some screens would come down on the stage and we would put on the glasses and watch stuff. The first set was just the guys playing around with things – bats, throwing things at the camera, "flying." It ended with them all standing on top of a building and then falling off.
At some point they had a little dance off. It was quite cute. They wore black suits with the long coats for that part. Kimura kissed Shingo. The boys acted silly. Tsuyoshi did some backflips – like a bunch in a row. I was impressed! Nakai finally got to sing his Christmas songs, and they even had fake snow fall from the top of the stage.
At one point they all sang different parts from various songs. Goro did Lionheart (a very strange arrangement of it too). I don't remember the others. But, it lead into Triangle. At one part when they were all going down the hanamachi and stuff, Kimura saw us. My friend's uchiwa said give us a kiss, so Kimura did a cute little turn and a very exaggerated kiss! Goro didn't see us because he was up in the cherry picker, and well, he is afraid of heights. The others didn't see us at this point either, but that's OK. Kimura blew a kiss to my friend!
During the MC, they panned the camera over the crowd. At one point the camera was in the section right beside us! We were so close to being on screen at the con! The story they told about the con was great. They wanted to have it in Niigata last year, but the town wasn't ready after the earthquake. This year, SMAP insisted that they have the con in Niigata, no matter what. So, even though there was supposed to be a soccer game that day, they moved it somehow so SMAP could perform! Tsuyoshi and Shingo (I think Shingo) visited some people last year who were still in temporary houses and asked them to please come to the concert when it was in Niigata. So, they asked those people to stand up. It was cute.
The solos were great. Shingo went first with his. It started off by showing the video, which features him and Koda Kumi (who sings with him on the song). The song is really addicting, and the dancing was great. The video kept playing, and near the end of it, Koda Kumi actually licked Shingo's fingers. Needless to say the crowd went crazy. Then, Shingo reappeared, and walked through some waterfall on the stage making himself really wet.
Tsuyoshi's solo song, Tokio, is a lot of fun. First, the screen showed SMAP in places all over the world. For some reason, though, Tsuyoshi was in North Korea. Anyway, Japan sinks into the sea, and Tsuyoshi comes out with a lasso and brings it back. The camera then zooms onto Niigata! The song starts, and he came out with a vest that had light bulbs on it and it would light up. Near the end of the song, they strapped him into a harness and he got pulled up to the top of the stage. These red and white parachutes fell from the top.
Shingo and Kimura sang a duet, where Kimura also played the guitar. Nakai's solo was funny. It started and ended with an IM-like conversation. There was some "fan" that yelled at Nakai near the end of the solo. She told him to stop wearing hats, and that the faces he made for the uchiwa weren't good. It was great fun.
Goro's solo was awesome as well. His jacket was really awesome, and he just looked perfect. His song is a Japanese remake of an older one ("L is for the way you look at me…"). He liked to disappear and reappear on different parts of the stage. The women back dancers had letters for their head – LOVE and GORO. Kimura did another solo, and it included a part where he stood on the piano. Whee!
It was nearing the end of the con. I was starting to get sad from the lack of love. OK, not really, but I was a little sad. As Goro, Shingo and Nakai came by I figured it was my last chance. I mean, there we were – three foreign fans, with our favorites coming by. So, Shingo goes by and I am sure he waved at my friend. Goro comes by, waving, and suddenly sees me. He waves! I wave and giggle. Goro then turns around and stares at me. No, I am not making this up. Goro stared at me as he made the final turn. He didn't look at the other fans. As soon as Nakai had passed by, Mindy screamed and scared the crap out of Pam. Goro loves me!
The encore was perfect. They used the 3-D screen to announce 5 seats that got to go up on stage and dance with them! One was an older woman (like 60 or 70), and a little girl. The older woman was in a kimono, and when she left she kissed Nakai's hand. He had the silliest expression. They came back out on the main stage a little later, and this is where one of my friends got really lucky. Kimura saw her sign that said she was from America. So what did he do? He threw his shirt to her. Seriously. She caught it, but so did the girl in front of her. They ended up cutting it in half.
Needless to say, I had a ton of fun! I might even be a SMAP fan now. Maybe.
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Subject: a fan report from Pop UP Smap concert 