To sum it up, the 5×10 Anniversary Tour Sapporo Concert was AMAZING. I’m so glad I was able to make it, despite traveling halfway across the world to see their show. Of course, it was worth it to be part of their 10th anniversary. Aside from a minor disturbance that night involving a combini-bought sandwich, I had a great time at the concert.

It was starting to get dark around 5:00pm when we emerged from the station. Of course to make things easier, it was still raining outside. There were even more people than in the morning carrying umbrellas. It was just a sea of umbrellas heading towards the dome.

I was a little worried about getting inside the dome. Since I’ve never seen a concert in Japan before, plus we had fan club tickets, I wasn’t really sure how easy it was to slip in unnoticed. However, as we were scoping out the gates from the south entrance, it seemed like people were going in without much of a hassle. There was the obligatory bag search, followed by this uchiwa measuring station, but they didn’t seem to be checking IDs. We figured it would be safe to go in, since we blend well with the crowd. Luckily, I think I was overly paranoid, because it was much easier than I thought. No one asked me anything, so I didn’t have worry about speaking in Japanese to verify my name on the ticket. Once we got in we just bee-lined for our seats, so we knew we’d be safe for the night.

Since it was still early when we got in, my sister made the mistake of trying to go to the washroom. I stayed seated for about half an hour before I got curious and tried to look for her. The lineups were insane outside. It practically looped around three times to the point where you didn’t know where to line up! Needless to say, she didn’t make it in prior to the show. We ended up going to the washroom during the concert when it was guaranteed to be empty. (More worries, I didn’t miss anything important!)

At around 6:00pm, the crowds were already chanting ‘Arashi, Arashi’. However, there were still people trickling in, so it was past 6:00pm before there were any signs of the show starting. But the moment that the lights dimmed, everyone went insane cheering. You could hear the members’ voices singing Kansha Ame from the front, but it wasn’t until the lights turned on that you realized they were actually hanging off wires! They flew from this balloon all way towards the back before descending onto the moving stage. It was awesome! And here I thought I had missed the flying from their Kokuritsu concerts!

Anyway, since my memory is a little muddled, I’ll post the set list and pick out the ones I want to highlight –

Kansha Ame Kangeki
Arashi
Lucky Man
Kaze no Mukou e
We Can Make It
Crazy Moon – Kimi wa Muteki (I will never get sick of watching them dance to this song!)

Then they broke off for Aiba’s solo. I’m really sad to say this, but I think they made a big mistake with the song. I mean, Pikanchi? Then they had to add this whole marching band to the song. I mean, I love Aiba for trying and it totally wasn’t his fault, but it seriously did not work for me. I feel horrible for saying that. Gomen Aiba-chan!

Then the set list got to old school Arashi –

Horizon
Dangan Liner
Allergy
Kokoro Chirari
Carnival Night Part 2

OMG. They brought out the vegetables again!!! I can’t fathom anything more embarrassing than dancing with onions and carrots.

Then it was Nino’s solo! I remember hearing him perform Niji last year and thinking, ‘how could anyone get more talented than playing Niji on the piano?’ Then he comes and plays Kotoba Yori on the guitar! He seriously rocked that guitar! *Wipes off drool*

Continuing on, I really love the next song –

Everything
Hitomi no Naka no Galaxy (butt touching interaction included)
Aozora Pedal
Typhoon Generation

Okay. Everytime I hear Nino’s intro to this song, I always get really giddy. Well, giddy is just an understatement, but you know what I mean. But SERIOUSLY. I nearly DIED from hearing it LIVE! Nino was being so cute in front of the camera too! DIES. (Resurrects for the second night concert, then DIES again).

Kumorinochi, Kaisei

While all the other solos were a bit of a surprise, I had a good idea what to expect out of this solo. Yet even though the element of surprise was taken away, Riidaa did not disappoint and pulled an amazing performance. He was super cute in his Uta Onii costume as he danced on the moving stage. He had these enormous helium balloons hanging off the stage too. I would have been so happy if I could have been one of his balloon holders!

A Day in our Life
Hadashi no Mirai (I love how this one always get the crowd moving!)
Oh Yeah!
Step and Go
Beautiful Days

Next up was the MC break. Unfortunately since my Japanese is limited, I caught little of the actual talk. But I did manage to catch that Sho’s fly was open! (Teasing ensued afterwards.) All the members mentioned their upcoming projects. Poor Jun was mistaken as Ohno during his trip to Shanghai. Hehehe. Nino of course promoted his Wii release! Sho was the first to leave in the midst of the MC talk. I don’t know if he was signaling to go to the washroom, but he seemed like he was in a rush to get off stage! Of course, that would make sense, because the next song was –

Tomadoi nagara

To be honest, I couldn’t really recall many things from the MC onwards. This is when the combini-bought sandwich came and wrecked the next hour for me.

After eating this sandwich part way through the show, I got super nauseous. I think it had to do with the fact that the sandwich was rotten (obviously did not know that prior to eating it). So for the next hour or so, I had to sit down with a plastic bag in my hand in case I got really sick. I was sooooo embarrassed. Luckily everyone was paying attention to the front. Well, except for this boy in the next aisle who kept looking at me to see if I was violently ill. Anyway, this made it as the most uncool thing to EVER happen at an Arashi concert.

Finally after an hour, the nausea passed and I was able to enjoy the rest of the concert. But I have learned my lesson never to buy sandwiches from the combini again.

So…in the midst of my dilemma, I kind of ‘missed’ the next few songs. Sorry for the lack of comments here, but I will get to them for the second show. Right after Sho was Jun”s solo –

Wish
Boku ga Boku no Subete
Attack It!
Truth
Ashita no Kioku

Next up was the 5×10 medley –

A.RA.SHI
Sunrise Nippon
Kimi no Tameni Boku ga Iru
Jidai
Nice na Kororo
Pikanchi
Tomadoi nagara
Kotoba Yori
Hero
Sakura Sake
Wish
Kitto Daijoubu
Love So Sweet
Happiness
Believe
5×10

5×10 was beautiful. Especially the part leading to the climax, when all the streamers and fireworks flew from the stage. I think everyone in the audience got a little teary. The lady sitting beside my sister was crying!

Afterwards, it was the encore –

Encore 1
Pikanchi Double (Poor Sho messed up on the rap at the end!)
Asu ni Mukatte
Dekiru Dake
One Love

Encore 2
Fight Song (They changed the lyrics! And Riidaa sang in high pitch!)
Gori Muchuu
My Girl

I think ending with My Girl was very appropriate. It was like one of those songs that you purposely end with so that the audience will know it’s their cue to leave! Hehehe. However, I don’t think the audience tried hard enough to force a third encore.

Anyway, the night ended perfectly. It stopped raining when we got out, which was a nice change as it rained non-stop the entire day. However it was seriously time consuming making our way towards the exits since there were so many people exiting at the same time. I’m glad they had organized it by rows so we weren’t packed like a can of sardines in the hallways.

So aside from my obvious mistake of eating that combini-bought sandwich, I’d say this night was pretty good! Of course Day 2 is coming right up!