Let’s begin by saying that it was by far one of the best concerts I’ve been to! The atmosphere was amazing and their performance was utterly stunning. Arashi really knew how to get the crowds worked up and everyone was standing and cheering throughout the show. I’ve never seen fans so excited before, so I’m glad I had the chance to experience it firsthand.

On the first day of the concert, we decided to head to the arena early and line up for concert goods. We got there around 9:30am and the lines were already packed. The line doubled around half the arena and it took us nearly 4hrs to get to the front. The line up wasn’t terrible as the weather held up for the most part and we could tell that the workers behind the counters were moving feverishy to get all the orders in. So happy with all the con goods I picked up!

We went back to the hotel shortly afterwards to drop off the stuff before heading out for the arena again. It was getting dark outside when we arrived, but the crowds at the arena were very lively. Glowsticks and uchiwas were popping up left to right. We made it in a bit early for the show and sat there waiting for the concert to start.

Everyone was cheering madly when the lights started dimming. Love So Sweet was the first song performed during both shows and Arashi made their way down from the main stage towards the back. I was simply amazed by the way they were able to work the 360° stage. There wasn’t one corner of the arena that they didn’t get to. Lucky enough for me, Sho-kun was towards the right of the arena the majority of the time so I was very happy for the view.

The atmosphere was great for both shows, although the fans were more hesitant to leave the arena the second night and Arashi had to come back for a third encore. =)

*****

The individual performances at the concert were a highlight. Sho’s solo was awesome as he danced and rapped on the moving stage. Niji was beatiful with Nino on the piano at the front. Ohno’s ‘Take me faraway’ was equally moving, although the sound system somwhat distorted his beautiful voice. Jun’s solo was great purely because of his MJ walk. On the second night, it seemed like the stunt coordinators released his wires too quickly and dropped him very low to the ground – hence his hands were touching the stage as he hung upside down. A little scary, but overall a good performance and the crowd loved it. Aiba was really cute with his harmonica solo at the end.

I think I have more appreciation for their songs now that I’ve heard them live. Everytime I hear a song they sang I repay the image of them at the concert. I can also picture everyone’s uchiwas moving in tune with the music, especially when everyone followed the movements to songs like Arashi and Hadashi no Mirai.

*****

After the first string of songs, the members all introduced themselves in Mandarin. Matsujun kept saying ‘我愛你們’ and the crowds would arrupt in cheers. Sho was trying to say ‘等了很久’ but no one could understand his Mandarin. Everyone made fun of him as he awkwardly tried to explain himself. Aiba was telling the crowd how they ate 小籠包 non-stop the past few days and had a combined total of 300 buns! It was funny because he had problems pronouncing the words, so it sounded more like 小籠POW! Too cute.

The talk midway through was hard to understand as everyone spoke Japanese and the translator’s voice was overlapped half the time by Aibaka. Hehehe. On the second night Sho had to apologize to the audience because he made a mistake in the dance segment for ‘Yes? No?’. They all did a replay and Sho was blatantly out of alignment from the rest of the members who were standing in a straight diagonal line. His arms also hung out limpy at the sides. All the members were teasing him as he had a least amount of choreography to memorize since he was at standing at the back. Poor Sakurai. =)

*****

It was funny the second night of the concert because I sat next to a guy who was obviously dragged to the concert by his girlfriend. I think he enjoyed the music enough, but was probably not amused by the screaming fangirls. I guess it didn’t help that I smacked him with my uchiwa when he was getting up to leave before the second encore. Oops.

Again they performed Kansha Ame Arashi and the took the lift up towards the crowds in the 300 section. It was the closest they got us. I swear Matsujun was looking in our direction the whole time, so I pray that he saw our uchiwas from a distance!

The atmosphere at the second show was definitely better than the first. After the second encore, the audience still refused to leave. The announcers kept saying the concert was over and asked everyone to exit the arena. Needless to say, none of the fans moved. Everyone kept chanting ‘Arashi, Arashi‘ and successfully drowned out the announcer’s messages. Finally, they appeared back on the stage, but Matsujun was clear to point out that this was in fact the ‘saigo, 最後一收歌’. Even though it was the last song, I’m glad they concluded it with Hero.

I was on a high after the concert both nights, which probably was a good thing as it gave me the neccessary energy to make it back to the hotel in one piece. =)

I really hope to be able to fly back to Taipei for a concert in later years. Hopefully I’ll have better seats the next time I go! And I’ll definitely need to invest in a proper light sign so they can see us from a distance!