In the end, the flight landed early and I managed to get to my hotel by about 4pm to pick up the tickets and to rest a tiny bit before I had to head out to take the Chuo line across town to get to Shibuya. And I have to say Tsutaya O-East was pretty hard to find. I got really lost even with Google maps on navigation. And even after I managed to find the place where all the live houses were, there were so many people around, I didn't see the sign for O-East and could only find O-West. I must have walked past the entrance to O-East 5 times and asked 3 different people who kept sending me to the correct general area.... but WHERE IS O-EAST??? was the only thing that was echoing in my heart and I was starting to panic a little as 6pm approached.
Finally, I asked a security guard and he said, "O-East is here, on the 2nd floor." Thank you sooooo much security guard!!! Hahahaha.... I walked past the place like so many times. Who would have known that it was on the 2nd floor. LOL They had signs and all but for some reason, I didn't see them. :P
It was a fun live. I really like this live house feel. And the location was small. Even though my number was 600+, I was still able to see their faces so clearly when I wasn't blocked by a taller people in front of me. Being short kinda sucks sometimes. :(
They started the night with Magia which I felt was a little shakey but they soon warmed up and most of the night, they sounded pretty amazing to me. Identify was soooooo fun and they had many rocking sections which got the crowd pretty high. They sang what I felt was one of the best Ongaku rendition I have heard at a live. It was awesome. I was amazed that they managed to make Hikari Furu sound so beautiful in a small live house. And I was swaying to songs like Kimi no Gin no Niwa and Alleluia both of which I loved.
BUT the absolute highlight for the night for me was when they sang Samidare ga Sugita Koro ni (五月雨が過ぎた頃に). This was a song that I had been hoping and hoping I would be lucky enough to hear at a live. I was hoping that they might sing it at the "far on the water" lives at the Tokyo Forum because they have been switching out their final song at every live on the tour. But now, I don't have to hope. When they sang Samidare, I was beside myself in JOY!!!! And it was beautiful. I hope they sing it again tonight. But even if they don't, I feel so happy that I have already heard it live at least once in my life.
To be honest, I have been questioning myself since I decided to go for these 8th Anniversary lives. Was I perhaps being too YOLO and Carpe Diem etc. I was already going to the "far on the water" SP lives at the end of this month and had extended to see Ieiri Leo at Zepp Diver which was happening two days later. Then I extended my stay by a whole week just to see Kalafina at the 8th Anniversary Lives. I still have the Mar/April trip to Japan which I was already committed to go. So was I being crazy. In the end, I am very glad that I decided to go. Who knows when this opportunity would come again. I am going to five lives in 13 days, four of which are Kalafina lives. It may be a bit mad but the older I get, the more I feel that life is short and we need to make use of our opportunities best we can, as long as it's within reason of course. Like going into debt to realize impractical dreams etc, that's not good. :P But other than that... we should live life the best we can. My philosophy in life right now. :D
So yes, I am very very very happy that I made the decision to go to the 8th Anniversary lives. Last night was awesome. The girls were happy and excited. They were very chatty too and although I couldn't understand a lot of what they said, people around me reacted happily so I figured it must all be happy good stuff. :) I know they said that Keiko wanted to climb Mt. Fuji this summer and was trying to get Hikaru and Wakana to go, I think. Hikaru said at the live that she was seriously considering climbing Mt. Fuji with Keiko which got Keiko super excited that she ran over to hug Hikaru. That left Wakana pouting saying that she felt left out or something like that. She then went over and I think they all agreed to climb Mt. Fuji together. LOL Keiko was like ultra happy and all of them hugging and all. :)
They were also encouraging people to "dance" to the music whenever possible. And the crowd was very good. I "danced" the most I ever had at a Kalafina live. With a crowd so good, it was hard not to get into the mood of things too. :) And at the end they asked us to try and sing "lalalalala" during Samidare. I, of course, tried. :)
Awesome live!! I had such a good time. :)
I wanna try and head out soon. Need to do some shopping and then try and go to O-East early to buy something for someone. I woke up later than I wanted so it's pretty late for me already. So I have to rush a little.
So here are photos of the goods before I head out. :)
This is one of the tokuten charms you get for buying something at the live. There are like 7 different colors, I think. I can't remember. You can only pick one.
These are photos of the cookie tin and the cookie inside. These cookies are just simply too pretty to eat!! :)
Here are photos of the keyholder and the wrist bands. That keyholder is pretty big. But it's quite pretty. :)
I never used to get the wrist bands but since Keiko said that she liked seeing them when we raise our hands up at the lives, I have started getting them. Yup, will use this one at the live tonight.
Also, Hikaru's getting really good at selling their goods. She went on and on about the different ways to use the wrist bands and showed us all that the design on this wrist band is a full 360 degrees. :) How could I not buy this? :P
Finally, they gave us all a message card with the package that held the questionaire and the flyers that they give out at every live. It's not a thick card. It's on a thin, a little glossy and smooth piece of paper. I was quite happy to get this unexpected gift. :)
Oh.... almost forgot about this. If you spent 3000 yen and above, you get this poster. :) I bought the Kalafina 2014 tour live CD to get this. :)
Okay.... I need to dash. Need to kickstart this day. :)
cheers
Oh wow, they actually played Samidare at last? Some people seem to be speculating it'll be played during the Special Finals, which would be nice if they decide to release a live, which may well happen. Setlist sounds pretty solid from the songs you've mentioned too, plus if the girls seemed really happy then that's the most important part. Here's to many more anniversaries :).
ReplyDeleteHaha, the thought of them climbing Mt. Fuji together is a pretty amusing one. Sounds like something that could be fun to do. I hope they make a blog post about it if they do it.
That little message card is adorable, I wonder what it says. Presumably it's just thanks to their fans for the support, but still, it's a lovely idea. And ahhh, that's where you get those promo posters. I know Wakana showed one off in her blogpost, they look really nice. Shall have to keep an eye out on auctions to see if I can pick one up, although if this is the only way to get them they're going to be... expensive. Probably still cheaper and easier to find than a Seventh Heaven promo though :<.
Yup... they sang Samidare on both nights. I LOVED it. It was really beautifully sung and I sang with them too. I was speculating too that they may sing them at the Special Final lives. I'm not sure if they would now since they sang it at the Anniv lives but they still may since it hasn't shown up during the "fotw" tour yet. I would be happy to hear it again. Such a lovely song and a lovely song to listen to live.
ReplyDeleteIdentify is really awesome live too. It was really really good during the Anniv lives. It was really one of the songs that stuck in my mine on both days.
I think if they do climb Mt. Fuji, it would be on the blog. :) Would be nice to see that blog post.
That message card is really sweet. And you are right, it is pretty much messages of thanks to their fans. But I really liked getting the message card. It was unexpected and I thought very thoughtful of them to print one for us.
Yeah, the promo posters aren't the easiest to get your hands on. I have one for "fotw" and this one now. Very please to be able to get both. Seventh Heaven stuff isn't cheap at all. I wanted to buy the LE of the album. But really expensive. :( I stopped trying already. :P
Thanks for writing. :)
Chat again another day. I'm off to snuggle under some warm blankets and get some sleep.
oyasumi!! :)