[CON] You & Jin @ Nissay Theatre 15/02/2010 18:00
Here's the short version of my thoughts on 'You & Jin'.
Did I love the songs? Not all of them, no. Damn that autotune.
Did I love the show? Hell, yes, every last second.
And make no mistake - it is a show, not a concert, and it's fantastic.
(I quite often get asked this on my con reports so to save time: feel free to quote/repost/translate if you want, but please credit me. Thanks.)
'You & Jin' @ Nissay Theatre 15/02/2010 18:00
My first encounter with Jin's solo show made one hell of an impression on me. I'd seen the news coverage, heard the fanrecordings, read the lyrics, and none of that prepared me for what I got tonight. Nissay Theatre is right by Hibiya Station, thankfully, so even someone with my amazing talent for getting lost was safe, and I made it there by about 5:20.
I was a bit apprehensive about having a fanclub ticket tonight because this was the first show I've been to where they've said they'll be randomly checking IDs, but I got through, no problem. In fact there wasn't even a bag check, which came as a surprise to me. There was, however, a ridiculously long goods queue. Next time I'll get there earlier! I managed to get my goods about five minutes before showtime, found my seat (1st floor, row K), and marvelled at how good a view I was going to get. My other two tickets are both second floor, so I will not be seeing facial expressions from up there, I'll bet.
On the stage the 'You & Jin' logo was displayed in Japanese and English, there were drumsets out, and tables down the front where some really lucky fans were sitting, looking glamorous. Not that the rest of us were looking too shabby either, despite the pouring rain that had done its best to reduce us all to drowned rats. The crowd seemed to be mostly female but I did spot a large clump of guys towards the back, and almost everyone but me was clutching their English lyrics like gold dust. Very high tension. Overall, it was a bit like being in an underground club, because the walls give the impression that you're in a cavern, but the colourful lights and shiny surfaces assure you you're definitely not in the Stone Age.
A couple of "robot" dancers came out as waiters, very shiny. I'm not sure of the exact number of men there were in total but other than Jin, Josh and Joey (don't they sound like a set of triplets?) there were four guys, I think? The robots were of their number and they brought out a table. Everything got quite chaotic for a bit as equally shiny girls in bright wigs came out with hoola hoops, and one girl was balanced on a seesaw while working two hoops - very impressive. Some of the dancers came through the audience, getting the crowd worked up, while girls served drinks to those at the tables. Everything was shiny and futuristic - a bit like an episode of Buck Rogers, with an '80s kind of future vibe. You know, all that was missing was a couple of catgirls, and I wouldn't swear there weren't any,
Joey Tee (or however you spell it) came out to sit on the edge of the stage for a bit and talk to the audience, and then Josh came out. I thought he was quite cute, actually. He stumbled over what he was saying a little when he addressed us in Japanese, and had a laugh over it as the others made light fun of him. One of the dancers was wandering around with an umbrella I think he picked up from the audience? (It's been pouring with rain all day.) He stood under it with Josh for a bit, and a couple of the guys danced with some audience members. They all did a great job of working us up, I have to say.
Jin came on in baggy torn jeans (how are they staying up?), a white hoodie and sunglasses, with his hair tied back. He high-fived and hugged everyone on the stage and asked us, in English, if we were ready. Then we had the music box version of Eternal with the robot dancing, which Jin did over to the drums. As Jin hit individual drumbeats the lights would come on one by one, and then Kouji drummed and Jin joined in. The "robots" began to move in time, leading us to...
Christmas Morning - Jin knocked out a robot with a drumstick, chopping it off at the waist. This was quite creepy because the torso was then lying flat on the table while the table, with legs still attached, walked off. Having now seen how flexible the one girl is I suspect that was her in disguise. I freely admit I couldn't understand a word of the song because it was so distorted, and very high-pitched. Not a great opening number. Jin's got such a lovely voice - why hide it with the damned autotune? While standing behind the drums still Jin played the floating guitar a bit (no, not an air guitar - it was a real guitar, it just floated and flew away). Meanwhile, the stage had become clear of stage props so I could actually see FiVe.
I would love to talk about FiVe but because of the lighting I didn't get to see much. Daisuke had a lovely plaid shirt that looks like it came from Kame's wardrobe (or possibly Jin's), Rikiya wore a hat the entire time and in fact looked like a member of A.B.C backdancing for Kame's solo during QoP, Ryota got hidden by dancers a lot and I don't remember Kouji being so blond.
Keep It Up - Lots of this was sung by female singers, but I don't mind because it's a very lively, catchy song and good fun to dance to, not to mention easier to understand! Lots of dancing in a row, and of course the thrusting under the female dancer that I imagine everyone's seen on the news. And...er, I missed something because I was looking elsewhere at the time, but Jin's hand was between Joey's legs. I don't know if he was doing him up or what, but I'm sure there's some good reason for this...
Wonder - lots of screams for this. The PV played in the background and one of the female dancers was dancing very close with Jin, but I have to say he looked kind of bored. Very "strictly business".
I.N.P. - Oh, this was lively. Outlines of the continents done in lights came down from the ceiling - these hung around for several songs and came back at the end, actually. Videos played in the background of Jin with money, and an international party invitation. Too much voice distortion again - the girls had a turn too - but it was still good fun, and I ended up feeling like I, too, wanted to take a shot and grab a girl. (Well, they were all really pretty girls.) Lots of high-fiving and smiling, a real party atmosphere. The lyrics, though... Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a "hoe" a garden implement? Should I be worried that a scandal is about to break where it turns out that Jin secretly carries on with gardening tools?
Adjust the Love - More distortion, but less annoying now. The stage was cleared and it was just Jin and Josh, spotlit in the dark. They took it in turns to rap the song (Josh looked kind of lost when it wasn't his turn to sing). Meanwhile, girls with illuminated hoola hoops and wands went past in the dark. Finally the two guys rapped together, and you know, while this is one of the songs I don't actually like, I liked it at the show because damnit, Jin can sell me on anything when he looks like he's enjoying himself, and he certainly looked that way tonight.
The girls brought four screens on wheels to the stage and circled around Jin. I thought they were mirrors at first, but while he was inside they started playing video footage of him. When they opened the screens again he'd disappeared, but we could see him going down through the trapdoor on the stage.
A Page - Jin reappeared from the floor, this time with baggy shorts and a black and white hooded top, hood up. Rocking the zebra look, Akanishi. A translucent screen came down over the stage so they could project shapes on it. Some were diamonds, I think? I don't really recall except I could've sworn some of them looked like TIE fighters. Jin eventually ended up standing underneath a globe outlined in light.
Lovejuice - more screams. The fangirls will scream for anything they recognise, I think. Jin removed the hood to reveal a cap. Appropriately, there was one girl in a red dress, but another showed up later to join the dance as well. Barcodes projected behind them as they danced, and there was strobe lighting too. In my opinion the English was a great deal clearer than it used to be.
Hatachi no Sensou - Clips from Bandage played on the screens. Only Jin, FiVe and three backing singers were on stage, and the singers kept well back - this was the situation until the intermission, if I recall correctly. Jin stood with the microphone, singing with his hands in his pockets some of the time, and holding the stand with one hand (and picking it up!) for the rest. He went to sit down quickly after the song to have a drink at the back while Daisuke played a piano intro to...
Bandage - More film footage from the movie, but also from the PV, including the pink bunny! Jin tapped along with the mic stand during instrumental parts, and went to get another drink afterwards.
Then for my favourite part - Care. It was shown on the screen with a clock, to the sounds of excited fangirl murmurings. Jin pushed the hood back and let his hair down, yay! It kept falling in his eyes, though. He made little jerks with the mic stand as he sang, which sometimes helped push it away, but it didn't last. It sounded beautiful. ^_^ He went to the back of the stage to conduct the last bit, then disappeared down the trapdoor. 'INTERMISSION' flashed up on the screen, then Josh came out and said they were going to take a thirty minute break if that was okay! (What if it hadn't have been okay?)
During the break, the ladies down the front got their drinks refreshed and I desperately tried to write up some notes in a way that would make sense later! You see, it's very hard to write good notes in the dark, when the only light you've got is laser shooting across your vision.
After the interval one of the girls came out doing a scarf dance; the others followed suit till the stage was very crowded! Then Jin, a couple of the girls, a couple of the guys and Rikiya (playing guitar) sat in a circle of chairs round the front of the stage to sing "Halleluya". Others sat in small clusters around the edge of the stage, giving it the overall appearance of a campfire singalong, or perhaps a scene out of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. The lyrics appeared on the screens in Japanese, though I doubt anyone cared as it was quite spellbinding. Jin didn't sing many lines by himself, actually, and he sounded somewhat raspy, but in a way that suited the song very well. I guess he's getting sick again? Or just feeling the strain of the shows, maybe, though they're structured in such a way he's not putting too much strain on his voice. He was wearing the jeans, black jacket and fedora by this point, by the way, and looked very smiley and pretty.
Then the screen flashed up 'Change', for which Joey backdanced. I've written notes over notes here that I can't make out at all except the word "distortion" (oh, the irony), and...ah, okay, got it. Jin wandered down to the tables in the front, and I couldn't see what he was doing but it got a lot of screams from the people who could. Then he sat on the moving stage/trolley/whatever and rolled into the audience for a very short MC. I didn't follow all of it but more about the meaning of the show's title, his collaboration with Crystal Kay, DVDs, Joey's award-winning dance skills (to be fair, he was excellent). He kept stumbling over his words, especially "collaboration", and the girls around me were all whispering "kawaii". He kind of hid under his hat for a bit, there. So cute!
My other favourite part of the concert came next - Paparats, which is amazing and has to be seen live. Kaneko Nobuaki needs to collaborate on more songs with Jin because this was awesome, and I need a better quality version. (First person who tells me to record one myself will be shot.) It reminds me a lot of Nuno Bettencourt in style, actually - not with Extreme, but his solo stuff? I loved it. Jin's rasping worked great here, as a sort of angry rock god throwing himself into the performance the way he practically threw himself off the stage during some performances of Moon last year. On the screen, the title blazed angry red with lightning bolts crossing through it. Watch out, paparazzi! So much passion and it was all incredible. More songs like this, please!
Hey Girl was seriously entertaining. So in the background we had video footage of a) Ryo, Jin and Josh in the studio, working on the song (I approve of Ryo's Beatles T-shirt) and b) world's cockiest male poodle, animated. What made the performance even more entertaining was that interrupting Jin, Joey and co. dancing (and Jin and Josh rapping) was someone in the poodle outfit, who was no mean dancer himself despite the unwieldy costume. Some of the girls came out all poodled-up, with little white tails, bracelets and stuff, and one of them followed Jin across the stage. Meanwhile, yet another girl with a hula hoop. Methinks Jin got fixated on that episode of CKT where Kame shows us who's really got the moves and is now obsessed with the hula hoop. These girls are amazing, by the way. Everyone on stage was amazing.
Jin disappeared and everyone else danced for a bit. Joey and one of the other guys came down to the audience to get us to clap in time, and the world dance session started. Jin showed up in a white overall, still with hat and tie, and the reason for this became apparent later. I might be missing some of these or getting them in the wrong order, but there was a Pop Dance with Jin, Joey and one amazingly flexible girl, which convinced me Jin could have a successful career as a mime. He's got great control over his body. Joey's also excellent and the girl did things that made my thighs ache in sympathy.
Then it was Jin and two guys for a Screen Dance, and this was fascinating. Okay, so the white jumpsuits changed colour depending on the light, so what they did was move in ways that would affect the material e.g. wiping off a chunk of colour, which was all done with light. I thought it was pretty cool, personally. Jin was, at one point, clad in tiny briefs with this incredibly fake, muscular chest, and then he was underwater with all the bubbles. He and the guy on the left used giant straws to suck up the "bubbles" from the middle guy, and then all three men were left with nothing but beating hearts. These burst into flames, so they tipped "buckets" over their heads, letting colour run out over their bodies. They had suits projected onto the overalls, then casual clothes, and then "Thanks".
The Trickin' Dance was Joey and one of the other guys, and then the Lock Dance, which involved two of the other guys, but then Jin came up from below to join them. He lit a cigarette, blew smoke, then the cigarette flew away and returned to his lips. (Laziest smoker ever? You be the judge.) He extinguished it, there was some sort of scarf dance going on, and one of the guys replaced Jin's hat with another one. The hat flew around, he caught it, no injuries this time as far as I am aware. He had sunglasses on just for that bit, I think.
Hip Hop Dance - Jin and all the guys except Josh, who clearly doesn't dance. This led into Ha-Ha, complete with lots of screaming fangirls, screen projections of Jin and girls looking seedy, and black-clad dancers throwing themselves at Jin's feet. There was a little bit of hip movement but not much. Jin did a lot of dancing with his hands tonight; not so much elsewhere.
My MP3 - I applaud Jin's desire to drag his songs into the digital age but I'm afraid he wasn't all that clear in some parts, with the result being I misheard one line as "I'm his girl". My immediate response to that was, "Whose? Kame's? Yes, we knew that already." Mostly I remember this song for being all silver and black, very high-tech, with what looked like a Rubik's Cube of the title rolling round the screen.
The continents came back down again for Reset. Again, just Josh and Jin rapping on a dark stage, then others came to sing, with Jin being all happy and smiley again and messing around with one of the other guys and his microphone the way he does with Maru. Much audience waving in time.
Eternal - Jin stood on top of a platform, in front of what I thought was a projected sphere but actually turned out to be a physical structure. Different coloured lights shone through it, forming continents, and at one point Jin appeared to be inside it, though I suspect that was due to the angle at which I viewed it as he didn't move. (If he'd moved, he'd have fallen!) The other spotlight was on Daisuke playing keyboards in the corner; the stage was dark, otherwise. Eternal sounded a little quiet in places but it's such a beautiful song and I'm happy to hear it in tune. ^_^
They finished with Keep It Up again, during which Jin went out down the aisles to give the audience heart attacks. He didn't come all the way down - eight feet away from me, not bad, though not as close as at Fukuoka - and from that distance I was reminded again just how damned pretty this guy is. He introduced everyone, so they all did a little solo bit to show off, and Josh introduced Jin...kind of! I couldn't hear over the music and crowd but it sounded like 'Yamashita Pi', to me, to which Jin retorted with his own name. Everyone was having a great time on the stage, singing, dancing and clapping, all really happy. I love to see Jin enjoying himself. They all held hands and bowed, and then Jin thanked us all in Japanese at the end. Just as he disappeared, he said, "The show is over, goodnight, bye," I think. (My notes got cut off at this point.) While Jin's sung English continues to be on the patchy side in places, his spoken English now sounds pretty shipshape. I'm so proud.
All in all, it was brilliant. Definitely more of a show than a concert, as there was so much dancing and general theatrics, but I loved it. Can't wait to see it all again tomorrow night!
Did I love the songs? Not all of them, no. Damn that autotune.
Did I love the show? Hell, yes, every last second.
And make no mistake - it is a show, not a concert, and it's fantastic.
(I quite often get asked this on my con reports so to save time: feel free to quote/repost/translate if you want, but please credit me. Thanks.)
'You & Jin' @ Nissay Theatre 15/02/2010 18:00
My first encounter with Jin's solo show made one hell of an impression on me. I'd seen the news coverage, heard the fanrecordings, read the lyrics, and none of that prepared me for what I got tonight. Nissay Theatre is right by Hibiya Station, thankfully, so even someone with my amazing talent for getting lost was safe, and I made it there by about 5:20.
I was a bit apprehensive about having a fanclub ticket tonight because this was the first show I've been to where they've said they'll be randomly checking IDs, but I got through, no problem. In fact there wasn't even a bag check, which came as a surprise to me. There was, however, a ridiculously long goods queue. Next time I'll get there earlier! I managed to get my goods about five minutes before showtime, found my seat (1st floor, row K), and marvelled at how good a view I was going to get. My other two tickets are both second floor, so I will not be seeing facial expressions from up there, I'll bet.
On the stage the 'You & Jin' logo was displayed in Japanese and English, there were drumsets out, and tables down the front where some really lucky fans were sitting, looking glamorous. Not that the rest of us were looking too shabby either, despite the pouring rain that had done its best to reduce us all to drowned rats. The crowd seemed to be mostly female but I did spot a large clump of guys towards the back, and almost everyone but me was clutching their English lyrics like gold dust. Very high tension. Overall, it was a bit like being in an underground club, because the walls give the impression that you're in a cavern, but the colourful lights and shiny surfaces assure you you're definitely not in the Stone Age.
A couple of "robot" dancers came out as waiters, very shiny. I'm not sure of the exact number of men there were in total but other than Jin, Josh and Joey (don't they sound like a set of triplets?) there were four guys, I think? The robots were of their number and they brought out a table. Everything got quite chaotic for a bit as equally shiny girls in bright wigs came out with hoola hoops, and one girl was balanced on a seesaw while working two hoops - very impressive. Some of the dancers came through the audience, getting the crowd worked up, while girls served drinks to those at the tables. Everything was shiny and futuristic - a bit like an episode of Buck Rogers, with an '80s kind of future vibe. You know, all that was missing was a couple of catgirls, and I wouldn't swear there weren't any,
Joey Tee (or however you spell it) came out to sit on the edge of the stage for a bit and talk to the audience, and then Josh came out. I thought he was quite cute, actually. He stumbled over what he was saying a little when he addressed us in Japanese, and had a laugh over it as the others made light fun of him. One of the dancers was wandering around with an umbrella I think he picked up from the audience? (It's been pouring with rain all day.) He stood under it with Josh for a bit, and a couple of the guys danced with some audience members. They all did a great job of working us up, I have to say.
Jin came on in baggy torn jeans (how are they staying up?), a white hoodie and sunglasses, with his hair tied back. He high-fived and hugged everyone on the stage and asked us, in English, if we were ready. Then we had the music box version of Eternal with the robot dancing, which Jin did over to the drums. As Jin hit individual drumbeats the lights would come on one by one, and then Kouji drummed and Jin joined in. The "robots" began to move in time, leading us to...
Christmas Morning - Jin knocked out a robot with a drumstick, chopping it off at the waist. This was quite creepy because the torso was then lying flat on the table while the table, with legs still attached, walked off. Having now seen how flexible the one girl is I suspect that was her in disguise. I freely admit I couldn't understand a word of the song because it was so distorted, and very high-pitched. Not a great opening number. Jin's got such a lovely voice - why hide it with the damned autotune? While standing behind the drums still Jin played the floating guitar a bit (no, not an air guitar - it was a real guitar, it just floated and flew away). Meanwhile, the stage had become clear of stage props so I could actually see FiVe.
I would love to talk about FiVe but because of the lighting I didn't get to see much. Daisuke had a lovely plaid shirt that looks like it came from Kame's wardrobe (or possibly Jin's), Rikiya wore a hat the entire time and in fact looked like a member of A.B.C backdancing for Kame's solo during QoP, Ryota got hidden by dancers a lot and I don't remember Kouji being so blond.
Keep It Up - Lots of this was sung by female singers, but I don't mind because it's a very lively, catchy song and good fun to dance to, not to mention easier to understand! Lots of dancing in a row, and of course the thrusting under the female dancer that I imagine everyone's seen on the news. And...er, I missed something because I was looking elsewhere at the time, but Jin's hand was between Joey's legs. I don't know if he was doing him up or what, but I'm sure there's some good reason for this...
Wonder - lots of screams for this. The PV played in the background and one of the female dancers was dancing very close with Jin, but I have to say he looked kind of bored. Very "strictly business".
I.N.P. - Oh, this was lively. Outlines of the continents done in lights came down from the ceiling - these hung around for several songs and came back at the end, actually. Videos played in the background of Jin with money, and an international party invitation. Too much voice distortion again - the girls had a turn too - but it was still good fun, and I ended up feeling like I, too, wanted to take a shot and grab a girl. (Well, they were all really pretty girls.) Lots of high-fiving and smiling, a real party atmosphere. The lyrics, though... Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a "hoe" a garden implement? Should I be worried that a scandal is about to break where it turns out that Jin secretly carries on with gardening tools?
Adjust the Love - More distortion, but less annoying now. The stage was cleared and it was just Jin and Josh, spotlit in the dark. They took it in turns to rap the song (Josh looked kind of lost when it wasn't his turn to sing). Meanwhile, girls with illuminated hoola hoops and wands went past in the dark. Finally the two guys rapped together, and you know, while this is one of the songs I don't actually like, I liked it at the show because damnit, Jin can sell me on anything when he looks like he's enjoying himself, and he certainly looked that way tonight.
The girls brought four screens on wheels to the stage and circled around Jin. I thought they were mirrors at first, but while he was inside they started playing video footage of him. When they opened the screens again he'd disappeared, but we could see him going down through the trapdoor on the stage.
A Page - Jin reappeared from the floor, this time with baggy shorts and a black and white hooded top, hood up. Rocking the zebra look, Akanishi. A translucent screen came down over the stage so they could project shapes on it. Some were diamonds, I think? I don't really recall except I could've sworn some of them looked like TIE fighters. Jin eventually ended up standing underneath a globe outlined in light.
Lovejuice - more screams. The fangirls will scream for anything they recognise, I think. Jin removed the hood to reveal a cap. Appropriately, there was one girl in a red dress, but another showed up later to join the dance as well. Barcodes projected behind them as they danced, and there was strobe lighting too. In my opinion the English was a great deal clearer than it used to be.
Hatachi no Sensou - Clips from Bandage played on the screens. Only Jin, FiVe and three backing singers were on stage, and the singers kept well back - this was the situation until the intermission, if I recall correctly. Jin stood with the microphone, singing with his hands in his pockets some of the time, and holding the stand with one hand (and picking it up!) for the rest. He went to sit down quickly after the song to have a drink at the back while Daisuke played a piano intro to...
Bandage - More film footage from the movie, but also from the PV, including the pink bunny! Jin tapped along with the mic stand during instrumental parts, and went to get another drink afterwards.
Then for my favourite part - Care. It was shown on the screen with a clock, to the sounds of excited fangirl murmurings. Jin pushed the hood back and let his hair down, yay! It kept falling in his eyes, though. He made little jerks with the mic stand as he sang, which sometimes helped push it away, but it didn't last. It sounded beautiful. ^_^ He went to the back of the stage to conduct the last bit, then disappeared down the trapdoor. 'INTERMISSION' flashed up on the screen, then Josh came out and said they were going to take a thirty minute break if that was okay! (What if it hadn't have been okay?)
During the break, the ladies down the front got their drinks refreshed and I desperately tried to write up some notes in a way that would make sense later! You see, it's very hard to write good notes in the dark, when the only light you've got is laser shooting across your vision.
After the interval one of the girls came out doing a scarf dance; the others followed suit till the stage was very crowded! Then Jin, a couple of the girls, a couple of the guys and Rikiya (playing guitar) sat in a circle of chairs round the front of the stage to sing "Halleluya". Others sat in small clusters around the edge of the stage, giving it the overall appearance of a campfire singalong, or perhaps a scene out of 'Jesus Christ Superstar'. The lyrics appeared on the screens in Japanese, though I doubt anyone cared as it was quite spellbinding. Jin didn't sing many lines by himself, actually, and he sounded somewhat raspy, but in a way that suited the song very well. I guess he's getting sick again? Or just feeling the strain of the shows, maybe, though they're structured in such a way he's not putting too much strain on his voice. He was wearing the jeans, black jacket and fedora by this point, by the way, and looked very smiley and pretty.
Then the screen flashed up 'Change', for which Joey backdanced. I've written notes over notes here that I can't make out at all except the word "distortion" (oh, the irony), and...ah, okay, got it. Jin wandered down to the tables in the front, and I couldn't see what he was doing but it got a lot of screams from the people who could. Then he sat on the moving stage/trolley/whatever and rolled into the audience for a very short MC. I didn't follow all of it but more about the meaning of the show's title, his collaboration with Crystal Kay, DVDs, Joey's award-winning dance skills (to be fair, he was excellent). He kept stumbling over his words, especially "collaboration", and the girls around me were all whispering "kawaii". He kind of hid under his hat for a bit, there. So cute!
My other favourite part of the concert came next - Paparats, which is amazing and has to be seen live. Kaneko Nobuaki needs to collaborate on more songs with Jin because this was awesome, and I need a better quality version. (First person who tells me to record one myself will be shot.) It reminds me a lot of Nuno Bettencourt in style, actually - not with Extreme, but his solo stuff? I loved it. Jin's rasping worked great here, as a sort of angry rock god throwing himself into the performance the way he practically threw himself off the stage during some performances of Moon last year. On the screen, the title blazed angry red with lightning bolts crossing through it. Watch out, paparazzi! So much passion and it was all incredible. More songs like this, please!
Hey Girl was seriously entertaining. So in the background we had video footage of a) Ryo, Jin and Josh in the studio, working on the song (I approve of Ryo's Beatles T-shirt) and b) world's cockiest male poodle, animated. What made the performance even more entertaining was that interrupting Jin, Joey and co. dancing (and Jin and Josh rapping) was someone in the poodle outfit, who was no mean dancer himself despite the unwieldy costume. Some of the girls came out all poodled-up, with little white tails, bracelets and stuff, and one of them followed Jin across the stage. Meanwhile, yet another girl with a hula hoop. Methinks Jin got fixated on that episode of CKT where Kame shows us who's really got the moves and is now obsessed with the hula hoop. These girls are amazing, by the way. Everyone on stage was amazing.
Jin disappeared and everyone else danced for a bit. Joey and one of the other guys came down to the audience to get us to clap in time, and the world dance session started. Jin showed up in a white overall, still with hat and tie, and the reason for this became apparent later. I might be missing some of these or getting them in the wrong order, but there was a Pop Dance with Jin, Joey and one amazingly flexible girl, which convinced me Jin could have a successful career as a mime. He's got great control over his body. Joey's also excellent and the girl did things that made my thighs ache in sympathy.
Then it was Jin and two guys for a Screen Dance, and this was fascinating. Okay, so the white jumpsuits changed colour depending on the light, so what they did was move in ways that would affect the material e.g. wiping off a chunk of colour, which was all done with light. I thought it was pretty cool, personally. Jin was, at one point, clad in tiny briefs with this incredibly fake, muscular chest, and then he was underwater with all the bubbles. He and the guy on the left used giant straws to suck up the "bubbles" from the middle guy, and then all three men were left with nothing but beating hearts. These burst into flames, so they tipped "buckets" over their heads, letting colour run out over their bodies. They had suits projected onto the overalls, then casual clothes, and then "Thanks".
The Trickin' Dance was Joey and one of the other guys, and then the Lock Dance, which involved two of the other guys, but then Jin came up from below to join them. He lit a cigarette, blew smoke, then the cigarette flew away and returned to his lips. (Laziest smoker ever? You be the judge.) He extinguished it, there was some sort of scarf dance going on, and one of the guys replaced Jin's hat with another one. The hat flew around, he caught it, no injuries this time as far as I am aware. He had sunglasses on just for that bit, I think.
Hip Hop Dance - Jin and all the guys except Josh, who clearly doesn't dance. This led into Ha-Ha, complete with lots of screaming fangirls, screen projections of Jin and girls looking seedy, and black-clad dancers throwing themselves at Jin's feet. There was a little bit of hip movement but not much. Jin did a lot of dancing with his hands tonight; not so much elsewhere.
My MP3 - I applaud Jin's desire to drag his songs into the digital age but I'm afraid he wasn't all that clear in some parts, with the result being I misheard one line as "I'm his girl". My immediate response to that was, "Whose? Kame's? Yes, we knew that already." Mostly I remember this song for being all silver and black, very high-tech, with what looked like a Rubik's Cube of the title rolling round the screen.
The continents came back down again for Reset. Again, just Josh and Jin rapping on a dark stage, then others came to sing, with Jin being all happy and smiley again and messing around with one of the other guys and his microphone the way he does with Maru. Much audience waving in time.
Eternal - Jin stood on top of a platform, in front of what I thought was a projected sphere but actually turned out to be a physical structure. Different coloured lights shone through it, forming continents, and at one point Jin appeared to be inside it, though I suspect that was due to the angle at which I viewed it as he didn't move. (If he'd moved, he'd have fallen!) The other spotlight was on Daisuke playing keyboards in the corner; the stage was dark, otherwise. Eternal sounded a little quiet in places but it's such a beautiful song and I'm happy to hear it in tune. ^_^
They finished with Keep It Up again, during which Jin went out down the aisles to give the audience heart attacks. He didn't come all the way down - eight feet away from me, not bad, though not as close as at Fukuoka - and from that distance I was reminded again just how damned pretty this guy is. He introduced everyone, so they all did a little solo bit to show off, and Josh introduced Jin...kind of! I couldn't hear over the music and crowd but it sounded like 'Yamashita Pi', to me, to which Jin retorted with his own name. Everyone was having a great time on the stage, singing, dancing and clapping, all really happy. I love to see Jin enjoying himself. They all held hands and bowed, and then Jin thanked us all in Japanese at the end. Just as he disappeared, he said, "The show is over, goodnight, bye," I think. (My notes got cut off at this point.) While Jin's sung English continues to be on the patchy side in places, his spoken English now sounds pretty shipshape. I'm so proud.
All in all, it was brilliant. Definitely more of a show than a concert, as there was so much dancing and general theatrics, but I loved it. Can't wait to see it all again tomorrow night!