TegoMass no Mahou Live DVD

[chrisyamapi]

TegoMass no Mahou Live DVD



As a unit, I think they have indeed blossomed and shone in this concert.  Compared to their first concert in 2009, where you could see that they seemed a little awkward around one another, they seemed much more at ease in the Mahou tour.  Perhaps it was due what happened to NEWS late last year made them treasure each other more (?) or it could be that they just got better with time.  How should I say it?  To me, they feel more like a duo now instead of just two guys who sing well together.  Plus their MC have improved leaps and bounds, much more natural now. TegoMass no radio is probably a contributing factor too.

Magical moments of love

• ‘Mr Freedom’ - they faced one another and did a little ‘sing off’ in the middle of the song.  That was pretty neat.
• Massu nanny - After ‘Hanabi’, Massu fixed Tegoshi’s hood during Yokohama’s MC and then proceeded to do silly impressions (I’m not familiar with most of them though(T_T))
• Kobe incident  (during Yokohama’s MC) - Massu brought out how Tegoshi mistakenly thought that the queue of ladies lining near Kobe’s concert venue were fans queuing up for concert goods and how he was feeling very thankful towards these fans… Until a local staff member pointed out that these ladies were actually queuing up for a bargain sale next to the venue.  Tegoshi was a bit embarrassed but laughed really hard at himself.
• Happy birthday - Massu’s hand-drawn birthday cake for Tegoshi, as well as secretly planning with the band members for a birthday surprise
• Otsukare - At the start of the documentary, Tegoshi ‘high five’ Massu and said ‘Otsukare’ for completing the photo shoot for the pamphlet. In a hotel room while sitting down. I just thought it was quite cute.
• Tanoshii - More than anything else, they certainly looked like they enjoyed themselves thoroughly, before, during and after the concerts. They really love singing and performing and that is probably the most important thing.
• Gorillas? - For this live, they decided on bears (kuma) because of a play on the words ‘TegoMasu’ and ‘TeKUMAsu’.  Massu said they did think of ‘TeGORILLA’ (ride on gorillas?!) but that didn’t work as there was no ‘Massu’ in it. He also said that by the time they hold their 5th series of concert, the animals from 1st to 4th tour would make a debut and appear as a merry-go-round in the concert, and it would be like an amusement park called ‘TegoLand’.  Tegoshi then pointed out that Massu left himself out and that it should be ‘TegoMass Land’ instead
• Sensei - Shige’s poster for pink & gray in their dressing room (^_^)
• Massu flames -  After the concert ended in Kumamoto, Tegoshi was asked what he thought of the audience.  He replied that in all the performances up till then, Kumamoto’s audience were probably the most enthusiastic of all (on fire) and perhaps due to a At which Massu started jumping up and down and waving his hands around to emulate flames (58 mins)
• Soccer & bananas - in their last concert in Nagoya, they made an entrance with a soccer ball (Tegoshi) and a banana (Massu).  Too cute. And the band members waving bananas in the air (1:37)

Magical musical moments

• Ballads - They sat on high stools to do the first 2 ballads and stood singing the last (‘Kushami’, ‘Sotsugyou Album’, ‘Wasuremono’)  I remembered that the concert hall fell so silent that you could hear a pin drop.  Everyone sat and listened to both of them sing.  I can only imagine it was a sight not often seen in a Johnny’s concert
• Medley they did was lovely  - can they release a mini album of medleys and collaborations please?  And a TegoMass cover of ‘Zutto’.
•  ‘Kibou no Hikari wo Tomousou’ (Light up the flame of Hope)’ I love this song and it has got such meaningful lyrics.  I’m really happy they did this song in the concert
• ‘Hanamuke’ - The acapella start to ‘Hanamuke’ without using any microphones.  The arena fell so silent and they have such lovely vocals
• ‘Sakura Girl’ - it was a poignant and emotional cover of the song, very nicely done
• ‘Overdrive’ - the super high-energy performance they’d put together with both guitarists!  TegoMass were both spinning and darting around like bunnies on a high!
• Dance intro to ‘Highway’ - it was a refreshing change and to be honest, at that point of time in the concert, I’ve already forgotten they’re Johnny’s idols, which means they can dance.  I was probably associating them with Yuzu and Sukima Switch type of performances so the dance reminded me that they are Johnny’s idols after all and bloody good dancers at that (*^0^*)  Massu has always been an excellent dancer and Tegoshi’s footwork has gotten lighter!
• ‘Ai no naka de’ - the interaction between TegoMass and the fans was beautiful

Magical set

The set was really well thought out.  Instead of just horses or elephants, they went on bears (encore), crescent moons (Kiss song), flower stands (Hanamuke), miso soup bowls (miso soup).  I think they tried to make sure that every fan would get a chance to see them as close as possible at some point during the concert.  It was a lovely set and really quite something - Yokohama Arena seems a lot bigger in the DVD but didn’t feel quite as big when I was there (Yokohama Arena seats around 13,000 people)

• Guitars - he played quite a bit on the guitar for this tour.  He did say that he was the guy in charge of the music while Massu was in charge of the stage set-up and goods
• Cheerleader Yuya - he was really cute and I remembered saying to my other half at Yokohama Arena, ‘I daresay Tegoshi in that outfit is probably prettier than most girls in this concert venue’ And I wasn’t even exaggerating. LOL.
• Soccer - Tegoshi playing soccer whenever he could and halfway through the tour, he managed to form futsal teams within the band and staff. (In TMnoAi concert, he was kicking the ball around by himself) And kudos to him for bringing in Messi and soccer during Yokohama’s MC - on the day they recorded this performance,  Messi was playing a friendly match in the nearby Yokohama Nissan stadium.  Tegoshi really wanted to watch that match but well, he had his own concert to get to.
• Monomane (impressions) - Tegoshi did a lot of impressions and I don’t get a lot of them but they were quite funny and most of all, Tegoshi (and sometimes Massu) was probably the one most amused by the impressions
• Overalls - he looked so cute in the blue overalls he wore during rehearsals(flails)
• Short-sleeved parka - it was Tegoshi’s idea as he thought that girls would definitely prefer short-sleeved parka to a regular long-sleeved one.  I’m surprised it was Tegoshi (not Massu) who had a view on fashion, and girls’ fashion at that!
• Hanamuke - Tegoshi forgetting lyrics for the Hanamuke intro in Niigata.  His reaction was priceless.
• Tears - It’s the first time I’ve seen Tegoshi cry… And some fans were crying in the background with him

• Chopsticks - He nearly lost one of his chopsticks while singing Miso Soup because he wanted to play with it  And the air guitar play with that chopstick
• ‘Have a great year ahead!’ - He messed up his thank-you speech at the end of the Yokohama Live and covered it with ‘Yoi Yoi o tooshi wo! (Have a great year ahead!)’
• Food - Massu was handing around food to the staff members J  Yasashiiiii ~~~  And he searched on Wikipedia to find out the different foods too… sasuga!
• Idol - Massu’s an idol who isn’t idol-like at all; he’s extremely personable and you can just see from his interaction with the staff members and the rather colloquial speech they used with Massu, suggesting that Massu just doesn’t put any distance between himself and the other party. I do think Tegoshi’s not unlike Massu in this aspect; he got along really well with the band and staff members in the tour documentary
• Ikemen - having seen him close up, Massu is really an ikemen!! And really fit too! IKEMEN! ZETTAI IKEMEN!

Close -ups - The inclusion of the different band members in the documentary making, asking them about the production of the concert, how they feel about TegoMass.  The camera zoomed in quite a lot on the band members  while they were playing during the concert, which was really nice and felt like there was a focus on the ‘live’ bit of the concert, as well as on the music.  I love live bands and I’m really happy that the band got some screen time and recognition.  Some quotes below:

Chino san (bandmaster for all TegoMass concerts thus far, at 11:34): ‘They (TegoMass) have really matured, in terms of singing and showmanship.  What really struck me this year is how involved they were in the production of this year’s concerts - self produce.  For instance, ‘we would like to do this here’, ‘would it be better to do that there’; I thought their ability to self-produce a concert has really shone through.  Their sense in music has really improved too’

Ohgiya san (Keyboard): ‘They really do have a lot of energy.  Like Tegoshi kun, who would play soccer with the members before rehearsals, then sing and dance during rehearsals.  And they’re really good in singing.  It’s so easy to watch them (perform)’

Yumi san (backup vocalist for all TegoMass concerts thus far): ‘I’ve toured with them for the past three years and their year-on-year improvement is really astounding. I’ve learnt a lot from them too’

• How the band members listened and laughed along during TegoMass’ MCs, usually at the pair’s dorkiness - it just showed how involved they were in the whole concert.
• Yumi’s(the backup vocalist) enthusiastic swaying to Massu’s Gotochi songs.  She had a TekuMassu bear hanging at the end of her microphone too
• Guitarists getting up on the stage to perform with the two of them for ‘Overdrive’ - Chino san (bandmaster) seemed like he really, really enjoyed it!
• Band members laughing uninhibitedly at Tegoshi’s overacting in the documentary, when he acted out the part when Massu showed him the music note he caught in the air. Massu couldn’t help laughing at Tegoshi too. And Tegoshi looked slightly embarrassed (again) [around 10mins into the documentary]
• Chino san could stop laughing when Massu sprang the first Gotochi song on Tegoshi.  For some reason, Massu kept the Gotochi song from Tegoshi and when he asked Tegoshi to sit down and listen to a song, Tegoshi thought Massu was going to do a birthday song for him, even though it was weeks early.  Chino san laughed so hard at Tegoshi’s shock reaction to Massu’s Gotochi song.
• Sky tower in Oita - Tegoshi went sight-seeing with the band members in Oita and showed a photo during the concert.  Massu said that he wanted to go too… (not sure why he didn’t)  There was a short clip (1:01) showing Tego stretching after a soccer game with the members and saying that he wanted to go up that sky tower and the other members saying they would like to go too.  The next scene showed them in an elevator and acting like tourists (^^)
• Nagoya- they had a TegoMass band and staff party in Nagoya.  Not much to be said except that you can see them having lots of fun and everyone got on so well.  TegoMass also performed a special Nagoya Gotochi song for all the band members, thanking them for being with TegoMass thus far (1:39).  It was such a sweet gesture and the band members loved it!  Judging from their responses, I think it came as a surprise to the band too. The chorus went like this:

TegoMass, TegoMass band (X2)

TegoMass, an unrivalled band

With the greatest thanks,

It is fun making music together!

Chang chang!

Other titbits

• Bandmaster Chino san tweeted that TegoMass band members gathered together to watch the Mahou DVD when it was released
• Tegoshi’s co-stars in DekaWanko came along to support him in their Yokohama performances.  You can spot one of them sitting behind Shige, when the spotlight came on Shige.  Tabe san (female lead of Dekawanko) attended the concert too, as mentioned by a very delighted Massu in a previous Kchan NEWS episode
• I saw myself in the footage for the encore LOL

<>

First tour: TegoMass no Uta 2009

No. of venues: 7

TM Band strength: 12 band members

2nd tour: TegoMass no Ai 2010

No. of venues: 14

TM Band strength: 12 band members

First tour: TegoMass no Mahou 2011

No. of venues: 11

TM Band strength: 14 band members

I love this concert and am impressed by it enough to write an entry about it.  It’s a list of things I love about the concert and the documentary.  For those who have seen the concert DVD, please do share your thoughts (^_^)