ミツル ２０： NEWS NEVERLAND Concert Report: Tokyo [2017.06.11, Tour Final]
Neverland will always be in our hearts, and will always continue forever.
I guess everyone who has been following the tour already know how the final show made headlines. I won't be commenting much about Tegoshi's issues e.g. scandals, but as we all know and admit by now, the recent events did play a major part in his drastic behavior during the shows. I did mention in my last concert report how he wasn't acting like his usual "idol" self i.e. the annoying, prankster, spoiled brat self he always puts on not only on tour documentaries, but also on tv. As sad as it was, this tour allowed us to see a side of him we very rarely see, and for that Neverland will always remain a memorable live for me.
I flew to Tokyo days before the concert so that I could spend those days travelling with my best friend to some of the nearby prefectures. But on the Saturday before the concert, I was quite pissed because we had met with a previous student and since the catch-up conversations dragged on for so long, we were only able to finish at 2 in the morning. Very obviously, the trains had stopped running by this time, so my best friend and I had to go walk all the way from Shimbashi to Bakurocho. I didn't even know why I didn't have the guts to call a taxi, for heaven's sake. In the end we arrived in our hostel at 3, and my feet were so sore I could barely walk straight, much more take a shower and change. So it was no wonder that I woke up with my entire body feeling sore at around 8. We had to wake up earlier than usual because we were to hear mass at Yotsuya and I had to prep myself for the concert before going. In the end I had to go back to the hostel anyway because 1) it looked like it was about to rain and I forgot my umbrella; 2) the escalator "ate" my pants so I had to clean them up a bit, and; 3) the humidity rendered my hair useless so I had to go fix it again, and put on the concert accessories I had forgotten. Though feeling a bit angry at myself, I soon cheered up the moment I was on my way to the venue - because you know, I'm seeing NEWS.
Personally I have to say, during this tour I was happy I was able to meet more friends and even make new ones! From the I arrived at the dome about 15:30, I was swamped left and right with Line / Twitter messages to the point that my Line application crashed and I had to resort to messaging / mentioning people on Twitter so that I could tell them where I was. We took a lot of pictures, talked about a lot of stuff, fangirled over some moments and squealed over how each of us looked cute and how we were all prepped for the concert.
At last it was time for us to go into the dome, and so we went our separate ways. This was where we were seated, near the entrance of Gate 20.
Not the best shot, but we still got a nice view.
From the very start of the concert I kept on warning the friend beside me that I would be crying like hell, since I've heard that Koyama and Massu were crying the day before - the former during Full Swing, and the latter during U R Not Alone.
Oh, but even with this knowledge in hand, and even though I braced myself, nothing prepared me for the waterworks that would happen in the next three hours.
Absolutely nothing.
(I'm editing the setlist to reflect the one printed in TV Guide!)
OVERTURE: The Entrance
I should have seen this concert entrance thrice already, but no - the moment I realized that this was going to be the last NEWS concert entrance I'll be seeing for a while, the tears just kept coming. Oh, NEWS. I need the DVD. ASAP.
01 NEVERLAND
Compared to the arena cons where the water effects were mainly from the ceiling, this time the water effects were shooting up from the sides of the circular platform. The combination of fire, smoke and water effects in time with the beat for "SOUND with the LOVE MAGIC RAY FIRE WATER DANCE" was really great to see. To borrow my friend's words, this song and entrance is LIT AF.
02 Un Deux Trois
We still got Massu's E eating Shige's W. XDDDD
SECOND OVERTURE: Intro to Neverland: The Four Gates (7 Elements)
At this point I noticed that from where we were sitting, one of the huge vertical supports were really blocking the stage, so I couldn't see a part of it clearly. 邪魔～
03 EMMA
04 Kaguya
The fans behind us were shouting "Saga! Saga!" whenever the chorus came up, so I was greatly amused. These fans actually made the whole experience better for me - it was kind of fun trying to predict how they would respond to NEWS / do the chants and furitsuke.
05 Koi Matsuri
The moment I landed in Tokyo, I realized I had left all my NEWS towels back in Hiroshima and that I wasn't able to buy the NEVERLAND towel, so I ended up bringing along the face towel I had bought at Kusatsu Onsen in Gunma. It wasn't as heavy as the regular towels so it was easier for me to do the furitsuke in time!
06 D・T・F
Koyama started the song with "今夜はバカになれよ！” YES WE ALL WENT CRAZY LIKE FOOLS THAT NIGHT.
Loads of pair interactions here, especially with KoyaTego and ShigeMassu. My poor heart.
At the end of the song they all posed for the camera, but as usual Massu was being his ridiculous adorable self so he couldn't pose in time / find the camera, ruining the picture. XD
07 4 + Fan
NORTH GATE (Shige): Ray (光)
08 Ayame
In the arena cons, when the music for the solo comes on, the light immediately reveals Shige who is already lying on the floor. But for this one, we saw Shige walking up to the stage, and then dramatically falling over until the start of the solo.
Shige's solo is perfection. Period.
I also love it whenever he tries to look cool especially during the "1,2,3,4" part - something that the other members also noticed and made fun of. The MC later will prove this.
09 INTER ~ Brightest
I forgot to say that in the bit of transition between Ayame and Brightest, some sort of interlude plays with the juniors dancing along.
10 Sirius
11 Snow Dance
12 Snow Drop
The first of the four songs that were added to the dome setlist! Not too much here, since I was focused more on their singing.
Massu said something at the end as a sort of closing but I couldn't figure out what the word was.
13 Touch
Just like the previous shows, Massu ended the song with a very cute "Touch :D". What a(n adorable) dork.
EAST GATE (Koyama): Water (水)
14 Nyanta
In the previous shows, Koyama appeared very composed while singing this, and I had always wondered how he was able to hold it together. But for this final show, he was very emotional and he couldn't hold back his tears, covering his eyes at some point in the song.
15 Koi wo Shiranai Kimi E
Koyama was still very emotional during this song, because his voice broke during his solo part.
16 Full Swing
There was this sort of interlude in between Full Swing and Koi no ABO which wasn't present in the arena concerts, tying the two songs together and making the flow really smooth.
17 INTER ~ Koi no ABO
They actually also did this during the Hiroshima concerts - they changed a bit of the lyrics in the first stanza, substituting in members' names: "kichoumen na Shige~", "my pace na Tegoshi", and "romanticist riida". No Massu as you might have expected it, sadly. But he was always spanking some juniors' butts for this song anyway with "oshiri ga BUMP!". :D
And since Quartetto, I have always always loved Massu doing "subete wo sarake dashite~~~~" an octave higher!
18 Summer Lover (SamaRaba)
Transitioning again from "A-B-O" to "A-B-C"! Such a fun song to sing :D by this point I had noticed that their choreography for this song was really easy to do, so it was easy to dance along.
19 Nyaro
Massu did the "nantoka shite" part after Tegoshi's "love song mitai ni" in a really really low voice! And at the last "love song mitai ni", Tegoshi adlibbed with "owaru no ga yada yo" (I don't want this to end!).
20 Orihime
For ending scene in the arena concerts, the two juniors were separated by the central stage (raised a bit to effectively hinder them from reaching each other), but for the dome they were mostly by the back stage, so at the end, they just stood a bit apart from each other, stretching their arms towards the other like usual.
(The Shounen Club Premium performance is actually the same.)
MC: MAGIC (魔)
THIS HAS TO BE MY FAVORITE NEWS CONCERT MC OF ALL TIME. Never had I laughed SO MUCH at an MC before, and this is coming from someone who can only pick out and understand a small part of the MC. I'm very glad as well that I have a lot of friends who wrote firsthand experiences of this MC so I can base this report on!
- They made Tegoshi do an idol smile for the camera - he didn't want to but the other 3 kept on nagging for him to do it, so in the end he gave in and did it, all the while embarrassed. The other three then commented how he was "cute, oh oh so cute~~~" and then randomly pointing out "cute" things about Tegoshi, like the hairpins in his hair. Speaking of hair pins, apparently the other day Tegoshi had showered without taking the pins out of his pair so they were clogging the drain, and how the bathroom walls had body foam and water all over. All the while Shige was quiet, so when they prompted him to say something, Shige said that he was actually thinking that all the mess was his fault, lol.
- They were SO MEAN to Shige like hell! XDDDDD they actually thanked Shige since the MCs were always fun because of him (of course they would be - they would find something about him that they could pick on, or they would always try to make him mad).
- Shige complained that the cheers for him at the beginning of the MC were too quiet and he pouted for a while (he went backstage at this part still complaining), so while waiting for him to come out, the other three decided to recreate that bit by saying "okay, we're going to say the calls again, so please cheer for us again! When we say "小山・手越・まっすに会いたかったですか?", please cheer for us! And when we say "シゲに会いたかったですか？", please cheer as loud as you can for him too!", except that all three of them frantically signalled and made a big SHHHHHHHHH gesture to tell us to ACTUALLY REMAIN SILENT the moment we were supposed to cheer for Shige.
- Hearing this, Shige came out with an "OOOOOH I ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE THIS". Since for the earlier round of calls they had Shige first, they decided to put him at the end so that the cheers for him would be the "loudest". So first in line was Koyama's "小山に会いたかったですか？" to which we all cheered so loud, but Tegoshi decided to butt in to say "no no no, it has to build up in strength (so that Shige gets the loudest cheer). You can be quieter for Koyama (since he's first)!" XDDDDDDD
- So they went in Koyama > Tegoshi > Massu > Shige order, with the cheers gradually louder and louder....... loud cheers for Koyama, louder cheers for Tegoshi, even louder cheers for Massu............... aaaaaand absolute silence for Shige. Enraged Shige can only scream "OOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!" to everyone's laughter.
- And just when everyone thought picking on Shige was over, it wasn't! They brought up Ayame next, with the three asking what "mani mani" in his lyrics meant. AND THEY FREAKING SANG IT AS "MONEY MONEY MONEY" ALA ABBA STYLE - YES, that freaking song. XD Then they talked about their impressions on his solo - how they were "worried" he might have fallen over because of anemia (at the beginning), how they thought he looked like an ikemen while doing "1,2,3,4".
- Massu very casually then said how he really wanted to see Shige's solo again (to which Shige retorted ARE YOU STUPID - WHAT ARE YOU SAYING) which eventually turned into a "Oh, I'll do it, we'll do it" SO WE GOT AN AWESOME IMPROMPTU VERSION OF 3NIN AYAME. Complete with choreography, background music and vocals - they took turns in singing and dancing, Massu doing the rap portion, Tegoshi the female backing voice, Koyama at some points. They even made use of the cranes AND KOYAMA OF ALL PEOPLE CLIMBED UP THE CRANE AND JUST FROZE THERE LIKE A CAT STUCK HIGH UP ON A TREE. It was GODDAMN BLOODY HILARIOUS seeing him just frozen up there with his mouth hanging literally open and going KOWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII the entire freaking time, even doing the "knock knock open the door~" in a feeble voice. He even managed to transfer to the other crane and ever so cautiously came down from the crane to rejoin the others, trembling the entire time. Even the juniors, clad in their costumes for the next performance, had come out to dance with the rest of them to finish the song. Tegoshi even finished it with a "HA!" to shut off the lights. All this time, Shige was just left standing on the main stage flabberghasted with his mouth hanging open at times, looking at all of them executing his solo to perfection, and we were screaming in laughter; I was legitimately trying to catch my breath because it was SO FUCKING HILARIOUS. IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE RIOT YET IT WAS PERFECT - I HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD AT A NEWS CONCERT MC IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. THAT BEING SAID, I SWEAR I WILL PUNCH PEOPLE IF THIS DOESN'T END UP ON THE DVD.
- After the impromptu Ayame, they asked Shige how it was, to which he roared "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW YOU ASSHOLES! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS DOING THIS ON A SHOW THAT'S BEING RECORDED FOR THE DVD?! I have to admit though, that was really good. YES I AM COMPLIMENTING YOU, YOU IDIOTS. THANK YOU."
- They then proceeded to "critique" the performance and said that Koyama's "knock knock" was weak (because he was busy clinging to the crane like his life depended on it). Shige went on to comment how they're always doing outrageous things in the MC of the tour final shows, like last year's toilet MC which made it to the news, and now they're redoing solos. Koyama commented that they got so inspired, which made Shige burst out how HE was the inspiration, as he was the composer, producer, and writer of Ayame. They proceeded on saying they want Shige to do Ayame as well for the 15th anniversary concerts (and perhaps even do some solo collaborations), to which Shige was like NO.
- Tegoshi said "don't think, FEEL!" to Shige, who smirked, so he repeated it one more time and we all yelled "FEEEEEEEEL". Ahhhhh, Fighting Man. :)
- Koyama talked a bit about how he had always wanted to stand in Tokyo Dome as a baseball player and yet now he was standing there as an idol. Massu shared the same sentiments, and commented how the dome has always been a dream come true for him as an idol, and he thanked us all for being there. Koyama said how he gets even more sentimental / emotional the older he gets.
- Before they ended the MC, they decided to redo the cheering part because Shige legitimately didn't get any, and this time around Shige indeed got the loudest and the longest cheers. Massu and Tegoshi went back first, followed by Shige and Koyama last, who always ushers in the second half of the concert by saying "un, deux, trois!". Apparently Shige skipped all the way to the back stage after he got cheered on so loudly, to Koyama's amusement.
21 Forever Mine
22 Silent Love
They inserted an interlude in between Silent Love and Mysteria (to which Tegoshi sang a bit along).
23 Mysteria
24 Byakuya
The second of the four songs they added for the dome shows! It's always a treat watching Byakuya, though I wasn't as excited seeing the comeback of the creepy deathly ghost / skeleton on the screens.
25 Sakura Girl
SOUTH GATE (Tegoshi): Fire (炎)
26 I'm coming
I didn't think Tegoshi could become even more lewd for this solo - in Hiroshima it was a bit obvious that he wasn't feeling up to it, but for this final show he was even more aggressive with all the innuendos, sighs and sound effects, to the point that I had to bury my face in my hands the entire time. IT WAS THAT BAD I SWEAR, haha.
27 Black Fire
At Shige's "MOYASEEEEEEEE!", everyone just screamed. I think everyone loved how rockish this song was supposed to be, but I was just hoping for my eardrums (and Shige's nodochinko) to stay intact. XD
28 Bambina
I really really wanted Massu to say his solo line (previously Yamapi's) more sensually as possible. I kind of think he just wants to say it fast so that he can get it out of the way. XD
29 Anthem
The third of the four songs they added for the dome shows. :)
30 Chankapaana
31 Chumu Chumu
32 Nagisa no Oneesama
At this point they were to go around the circumference of the dome, doing so on a huge train! In addition to the train, there were small carts trailing behind with the juniors on them, bringing along the balloons with the letters N-E-W-S and N-E-V-E-R-L-A-N-D in them. They added Nagisa no Oneesama as the last of the four songs for the dome shows, giving them enough time to finish going around the arena.
33 weeeek
I have forgotten to mention this during the previous concert reports, but for the latter part of weeeek, the juniors came out with gold-colored pompoms and did some cheerleading stuff, lining up and making waves, making the letters N-E-W-S in succession, and even forming a heart. At one point one of the juniors did a number of consecutive backflips, which made the audience cheer.
34 Pokoponpekorya
Same with Hiroshima, during the "nemutai yo" part where they were supposed to fall asleep, Tegoshi had Koyama's head in between his legs, Shige was still too obvious, and Massu's head was still hanging over the edge of the circular platform. We were all laughing at their weak acting, especially with their bouts of "sleepwalking". KoyaTego were especially hilarious. Koyama commented on how awesome Shige was, but I couldn't remember why or what he did, lol, sorry!
They also introduced the juniors who had helped them out for the past three months of the tour, and gave their appreciation for the staff who had been there for them the entire time.
35 Nagareboshi
Koyama saying "let's do our best tomorrow as well!"
As always, the train came to pick them up and to drive them back home.
The Grand Finale
36 U R not Alone
They told us to sing along with them with all we have, with big voices, with emotions.
After the second chorus, they all did their final speeches. (just very weak translations, not 100% correct)
Shige: Tokyo, thank you so much! We won't end with just this tour; we will still continue to go to Neverland from here on. Everyone remember that you will never be alone. Remember that NEWS will always be here. That's why please, follow us NEWS forever. Thank you!
Massu: Thank you so much for today! We all are connected, we all enjoyed, we have all been supported by you. From here onwards, let's go on together, more and more. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!
Koyama: For us to be on this stage, you have supported us, thank you very much! We have been very happy seeing you. Let's meet again on this same stage in the future. Thank you so much!
Tegoshi: To be frank, I have been depressed for these past few weeks now. But you have always been there, your smiles have saved me... and so I could do my best. Please continue to follow us! Thank you very much!
We all sang in earnest; I sang through my tears and my cracked up voice. I had to say, I was already getting past ugly crying / emotional stage, but seeing Tegoshi on the verge of breaking down made it even worse.
In the end, they said their goodbyes.... a supposedly final goodbye to wrap up this year's live.... but things happened.
To Be Continued...
For the previous shows, this part would always say how the tour (and Neverland as a whole) would continue on to the next venue. This one ended with:
The journey to Neverland... will continue.... forever.
Special: A Silent Encore
Hearing that, I sat back down and began preparing to go out, but fans were relentless and have started up the NEWS call once more. I thought to myself that it was pointless, that NEWS always ended each of the shows with U R not Alone, and that it would destroy the cohesiveness and atmosphere of the entire show if they were to come out and do a usual (double) encore. For me, U R not Alone was already a powerful ending song, and I didn't want it to be ruined.
But it turned out that the NEWS call was more powerful than we had thought, and the four of them eventually came out in response, but we were all utterly shocked to see Tegoshi crying. He was literally and visibly sobbing to the point that they had to half drag him along by putting their arms around him. Koyama was teary-eyed as well. Seeing them both about to lose it (fully losing it, in Tegoshi's case), Shige put his arms around their shoulders, comforting them.
They walked down the hanamichi, didn't sing any songs, until they reached the back stage, where Shige motioned for us to be quiet, so that they could yell out their thanks without the microphones. And so they did, ending with a very long bow, not straightening up for the longest time. Tegoshi was so overcome with tears at this point - he was literally bawling by now - that he couldn't help sitting down. He finally managed to regain his composure, a bit of thanks to Koyama for trying to cheer him up, and they all walked together to the main stage.
But on the way, everyone, without any cue at all, began to sing U R not Alone's chorus. We did this at least twice, and noticeably Tegoshi was once again shedding tears, Koyama as well. ShigeMassu were also teary-eyed, but still managed to smile at us at least. All of them were mouthing "arigatou" countless times.
Upon reaching the main stage, NEWS said their final goodbyes and left, Shige last, ending the tour for real this time.
There is no doubt that NEVERLAND is an emotional tour for 4nin NEWS - perhaps the second (or third) most emotional one after Utsukushii Koi ni Suru Yo and the 10th anniversary tour.
For these past few months, NEWS had encountered so many setbacks, mostly happening to KoyaTego. Of course, there was also that incident with Shige's loss of voice, but perhaps the biggest thing that had hit them were the LINE scandals. Both KoyaTego's LINE accounts had been hacked and exposed, and with this loss of confidentiality, they have earned the ire of many antis, but not without reason. Both accounts had revealed the existence of girls in their private time, and for Tegoshi there was also that issue of him giving away "free" concert tickets. While these issues raised some valid points, the contrasting way KoyaTego handled these were quite interesting to see. Koyama had preferred to stay silent, but Tegoshi took to explain things both on jweb and in public (he apologized to people during one of the shows). Regardless, there is no doubt that these scandals had affected both members, and that there were a few people who have taken this offense very seriously, like the anon discussion forms, or reports of hate uchiwas being brought to the shows.
And now that the tour is over, these are my personal thoughts, especially in regards to my personal life.
This show was easily one of the two shows I have really been emotional in, the other one being the very first NEWS concert I saw (White in Fukuoka). The reason is pretty clear.
During U R Not Alone (and throughout the show as a whole), I have been thinking of how mundane my life would be again without a NEWS live to look forward to, thinking of how much I had been depressed for so many times this year, without having honestly telling my feelings to anybody; thinking of how I had always felt alone, without any form of physical nor emotional support. Recently I have been hurt as well by people telling me how I seem to be weird and unusual, and how they could never understand me - me who isn't into political discussions, Western movies and tv series, or the normal interests people of my age are expected to have.
But listening to this song has given me strength, much more than any of the previous positive, encouraging songs NEWS had. It had so much meaning for me that I couldn't stop my tears, embarrassing as it was. I mean, if this was the normal me and if this had happened to some fan belonging to another fandom, I would scoff and be condescending and rude enough to think "I won't become someone like that".
But alas, I did become someone like that.
I've always been worried that I would fall out of love with NEWS, and in doing so would lose my desire to stay in Japan. I'm relieved to see that after every show I go to, I find myself falling in love over and over again. Being away from home is a very tough life challenge and NEWS has always been my anchor in this foreign land, so it's really good to see a reaffirmation of my love for them.
U R not Alone had helped me to be optimistic - even though the world has been unnecessarily cruel, even though I may be alone both in this country and in my interests, the song had helped me realize that there is more to life; that if I can only find the strength to reach out, I would definitely find people who are the same as me, and who would definitely make me feel that I am not alone. Coz really, when you look at the lyrics (I have utmost gratitude and appreciation for Greeeen for this song), how can you not be moved, and how can you not be affected?
例えばこの声が届くならば誰でもいい
聞こえますか 胸張ってさあ叫ぶんだ
全部詰め込んだこの宣誓を
僕は誓うよ 一切引かないし 一切負けない
自分で決めた道の上 全てをかけて
笑えるように やり抜くぞ
(For example, if this voice can only reach, anyone will do
will someone be able to hear me?
Hold your chest up high, I will shout
this oath I had packed everything in.
I promise I won't back down, I won't surrender
On this road I had decided for myself, I will risk everything
I will do my best in order to smile.)
For the past six years I had been in NEWS fandom, this has definitely been the happiest I have been. Half of those years I have managed to see them live and up close, have managed to be in a concert venue - something I wouldn't even have envisioned myself to be in 10+ years ago. I have met so many friends from all over the world. I have discovered so many stuff about the world I normally wouldn't have learned about. NEWS had been an inspiring epitome of resilience; a complete picture of how they had kept on going despite all the shit the world had thrown against them. This, for me, is worthy of admiration and pride.
And for those six years, I thank NEWS, I thank my friends, and I thank my fandom. Whatever happens, I stand by the four of them, and will fight anyone who attempts to destroy and bring them down. I hope I can be a source of strength for the four of them and for my friends, just as NEWS and my friends have been my silent supporters. I hope I can keep on remembering this moment, this year - even if eventually I will have moved on - and always keep in mind that in this wide, vast world, I am truly not alone.
If you actually managed to read all this way, I apologize for the extremely long concert report, lol. Otsukare for getting this far, and thank you! See you for the next live.