KinKi's M Concert report 1st Jan 2015!!
First, the area outside Tokyo Dome 45 minutes before the start of the concert.
The tote bags and knit caps were already sold out. I only bought 1 penlight.
(My penlight as it is changing color.)
Outside, staff were urging the crowd to enter the Dome, "You can also chat inside!", "It's Koichi-san's birthday! Don't delay the opening on this important day!" etc so I went in early.
I was at the last row of the first floor stands and as expected, the stage was shaped like an M.
On time at 5.30pm, the lights went out and the overture started. I kept my penlight on the 'wave' setting throughout the concert, but many people bought 2 and had them each on red and blue. The lights across the stadium were really beautiful.
The first song was Kagi no nai Hako. There was a partition at the top of the stairs on the center of the main stage that slid open vertically to reveal KinKi in glittery gold costumes.
1. Kagi no nai Hako
2. Swan Song
3. Ame no Melody
4. Ai no Katamari
They did opening greetings somewhere around here. Koichi mentioned that he has tonsilitis, but it won't affect his singing much, and to laugh at him if he messes up. (He was really good for most of the concert, but I thought he was struggling a bit towards the end.)
5. Kono mama te wo tsunaide
6. Be with me
7. Renrui
For these songs, they went onto moving stages from the sides of the main stage. The stages were translucent blocks with various very pretty light effects, and they moved all the way around the edge of the arena back to the opposite side of the main stage, so everyone got an eyeful of both Tsuyoshi and Koichi.
8. Speak low
9. Kiramekishisu
Only Tsuyoshi used a guitar for these two songs. For Kiramakishisu, Koichi danced with 4U while Tsuyoshi played his guitar. I thought it was a rather refreshing arrangement.
10. Rocks
11. Secret Code
Tsuyoshi disappeared right after the end of Secret Code, and 4U cajoled Koichi to move to the center of the 'M' stage to watch a special performance by Tsuyoshi which "he rehearsed all of yesterday". In the end they had to carry Koichi like a plank part of the way. They joked that it looked like the ending of Shock, except Koichi wasn't dead.
Tsuyoshi appeared at the main stage and presented a tablecloth-pulling trick, except all the crockery fell right off. The second performance was with a kendama, which he also failed at, and the third was with a xylophone, which he tried to play 'Happy Birthday' on, but kept messing up the notes. In the end he gave up and made a do-you-remember-our-junior-days type speech with exaggerated acting that had the fans in stitches. It turned out that the speech was dedicated to Domoto Saburo. (sa=3, ro-6) Tsuyoshi then performed a song for Saburo. The lyrics were something like "Ichiro(1)? Jiro(2)? No, it's happy birthday to Saburo!" that repeated all the way to Jyuro(10).
Fianlly they brought out a cake, and Tsuyoshi mentioned that he'd already gifted Koichi on Bunbubun. Koichi brought out the Dyson humidifier to show off. Tsuyoshi asked him for a birthday present this year, but Koichi made the old excuses about how they never meet on April 10th. However, after 4U went backstage, Koichi gave him his present in advance in a mid-sized blue paper bag. They didn't show the contents, but Koichi said it was related to Tsuyoshi's recent interests, and since Tsuyoshi is fashionable, he had to get "unexpectedly serious" in looking for a good present. (Apparently the Dyson really made an impact. Is it all about the money for Koichi??)
The rest of the MC was about Johnny's Countdown and hatsumode, as usual. They also mentioned that they have performed in Tokyo Dome 50 times, which is more than any other artiste. The MC went over an hour, and at the end, Tsuyoshi taught the fans how to wave the penlights for Jetcoaster Romance and Jonetsu.
Koichi: Do it properly even though it's not cool. But don't do it when other groups are around.
Fans: Ehhhh
Koichi: Because it's embarrassing.
Fans: Ehhhhhhhhhhh
Koichi: Let's keep it our secret <3
Fans: *happy scream*
Koichi: You're so easy.
Tsuyoshi: You're being led by the nose.
After the MC, they changed into red costumes and started the dance numbers.
12. Bonnie Butterfly (there was a new choreography to go with the new arrangement... but tbh I prefer the old BoniBata ><)
13. Want you
14. Two of us
For the next song, they moved onto a pair of tiny raised platforms at the centre of the 'M'. The lighting here was jaw-droppingly gorgeous.
15. Mou Kimi Dake wa Hanasanai
16. aeon
17. Koi wa Nioi e to Chirinuru wo
18. Hakka Candy
19. Glass no Shounen
20. Aisareru yori Aishitai
Sometime between aeon and Hakka Candy, they moved onto a small stage right at the back of the arena, and put on pale sea green jackets over their red tops. They danced Glass no Shounen facing the stands, while Aisareru yori Aishitai was performed facing the arena.
21. Jonetsu
22. Kanashimi Blue
23. Jetcoaster Romance
24. Flower
25. Boku no Senaka ni wa Hane ga Aru
For these 5 songs, they got onto the blocky translucent moving stages again to return to the main stage. Tsuyoshi was demonstrating the moves for Jonetsu and Jetcoaster again, and tossed his penlight to some lucky fan in the stands. Koichi's voice seemed worn out by the time they got back to the main stage. (Because of tonsilitis?) There was totally no pause between the songs, yet he snuck in a drink for about half a second.
26. Kagi no nai Hako
Unlike the opening, they started the song from the first chorus, with dancing, and went to the second verse onwards. At the last chorus, they hid behind the dancers and emerged wearing the wigs from the fake PV!! And when they flung off the wigs, Koichi was bald!!! Finally he granted the fans' long-time wish of seeing him remove his wig ;_; (...but actually it was just a bald wig)
27. Bokura no Mirai
Some of the fans around me were swiping their eyes at the last song.
They walked around the arena and sang KinKi Kids Forever, Rocketman and 99% Liberty for the first encore. Koichi announced unconvincingly that he will be retiring the bald gag, and they talked about Tegoshi at the Countdown (again). Apparently Tegoshi points at the audience before waving at them to make them feel like he saw them. Of course Koichi then insisted that they can't see the audience. They also reminded the fans about Domoto Kyoudai special, except they said it was on the 7th and got corrected by the fans. (It's on the 4th! Watch it if you can.)
When they came out for the second encore, Tsuyoshi said that they were only there to retrieve the wigs left on the stage. After getting gently boo'ed by the fans, he then jokingly said that they would sing Broken Reizooko. It seemed that Koichi honestly can't remember such a song existed, even after Tsuyoshi hummed a few lines. What they really sang was Happy Happy Greeting. There was a fairly complicated penlight movement during the chorus which everyone around me knew. At the very end, Koichi did Tegoshi's point-and-wave thing, and Tsuyoshi told the fans, "It's fraud~".
The second encore finished at around 9.05pm.
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It was my first KinKi concert, and though my seat was regretably too far to see them clearly even when they came close to the stands, I was able to really appreciate the overall effects of the stage. The lightings were particularly awesome. Their movements around the venue were also very well thought out, so that everyone no matter their position would get to see at least a bit each of face, butt and side profile.
I was also impressed by how, when they were making their way around the stands, Tsuyoshi makes sure to look in the diretion of every section. If I didn't know better, I'd think he saw me at least twice, haha. By constrast Koichi sometimes doesn't even face the direction he's waving at, lol. I look forward to the DVD, and hope they release another album next year for N con!