Yay! I have finished writing the MC reports for the two shows I went to. For the actual concert report, please go here:
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/84789.html For the concert report from the Tokyo show in October (where I have explained things in a bit more detail) please go here:
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/77496.html
Ohkura Tadayoshi Solo Concert 2008 (November 26 & 29, 2008 @ 6:00 p.m.) MC Report
MC
Nov. 26th, 2008
- During the show on the 26th (
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/84789.html), his zipper broke so he had a shirt around his waist after his drum performance and during Carnival (when he went up to the second floor), Musekinin Hero and the MC. At the beginning of the MC, he said that the Musekinin Hero dances were kinda risky because it almost showed things that were hidden behind the shirt that shouldn't be seen... haha.
- He said that the three most embarrassing things during a concert is to 1) trip over and fall, 2) have his fly opened and 3) have a runny nose.
- A while ago, he had a solo dance part with Machida-kun during a butai and he thought "This is my chance (to show myself off)!" and started dancing, but fell and hit his head. Takki was laughing at him so it didn't feel as bad, but still it was very embarassing for him. He also gets his feet stuck in a hole between stages and stuff quite often. (Example:
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/59038.html#cutid1 Go down to Encore 2 Wahaha)
- He touches his zipper a lot to make sure that it's not opened, even during a concert. During songs, he would pretend to pull his pants up when he's actually checking for his zipper. He said it's embarassing especially if it's a serious song.
- As for the runny nose, he said that it happens often. When he spins around, his nose will be running along, lol.
- Ohkura said that there's only four more shows to go for his solo concert. Way before the solo con started in October, he was saying that the MC was going to be the hardest thing for him. In Tokyo, he let everything out in the first three shows so he was left with nothing else to talk about. In Osaka, he knew the audiences were going to be more strict (as in they won't laugh unless it's really funny) so he talked his heart out about what had happened during the month after the Tokyo shows and before Osaka for 25 minutes. Therefore, he is once again left with nothing to talk about, haha. "So," he said, "we have a special guest today." The crowd went KYAAAA and Ohkura said "Whose concert are you here for!!" and then he started complaining about how the crowd would go "Kyaaa!" a pitch higher when the Juniors came out. He said he can't go to sleep at night because he's so depressed. "If I suffer from insomnia, it's all your fault!!"
- So anyway, the special guest came out. I was 9 rows from the front but the guest came out from my side, so I couldn't see his face until later (I only saw his back). The guest hugged Ohkura saying "Tacchoooon" and they danced around. The guest was wearing a black leather (maybe?) jacket and a pair of jeans. My friend I was with said "Maru?" so I thought it was Maru at first... but he was way too skinny to be Maru. Plus, I assumed that if Maru was here the rest of them would be too because they had Janiben filming that day. The special guest's face finally faced the front and I was like "...Oh my god!!!" Hahaha. Yes, it was Uchi!
- The crowd was going crazy for a while and Ohkura's like "You had that much power left!!" but settled down a bit and the two started talking. Haha, I never thought that I'd live to see a day when Ohkura and Uchi would be standing on the stage alone talking! lol
- They were saying "long time no see" etc. and how Uchi hasn't changed at all. Ohkura said that Uchi's the same pretty boy (bishounen) as he was before. Ohkura said to Uchi that he must have seen old faces like Maashii (Veteran Ito) in the dressing room when he visited. Uchi said "Actually, when I opened the door, Maashii was the first one I had eye contact with. I was like 'Maashii!!"'
- Ohkura asked if Uchi's been seeing any of the K8 guys recently. Uchi said that he's been seeing Ryo often and also Maru. Uchi said "I even have a key to Ryo-chan's room." Ohkura said "Are you his girlfriend or something!?" and Uchi said "I know, I know..." The "soudesukedo" he said was more like "I know, I know..." rather than "I guess I am!!" haha.
- He congratulated Uchi for having a solo concert, and Uchi asked everyone to come if they had time. Ohkura complained that Uchi kept on saying that he'd come to see his show but never did until today. Ohkura sent Uchi an e-mail on his cell phone with a video clip attached. The clip was of Maru and it was a minute and a half long... it basically was about Maru showing his arm pit and kept on screaming "Uchi! BAN!! BAN!! %%$%!!!!" for the duration of that time. Uchi's like "Why the hell did you send me that??" Ohkura said "I wanted to show you that Maru-chan hasn't changed at all!" Haha.
- Maru used to smell his arm pit during a medley back during their Shochikuza days. They were like "what was it... what was it... oh yes, the boogie woogie medley!" They also talked about that Yankee Doodle game they used to play (you can see this in Excite! where Ohkura, Uchi, Maru and Hina are playing it).
- Ohkura said that Uchi's lucky because he has so many songs to choose from. He has the solo songs he sang when he was with NewS and K8, he also has the group songs for NewS and K8 as well as V.WEST. Uchi said "Yeah, if you include V.WEST... I will be mixing a lot of songs together, so please come see!"
- Uchi left, and Ohkura's like "That was worth the 6,000-yen you paid for, don't you think? ...Hey! I feel like there are more juniors watching from the side than usual!!!" Haha. He was running out of breath a bit saying that Uchi talks fast and it was hard to catch up with his pace. He said that it was probably the second time he's seen Uchi this year. The first time was in Tokyo. Ohkura was in Tokyo having dinner with a staff member, but they weren't having fun at all because Ohkura's not the type to talk. So, since he knew Uchi was in Tokyo, he gave him a call. Uchi said he couldn't come, but later called Ohkura and said "Tacchon, you should come too!" Ohkura went to the place which turned out to be a "job well done" party with the Isshun no Kaze ni nare cast, lol. Uchi kept on going around the actors and actresses introducing him as "This is Kanjani8's Tacchon!" Ohkura's like "It was so awkward! They're not gonna know who I am!"
- During his speech before "Saigo no Namida," Ohkura talked a bit about Uchi. He said that he wanted to show Uchi how much he's improved and grown up since the time they were working together. Uchi came out during the encore as well. Ohkura thanked Uchi for coming and Uchi waved to the crowd... I think he was eating something because he was moving his mouth, haha.
Nov. 29th, 2008 2nd show
- While he was wiping the paint off himself (after the drum performance), he said to the crowd "This is going to take some time; I'm not going to talk, so it's free time. Please eat sweets or something you brought with you in the mean time." Haha what the hell, lol. This time he REALLY took time... everyone's like "uhhh... hello???? We're still here??" Haha.
- After Carnival and Musekinin Hero, he came back to the stage for the MC. He talked about the Musekinin Hero dances and how ridiculous they're getting these days, haha. He said that because they've done so many performances on TV already, they, especially Subaru and Maru, have started fooling around. He said that they've started doing a "Hengao Taikai" (weird face competition). Ohkura's like "Did you guys see Shonen Club Premium? Wasn't it ridiculous?! The stuff they had on air was not as bad... but the stuff they were doing during the rehearsal! Geez!" Haha. He said that when they sit on the sofa to go over their performance (stuff you can see during the end roll of the show), Maru and Subaru were looking at each other saying "Not bad, man" as if to praise each other's hard work. Ohkura's like "That's not why we're singing that song!"
- He said that Ryo-chan was hyper as well during that song (oh yes he was!). He said it's so funny when Ryo-chan gets crazy. "He sings like Ricky Martin, you know, passionately. You know what I mean?" Yes, I know what you mean Ohkura! Hahaha. Ryo sings passionately on purpose during the most unusual parts of the song, so it cracks me up as well. Ohkura said "You know the 'baburu ga nantara' part where I dance next to him? That's supposed to be a part where you're dancing with a smile... but Ryo-chan has this sculptured look like this (demonstrates the creepiness) and when I see that from the side, it's hilarious! I want to watch that instead of looking at the camera!"
- Ohkura said "Yeah, so everyone's fooling around... but you know, Yokoyama-kun's always acting cool at times like that!" (I TOTALLY understand!! Haha.) "He's acting like an idol... you know, 'yoroshiku douzo' (with the hand gesture)"
- Ohkura asked if we noticed that he was doing the Pocky CM dance during Musekinin Hero on SCP. (Sorry, I didn't notice...) The Pocky CM dance is where this girl in a cheerleading uniform is dancing with a bright smile on her face and she's looking to the left side, turns to the front and shakes her hands up and down to the side. He kept on saying "That girl is sooo cute <3 I thought she was GIRL NEXT DOOR at first. They look alike. ...That's about it, haha. I know she's going to do well in this business! I am usually good at picking girls who would do well in the show biz. Like Kitano Kii-chan. I was watching TV one day, like 3 or 4 years ago. I'm definitely not in the position to be saying stuff like that, but I was like 'oh this girl will do well. She's cute.' and now she's like one of the rising star actresses. So, I think that I have these eyes for picking out good pure and innocent ("seijun-ha") actresses."
- He said that the K8 guys are normal guys. They would look at magazines and say "Man, these days, if you had big boobs you can be a bikini model. Times have changed..." They'd point to the ones they think are the cutest and stuff, haha. Usually Subaru will point to someone who no one would choose and they'd go "...ehhh...???"
- He then started talking about the guys. He said that they came to see his shows in Tokyo, but don't think they could for Osaka since they're all busy. Ryo-chan's doing a drama now and Ohkura said that Ryuusei no Kizuna is really interesting and he's looking forward to each episode. He said usually, he can't watch dramas real-time because he's out working and stuff, but he's always recording it on his hard disc drive. He said "Oh, I do buy DVDs of overseas drama series and watch them. OC is coming out soon <3"
- ...Anyway, he said he has keywords set for his hard disc drive so that it records any show that's related to "Kanjani8" or "Ohkura Tadayoshi." The crowd's talking to each other saying stuff like "He sets his own name as a keyword...??" so Ohkura said "Of course I check out the stuff I'm in!!"
- Ryo came to watch his show in Tokyo. Ryo had this one part he really liked, so he asked Ohkura if he could make it longer. Ryo came to the show on the first day, and for a week, he kept on calling Ohkura asking if he's made it longer. Ohkura's like "Ryo-chan kept on calling me. Every. Single. Night!!" Ohkura told Ryo that he didn't make it long yet because he'd have to adjust things with the staff and stuff, but Ryo's like "I said, change it!!!!" yelling at him. That continued for a week, haha. Ohkura's like "So in the Can!Jani dressing room, he really scolded me telling me to change it, so I made it longer... that was the only part where Ryo-chan complimented me on." We wanted to know exactly which part he was talking about, but he's like "I can't tell you yet because I don't want to spoil what's coming up later! I will write it on Johnny's Web if I remember. That is if I remember, okay??"
- He did remember!!! I was actually surprised because he talked for 40 minutes during this MC and still managed to keep his promise. Thank you Ohkura! Here's the translation of Ohkura's J-web entry from December 4th:
"300km/hr sleep"
The solo con in Osaka has finished.
The stage was really close to the crowd for the first time in a while so I was kinda embarrassed, but I was working hard hoping that none of you noticed my mistakes.
In one word, it was a lot of fun!
I would like to thank all the people who's supported me during the solo concert.
Thank you very much.
The drum performance was a real hit among those who came to watch.
With Ryo-chan's advice, I made that part longer.
To those of you that came to the show when I talked about this... I kept our promise!
It was a great learning experience.
Yoropiku--- (yoroshiku) when I have something next time!
- The drum performance is before the MC so I don't know why he said "it's coming up later" but oh well, at least now we know what Ryo's been bugging him about forever, haha. Or maybe he was talking about the drum at the end of "Saigo no Namida." That by the way is my favorite part of the show, too!
- Ohkura then talked about his Yassan. He said, "Yassan came to a show in Tokyo and called me after the show, too. He's like 'Ohkura! Sorry I couldn't say good bye.' 'Oh, don't worry about it, you're busy too.' 'Ohkura. It was a great live with no lies <3 See you <3'" Ohkura's like "I can't believe he can say embarrassing stuff like that so casually!" He said he was happy to hear that Shota thought that it was a live with no lies. He added, "Yassan also said 'You're all thumbs (bukiyou). That showed in the show, and I was watching and I was like 'He's all thumbs!' but I was so moved by that <3"
- He started talking about how Shota's such an 'oneeman' now (it's a show where TOKIO's Yamaguchi is hosting and it's full of people like IKKO... onee + man). There are times when they have an onee-type person as guest for Janiben. Shota's reactions are naturally a bit high-pitched so he'd say stuff like "Ehhh <3" Ohkura said he usually doesn't notice, but when that type of guest comes, he notices that the onee-type people and Shota have the same reaction. The guys all tell him to "cut it out," haha. Then, Subaru would say "Yasu, I'm really grossed out now," and Ohkura gets all nervous because indirectly, Subaru's saying "gross" to the guest as well.
- Yoko came to his show, too. Ohkura said Yoko and Shota joined the MC. Ohkura said "During the MC, Yokoyama-kun never made eye contact with me! He later told me that I looked like a star to him because I was on the stage by myself, so he got all embarrassed." After the show they were chatting in the dressing room and Shota's sitting right in front of him saying "It was so good <3" but Yoko's walking around the room saying "Ohkura, that was alright. Good job, man."
- Hina came to the show in Tokyo as well (first day, first show, lol). He was taking a shower when Hina came so he hurried to go see him, and when he entered the dressing room Hina was eating Ohkura's spa-ou (brand of instant spaghetti). "He was eating. My spaghetti. In my dressing room!!" Hina was like "Ahh! I was hungry so I ate it!" Ohkura said that after the show, Hina hugged him saying "Tatsuyoshi, it was good!" Ohkura's like "You know, that's fine if it's on stage and in front of the audience or whatever. But he hugged me when we were alone in the dressing room! It was awkward for me! He hadn't shaved either!" Haha.
- Then he had the Veterans come out to talk. They said it's been a while since they came out for the MC because Uchi came (on the 26th) and B.A.D. came in the first show of that day. (There were no shows on the 27th and 28th) Ohkura said "a breeze of youth just came in..." and Maashi was the first one to say "I know, we're young aren't we!" Ohkura said "No, I wasn't talking about you. Maashii, you're older than me!!" Maashii was so hyper during this MC. Ohkura said "You know, Maashii's weird. He's not being loud because he's in front of a crowd. He's being loud because he enjoys it!"
- They introduced themselves from left to right: Hamanaka, Muro (oldest brother), Kunta, Maashii and Kikuoka. They talked about the upcoming concerts in Shochikuza and the Christmas concert in Umeda. Ohkura said "Man, you guys have those concerts plus Uchi's solo con... so many things to learn and memorize, eh!!"
- They then started talking about how the name "Veteran" came to be. Maashii said that at first, they were calling themselves the "veterans," not as a name of a group. The four of them (not including Kunta) have been around for nearly 10 years. Ohkura's like "Why are you raising the bar up yourselves, calling yourselves the 'veterans'?" Maashii said "No, actually. We're not the 'veterans' yet. It's what we're aiming for; we want to move step by step to become a 'veteran'!!" Ohkura said "I see. Well, your group name is now V-E-something something in English! Haha, good luck!"
- The Veterans said that they've started rehearsing for the shows in December a little bit. They first have the concerts per unit, and first off was B.A.D. Ohkura said he's looking forward to the shows and would like to go see one. Ohkura said that they were so popular that it's getting really hard to hit for tickets. The Veterans were like "Whaaat? Who's saying that?" Ohkura said "I don't know. I just thought that maybe it was like that." Haha, oh Ohkura.
- Ohkura said that when he's filming in Kyoto, he usually goes to this one coffee shop where he has breakfast. One time, he was bored so he called up Muro (oldest brother) to see if he could come over, even if it's a bit far. Ohkura had woken up at 5am that day and went from Tokyo to Kyoto, and when he called Muro it was about 10am. Muro was still sleeping, but he came to see Ohkura anyway and had breakfast together.
- By the way he called breakfast "morning" (since they usually have 'morning' sets at cafes and stuff) throughout that conversation, and he commented on Hina a bit. Hina wrote "Morning coffee is important!" or something like that on J-web, and Ohkura's like "why couldn't he just say 'asa no coffee' (in Japanese)!? 'Morning coffee' is like Mou-musu! (Morning Musume's debut single was 'Morning Coffee'" Haha.
- So anyway, Ohkura and Muro were saying that it was probably one of the first times they hung out with just the two of them, so it was a nice experience. Ohkura asked Muro about his brothers and stuff. Muro said that he has two younger brothers, and the younger one joined Johnny's as well. Ohkura said he doesn't know what the youngest looks like. Muro and the Veterans called out for Masaya since he was one of the juniors dancing in this show.
- Masaya, the youngest of the three Muro brothers, came out on to the stage in a tank top, haha. Maashii gave Masaya his microphone (aww). Ohkura's like "Haha, all three Muro brothers have the same hairstyle! (Masaya's) face looks like a mixture of you (oldest) and Ryuuta (middle)."
- Masaya said that it's been about a year since he entered Johnny's and that he's 14 years old. The oldest brother is 6 years older. They have a huge height difference as well; Muro (oldest) is 188cm tall, easily the tallest person in Johnny's. Masaya's still young and he's got time to grow up, haha.
- Ohkura then started going on and on and on talking to Masaya about life. He's like "You should work hard at school, but also work hard (in Johnny's) as well. You should fall in love, make good friends... you know once you start working you'll start appreciating the friends from back home..." blah blah blah blah blah. He really went on and on, and Masaya just kept on nodding saying "Yes. Yes." The oldest brother's like "Masaya, you look like a rooster (nodding your head like that)!" Haha. Ohkura said "Okay? Do you get it? So dance hard. Practice singing. Don't get your positions wrong. Listen to your brothers too." Muro (oldest brother) said "This brother's the one that listens to me the most." Ohkura said "The most? You only have one other brother!" Haha.
- Masaya left the stage and Ohkura asked Kunta if he had any brothers or sisters. Kunta said he has a younger sister. Ohkura said "You have a sister? Do you look alike?" Kunta said they don't, so Ohkura said "I figured." Kunta said "Hey! What does that supposed to mean!!" Ohkura said that Kunta has a manly face and that Kunta thinks he's good looking. Kunta goes "Yooo!! Wait a minute! I don't think that way! No! No!" He kept on putting "-ssu" at the end of the sentence, like how young guys talk, and it was starting to irritate me, hahaha. Anyway, Ohkura said that that's what Kunta was saying back in the dressing room. According to Ohkura, Kunta was like "Well, when I walk around town I think to myself 'ha, I win.'" Ohkura said that that was Black-Kunta lol. Kunta laughed like "Uhyahayahyahay" ...it was an annoying laugh haha! One time on TV, he was saying that the way he laughs makes people feel uncomfortable and annoyed. I totally understood what that meant, haha!!! Kunta said "Well, doing this show biz, you should think like that a little bit you know!" Ohkura said "I know, unless you love yourself, people won't love you back."
- Then Muro said "You look like Kanou Eikou!" to Kunta. Ohkura agreed, and Kunta imitated Kanou Eikou for a while. "Ramen Tsukemen Boku Ikemen!! OK!!!" "Staffuuuuuu!!" Haha. Ohkura said "You have the same hair. Same eyes. Everything! Haha. People can now remember you as 'Kanou Eikou'"
- Ohkura said that Kunta's always been an annoying guy. One time, Ryo said "Say one bad thing about Ohkura" to Kunta. Kunta's like "I can't say!" and Ryo's like "SAY IT" and Kunta added a kicking motion, lol. No, Ryo didn't kick (or did he? haha). So Kunta said "Ohkura-kun... I think he's perfect, but I guess (one bad thing is that) he's a bit fat." Hahaha. Ohkura's like "I don't easily forget things like that!!!!!! Anything related to my body!!! I never forget!!!!" Kunta's like "Noooo! Nishikido-kun was like 'SAY IT NOW' and was being all scary..." "Oh now you blame Ryo-chan for it!?" "Noooo! No it's my fault. It's my fault!!" Then Ohkura said "You should ask for some help from the side." Kunta goes "Staffuuuuuu!!" lol. Haha poor Kunta.
- Ohkura asked Kunta how many years older he was. Kunta goes "8, 9, 10, 11, 12..." so Ohkura's like "Whoa, hold on! You're not 11 years old are you!?" Kunta was laughing at his own stupidity so Ohkura said "Don't laugh at your own mistake! Yokoyama-kun laughs at his own jokes as well." So Kunta counted properly and they are 6 years apart (I think he started counting from the "8" in "18"). Ohkura then said "See? You were born when I was 6 years old!" so proudly, hahaha. "Don't ever call me fat!" he added.
- Maashii and Ohkura are a year apart. Ohkura's in his 11th year and Maashi's in his 10th. Maashi's 24 years old. Ohkura asked what Maashii does usually. Maashii said he plays games and stays in the house. Ohkura said that Yokoyama-kun usually invites Maashii out for dinner and stuff. Ohkura wondered what they talk about during dinners, and Maashii said him and Yoko talk about the food. Yoko knows a lot of good things to eat so he talks about that to him. Ohkura said they should go out to eat sometime together.
- "Kiku!!" he then called out. By the way, Ohkura was at the side of the stage holding on to a chair while he talked to the Veterans who were lined up in the middle of the stage. Ohkura talked so much that he was like "I think I have a fever!" The Veterans said "Should we leave??" and Ohkura said "No! I want to talk to you guys!" Ohkura said that the staffuuuu was signaling him to wrap it up, but "no! We're going on!" haha.
- He asked if Kikuoka changed his hairstyle. Kikuoka said that he just had a magazine shoot earlier so they set his hair up for him. Ohkura said that Kikuoka's always looking good and is a role model idol. His hair is always looking good. One time, Ohkura thought that Kiku really had a pretty face so he asked he had foundation on from home, and Kikuoka said "Yes! That was when we didn't have to get in til late. That day, right? Right?" Then Maashii came in saying that sometimes he thought he saw Kiku wearing make up outside of work. Maashii had his back to Kikuoka the whole time, so Ohkura finally asked "You guys don't get along too well, do you?" LOL. They had this awkward distance between them, even though they were standing next to each other. Maashii said "Yeah, we're not the best of friends" and Kikuoka said "You didn't have to say that!" and Ohkura goes "Haha! You got mad!" Ohkura said that it's not that they're not good friends, but when they bring it up it just gets awkward. Muro asked why Maashii isn't looking at Kikuoka, and he said it was because it was kinda embarrassing. Maashii and Kiku are the same age, but Maashii's been in Johnny's a bit longer, like half a year or so. Ohkura said "I've been talking too much so I feel like I'm running out of oxygen."
- Then they started talking to Hamanaka. Bun-chan is the youngest of them all. Ohkura said that Bun and Maashii hang out together a lot. Ohkura asked if Maashii was the one that followed Bun everywhere, but no, it was actually Bun-chan that followed Maashii around. Bun-chan is the youngest, but he acts the oldest. Maashii's the oldest, but he acts the youngest, lol. According to Ohkura, Maashii always apologizes to people, haha. Ohkura said "You should act more like a leader!" Maashii denied that he was the leader, but the rest of them said that he was. Ohkura said that he should be the leader because he's lived longer than the others. "Ito Masashi, the leader type." Haha.
- Ohkura then asked Maashi "As a leader, how would you want to make this Veteran group go from here on?" Then Maashii said "We're not a 'veteran' yet, so as we go through the steps to become a veteran, we want to work hard as a group..." and Muro's like "Your eyes are shifting everywhere!" Ohkura's worried, so he asked Bun-chan instead. "What did you think of what Maashii just said?" "Well, each of us has to work hard." Ohkura then said, "You know, what Maashii just said was something that a school principal would say... something that is safe saying. So what did YOU think?" And Bun-chan's like "Umm... I don't know!! I don't know what to say!" Ohkura said that Bun-chan hasn't talked at all so he's asking him now. Bun said "It's alright; I always do the talking. I want the others to talk too. Usually, I'm the only one that talks and our time's up. Today I want the others to talk!" 'You've left it to them?" "Yes." "Why are you so up there?? lol"
- ANYWAY... after the loooong talk with the Veterans, they finally left the stage. After talking for 40 minutes (as we found out at the end of the show when Ohkura told us), he started talking with Matori-kun, who was going to play the piano for Mamoritai. For that conversation, please look at the actual concert report from that day (
http://paaaaan.livejournal.com/84789.html 11. Mamoritai)
---
PHEW!!! That was one long MC report, eh!??!?! Ohkura really did talk a lot. It was fun though; he's definitely not bad doing the MC by himself! :-)
Overall, I was really impressed with the improvements he had made from the first time I saw his show in Tokyo. My favorite part of the whole show is probably the last drumming part for "Saigo no Namida." It's always so full of power and emotion. It's a great ending to the show. I also like the songs he chose to sing. The "Datte Idol Damon" song is growing on me too, haha. I sometimes find myself humming that song at work, lol.
Once again, otsukare! Ohkura!!