Arashi Blast in Hawaii, Saturday 20th, 2014
This is what happens when I'm stuck alone and I don't know the current wifi password. I was writing this on Saturday night and in the small hours of Friday morning, so the tense tends to skip. Essentially, any reference to "today" is Saturday and "yesterday" is Friday. It was rather late and this is mostly written as a reminder to myself, but I'm leaving it unlock in case anyone finds it of interest.
TL;DR: I enjoyed myself and things worked out okay-actually really well- for me, but some people got completely screwed over by the lack of crowd control outside the venue, and you'd think they'd have learned from yesterday, but apparently not. Also the concert itself was excellent, but that was pretty much a given.
The line management on Saturday was downright terrible. It was way worse than Friday- you could tell as soon as you got there. I think people had started lining up way earlier than they the day before. I arrived at around 12:30 about half-an-hour earlier than I had on Friday and ended up nearly two lengths of the street behind where I was the day previous. I thought there would be a more organized set up than Friday, but there were still no more barriers than there had been originally the day before.
(Essentially the only barriers were on the very first stretch of the sidewalk. and inside the closed off venue. Trouble brewing. There wasn't even a pylon placed to curve the line along, which means that when the line starts to actually move, people will cut corners like crazy. Luckily we were right about where the line turned around in the front, which gave me a pretty good view of what was going on later. Oh, and I happened to notice the uchiwa of a tumblr user I had seen posted earlier, which I found highly amusing. Incidentally, after the concert on Friday, I found the tumblr of people a few people behind me in line that day, which I had found somewhat less amusing.) There were more staff to tell people where to go, but not many more. They weren't policing the end of the line. There was the addition of a sign to tell people where the end of the line was, which was a major point of confusion the day before, but they looped the line up and down each side of the street 3 times instead of twice. My cousin, who had been in a different bit of line than I was yesterday, said that she thought they were trying for this sort of configuration then, but they were unable to pull it off.
There was a lot of really blatent line jumping yesterday, when people just kind of sidled up next to the people who had been in line for hours. Not joining a group, just kind of squeezing in, so I was hoping that we'd see more organization today. This was not the case. Also, the KZOO line ended up mixed in with us on Friday because apparently the staff was confused too- they had told the KZOO voucher-holders that they should go through the same line.They looked like they had a separate line today, as their vouchers act differently. (Essentially the KZOO "tickets" that were sold at the radio station were actually vouchers, to be exchanged for tickets on the day of. I asked at the KZOO station the first day they were selling tickets, just to see if they had better sections, but they didn't know where in the venue the tickets would be, only that they had drawn the lines of the sections and were able to fit more people in. The vouchers were really pretty. If you saw someone with a paper ticket, that was actually an embossed KZOO voucher. If I had one, I'd wish I could keep it. My ticket today is essentially receipt paper and it's sopping wet.)
The the humidity was high, but this time they had ...volunteers? student nurses? handing out ice to help ward off heat stroke. (Though they only came by once or twice, it still felt like I saw more of them than I saw of the event staff. Ah, there was someone who was watching the road to the bathroom, but people were jumping in and out of their groups all day, so it was tough to see what they were supposed to do.) I now know why they tend to include hooded towels in concert goods- it's more useful for sweat than rain (more on the subject of rain later.) In fact, within the people I've spoke with, 4 had bought towels at the venue on Friday because of the heat.
There was no one policing the turn arounds and the lines were already starting to blur when they started to run bag checks- while people were still in line. (I think they were mostly checking for cameras and ipads, but with the way people were moving in and out of line, I'm not sure what good it did.) I heard rumors that they'd start letting people in early, and a staff member with a ticket scanner- one person- moving through the line ticketing people in advance at about 3ish, but I was right behind the turn and they had gotten the rest of the turn, stopping literally right before me, before heading up the line next to me- and they never did come back like they said they would. (When I say literally, I mean they scanned the people directly ahead of me in line, and when I got my card out in preparation, told me they were going to go up the other side of the line first.) They were also heading in the direction opposite of the flow of the line, so I think that mainly got people turned around from where they were originally facing, because I noticed that the line I was in had ended up facing the opposite direction. Which might have been okay if, you know, they had more than one person scanning tickets?
About half-an-hour before the gates opened, they moved the three lines on the other side of the street and compressed them into our side, to the great confusion of everybody involved. None of the people moving really knew what was going on; I heard no announcements on the loudspeaker while in line today. Granted, the announcements I heard while in line yesterday were completely unintelligible beyond the fact that I could tell that they were trying to make some sort of communication. The announcements were not repeated, and you couldn't make the contents out over the ambient noise. I sincerely doubt that we were missing much, as I heard one while in line for the bathroom yesterday and it turned out be completely wrong.
Did I mention that the closest restroom had only two stalls? It had only two stalls, and any other public restrooms -also overcrowded- were a long walk away. Well over a quarter mile. I'm not sure if anyone successfully made it into the nearby hotel to use them, but the hotel staff directed me to to use the other public restrooms (3 stalls!) down the beach yesterday. (They also turned people away from the nearby restrooms yesterday, because apparently they were going to do some sort of maintenance or other yesterday at 4 o'clock, but instructions I got from various (hotel) were rather conflicting. I'm not sure if they ever did close it. On the upside, both times I made my way out to the next lagoon I encountered no line, though when my cousin went, she said the line there was really long. And this bathroom was really quite far away.) There was also a single port-a-potty by the parking lot and a row of them by the set up for the tour group. There exists a rather nice portable trailer set up, which is what I had initially expected.
Digressions aside, I do, definitely, know that the other lines were definitely told to move. It looked like they were making way for a vehicle at first, but none came through. I was later told by one of the event security staff that they were making room for an ambulance at Ko Olina's request. (They tend to keep ambulances at concerts like this at concerts like this as a precaution, so it might have been making room for the potential egress of the ambulance that had been stationed inside the venue. If they had followed the same set up as yesterday, it would have had a path,though I honestly wasn't able to see the full scope of the line on Friday.)
Once the lines were moved, there was really no way of keeping any sort of order. They simply didn't have the barricades, nor the staff necessary to maintain them. There was, initially, a staff member at the first bit of barricade asking people to maintain the line, but from where I was standing, it was obviously pretty futile and they gave up fairly quickly. From the lack of barricades/staff, I somewhat expected the lines to break down into a rush for the gate, but not as badly as they actually did. I heard people say that the people who were just showing up were just jumping into line on the other side of the street, but I wasn't in a position to see that.
At this point, the danger wasn't so much as from heatstroke as the press of the crowd. If someone trips, there's not enough visibility for the people around them to see them until they're right in front of them. Even then, it's difficult to fight the push of the crowd. I was really worried someone would end up seriously injured. In situations like this, there's nothing you can really do to fight the flow of the crowd. It's stupidly dangerous. I told the people with me to just make sure we didn't get separated and I kept track of our footing. We ended up hanging on to each other.
I saw several security staff heading off saying that a fight had broken out. With the way things were going, I was not surprised.
I felt incredibly bad for the people who were in the first turn up the street that fell right against the barrier. They had been there for hours and they were completely trapped. I was pretty nervous about my own safety until we made it inside the barriers, where you'd only get pressed from one direction. It's not just that it's galling to watch people go by after you've waited so long, but that being in a mob like that is pretty terrifying, even if you're not claustrophobic. I don't know how long they were stuck there, but I would have been really frighted. On Friday, I had been standing where they were in line today. If we had arrived a little earlier or a little later, my group would have been in exactly the same position as they were. Mostly I was scared that someone would get trampled.
(Incidentally, a recent news report said that the hotel next to the venue was only notified about it ~45 days ago. I think the same was stated in the business journal here, which places the move at about a week before the ticket sale was announced. The previous venue was somewhere near Wakiki? I can't think of a single appropriate place. If this were in planning for 2 to 5 years- depending on which news report you read- why was the venue moved so late? Seriously, I don't know of anywhere that could support a full-scale Arashi concert near Waikiki, and before they announced the venue, I was really pondering it. Also, I heard something about 80,000 applicants for the tour lottery. If that's the case, I think the limiting factor might have actually been hotel rooms. A lot of people I spoke with told me they were staying near the airport, but other than the really ritzy ones, I'm not really familiar with the relative "niceness" of hotels. Also, did you know some of them have those fancy electronic toilets installed? I really want one of those, but they're really expensive.)
When I got inside the fence, there were a bunch of places to throw a way your food/water and I tossed a full water bottle, but they didn't check bags again. (Creepy. With the way the line was moving, you could take anything in.) I saw people running once they were past the ticket scanners, but I knew from yesterday where in my section I wanted to be. Luckily, I was able to get exactly that. (Riiiiight along the far right side, along the edge so I'd 1) have fresh air, 2) have a relatively unobstructed view of the main stage, 3) be able to see the rising platform, and most importantly 4) I had noticed that my section today was right near the path where those mini carts run. The moving stage goes down the other side. Actually, you can tell by the tracks, but the important point is that it's easier to see what's going on a moving stage when you're a little further back.)
They were originally planning on designating sections by wristband, but that fell through very early on Friday. I happened to be in line by the trailer that looked like it was serving as an office and overheard some staff when they decided to call them off that day due to time constraints. Apparently that person didn't think that they'd work in the first place. There WERE signs directing you to go in accordance with your section on Friday, but by the time I got to the ticket scanners, you just went wherever the staff sent you, which of course meant that the line I was in had a scanner that broke down a few people ahead of me.
(I'm not entirely certain, but I think the major time constraints were that 1) the live stream and 2) the show needed to be over by 9:30 PM and if they didn't start on time they wouldn't be able to get through the whole thing. I think they started about 10 minutes late on Friday?)
Essentially, what this means is that there was no way to effectively enforce what section people go to. I'm not sure whether much of that happened yesterday, as I got inside relatively early, but I noticed that my section that day (D1) was rather sparse, except for when people rushed the stage during the Hawaiian-themed songs. Finding my way back to my seat after that was an interesting experience. (There was a guy with a kid on his shoulders literally right in front of my group. I ended up using him as a landmark, but most people marked their place with their bags. Their identical Arashi Blast tote bags. My mom was with us that day, and she was watching our stuff. She said that there was a girl checking bags to see which one was was her seat and I don't blame her at all. I wasn't entirely sure I had the right stool until I checked to see if my sunglasses was in my bag, and that was with my mother sitting right next to me.)
The fans with tickets from the Tour were in A, B, & C. Those had assigned seating. I'm not sure where the KZOO tickets ended up, but I'd guess in the E's. (There's stuff going on in the back, so those were also quite good.)
The staff asked the section next to us (D4) to consolidate repeatedly tonight. We were asked to consolidate...once, maybe twice. I ended up standing right on the line of the edge of the section- there was no room otherwise. There were people who were still being seated during the first VTR segment, though I'm not sure if it was due to the crowding of the section or that the lines were moving that slowly. At one point, I saw a firefighter walk by, which is what I found really worrisome, but I'm not entirely sure how the fire code works for outdoor concerts.
The show was absolutely amazing. Nino came by twice on the cart. We also saw Aiba and Sho and our view of the central walkway was really good. Also Nino was facing us during that bit in PARADOX. (Well, he wasn't actually facing us, but you know what I mean.) It's really interesting to see what other members get up to when they're not the one being shown on the video feed. I saw a bit of Ohmiya, a lot of members sneaking drinks of water, and Aiba singing along to some parts that weren't his. (He did remember to put the mike down, but it was really, really adorable. Also, Sho didn't appear to be crushing his water bottle- perhaps he grew out of that?)
I've always been fascinated by the way Arashi moves around the audience, ever since I noticed that the little carts they ride weren't motored, but rather pushed around by staff. I got a good glimpse of what they looked like on the inside, and it looks like that part is really unfinished- most effort is concentrated on the parts that show on cameras. It works for the video? Seriously, I love that stuff.
Nino was the closest to us when they had the water blasters. He looked like he was enjoying himself. (I'm happy that I got to see both Nino for this segment today and Matsujun during this segment on Friday, because from what I remember of Shukudai-kun, I think they'd enjoy it the most.) We weren't close enough to be hit by the spray, but we could see him pretty well. They need to give these guys waterguns more often.
I hope they include both MC segments for a dvd release, because it was incredibly interesting on both days and you KNOW they were filming. Also because I'm going from memory, I don't remember all of the details aside from the fact that they were incredibly interesting.
Yesterday there was the bit where Ohno reveals that he's choreographing one song in the upcoming concert and that it was essentially on Matsumoto's orders. So Matsumoto asked him if- if asked- he'd do all of the songs in the concert and Ohno backtracked quickly, claiming that it would be like a concert centered around him. Heavily implying that he didn't think it would be interesting, please don't volunteer me for extra work, Matsujun. At which point Matsumoto asked the audience if we'd like to see something like that, which was our cue to cry that yes, indeed we would.
Today they talked about what various members thought was stood out about this concert. Matsumoto thought it was the helicopter entrance, and he apologized to Sho because he had heard from Nino that Sho's hands were shaking. Sho claimed that he was actually okay with helicopters because helicopters have floors. Cue disbelief, but Sho insisted. Also, Nino also thought the helicopter stood out- oh, sorry, did they speak about it already? (He had been backstage changing during the previous conversation.) No, it's okay, they'll talk about it some more. Nino had to run backstage again to pee, which led to a discussion about how he does what he wants (or is carefree? I don't know, I usually hear the word they used to describe the nature of cats,) and oh, doesn't he look like he had just eaten something sour? Which segued to a bit about eating lemons to refresh oneself, but I kind of lost track of the conversation at that point. (Also, where the hell did Nino go, as he was pretty quick about it? I guess they had somewhere on the inside, but there didn't appear to be a lot of space backstage.) They also spoke a bit about Believe and the dangers of some part of the choreography, though I didn't catch exactlly why they thought the footing(? I seriously forget?) for the jump was risky. It involved a bit of a cappella and a demonstration of said move, which was really cute. Sho was MCing the MC segment, so he was the last to leave to change, and he almost took the wrong door, which the other members were quick to point out.
Nino's yakiniku anecdote was during the VTR and not the MC. I'm seriously blanking on what he talked about during Friday's MC, as you know he has to have said something. My strongest memories of the MC on Friday was the choreography bit I mentioned earlier and Aiba and Ohno recounting when they found out that they were going to Hawaii. Aiba tried to make Sho take on Johnny's half of the conversation.
(Incidentally, during the vtr Aiba said it didn't sink in that Arashi was a permanant unit until the second single.) Oh, and Aiba was really cute when he was promoting his movie. He essentially made the same joke on both days, but it was really cute and an actually funny joke about how the movie wasn't even airing in Hawaii. I think they went into more detail on Friday. (Not that much detail. It was based on a book! which was based on a song! written by some guy whose name I don't remember offhand and am too lazy to look up!)
I think part of the reason they moved performances around the venue is to take advantage of the sky behind. Even though Arashi shows tend to fall at dusk, the stage and arena walls usually block the view of the sunset. It was hard to really appreciate from the angle we were in (for which I was thankful, as I enjoy my eyesight and prefer not to be looking directly at the sun,) but from what I could see of the video feed, the background looks spectacular on film and this concert dvd will be amazing. They used two different stages to take advantages of two different levels of light during the sunset. The towers stand against the dark of the night sky and you can totally see the fireworks in the background at the end- a view that is usually blocked. I hope the people watching in Japan were impressed, because I had the feeling that they were really taking some awesome footage.
It had been threatening to rain from the beginning of the concert. The humidity was high. The sky was turning a bit gray. You'd feel a drop, maybe two and wonder if you were imaging it. We were thankful when it started really raining shortly after the last vestiges of the sun faded after the Hawaiian-style segment. The humidity had been nearly unbearable and it was a really refreshing light rain. I was amused to note that the rain started during "Summer Splash."
A few songs later, it was seriously pouring. Everyone got soaked to the bone. Also of note was that the field was completely mud. I was actually really pleased about this. It was hot, and no one's microphone failed this time, though we did see Nino furtively trying to dry his off right before a solo line. Also, I've always thought that lighting effects look really cool when viewed through the rain. It was really reminiscent of the water screen projections. It's going to look incredible on film. I was worried about the pyrotechnics, but I didn't notice any decrease from last night. (There's this really incredibly cool thing they do during "Dare mo Shiranai" where they shoot flames in all of the member colors. It took me a while to catch on what they were trying to do last night, but I liked it so much that I especially watched for it tonight.)
In the DVD's, you see girls putting on hooded towels when it starts to rain. I don't think it keeps you any drier, but it does help keep the water out of your eyes.
I'm not a great fan of when they hire professional backup dancers; I usually find it pretty hit or miss. The only ones tonight are fire dancers during Monster, which was excellent. There is a video effect that looks like an infinity mirror, and Arashi, in front of it, with SPINNING WHEELS OF FLAME is really a sight to behold. (Actually I was looking for the colored flames during Monster, was disappointed I didn't see it, and didn't realize that I was mis-remembering the sequence of events until "Dare mo Shiranai.")
At one point, I saw Nino spit out a mouthful of water, despite the fact that I didn't see him taking a drink, and I honestly think that it might have been rainwater. The rain was really heavy at that point.This concert was the very first time that I've seen Ohno's hair gel (or whatever miraculous substance that they put in it) actually give out.
The rain stopped during Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi, and I find that hilarious. And also a total relief, because flying a helicopter at night is dangerous enough, at night during heavy rain is really risky.
Aiba was really cute during the final thanks segment. He only stumbled over his words once tonight, but he turned around to hide that he was crying. (Jun: Face forwards!) It made sense, as the 24 hour tv letter was about 10 years ago, and they STILL haven't stopped ragging on him about it. (Which is absolutely wonderful. We need to be reminded that Aiba broke down crying while reading a sappy letter on national television. Often. Perhaps on a daily basis.) With the rain, it was really hard to tell if it was water or tear tracks, but it seemed to me that everyone's eyes looked kind of red.
The ending of the concert yesterday, was a real shock, but we were expecting it today. I wonder if difference would show up in the dvd footage. I also wonder if some of those screens were ruined, because a few of them were malfunctioning, but most were just out completely. It was too bad, as they were supposed to be flashing photos through the years, with each member on a different screen. They ended up just turning them off completely, which just looks better than only running half of them. (I've heard that running electronics while wet totally fries them.) Incidentally, I think someone mentioned that Ohno was a "rain man" yesterday, which was humid but dry. No mention of that today, but ahahahahaha, Ohno.)
Getting out of the venue was kind of interesting with all of that muck. We ended up just agreeing to use our pre-determined meeting point and trying do our best on the way out. A crowd + a field of mud + carrying muddy chairs = how the heck did mud get onto that part of my shirt? I crossed towards the back in search of firmer ground- the moving stage tracks were unexpectedly slippery. The back of the venue was that orange portable net-type fence and a few people must have made a gap in it and went out that way.
(The tall 12 ft fences are only on the front and sides. Incidentally, you enter through the area behind the stage.) I had already bought the Arashi-labelled bottled water, so I was following that group, but they closed it right before I got there and I had to veer left.
We took the path along the lagoon-side back to the parking lot, with a quick detour to view the yacht that Arashi debuted on. It was tiny. (Arashi went to look at it during the VTR segment, and they were surprised at the size.) We could have gotten closer for a better view, but the path to get above it was all muddy grass and that was not a thing that was going to happen.
The view of the stage from the lagoon is incredibly pretty.
Although it seemed more together when we first arrived, parking was a nightmare to get out of. There was nobody directing traffic, but I really don't see how there would be a safe place for any attendant in that mess. It took a bit over an hour to get out of there. It looked like the taxi queue this time was better organized. The road out was pretty jammed, so we had a lot of time to discuss the concert. They had limited concert traffic to one of the two exits to Ko Olina which meant that the line barely moved at all.
All in all, it was a pretty amazing experience on both days. I was in D1 the first night, and on the way home all I could say was that I couldn't believe how close we were to Arashi. Not just because we actually could go to the concert- which was a miracle in and of itself- but because, even in that section, we got REALLY CLOSE to Arashi. The moving stage went by and there was also the Hawaiian songs segment. There were so many things going on in different directions that it was sometimes difficult to tell where to look. When the seating chart was released, I remember wondering which aisles would be the ones that Arashi would travel and the answer was "most of them." D3 was pretty interesting because of the proximity to the hanamichi and the rising platform in the center. I had a much better view on Saturday night, but I wouldn't have managed it without my experience Friday, where we were wondering where in the section we ought to sit.
When the tickets were first announced, I had people who had never heard of Arashi tell me that they were shocked by the price of the tickets. (Actually, people who actually subscribe to the Hawaii Business News feed found out before I did, despite the fact that I had subscribed to the international Johnny's newsletter AND had run nearly daily searches on the subject from May through the announcement in August.) I'm not sure if they sold out or not- I know that they ended up doing the last of the KZOO tickets by lottery in the end, and ticketmaster was just buggy as hell. I think we were extremely lucky just to have a way to get tickets without having to pay ridiculous scalping markups. Any seat in the venue tonight was, in terms of distance to the stage and members of Arashi passing through, the equivalent of an arena floor seat and a nice one at that.
I met a lot of interesting people with like interests. Most of them had flown in for the concert.
I enjoyed myself, despite that fact that it showed that Ko Olina, while pretty, kind of sucks as a concert venue in terms of ability to accommodate crowd control. (Like I said, they were the ones who TOLD people to move over and compress to the other side of the street. It was complete chaos.) I'm really sad about the complete failure at crowd control; it gives a really bad impression. And honestly, about the way they handled the hotel guest's complaints? There were some saying that they wished the hotel would offer to switch them to a different property, which was ironic because I'm sure there were plenty of girls on the tour with the deluxe hotel package in Waikiki who would have switched with them in a heartbeat. They were trying to sell Ko Olina as a vacation option, but from my limited interaction with the resort staff, I was not impressed in the slightest. Comparing it to the staff at say, other hotels I've been to recently, it was really terrible. I know that most of the problems stemmed from poor planning by concert organizers, but I got the distinct impression that the Ko Olina management (and the Marriot in particular) made things decidedly worse. By the way, I saw them trying to sell $15 chill towels to the tour group and other ridiculously expensive Ko Olina branded goods, which was kind of hilarious. (No, I don't think anyone was buying it. I think they received these little blue neckerchiefs that cool when you wet them for free from a tour sponsor booth in Waikiki.`It said "eco" on it, so it might have been Hitachi? They were handing out a bunch of Ko Olina fans inside the venue on Friday, but didn't on Saturday.)
I hope that everyone gets home safely.
Also, my Mother- who only came Friday night- has become a Sakurai fan. He was by D1 the most often, and she thinks he looks way more handsome in person. She didn't really know much of Arashi, but she saw some bits of my concert dvds and wanted to see what it was like. She was really impressed.
Also, also, I spent well over 3 hours writing that, what the hell? That took forever.
TL;DR: I enjoyed myself and things worked out okay-actually really well- for me, but some people got completely screwed over by the lack of crowd control outside the venue, and you'd think they'd have learned from yesterday, but apparently not. Also the concert itself was excellent, but that was pretty much a given.
The line management on Saturday was downright terrible. It was way worse than Friday- you could tell as soon as you got there. I think people had started lining up way earlier than they the day before. I arrived at around 12:30 about half-an-hour earlier than I had on Friday and ended up nearly two lengths of the street behind where I was the day previous. I thought there would be a more organized set up than Friday, but there were still no more barriers than there had been originally the day before.
(Essentially the only barriers were on the very first stretch of the sidewalk. and inside the closed off venue. Trouble brewing. There wasn't even a pylon placed to curve the line along, which means that when the line starts to actually move, people will cut corners like crazy. Luckily we were right about where the line turned around in the front, which gave me a pretty good view of what was going on later. Oh, and I happened to notice the uchiwa of a tumblr user I had seen posted earlier, which I found highly amusing. Incidentally, after the concert on Friday, I found the tumblr of people a few people behind me in line that day, which I had found somewhat less amusing.) There were more staff to tell people where to go, but not many more. They weren't policing the end of the line. There was the addition of a sign to tell people where the end of the line was, which was a major point of confusion the day before, but they looped the line up and down each side of the street 3 times instead of twice. My cousin, who had been in a different bit of line than I was yesterday, said that she thought they were trying for this sort of configuration then, but they were unable to pull it off.
There was a lot of really blatent line jumping yesterday, when people just kind of sidled up next to the people who had been in line for hours. Not joining a group, just kind of squeezing in, so I was hoping that we'd see more organization today. This was not the case. Also, the KZOO line ended up mixed in with us on Friday because apparently the staff was confused too- they had told the KZOO voucher-holders that they should go through the same line.They looked like they had a separate line today, as their vouchers act differently. (Essentially the KZOO "tickets" that were sold at the radio station were actually vouchers, to be exchanged for tickets on the day of. I asked at the KZOO station the first day they were selling tickets, just to see if they had better sections, but they didn't know where in the venue the tickets would be, only that they had drawn the lines of the sections and were able to fit more people in. The vouchers were really pretty. If you saw someone with a paper ticket, that was actually an embossed KZOO voucher. If I had one, I'd wish I could keep it. My ticket today is essentially receipt paper and it's sopping wet.)
The the humidity was high, but this time they had ...volunteers? student nurses? handing out ice to help ward off heat stroke. (Though they only came by once or twice, it still felt like I saw more of them than I saw of the event staff. Ah, there was someone who was watching the road to the bathroom, but people were jumping in and out of their groups all day, so it was tough to see what they were supposed to do.) I now know why they tend to include hooded towels in concert goods- it's more useful for sweat than rain (more on the subject of rain later.) In fact, within the people I've spoke with, 4 had bought towels at the venue on Friday because of the heat.
There was no one policing the turn arounds and the lines were already starting to blur when they started to run bag checks- while people were still in line. (I think they were mostly checking for cameras and ipads, but with the way people were moving in and out of line, I'm not sure what good it did.) I heard rumors that they'd start letting people in early, and a staff member with a ticket scanner- one person- moving through the line ticketing people in advance at about 3ish, but I was right behind the turn and they had gotten the rest of the turn, stopping literally right before me, before heading up the line next to me- and they never did come back like they said they would. (When I say literally, I mean they scanned the people directly ahead of me in line, and when I got my card out in preparation, told me they were going to go up the other side of the line first.) They were also heading in the direction opposite of the flow of the line, so I think that mainly got people turned around from where they were originally facing, because I noticed that the line I was in had ended up facing the opposite direction. Which might have been okay if, you know, they had more than one person scanning tickets?
About half-an-hour before the gates opened, they moved the three lines on the other side of the street and compressed them into our side, to the great confusion of everybody involved. None of the people moving really knew what was going on; I heard no announcements on the loudspeaker while in line today. Granted, the announcements I heard while in line yesterday were completely unintelligible beyond the fact that I could tell that they were trying to make some sort of communication. The announcements were not repeated, and you couldn't make the contents out over the ambient noise. I sincerely doubt that we were missing much, as I heard one while in line for the bathroom yesterday and it turned out be completely wrong.
Did I mention that the closest restroom had only two stalls? It had only two stalls, and any other public restrooms -also overcrowded- were a long walk away. Well over a quarter mile. I'm not sure if anyone successfully made it into the nearby hotel to use them, but the hotel staff directed me to to use the other public restrooms (3 stalls!) down the beach yesterday. (They also turned people away from the nearby restrooms yesterday, because apparently they were going to do some sort of maintenance or other yesterday at 4 o'clock, but instructions I got from various (hotel) were rather conflicting. I'm not sure if they ever did close it. On the upside, both times I made my way out to the next lagoon I encountered no line, though when my cousin went, she said the line there was really long. And this bathroom was really quite far away.) There was also a single port-a-potty by the parking lot and a row of them by the set up for the tour group. There exists a rather nice portable trailer set up, which is what I had initially expected.
Digressions aside, I do, definitely, know that the other lines were definitely told to move. It looked like they were making way for a vehicle at first, but none came through. I was later told by one of the event security staff that they were making room for an ambulance at Ko Olina's request. (They tend to keep ambulances at concerts like this at concerts like this as a precaution, so it might have been making room for the potential egress of the ambulance that had been stationed inside the venue. If they had followed the same set up as yesterday, it would have had a path,though I honestly wasn't able to see the full scope of the line on Friday.)
Once the lines were moved, there was really no way of keeping any sort of order. They simply didn't have the barricades, nor the staff necessary to maintain them. There was, initially, a staff member at the first bit of barricade asking people to maintain the line, but from where I was standing, it was obviously pretty futile and they gave up fairly quickly. From the lack of barricades/staff, I somewhat expected the lines to break down into a rush for the gate, but not as badly as they actually did. I heard people say that the people who were just showing up were just jumping into line on the other side of the street, but I wasn't in a position to see that.
At this point, the danger wasn't so much as from heatstroke as the press of the crowd. If someone trips, there's not enough visibility for the people around them to see them until they're right in front of them. Even then, it's difficult to fight the push of the crowd. I was really worried someone would end up seriously injured. In situations like this, there's nothing you can really do to fight the flow of the crowd. It's stupidly dangerous. I told the people with me to just make sure we didn't get separated and I kept track of our footing. We ended up hanging on to each other.
I saw several security staff heading off saying that a fight had broken out. With the way things were going, I was not surprised.
I felt incredibly bad for the people who were in the first turn up the street that fell right against the barrier. They had been there for hours and they were completely trapped. I was pretty nervous about my own safety until we made it inside the barriers, where you'd only get pressed from one direction. It's not just that it's galling to watch people go by after you've waited so long, but that being in a mob like that is pretty terrifying, even if you're not claustrophobic. I don't know how long they were stuck there, but I would have been really frighted. On Friday, I had been standing where they were in line today. If we had arrived a little earlier or a little later, my group would have been in exactly the same position as they were. Mostly I was scared that someone would get trampled.
(Incidentally, a recent news report said that the hotel next to the venue was only notified about it ~45 days ago. I think the same was stated in the business journal here, which places the move at about a week before the ticket sale was announced. The previous venue was somewhere near Wakiki? I can't think of a single appropriate place. If this were in planning for 2 to 5 years- depending on which news report you read- why was the venue moved so late? Seriously, I don't know of anywhere that could support a full-scale Arashi concert near Waikiki, and before they announced the venue, I was really pondering it. Also, I heard something about 80,000 applicants for the tour lottery. If that's the case, I think the limiting factor might have actually been hotel rooms. A lot of people I spoke with told me they were staying near the airport, but other than the really ritzy ones, I'm not really familiar with the relative "niceness" of hotels. Also, did you know some of them have those fancy electronic toilets installed? I really want one of those, but they're really expensive.)
When I got inside the fence, there were a bunch of places to throw a way your food/water and I tossed a full water bottle, but they didn't check bags again. (Creepy. With the way the line was moving, you could take anything in.) I saw people running once they were past the ticket scanners, but I knew from yesterday where in my section I wanted to be. Luckily, I was able to get exactly that. (Riiiiight along the far right side, along the edge so I'd 1) have fresh air, 2) have a relatively unobstructed view of the main stage, 3) be able to see the rising platform, and most importantly 4) I had noticed that my section today was right near the path where those mini carts run. The moving stage goes down the other side. Actually, you can tell by the tracks, but the important point is that it's easier to see what's going on a moving stage when you're a little further back.)
They were originally planning on designating sections by wristband, but that fell through very early on Friday. I happened to be in line by the trailer that looked like it was serving as an office and overheard some staff when they decided to call them off that day due to time constraints. Apparently that person didn't think that they'd work in the first place. There WERE signs directing you to go in accordance with your section on Friday, but by the time I got to the ticket scanners, you just went wherever the staff sent you, which of course meant that the line I was in had a scanner that broke down a few people ahead of me.
(I'm not entirely certain, but I think the major time constraints were that 1) the live stream and 2) the show needed to be over by 9:30 PM and if they didn't start on time they wouldn't be able to get through the whole thing. I think they started about 10 minutes late on Friday?)
Essentially, what this means is that there was no way to effectively enforce what section people go to. I'm not sure whether much of that happened yesterday, as I got inside relatively early, but I noticed that my section that day (D1) was rather sparse, except for when people rushed the stage during the Hawaiian-themed songs. Finding my way back to my seat after that was an interesting experience. (There was a guy with a kid on his shoulders literally right in front of my group. I ended up using him as a landmark, but most people marked their place with their bags. Their identical Arashi Blast tote bags. My mom was with us that day, and she was watching our stuff. She said that there was a girl checking bags to see which one was was her seat and I don't blame her at all. I wasn't entirely sure I had the right stool until I checked to see if my sunglasses was in my bag, and that was with my mother sitting right next to me.)
The fans with tickets from the Tour were in A, B, & C. Those had assigned seating. I'm not sure where the KZOO tickets ended up, but I'd guess in the E's. (There's stuff going on in the back, so those were also quite good.)
The staff asked the section next to us (D4) to consolidate repeatedly tonight. We were asked to consolidate...once, maybe twice. I ended up standing right on the line of the edge of the section- there was no room otherwise. There were people who were still being seated during the first VTR segment, though I'm not sure if it was due to the crowding of the section or that the lines were moving that slowly. At one point, I saw a firefighter walk by, which is what I found really worrisome, but I'm not entirely sure how the fire code works for outdoor concerts.
The show was absolutely amazing. Nino came by twice on the cart. We also saw Aiba and Sho and our view of the central walkway was really good. Also Nino was facing us during that bit in PARADOX. (Well, he wasn't actually facing us, but you know what I mean.) It's really interesting to see what other members get up to when they're not the one being shown on the video feed. I saw a bit of Ohmiya, a lot of members sneaking drinks of water, and Aiba singing along to some parts that weren't his. (He did remember to put the mike down, but it was really, really adorable. Also, Sho didn't appear to be crushing his water bottle- perhaps he grew out of that?)
I've always been fascinated by the way Arashi moves around the audience, ever since I noticed that the little carts they ride weren't motored, but rather pushed around by staff. I got a good glimpse of what they looked like on the inside, and it looks like that part is really unfinished- most effort is concentrated on the parts that show on cameras. It works for the video? Seriously, I love that stuff.
Nino was the closest to us when they had the water blasters. He looked like he was enjoying himself. (I'm happy that I got to see both Nino for this segment today and Matsujun during this segment on Friday, because from what I remember of Shukudai-kun, I think they'd enjoy it the most.) We weren't close enough to be hit by the spray, but we could see him pretty well. They need to give these guys waterguns more often.
I hope they include both MC segments for a dvd release, because it was incredibly interesting on both days and you KNOW they were filming. Also because I'm going from memory, I don't remember all of the details aside from the fact that they were incredibly interesting.
Yesterday there was the bit where Ohno reveals that he's choreographing one song in the upcoming concert and that it was essentially on Matsumoto's orders. So Matsumoto asked him if- if asked- he'd do all of the songs in the concert and Ohno backtracked quickly, claiming that it would be like a concert centered around him. Heavily implying that he didn't think it would be interesting, please don't volunteer me for extra work, Matsujun. At which point Matsumoto asked the audience if we'd like to see something like that, which was our cue to cry that yes, indeed we would.
Today they talked about what various members thought was stood out about this concert. Matsumoto thought it was the helicopter entrance, and he apologized to Sho because he had heard from Nino that Sho's hands were shaking. Sho claimed that he was actually okay with helicopters because helicopters have floors. Cue disbelief, but Sho insisted. Also, Nino also thought the helicopter stood out- oh, sorry, did they speak about it already? (He had been backstage changing during the previous conversation.) No, it's okay, they'll talk about it some more. Nino had to run backstage again to pee, which led to a discussion about how he does what he wants (or is carefree? I don't know, I usually hear the word they used to describe the nature of cats,) and oh, doesn't he look like he had just eaten something sour? Which segued to a bit about eating lemons to refresh oneself, but I kind of lost track of the conversation at that point. (Also, where the hell did Nino go, as he was pretty quick about it? I guess they had somewhere on the inside, but there didn't appear to be a lot of space backstage.) They also spoke a bit about Believe and the dangers of some part of the choreography, though I didn't catch exactlly why they thought the footing(? I seriously forget?) for the jump was risky. It involved a bit of a cappella and a demonstration of said move, which was really cute. Sho was MCing the MC segment, so he was the last to leave to change, and he almost took the wrong door, which the other members were quick to point out.
Nino's yakiniku anecdote was during the VTR and not the MC. I'm seriously blanking on what he talked about during Friday's MC, as you know he has to have said something. My strongest memories of the MC on Friday was the choreography bit I mentioned earlier and Aiba and Ohno recounting when they found out that they were going to Hawaii. Aiba tried to make Sho take on Johnny's half of the conversation.
(Incidentally, during the vtr Aiba said it didn't sink in that Arashi was a permanant unit until the second single.) Oh, and Aiba was really cute when he was promoting his movie. He essentially made the same joke on both days, but it was really cute and an actually funny joke about how the movie wasn't even airing in Hawaii. I think they went into more detail on Friday. (Not that much detail. It was based on a book! which was based on a song! written by some guy whose name I don't remember offhand and am too lazy to look up!)
I think part of the reason they moved performances around the venue is to take advantage of the sky behind. Even though Arashi shows tend to fall at dusk, the stage and arena walls usually block the view of the sunset. It was hard to really appreciate from the angle we were in (for which I was thankful, as I enjoy my eyesight and prefer not to be looking directly at the sun,) but from what I could see of the video feed, the background looks spectacular on film and this concert dvd will be amazing. They used two different stages to take advantages of two different levels of light during the sunset. The towers stand against the dark of the night sky and you can totally see the fireworks in the background at the end- a view that is usually blocked. I hope the people watching in Japan were impressed, because I had the feeling that they were really taking some awesome footage.
It had been threatening to rain from the beginning of the concert. The humidity was high. The sky was turning a bit gray. You'd feel a drop, maybe two and wonder if you were imaging it. We were thankful when it started really raining shortly after the last vestiges of the sun faded after the Hawaiian-style segment. The humidity had been nearly unbearable and it was a really refreshing light rain. I was amused to note that the rain started during "Summer Splash."
A few songs later, it was seriously pouring. Everyone got soaked to the bone. Also of note was that the field was completely mud. I was actually really pleased about this. It was hot, and no one's microphone failed this time, though we did see Nino furtively trying to dry his off right before a solo line. Also, I've always thought that lighting effects look really cool when viewed through the rain. It was really reminiscent of the water screen projections. It's going to look incredible on film. I was worried about the pyrotechnics, but I didn't notice any decrease from last night. (There's this really incredibly cool thing they do during "Dare mo Shiranai" where they shoot flames in all of the member colors. It took me a while to catch on what they were trying to do last night, but I liked it so much that I especially watched for it tonight.)
In the DVD's, you see girls putting on hooded towels when it starts to rain. I don't think it keeps you any drier, but it does help keep the water out of your eyes.
I'm not a great fan of when they hire professional backup dancers; I usually find it pretty hit or miss. The only ones tonight are fire dancers during Monster, which was excellent. There is a video effect that looks like an infinity mirror, and Arashi, in front of it, with SPINNING WHEELS OF FLAME is really a sight to behold. (Actually I was looking for the colored flames during Monster, was disappointed I didn't see it, and didn't realize that I was mis-remembering the sequence of events until "Dare mo Shiranai.")
At one point, I saw Nino spit out a mouthful of water, despite the fact that I didn't see him taking a drink, and I honestly think that it might have been rainwater. The rain was really heavy at that point.This concert was the very first time that I've seen Ohno's hair gel (or whatever miraculous substance that they put in it) actually give out.
The rain stopped during Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi, and I find that hilarious. And also a total relief, because flying a helicopter at night is dangerous enough, at night during heavy rain is really risky.
Aiba was really cute during the final thanks segment. He only stumbled over his words once tonight, but he turned around to hide that he was crying. (Jun: Face forwards!) It made sense, as the 24 hour tv letter was about 10 years ago, and they STILL haven't stopped ragging on him about it. (Which is absolutely wonderful. We need to be reminded that Aiba broke down crying while reading a sappy letter on national television. Often. Perhaps on a daily basis.) With the rain, it was really hard to tell if it was water or tear tracks, but it seemed to me that everyone's eyes looked kind of red.
The ending of the concert yesterday, was a real shock, but we were expecting it today. I wonder if difference would show up in the dvd footage. I also wonder if some of those screens were ruined, because a few of them were malfunctioning, but most were just out completely. It was too bad, as they were supposed to be flashing photos through the years, with each member on a different screen. They ended up just turning them off completely, which just looks better than only running half of them. (I've heard that running electronics while wet totally fries them.) Incidentally, I think someone mentioned that Ohno was a "rain man" yesterday, which was humid but dry. No mention of that today, but ahahahahaha, Ohno.)
Getting out of the venue was kind of interesting with all of that muck. We ended up just agreeing to use our pre-determined meeting point and trying do our best on the way out. A crowd + a field of mud + carrying muddy chairs = how the heck did mud get onto that part of my shirt? I crossed towards the back in search of firmer ground- the moving stage tracks were unexpectedly slippery. The back of the venue was that orange portable net-type fence and a few people must have made a gap in it and went out that way.
(The tall 12 ft fences are only on the front and sides. Incidentally, you enter through the area behind the stage.) I had already bought the Arashi-labelled bottled water, so I was following that group, but they closed it right before I got there and I had to veer left.
We took the path along the lagoon-side back to the parking lot, with a quick detour to view the yacht that Arashi debuted on. It was tiny. (Arashi went to look at it during the VTR segment, and they were surprised at the size.) We could have gotten closer for a better view, but the path to get above it was all muddy grass and that was not a thing that was going to happen.
The view of the stage from the lagoon is incredibly pretty.
Although it seemed more together when we first arrived, parking was a nightmare to get out of. There was nobody directing traffic, but I really don't see how there would be a safe place for any attendant in that mess. It took a bit over an hour to get out of there. It looked like the taxi queue this time was better organized. The road out was pretty jammed, so we had a lot of time to discuss the concert. They had limited concert traffic to one of the two exits to Ko Olina which meant that the line barely moved at all.
All in all, it was a pretty amazing experience on both days. I was in D1 the first night, and on the way home all I could say was that I couldn't believe how close we were to Arashi. Not just because we actually could go to the concert- which was a miracle in and of itself- but because, even in that section, we got REALLY CLOSE to Arashi. The moving stage went by and there was also the Hawaiian songs segment. There were so many things going on in different directions that it was sometimes difficult to tell where to look. When the seating chart was released, I remember wondering which aisles would be the ones that Arashi would travel and the answer was "most of them." D3 was pretty interesting because of the proximity to the hanamichi and the rising platform in the center. I had a much better view on Saturday night, but I wouldn't have managed it without my experience Friday, where we were wondering where in the section we ought to sit.
When the tickets were first announced, I had people who had never heard of Arashi tell me that they were shocked by the price of the tickets. (Actually, people who actually subscribe to the Hawaii Business News feed found out before I did, despite the fact that I had subscribed to the international Johnny's newsletter AND had run nearly daily searches on the subject from May through the announcement in August.) I'm not sure if they sold out or not- I know that they ended up doing the last of the KZOO tickets by lottery in the end, and ticketmaster was just buggy as hell. I think we were extremely lucky just to have a way to get tickets without having to pay ridiculous scalping markups. Any seat in the venue tonight was, in terms of distance to the stage and members of Arashi passing through, the equivalent of an arena floor seat and a nice one at that.
I met a lot of interesting people with like interests. Most of them had flown in for the concert.
I enjoyed myself, despite that fact that it showed that Ko Olina, while pretty, kind of sucks as a concert venue in terms of ability to accommodate crowd control. (Like I said, they were the ones who TOLD people to move over and compress to the other side of the street. It was complete chaos.) I'm really sad about the complete failure at crowd control; it gives a really bad impression. And honestly, about the way they handled the hotel guest's complaints? There were some saying that they wished the hotel would offer to switch them to a different property, which was ironic because I'm sure there were plenty of girls on the tour with the deluxe hotel package in Waikiki who would have switched with them in a heartbeat. They were trying to sell Ko Olina as a vacation option, but from my limited interaction with the resort staff, I was not impressed in the slightest. Comparing it to the staff at say, other hotels I've been to recently, it was really terrible. I know that most of the problems stemmed from poor planning by concert organizers, but I got the distinct impression that the Ko Olina management (and the Marriot in particular) made things decidedly worse. By the way, I saw them trying to sell $15 chill towels to the tour group and other ridiculously expensive Ko Olina branded goods, which was kind of hilarious. (No, I don't think anyone was buying it. I think they received these little blue neckerchiefs that cool when you wet them for free from a tour sponsor booth in Waikiki.`It said "eco" on it, so it might have been Hitachi? They were handing out a bunch of Ko Olina fans inside the venue on Friday, but didn't on Saturday.)
I hope that everyone gets home safely.
Also, my Mother- who only came Friday night- has become a Sakurai fan. He was by D1 the most often, and she thinks he looks way more handsome in person. She didn't really know much of Arashi, but she saw some bits of my concert dvds and wanted to see what it was like. She was really impressed.
Also, also, I spent well over 3 hours writing that, what the hell? That took forever.