NEWS "White" Tour 2015, Saturday June 13th Concert Report
NEWS White Tour 2015 in Tokyo 6/13, Saturday
I'll only be going to this tour once, but it was totally worth it. My account finally hit for arena seats!! Yay!
We got there early enough to buy goods before going inside. I'd been debating about which ones to get, but since they are all white, I had to think about how I'd be keeping them clean in the future if I got them.
There was a 30 minute delay for opening the doors due to final checks, but we were stuck in the goods line, so it worked out.
We followed the signs for our tickets and we just kept getting closer and closer to the stage, until we sat down 11 rows from the main stage and not far from the center runway! I haven't had seats these good at Tokyo Dome since KAT-TUN's Queen of Pirates tour.
There were a few large cameras that they use for filming around, so tonight might be for the DVD.
Floating high above were some huge balloons on long wires.
The concert started on time with "Mr. White". The opening video was a mission request for Team White. The members were in their white uniforms and stepped into a cage on the screen, which rose up onto the main stage. The fireworks during the song were so close, they surprised us every time.
They switched their jackets for long robes(?) with a jigsaw puzzle pattern on it for "One - for the win". Massu's rap was very nice. He ended it with a sweet "one". Tegoshi blew us a kiss and belted out his long "one". As the echo kept going for a few moments, they all left the stage.
The echo continued until they popped out again from the bottom of the stage and did a cool dance remix that led into "Koi no ABO". It was time for member love! Massu swatted Shige's butt and then Tegoshi glomped Kei-chan (twice). And THEN Kei-chan and Tegoshi took turns leaning as far as they could to hit each other's butts while they were supposed to be singing.
K: Are you ready?!
"Nyaro" was full of cuteness and hugs. In the lyrics, Massu says to "look this way" and the three of them that were lined up simultaneously turn their heads. Also, the four of them used their arms to make a heart for us. Kei-chan wrapped his arms around Shige from behind and Tegoshi and Massu sang to the crowd together. Changing parts, Massu changed partners too, holding hands with Kei-chan. I'm not sure who started it or why, but Tegoshi and Massu were chasing Koyama around the stage to the enjoyment of the audience. They paused their chase to make another heart to finish the song.
Tegoshi gave a short greeting followed by Kei-chan.
T: Whooo~! Tokyo Dome! This is the final! Can you do it?! Say “NEWS”! (NEWS!) Here's NEWS' Koyama Keichiro!
K: As Tegoshi introduced, I'm your “ike ike” Kei-chan! (excited) It's Kei-chan here! I'm your newscaster! I usually do the news, but when it's the weekend, I become an idol! We'll do our best to make it a fun night! Are you ready for it?! (Yeah!) We swear we'll make you happy.
M: Tokyo Dome! (He made a serious face and shook his head) Nope, that's not good enough. You've gotta be louder. When I say “Tokyo Dome”, you have to scream. If you don't, I'm going to go hoarse. Tokyo Dome!! (Yeah!) Nice. This is really a place of dreams. It comes true when all of you come and listen to our performance. We know we have to try hard to make you satisfied. Please enjoy today. Thank you very much for coming.
Koyama interrupted, “That final part had a gentle touch...” Massu looked embarrassed for a moment.
M: I was in charge of making the outfits for this “White” Tour. Although these costumes are very stylish (says the person who designed them), there are some very fashionable ones later too. Please look for them.
Shige came out wearing leopard print pants and neon pink shoes.
K: Only Shige can make that look so good.
S: Tokyo Dome! Tadaima! (We're back!)
Us: Okaeri! (Welcome back!)
S: That's what I was waiting to hear. Are you ready to yell? Arena! (Yeah!) Stands! (Yeah!) The stands at the very top! (Yeah!) Sorry, I wasn't sure what to call that section up there. Guys! (A low shout could be heard from here and there) Tegoshi!
T: Waaaai!
A super excited Tegoshi yelled out, half in surprise at being called on, and did a pose for the crowd.
T: There are a LOT of people here. We are SO grateful. (Said very casually) These are the last two days, so there's no reason to hold back. Right, Koneko-chan?! Since there are so many of you, that means you can send us a lot of love, can't you?! OK?! NEWS will be giving you a super huge amount of love, so you need to give back more love than you have ever in your life. OK? I want to call each of the members. Ready? (We shouted each of their names in turn.) Shige! Kei-chan! Yuya!
K: You're completely in idol mode now, aren't you?
T: There's one more member, but he won't come out unless you call for him. Ready? Massu!
We yelled his name. He didn't come out and instead a camera backstage showed Massu holding a bag of “happy turn” cracker snacks. He looked at the camera, took a cracker out of its package and licked it first several times before eating it. He grabbed a white pen and wrote on the camera's lens, “weeek”.
Masuda finally came out with a ton of juniors in tow. They moved out on the side stages and when they were about to hop on the carts that would take them to the back stage, Massu was the first to climb one. He looked back at Shige and stared, waiting to see if he'd hurry up and join him.
We got our towels ready for “Koi Matsuri” and swung them around as hard as we could. For a change of pace, they sang “Butterfly”. Massu started goofing off and shaking his arm up and down really hard to the beat in the chorus and the crowd all joined in with him.
They came down from the raised platforms and since Koyama was walking down the center walkway, I kept watching him in “Full Swing” until he disappeared to get changed for his solo.
Kei-chan's outfit and moves for “Romeo” were wonderful. His unbuttoned shirt and sexy hips, not to mention his tousled hair. He opened his shirt several times to show us his chest.
The juniors left the stage before he did. Alone on the stage, he took off his shirt, looking back at us before leaving through a door that a man in a bell boy uniform was holding open.
That person was Shige. His solo “Escort” was accompanied by many juniors in bell boy outfits and a hotel set on the stage. As he sang and rapped, he stacked luggage on a trolley/cart, sat down on it, and the juniors pushed him up to the second level. Taking a single blue rose from a flower vase, he handed to a person on the other side of the door. He went through the door, putting a finger to his lips in a “shh” gesture and whispered “escort” before closing the door.
Juniors all in black did a dance intro with regular black umbrellas. The music changed to a Kaguya-like melody and the juniors switched to the old fashioned umbrellas as fire shot out for “Kaguya”. NEWS did the full dance, like in the PV.
Switching their jackets to bright pink ones, they sang “Chankapana”. They each said their line to a camera which was up on the stage with them.
After “World Quest - Remix”, they moved to the center stage to sing “Sakura Girl”. Massu grabbed a marker towards the end and wrote on his hand. He showed us what it said by singing it to the melody of the song. “Masuda ♡”. The members teased him about it.
For “Weather NEWS”, we held up three fingers to make a “W”. Kei-chan dashed to each member at the beginning and put up the hoods of their pink jackets. They all looked adorable singing that way. As the final chords played, Koyama was on the screen and they overlapped his image with a picture of a news suit.
“Good evening. This is Koyama Keichiro. You can sit down now.”
They had entered the MC.
Black Massu: Wait, wait, wait! I didn't say you could sit yet!
He made us stand back up and bow to start the MC. He said he was sorry for not letting us sit down the first time.
They joked that Kei-chan in the newscaster suit meant it should be “News Every”. He said that the “News Every” staff was there tonight watching the show. Maybe we can expect a report on it?
T: Bring out Sorajiro! (The weather mascot on “News Every” for sunny weather)
K: I can't do that!
S: Then Potsurin. (The mascot for rainy weather)
K: That would mean it's going to rain!
S: Okay, then Kumojiro. (The mascot for cloudy weather)
K: You guys know them all well, don't you...
Massu tried to make a new character, but Koyama ignored him.
K: This is the final stop on our tour, Tokyo.
M: We're really happy to have made it this far.
S: It seems like it took a long time coming here. We put out the album, but we aren't finishing until now. We did a lot of things on the tour.
M: Like Koyama's birthday.
We cheered while he thanked us for the congratulations.
K: I'm 31 now. Often I get told that I don't look my age.
S: How old do they say you are?
K: About 25.
S: It might be the leopard print and tights...
K: Tegoshi is told he looks younger too.
T: Yeah, 18 years old.
K: That's too much!
T: Well, it might have been 22, but in my heart, I'm younger than that.
We laughed at his casual confession.
S: And you, Massu?
K: I think there are times when he looks young and times when he looks old.
M: But inside, I'm still pure.
They laughed at his description and willingness to call himself “pure”.
M: Well, no one else will say it for me, so I have to say it myself!
K: Since when had you established that idol character of yours?
M: Don't say it's a character!
K: Do you go to the toilet?
M: Sometimes I don't go.
K: And when you go to the toilet?
M: Marshmallows and strawberries come out.
T: How about I introduce you to a hospital?
Laughing at their exchange, Koyama said, “Ho, ho! That's 1 point for Tegoshi.”
M: I think I've figured out something. Tegoshi always sings and talks in a high voice and with that comes his high tension mode. So, when you used a high pitch, you'll automatically get excited.
K: Well then, Shige?
Shige rambled until his voice got higher and he started talking faster and more excitedly.
S: Uh-oh. I can sense this giving me trouble later in the second half.
They joked about Tegoshi being excited the whole tour and went into this nonsense chatter of things that would normally get someone down, but with Tegoshi, he can turn it around. He had a solution for everything without losing a beat. Like a bee(?) sting, he would suck out the poison and spit it out. The way he demonstrated it was funny. Massu tried to add to the joke, but all it did was made the members stare at him in silence before calling a meeting on the stage. All four of them gathered close and tried to get Massu to admit that his joke wasn't funny, but they still tried repeating the whole conversation again to see if it would get a better response. When it didn't, they held another “meeting”. Shige noticed that Kei-chan still had sakura petals stuck to his chest and picked them off for him.
S: Should we try take 3?
Massu whined that it wasn't his fault and pretended to cry, dabbing his eyes with his towel. “Was it really me?”
K: You know, Massu is mental very strong. He can come back from anything quickly.
The topic switched to Shige's latest book release.
K: Did you read his book?
Some people raised their hands.
K: Shige's fans are the type not to read it...
Shige thanked Koyama for reading the latest one. Massu congratulated him on the movie adaptation.
K: Massu was the one hoping for the movie the most. Because then he wouldn't have to read it.
S: I often get asked if the members have read them. At that time, I was really glad that Tegoshi had, so I had something to talk about.
When they were traveling, they'd been sitting in a row and Kei-chan and Tegoshi were reading the books then, so a passenger did a double take when he saw them sitting and reading right next to the author.
T: Shige's talent can't be stopped!
K: Where are you saying that from? You sound like you're coming from way above him.
T: From the top of Tokyo Tower! Hello!!
Tegoshi always has a comeback ready.
They talked about eating the specialty foods of the cities they traveled to during the tour.
M: We ate sushi... And Italian.... And Asian food.
Kei-chan called for another meeting to discuss what was wrong with Massu tonight.
T: Shige, don't you have radio show to record right after this?
S: Yeah, I wasn't going to be able to make it for my usual time, so two HS Jump members are taking over until I get there.
Black Massu: You can go do it right now.
Shige looked at him with a pitiful expression and half cried half whined, “But what would you do about the Shige parts?”
K&M: Someone would sing them for you.
Shige play cried at their response. “What if they sang it better than I do?!”
The next story they had to tell us was about them getting stuck in a hotel elevator during the tour.
S: The 4 of us... no, wait. Tegoshi wasn't there. The 3 of us got stuck in an elevator for about 30 minutes.
The 3 of them lined up and demonstrated how narrow the elevator had been by squishing together. Tegoshi was playing the part of the elevator girl who had noticed that they were Johnnys and gave an embarrassed laugh. His first “fu-fu” laugh was sort of creepy, so they made him do it again.
As the imaginary elevator came to a stop, they all shook and hopped once.
Koyama said to the elevator lady, “Trying hitting the button”.
T: Nope, doesn't do anything.
S: Try using the call button.
T: Excuse me!! Can you help us here?! (He shouted into the air)
S: Um, it didn't make the call...
Tegoshi said bossily, “Yes, it did!”
They argued about the call button not working and Kei-chan told us this is where they started playing Shiritori for the next 20 minutes.
S: What's worse is that the elevator would move up one floor at a time while we were doing that.
They did their hop and shake a few times, then looked out in shock when the “doors” finally opened.
T: Somehow, when we have our Tokyo Dome performance, the MC is always serious.
S: We're generally always serious.
K: The one who isn't serious is Tegoshi.
T: I can't stop it. With TV shows, there's a lag between us and the audience. But when you go do a concert, there's no lag at all! It makes me excited. So excited, I lose some of the screws in my head.
K: Please put them back in!!
M: Carry an umbrella!
S: But then your umbrella will get turned inside out, you'll get soaking wet and catch a cold.
Again, with the teasing to try and break Tegoshi's spirits.
M: Ah~, I get that one. There are times when you really want Tegoshi to catch a cold.
They can't handle high tension Tegoshi all of the time.
Tegoshi revealed that Shige and him went drinking just the two of them in Osaka after their concerts.
K&M: Did you cry? Did you cry?
S: We sang of love. Even though we'd done the concerts twice, we sang “Full Swing” for a third time.
About ready to start the 2nd half, they had us stand up, only to remember that they hadn't done their promotions yet. They quickly told us about the upcoming TV shows and specials they will be doing.
S: I'll be doing a special program called “Typewriters” where I get to talk to different authors. I'm really a “bunkajin” (cultured person) now.
M: I'll watch it.
K: Really? Massu will?
M: Because it's TV.
Koyama touched on all of the Happy Turn snacks that were in the dressing room thanks to Massu. He almost forgot to mention their new single, “Chumu Chumu”.
Massu had us yell out “turn!” after random words he came up with.
The second half began with “Wasurenagusa”. Each member sang their part and disappeared back stage to get ready. Tegoshi was last, but he stayed out as he walked to the center stage where the staff had set up a piano for him. I was reminded again that Tegoshi's solos always sound better in concert than they do on the album.
This flowed straight into Massu's solo. He was wearing a stylish black and white poncho. He did dance a little at the end, but most of the song was just slow movements.
For the interlude before “Byakuya”, the juniors entertained us and let down black streamers from the top of the set. A creepy black figure dominated the screens, looking down on us.
The members came out in black outfits with feather boas on the jackets. Koyama had on sunglasses as well and Masuda had on a black hat. The dance involved moving their hips around a lot. There were some very nice acrobatics from the juniors too. They waved large black flags around and the end was when each member pulled down one of the black streamers.
Taking off the outer jackets, they danced to “Supersonic”. I enjoyed the choreography from this one. They had colored fire shooting out from the stage and fireworks startled us again.
The lights went down and thanks to the staff, they moved quickly from main stage to center on a cart. They stood in a circle facing inwards and sang “Snow Express”. It was kind of fun seeing the sing to each other.
After dancing to “Winter Moon”, they went backstage again.
The video on the screen showed black blobs growing larger. Video game music played as 3D NEWS jumped into walls and started fighting 2D battles. We had to help by clapping to the beat (Tegoshi's), stepping quickly (Shige, but he kept gesturing at us to do it more and more), doing the chankapana move (Kei-chan's, except that he ran away in the end), and waving the uchiwas to blow the enemy away (Massu's). The last stage was to help NEWS grow large enough to beat the blobs. We had to yell out the opening shouts in “NEWS Nippon” a few times until they could win.
They came out on the huge carts, slowing traveling around the circumference of the arena during “NEWS Nippon”, “Kibou ~ Yell”, and “Sayaendou”.
K: Are you having fun?!
Us: Yeah!
K: We want to make the next song together with you, so please clap with us.
We kept the beat for them as they sang the beginning of “Pokopon Peko-rya” acapella. The music kicked in and they did the dance once before moving to carts at the back, sitting or laying down on them.
We clapped again for “4+Fan” and shouted the fan parts. The last song was “Seven Colors”. During the middle of it, they dropped balloons down on the arena of all the seven colors. Although NEWS and the juniors were dancing on the main stage, most of us were distracted by trying to catch a balloon. The staff was nice enough to hand some out and two girls near us were nice enough to pass us balloons, so we got them in the end.
The guys thanked us for coming and said their good byes. They stood in the cage from the beginning of the concert and waved until it lowered out of sight.
A camera backstage showed us the four of them waving at us. Koyama took a white pen and wrote on the camera lens. It was out of sight at first, but by looking at the rest of the letters, you could tell it was an “L”. Next Massu wrote a “v” and Shige an “e”. Tegoshi and Massu made kissy faces at the camera. Tegoshi was ready to write his letter, but Massu leaned in close as if he would kiss him on the cheek. He leaned away and Kei-chan leaned in close next. Tegoshi looked at the two of them in “panic” as they leaned closer and closer from both sides and yelled out, “Stop that!” (Yamero!!). He finally wrote his “o” and the camera zoomed out to show us “Love” on the lens.
The members filed off camera, but Massu and Koyama came back to dance in the background to the music. After they left, Tegoshi dived in at the last second to send us one last kiss.
The first encore began with “White Love Story”. Tegoshi climbed the stairs on the main stage and sat at the top. Shige plopped down next to him, as close as he could. Koyama sat on the other side, just as close. Massu shoved Kei-chan aside and made a spot for himself between Tegoshi and Koyama. Turning sideways and leaning back heavily on Massu, Kei-chan kept singing that way until Massu's solo. He turned to look at him and while Massu sang his solo part, he grabbed Kei's chin and sang to him. He changed his grip and squished Koyama's cheeks. Without missing a beat, Koyama reached out and squished Massu's cheeks back for his solo. We laughed really hard at how “君は僕のヒロイン”(You're my heroine) fit so well with the two of them playing around.
For “Nagisa no Onee Sama-”, they sat on the edge of the center stage and sang as it spun them around slowly. Massu introduced all the juniors who had been with them for the tour.
S: Even as we became 4 members, you still supported us through that. We hope you'll keep supporting us in the future too. This last song is a song for all of you.
They sang “Aikotoba” for us and asked us to come play with them again some time. After their good byes, they left the stage. A video from “Mr. White” typed out on the screen in English. It thanked us for helping them with their mission. On a map of Japan, they put a “Mission Completed” stamp over each city they'd been to on their tour. On the last stamp, it should have gone over Tokyo, but the Mr. White mascot came out and stopped the stamp from landing, pushing it away in the end.
There was a long video of the mascot getting us to clap and call out “NEWS”. He even got bored and laid down on the screen, as if we weren't loud enough for him. The guys were busy getting changed from the tour t-shirts to the full “Chumu Chumu” Indian outfits. I rather like the colorful costumes for the members, but the juniors orange ones were a bit bright.
We were thrilled that they would perform “Chumu Chumu” for us first! The moves were cute and kind of catchy. The “fox hands” are easy to remember. Now I really can't wait for the new single!
They also treated us to another encore of “Nyaro”. Massu left the stage and shook hands with fans down in the arena. Tegoshi and Kei-chan went down off the stage too, and after a while, Shige joined them. They waved at everyone in the stands and shook hands as they went.
K: We hope you had fun and forgot everything while you were here with us. Please give a hand to the staff that helped us make this tour. And to yourselves as well. You're now members of Team White too. Say our name!
Us: NEWS!
The streamers shot out, so everyone was busy trying to catch them for a while. I lost my balance and almost toppled over backwards grabbing one.
K: If you could all be silent for a moment, we want to tell you something with our own voices.
They lowered their mics and when Kei-chan gave the sign, they yelled “Arigatou gozaimashita” (Thank you very much!) at the top of their lungs.
T: Let's go an a date again soon!
As they waved and left the stage, Koyama did the “chumu” fox hand to us. Shige was the last to go. He blew us a kiss before leaving. Finally, the “Mission Completed” stamp went over Tokyo.
The concert ended at 9:00 since they added the second encore. Our seats were very, very nice. The main stage was so close and we could see the dancing well. Let's hope they put out another album soon.
Pic:
<3
I'll only be going to this tour once, but it was totally worth it. My account finally hit for arena seats!! Yay!
We got there early enough to buy goods before going inside. I'd been debating about which ones to get, but since they are all white, I had to think about how I'd be keeping them clean in the future if I got them.
There was a 30 minute delay for opening the doors due to final checks, but we were stuck in the goods line, so it worked out.
We followed the signs for our tickets and we just kept getting closer and closer to the stage, until we sat down 11 rows from the main stage and not far from the center runway! I haven't had seats these good at Tokyo Dome since KAT-TUN's Queen of Pirates tour.
There were a few large cameras that they use for filming around, so tonight might be for the DVD.
Floating high above were some huge balloons on long wires.
The concert started on time with "Mr. White". The opening video was a mission request for Team White. The members were in their white uniforms and stepped into a cage on the screen, which rose up onto the main stage. The fireworks during the song were so close, they surprised us every time.
They switched their jackets for long robes(?) with a jigsaw puzzle pattern on it for "One - for the win". Massu's rap was very nice. He ended it with a sweet "one". Tegoshi blew us a kiss and belted out his long "one". As the echo kept going for a few moments, they all left the stage.
The echo continued until they popped out again from the bottom of the stage and did a cool dance remix that led into "Koi no ABO". It was time for member love! Massu swatted Shige's butt and then Tegoshi glomped Kei-chan (twice). And THEN Kei-chan and Tegoshi took turns leaning as far as they could to hit each other's butts while they were supposed to be singing.
K: Are you ready?!
"Nyaro" was full of cuteness and hugs. In the lyrics, Massu says to "look this way" and the three of them that were lined up simultaneously turn their heads. Also, the four of them used their arms to make a heart for us. Kei-chan wrapped his arms around Shige from behind and Tegoshi and Massu sang to the crowd together. Changing parts, Massu changed partners too, holding hands with Kei-chan. I'm not sure who started it or why, but Tegoshi and Massu were chasing Koyama around the stage to the enjoyment of the audience. They paused their chase to make another heart to finish the song.
Tegoshi gave a short greeting followed by Kei-chan.
T: Whooo~! Tokyo Dome! This is the final! Can you do it?! Say “NEWS”! (NEWS!) Here's NEWS' Koyama Keichiro!
K: As Tegoshi introduced, I'm your “ike ike” Kei-chan! (excited) It's Kei-chan here! I'm your newscaster! I usually do the news, but when it's the weekend, I become an idol! We'll do our best to make it a fun night! Are you ready for it?! (Yeah!) We swear we'll make you happy.
M: Tokyo Dome! (He made a serious face and shook his head) Nope, that's not good enough. You've gotta be louder. When I say “Tokyo Dome”, you have to scream. If you don't, I'm going to go hoarse. Tokyo Dome!! (Yeah!) Nice. This is really a place of dreams. It comes true when all of you come and listen to our performance. We know we have to try hard to make you satisfied. Please enjoy today. Thank you very much for coming.
Koyama interrupted, “That final part had a gentle touch...” Massu looked embarrassed for a moment.
M: I was in charge of making the outfits for this “White” Tour. Although these costumes are very stylish (says the person who designed them), there are some very fashionable ones later too. Please look for them.
Shige came out wearing leopard print pants and neon pink shoes.
K: Only Shige can make that look so good.
S: Tokyo Dome! Tadaima! (We're back!)
Us: Okaeri! (Welcome back!)
S: That's what I was waiting to hear. Are you ready to yell? Arena! (Yeah!) Stands! (Yeah!) The stands at the very top! (Yeah!) Sorry, I wasn't sure what to call that section up there. Guys! (A low shout could be heard from here and there) Tegoshi!
T: Waaaai!
A super excited Tegoshi yelled out, half in surprise at being called on, and did a pose for the crowd.
T: There are a LOT of people here. We are SO grateful. (Said very casually) These are the last two days, so there's no reason to hold back. Right, Koneko-chan?! Since there are so many of you, that means you can send us a lot of love, can't you?! OK?! NEWS will be giving you a super huge amount of love, so you need to give back more love than you have ever in your life. OK? I want to call each of the members. Ready? (We shouted each of their names in turn.) Shige! Kei-chan! Yuya!
K: You're completely in idol mode now, aren't you?
T: There's one more member, but he won't come out unless you call for him. Ready? Massu!
We yelled his name. He didn't come out and instead a camera backstage showed Massu holding a bag of “happy turn” cracker snacks. He looked at the camera, took a cracker out of its package and licked it first several times before eating it. He grabbed a white pen and wrote on the camera's lens, “weeek”.
Masuda finally came out with a ton of juniors in tow. They moved out on the side stages and when they were about to hop on the carts that would take them to the back stage, Massu was the first to climb one. He looked back at Shige and stared, waiting to see if he'd hurry up and join him.
We got our towels ready for “Koi Matsuri” and swung them around as hard as we could. For a change of pace, they sang “Butterfly”. Massu started goofing off and shaking his arm up and down really hard to the beat in the chorus and the crowd all joined in with him.
They came down from the raised platforms and since Koyama was walking down the center walkway, I kept watching him in “Full Swing” until he disappeared to get changed for his solo.
Kei-chan's outfit and moves for “Romeo” were wonderful. His unbuttoned shirt and sexy hips, not to mention his tousled hair. He opened his shirt several times to show us his chest.
The juniors left the stage before he did. Alone on the stage, he took off his shirt, looking back at us before leaving through a door that a man in a bell boy uniform was holding open.
That person was Shige. His solo “Escort” was accompanied by many juniors in bell boy outfits and a hotel set on the stage. As he sang and rapped, he stacked luggage on a trolley/cart, sat down on it, and the juniors pushed him up to the second level. Taking a single blue rose from a flower vase, he handed to a person on the other side of the door. He went through the door, putting a finger to his lips in a “shh” gesture and whispered “escort” before closing the door.
Juniors all in black did a dance intro with regular black umbrellas. The music changed to a Kaguya-like melody and the juniors switched to the old fashioned umbrellas as fire shot out for “Kaguya”. NEWS did the full dance, like in the PV.
Switching their jackets to bright pink ones, they sang “Chankapana”. They each said their line to a camera which was up on the stage with them.
After “World Quest - Remix”, they moved to the center stage to sing “Sakura Girl”. Massu grabbed a marker towards the end and wrote on his hand. He showed us what it said by singing it to the melody of the song. “Masuda ♡”. The members teased him about it.
For “Weather NEWS”, we held up three fingers to make a “W”. Kei-chan dashed to each member at the beginning and put up the hoods of their pink jackets. They all looked adorable singing that way. As the final chords played, Koyama was on the screen and they overlapped his image with a picture of a news suit.
“Good evening. This is Koyama Keichiro. You can sit down now.”
They had entered the MC.
Black Massu: Wait, wait, wait! I didn't say you could sit yet!
He made us stand back up and bow to start the MC. He said he was sorry for not letting us sit down the first time.
They joked that Kei-chan in the newscaster suit meant it should be “News Every”. He said that the “News Every” staff was there tonight watching the show. Maybe we can expect a report on it?
T: Bring out Sorajiro! (The weather mascot on “News Every” for sunny weather)
K: I can't do that!
S: Then Potsurin. (The mascot for rainy weather)
K: That would mean it's going to rain!
S: Okay, then Kumojiro. (The mascot for cloudy weather)
K: You guys know them all well, don't you...
Massu tried to make a new character, but Koyama ignored him.
K: This is the final stop on our tour, Tokyo.
M: We're really happy to have made it this far.
S: It seems like it took a long time coming here. We put out the album, but we aren't finishing until now. We did a lot of things on the tour.
M: Like Koyama's birthday.
We cheered while he thanked us for the congratulations.
K: I'm 31 now. Often I get told that I don't look my age.
S: How old do they say you are?
K: About 25.
S: It might be the leopard print and tights...
K: Tegoshi is told he looks younger too.
T: Yeah, 18 years old.
K: That's too much!
T: Well, it might have been 22, but in my heart, I'm younger than that.
We laughed at his casual confession.
S: And you, Massu?
K: I think there are times when he looks young and times when he looks old.
M: But inside, I'm still pure.
They laughed at his description and willingness to call himself “pure”.
M: Well, no one else will say it for me, so I have to say it myself!
K: Since when had you established that idol character of yours?
M: Don't say it's a character!
K: Do you go to the toilet?
M: Sometimes I don't go.
K: And when you go to the toilet?
M: Marshmallows and strawberries come out.
T: How about I introduce you to a hospital?
Laughing at their exchange, Koyama said, “Ho, ho! That's 1 point for Tegoshi.”
M: I think I've figured out something. Tegoshi always sings and talks in a high voice and with that comes his high tension mode. So, when you used a high pitch, you'll automatically get excited.
K: Well then, Shige?
Shige rambled until his voice got higher and he started talking faster and more excitedly.
S: Uh-oh. I can sense this giving me trouble later in the second half.
They joked about Tegoshi being excited the whole tour and went into this nonsense chatter of things that would normally get someone down, but with Tegoshi, he can turn it around. He had a solution for everything without losing a beat. Like a bee(?) sting, he would suck out the poison and spit it out. The way he demonstrated it was funny. Massu tried to add to the joke, but all it did was made the members stare at him in silence before calling a meeting on the stage. All four of them gathered close and tried to get Massu to admit that his joke wasn't funny, but they still tried repeating the whole conversation again to see if it would get a better response. When it didn't, they held another “meeting”. Shige noticed that Kei-chan still had sakura petals stuck to his chest and picked them off for him.
S: Should we try take 3?
Massu whined that it wasn't his fault and pretended to cry, dabbing his eyes with his towel. “Was it really me?”
K: You know, Massu is mental very strong. He can come back from anything quickly.
The topic switched to Shige's latest book release.
K: Did you read his book?
Some people raised their hands.
K: Shige's fans are the type not to read it...
Shige thanked Koyama for reading the latest one. Massu congratulated him on the movie adaptation.
K: Massu was the one hoping for the movie the most. Because then he wouldn't have to read it.
S: I often get asked if the members have read them. At that time, I was really glad that Tegoshi had, so I had something to talk about.
When they were traveling, they'd been sitting in a row and Kei-chan and Tegoshi were reading the books then, so a passenger did a double take when he saw them sitting and reading right next to the author.
T: Shige's talent can't be stopped!
K: Where are you saying that from? You sound like you're coming from way above him.
T: From the top of Tokyo Tower! Hello!!
Tegoshi always has a comeback ready.
They talked about eating the specialty foods of the cities they traveled to during the tour.
M: We ate sushi... And Italian.... And Asian food.
Kei-chan called for another meeting to discuss what was wrong with Massu tonight.
T: Shige, don't you have radio show to record right after this?
S: Yeah, I wasn't going to be able to make it for my usual time, so two HS Jump members are taking over until I get there.
Black Massu: You can go do it right now.
Shige looked at him with a pitiful expression and half cried half whined, “But what would you do about the Shige parts?”
K&M: Someone would sing them for you.
Shige play cried at their response. “What if they sang it better than I do?!”
The next story they had to tell us was about them getting stuck in a hotel elevator during the tour.
S: The 4 of us... no, wait. Tegoshi wasn't there. The 3 of us got stuck in an elevator for about 30 minutes.
The 3 of them lined up and demonstrated how narrow the elevator had been by squishing together. Tegoshi was playing the part of the elevator girl who had noticed that they were Johnnys and gave an embarrassed laugh. His first “fu-fu” laugh was sort of creepy, so they made him do it again.
As the imaginary elevator came to a stop, they all shook and hopped once.
Koyama said to the elevator lady, “Trying hitting the button”.
T: Nope, doesn't do anything.
S: Try using the call button.
T: Excuse me!! Can you help us here?! (He shouted into the air)
S: Um, it didn't make the call...
Tegoshi said bossily, “Yes, it did!”
They argued about the call button not working and Kei-chan told us this is where they started playing Shiritori for the next 20 minutes.
S: What's worse is that the elevator would move up one floor at a time while we were doing that.
They did their hop and shake a few times, then looked out in shock when the “doors” finally opened.
T: Somehow, when we have our Tokyo Dome performance, the MC is always serious.
S: We're generally always serious.
K: The one who isn't serious is Tegoshi.
T: I can't stop it. With TV shows, there's a lag between us and the audience. But when you go do a concert, there's no lag at all! It makes me excited. So excited, I lose some of the screws in my head.
K: Please put them back in!!
M: Carry an umbrella!
S: But then your umbrella will get turned inside out, you'll get soaking wet and catch a cold.
Again, with the teasing to try and break Tegoshi's spirits.
M: Ah~, I get that one. There are times when you really want Tegoshi to catch a cold.
They can't handle high tension Tegoshi all of the time.
Tegoshi revealed that Shige and him went drinking just the two of them in Osaka after their concerts.
K&M: Did you cry? Did you cry?
S: We sang of love. Even though we'd done the concerts twice, we sang “Full Swing” for a third time.
About ready to start the 2nd half, they had us stand up, only to remember that they hadn't done their promotions yet. They quickly told us about the upcoming TV shows and specials they will be doing.
S: I'll be doing a special program called “Typewriters” where I get to talk to different authors. I'm really a “bunkajin” (cultured person) now.
M: I'll watch it.
K: Really? Massu will?
M: Because it's TV.
Koyama touched on all of the Happy Turn snacks that were in the dressing room thanks to Massu. He almost forgot to mention their new single, “Chumu Chumu”.
Massu had us yell out “turn!” after random words he came up with.
The second half began with “Wasurenagusa”. Each member sang their part and disappeared back stage to get ready. Tegoshi was last, but he stayed out as he walked to the center stage where the staff had set up a piano for him. I was reminded again that Tegoshi's solos always sound better in concert than they do on the album.
This flowed straight into Massu's solo. He was wearing a stylish black and white poncho. He did dance a little at the end, but most of the song was just slow movements.
For the interlude before “Byakuya”, the juniors entertained us and let down black streamers from the top of the set. A creepy black figure dominated the screens, looking down on us.
The members came out in black outfits with feather boas on the jackets. Koyama had on sunglasses as well and Masuda had on a black hat. The dance involved moving their hips around a lot. There were some very nice acrobatics from the juniors too. They waved large black flags around and the end was when each member pulled down one of the black streamers.
Taking off the outer jackets, they danced to “Supersonic”. I enjoyed the choreography from this one. They had colored fire shooting out from the stage and fireworks startled us again.
The lights went down and thanks to the staff, they moved quickly from main stage to center on a cart. They stood in a circle facing inwards and sang “Snow Express”. It was kind of fun seeing the sing to each other.
After dancing to “Winter Moon”, they went backstage again.
The video on the screen showed black blobs growing larger. Video game music played as 3D NEWS jumped into walls and started fighting 2D battles. We had to help by clapping to the beat (Tegoshi's), stepping quickly (Shige, but he kept gesturing at us to do it more and more), doing the chankapana move (Kei-chan's, except that he ran away in the end), and waving the uchiwas to blow the enemy away (Massu's). The last stage was to help NEWS grow large enough to beat the blobs. We had to yell out the opening shouts in “NEWS Nippon” a few times until they could win.
They came out on the huge carts, slowing traveling around the circumference of the arena during “NEWS Nippon”, “Kibou ~ Yell”, and “Sayaendou”.
K: Are you having fun?!
Us: Yeah!
K: We want to make the next song together with you, so please clap with us.
We kept the beat for them as they sang the beginning of “Pokopon Peko-rya” acapella. The music kicked in and they did the dance once before moving to carts at the back, sitting or laying down on them.
We clapped again for “4+Fan” and shouted the fan parts. The last song was “Seven Colors”. During the middle of it, they dropped balloons down on the arena of all the seven colors. Although NEWS and the juniors were dancing on the main stage, most of us were distracted by trying to catch a balloon. The staff was nice enough to hand some out and two girls near us were nice enough to pass us balloons, so we got them in the end.
The guys thanked us for coming and said their good byes. They stood in the cage from the beginning of the concert and waved until it lowered out of sight.
A camera backstage showed us the four of them waving at us. Koyama took a white pen and wrote on the camera lens. It was out of sight at first, but by looking at the rest of the letters, you could tell it was an “L”. Next Massu wrote a “v” and Shige an “e”. Tegoshi and Massu made kissy faces at the camera. Tegoshi was ready to write his letter, but Massu leaned in close as if he would kiss him on the cheek. He leaned away and Kei-chan leaned in close next. Tegoshi looked at the two of them in “panic” as they leaned closer and closer from both sides and yelled out, “Stop that!” (Yamero!!). He finally wrote his “o” and the camera zoomed out to show us “Love” on the lens.
The members filed off camera, but Massu and Koyama came back to dance in the background to the music. After they left, Tegoshi dived in at the last second to send us one last kiss.
The first encore began with “White Love Story”. Tegoshi climbed the stairs on the main stage and sat at the top. Shige plopped down next to him, as close as he could. Koyama sat on the other side, just as close. Massu shoved Kei-chan aside and made a spot for himself between Tegoshi and Koyama. Turning sideways and leaning back heavily on Massu, Kei-chan kept singing that way until Massu's solo. He turned to look at him and while Massu sang his solo part, he grabbed Kei's chin and sang to him. He changed his grip and squished Koyama's cheeks. Without missing a beat, Koyama reached out and squished Massu's cheeks back for his solo. We laughed really hard at how “君は僕のヒロイン”(You're my heroine) fit so well with the two of them playing around.
For “Nagisa no Onee Sama-”, they sat on the edge of the center stage and sang as it spun them around slowly. Massu introduced all the juniors who had been with them for the tour.
S: Even as we became 4 members, you still supported us through that. We hope you'll keep supporting us in the future too. This last song is a song for all of you.
They sang “Aikotoba” for us and asked us to come play with them again some time. After their good byes, they left the stage. A video from “Mr. White” typed out on the screen in English. It thanked us for helping them with their mission. On a map of Japan, they put a “Mission Completed” stamp over each city they'd been to on their tour. On the last stamp, it should have gone over Tokyo, but the Mr. White mascot came out and stopped the stamp from landing, pushing it away in the end.
There was a long video of the mascot getting us to clap and call out “NEWS”. He even got bored and laid down on the screen, as if we weren't loud enough for him. The guys were busy getting changed from the tour t-shirts to the full “Chumu Chumu” Indian outfits. I rather like the colorful costumes for the members, but the juniors orange ones were a bit bright.
We were thrilled that they would perform “Chumu Chumu” for us first! The moves were cute and kind of catchy. The “fox hands” are easy to remember. Now I really can't wait for the new single!
They also treated us to another encore of “Nyaro”. Massu left the stage and shook hands with fans down in the arena. Tegoshi and Kei-chan went down off the stage too, and after a while, Shige joined them. They waved at everyone in the stands and shook hands as they went.
K: We hope you had fun and forgot everything while you were here with us. Please give a hand to the staff that helped us make this tour. And to yourselves as well. You're now members of Team White too. Say our name!
Us: NEWS!
The streamers shot out, so everyone was busy trying to catch them for a while. I lost my balance and almost toppled over backwards grabbing one.
K: If you could all be silent for a moment, we want to tell you something with our own voices.
They lowered their mics and when Kei-chan gave the sign, they yelled “Arigatou gozaimashita” (Thank you very much!) at the top of their lungs.
T: Let's go an a date again soon!
As they waved and left the stage, Koyama did the “chumu” fox hand to us. Shige was the last to go. He blew us a kiss before leaving. Finally, the “Mission Completed” stamp went over Tokyo.
The concert ended at 9:00 since they added the second encore. Our seats were very, very nice. The main stage was so close and we could see the dancing well. Let's hope they put out another album soon.
Pic:
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