Current mood:

sympathetic

Singin' in the rain
His purple highness Matsumoto-san was gloating that it wasn't raining the day before, despite the weather forecast stating that it would be about 70% possibility of rain. I bet someone up there heard his gloating and decided to show him what a 70% forecast really means.  Especially on his birthday.

I  think this is one of the most, if not the most, memorable Arashi concert I have ever been to. It was pouring cats and dogs. It was drizzling very slightly right before the concert, and then when the first song 'Kansha Kangeki Ame Arashi' came on, it started to pour. How appropriate. XD Up to that point, I wasn't sure if they were going to fly at all, due to the weather conditions. But they did. And they made it just in time, before the big downpour started.

I think the crowd tonight was very hyped up and everyone was determined not to make the rain be a mood dampener. The yells of 'ARASHI!!!' were louder than normal, as if they were meant to drown out the rain, the screaming went a pitch higher than usual and the singing was louder than usual. Maybe it was because I was sitting next to these two girls who knew the lyrics to every song and could even do the choreography perfectly. (XD)

My view for today:
This was taken a couple of minutes before the concert, just before it started to rain. look at the gloomy clouds overhead.





I think the members were trying to keep the mood up and so they revved up on the member rabu-rabu which sent the fangirls in the stadium delirous.

First it was Ninochan kissing Ohchan. (kyaaaaaa)
Then it was Ninochan kissing the birthday boy. (I think it was during Beautiful Days when Nino's mike failed due to the rain, and Junjun went over to Ninochan, put his arm around him and shared his mike with him. And so, Ninochan gave him a peck on his cheek!!!!  (MAJOR KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA-ING WENT ON HERE)

Then it was Junjun putting his arm around Ohchan and finally it was Shochan running into Aibachan, giving him a huge hug, towards the end of the concert. KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. (In fangirl heaven) (* ^ __^ *)

It started really pouring just before the MC, and so Nino and Sho pulled up the collar of their jackets ( the shocking pink ones) to cover their heads while they were singing! They could hardly open their eyes as the rain was coming down in sheets and still they were singing and dancing. It was so cute and funny. The wind was gusty, it was 最悪 weather, but still, we were yelling for more. I think Nino had this 'you fangirls are crazy' expression on his face at one time.

During the MC, we celebrated Junjun's birthday and sang him his birthday song, and they wheeled out the cake, which was wrapped up in clear foil to prevent the rain from getting to it. Jun grabbed a portion of his cake with his bare hands and stuffed it into his mouth. XD Then it was time for the guys to hand him his present. It was this amazingly bling bllng jacket that when worn, made him look like one of those shiny disco balls. The condition was that he had to wear it during the encore. He decided to put it on anyway, there and then,and because his hands were full of cake, he went to the side of the stage, and washed his hands in a puddle of water there. (O.o) Ermm.............
 
Whilst putting his jacket on,  he was saying something like 'I'm sorry that this is going to get wet when I wear it' to which Nino quipped 'Well, now, this thing is yours, you don't have to apologize'. XD XD  The MC was cut short due to the rain ,and as it was pouring, they had to protect the mikes by wrapping plastic sheets over them. ( I wonder how many mikes they spoilt this time). At first they tried wrapping it with towels, but it kept getting soaked so they turned to plastic in the end.

They appeared in the transparent costumes as usual and Jun declared, 'These costumes are the most appropriate for rainy weather!' at the end. ROFL.

Due to the bad weather, they didn't do any flying during Truth, but they danced on centre stage. I think this was much better, I would rather they dance than fly. It was so much more kakkoi.

During the final greeting, Sho was the first one up, and he thanked all of us, and lastly, he said 'I'm going to say something I probably cannot say, but 'THANK YOU TO ALL YOU GUYS OUTSIDE THE STADUIM!!!' (he was yelling into the mike so that the fans listening to the concert outside could hear)  Jun later also thanked the fans outside the stadium, during the encore. It was nice that they acknowledged the fans standing outside to listen to them despite the rain. However, due to the bad weather, they decided not to release the balloons during the final song, 5X10.

As per birthday present condition, Matsumoto-san came on with his bling bling jacket, it was so bright and shiny and he tried to dazzle Captain by lifting the jacket to his face to blind him with the bling bling. XD ROFL

The  T-shirts came off during the 2nd encore, during Fight Song, both off Jun and Sho, when they were doing some sliding on the centre hanamichis. Nino was the only one who didnt do any sliding, but was in charge of holding on to all their mikes. XD Jun was so high after all the sliding, he ran down the side hanamichi without his mike, prancing around topless in the rain. ( * ^  ^ *) Unfortunately Sho picked up his shirt and put it back on again. =.=  (its ok, keep it off, we don't mind)

The　fans were expecting a 3rd encore, which they obliged,  with Seasons. (rather unexpected). Although the rain stopped for a while during the 2nd encore, it started up again, on the third and the concert ended just before 9pm. 

It was an enjoyable concert, I have never been to such a rained-out, drenching concert before, but the rain certainly didn't dampen my spirits or those around me. it was huge loads of fun, seeing the whole of Arashi get drenched, rubbing the rain out of their eyes and shaking the drops out of their hair. It was so wet that Jun lost his nicely blown and pinned up hairstyle and just tied up his hair in one knot up on his head. Sho, Nino and Aiba looked like drenched puppies in the rain but Captain's hair manged to hold out against the weather. (O.O) How much hair spray and gel must he be using!! hey maybe it was waterproof type!

This concert gives new meaning to fangirls being the absoulte DoMs. We subject oursevles to queuing for hours on end in scorching heat (or bitter cold, as the season may be) to buy concert goods, contend ourselves with lack of sleep and stand in pouring rain for 3 hours to watch a concert. But, when you see these 5 cute guys running around, it becomes all worth it. (The experience yesterday sort of equals my experience earlier this year of a 4.5 hour wait in minus 3 degree weather waiting for Yatterman to turn up)

It's just the start of the concert tour, there is alot more to expect going forward, but just for the Kokuritsu concerts, 嵐のみんさん、お疲れ様でした。本当に楽しかった。

Ａｓ　i write this, there is a typhoon approaching and might hit Tokyo this evening. In retrospect, it was probably luckier for us that there was just heavy rain yesterday and not a typhoon, it was better to contend with standing in heavy rain and watching Arashi yesterday, than standing in an Arashi and watching Arashi.