It's been quite a while since the HK live. And I know all I said back then was that the Y Theatre at the Youth Square was the best hall EVER. Well, it is, for quite a few reasons.
I actually had no intention of writing this report, since the best period to do so has already long passed. But today... as I was driving, Lapis started playing. It's not a song I particularly loved or anything, but it left quite a huge impression on me in HK. It brought back a lot of emotions and memories I felt that day as I listened to Keiko sing it on stage. It wasn't even the first time I listened to Lapis live, but the HK performance was the one etched in my mind. And thanks to Lapis, it triggered an urge to revisit the live through a report. All of them sang very well in HK, even Hikaru did great. Not once did the issue she had at Budokan come up those two days.
What makes this hall so great though? Why rave about it? First and foremost, the acoustics here is undoubtedly superb. It's a sentiment shared by every fan I talked to. Even the most hardcore of the bunch who attends concerts in Japan regularly, or the most extreme Japanese fans who came here as a part of the FJC tour. But just as important as the acoustics, is the size of the hall. It's a small hall that seats only 643. I can't speak for the folks in Cat 2 (they get quite a good view too, based on the pictures), but you can get a very good view no matter where you are in Cat 1. You can still feel pretty close to the stage even from Row M. The first row, Row A, is actually lower than the stage in terms of height. Each row thereafter increases in quite a bit of height (two pretty big steps?), which means that your view will be unhindered. Nothing to block your view unless.. well unless a giant sits in front of you and you're really really short. But for most people, this hall will give you an excellent view. You may wonder if the seats are very cramped, since I said that even Row M felt close to the stage, but no. It has a very comfortable amount of space. Oh, and the lighting here was great too.
Kalafina tried more or less to give us a performance that followed the Tokyo performance closely. They had to forgo the huge circular stage from Tokyo due to the smaller size of the Y Theatre. They were also unable to do the fancy cloud projections for koibito, but that's fine. They changed it up a bit and I enjoyed seeing them clearly as they stood at the top of the platform. Being able to see their expressions and movements clearly as they sang the powerful koibito was exhilarating.
Let's skip ahead to Lapis.
Just as I was blindsided by Alleluia in HK 2014, which was also in this very hall, Lapis was the surprise hit for me. It was just another one of those ballads that I occasionally forgot the name of. Sorairo was the one I really liked and looked forward to. And they performed Sorairo beautifully of course, but Lapis was the one that left an impression.
The hall went dark for this song, and they used only a few of the spotlights as lighting. It was simple, but effective. Since this is a ballad lead by Keiko, she stood dead center. They then focused the majority of the spotlights on her. Look at the second pic in post #50 of this thread by nodame89 if you need to. Imagine the middle spotlight shining right down on Keiko, then 2 more from each side, forming a perfect symmetry. How do you look away from that? I was transfixed. The way she moved, the way she expressed the song.. the beauty of it all was amplified that much more. Her voice was so gentle that it made me want to cry. And I probably did but I don't remember anymore. This symmetry of the lights was possible of course, only because I sat in the middle for the first day. It also probably helped that Keiko was looking in my general direction as she sang Lapis. Since it was a ballad, they all stood in place with only some gentle hand movements. It was mesmerizing.
Ongaku here was so energetic, and sitting in the center meant having Keiko point in our direction. You know where this is going so I shan't elaborate further lol. I lost it for a bit that day >///<
During one of the MCs, Hikaru tried to use her hands to express the notes of a certain song. It involved her moving her hands up and down, so quickly that it seemed like she was trying to do some Kung Fu moves. It cracked Keiko up and soon, she and Wakana were doing Kung Fu poses on stage against one another. Oi! Get a room! They said that they would do one with the three of them (Charlie's angels?) and put it up on the blog but I think the manager probably said no. lol. That or I missed it. Can someone please post it XD
After their costume change to the final set of dresses, Hikaru had her usual goods introduction commercial corner. After she was done, Keiko and Wakana bowed to thank her for her hard work. Hikaru bowed back. For some reason, all three of them bowed to thank the crowd too. Since Keiko was wearing something on her head, her hair got a little messy after bowing. Wakana then ran over to her and helped set her hair. Cue fangirl screams and cheers from the crowd. I guess the shipping is more or less universal lol. Keiko got rather embarrassed about it. This happened on both days. On the second day, Wakana went over to do it again, with a big smile this time. WAKANA. Don't you know that you're not supposed to feed the wild fangirls?! Keiko seemed more embarrassed than the first day, and covered her face, looking slightly downwards as Wakana continued fixing Keiko's hair, unfazed. Keiko had a big smile too, but was too embarrassed to look up. Once again, Oi! Get a room!
Well.. it's too late for me to remember the other happenings of that day in detail. I'm sorry. All I can say is that this was the most amazing live ever, probably up there with the 2014 HK live and with Budokan close behind it. This hall is amazing. That the girls were in top form every time they performed there probably helped. I'm absolutely thrilled that I was able to witness it. I enjoyed it more than the performances at the Tokyo Forum. It felt so personal. I would definitely prioritise this live over most lives in Tokyo, assuming they do it again in this Y Theatre. Ed, the organiser, did mention that they're trying to get a bigger hall with acoustics that are just as good, but I would really prefer if they kept it to this one. Should you find yourself with the chance to attend a live in this Y Theatre one day, do yourself a favour and take it. Seriously.
It's probably a preference though. Some people love big halls where the energy is overwhelming. Budokan was amazing, yes. But I do love myself an up close and personal live too.
Trivia:
They've changed the hand movements for identify so that it is a lot easier for the crowd to follow. And this crowd knew all the moves they were supposed to do. When to clap (until the very last note fades or Satou marks it with his drums), when to stand, what to do during Ongaku, etc. Such energy. It's as if I was at a FJC live. Pure fans, the lot of them. And for that, the girls very obviously loved them.
On the 2nd day, during the final greeting after the FBM had left the stage, the girls tried their very best to stand as close to the audience as possible, going so far as to step in front of the speakers (such love for us!). Since the space in front was very small, it required quite a bit of balancing. Wakana had to go the furthest for the side on the right. Prince that she is, Keiko held Wakana's hand as she stepped forward to the extreme end. She then also held her hand as she stepped back on to the stage proper. Wakana was such a princess lol (her hand was on top of Keiko's). Oi! (repeat as above). We squealed in delight, of course.
Keiko high fived someone on the way out for the 2nd day. This sparked a frenzy where everyone rushed forward to high five him, a rather well known HK fan. lol.
It also sparked a frenzy of fans trying to high five Keiko during the autograph session.
Guess what also happened on the second day after Keiko praised a fan for her creative use of the Kalafina shoelace. みんなの愛が重い
No photo with the crowd this time. I guess lives that are a part of the tour don't get special treatment.
RYB in the silence. Another thing they skipped from Tokyo was the use of flags. There was no space to place the flags (and fans) on stage so I guess they decided not to.
Having missed the massage session last year when Keiko and Wakana went without her, Hikaru went for a foot massage on her own this time
*in fangirling moddo