So I skipped the concerts where possible and went straight for the Backstage footage to have fun and see how the dynamics within the band really were at the time.
General notesI felt like the balance within the band was very good, it seemed better than all the bands with 5 members. Basically I guess you can really split NEWS into 3 teams: Ryo-YamaPi, Koyama-Shige and Massu-Tego. I still can't really comprehend that Massu is older than Shige.
However, I was really surprised to see that Tegoshi actually hung out with Shige a lot at the time. And I barely saw him with Massu. Come to think of it, Massu doesn't appear much on any of these 3, even less than Ryo. But anyway, the youngest two were a lot closer than I thought. They were actually very much partners in crime doing stupid pranks and stuff. Though Shige roomed with Koyama they sat together a lot at meals. That, and Shige was Tegoshi's personal hairdresser.
In a more general view I was really surprised at how much Johnnies bands are self-governed. Like, seriously. In 2008 they had a freaking dome tour but it seems like they didn't even have any stylists at all. They seemed to decide all of the coordination, costumes and they even did their own hair and make-up. I haven't seen a single staff around, not even managers. They filmed the documentaries themselves too. How convenient.
In terms of songs NEWS really had it bad, didn't they? Apart from Weeek and a couple more their songs are incredibly lame. As for the vocal skills I don't even know. There were time when I actually thought that they sounded pretty decent. I mean of course Tegoshi stands out a lot and he's the only one who has a proper voice but at times the other guys were pretty good too. Say, YamaPi sounds pretty good at some songs and terrible at others.
But I guess apart from the songs what really got to me was all these Juniors. There are so many of them and they totally ruin the mood sometimes. Like the only time I though they were kinda appropriate was when they sang chorus for NEWS Nippon.
Also I'm not very good at reading people but according to my impression Massu and YamaPi seem very straight. The others are questionable.
DETAILED
Never ending wonderful story
Featuring a ridiculously pretty 19-year old Tegoshi who looks 14. Basically, I didn't intend to watch any old concerts but this one had 2 in 1 so I went with it. Almost all of the songs were pretty lame though so I got bored a lot. Solos were different. Tegoshi's was ok though not particularly interesting. Shige's wasn't bad either. The song's not great but the performance was very charismatic. But Pumpkin... Seriously, Massu? The bonus food edition was weird and even gross at some points.
Highlights:
- Tegoshige's trolling a sick Koyama was priceless.
- Tegoshi's magic show. Oh, God.
- Massu spinning on that rope was really badass.
CONCERT TOUR pacific 2007 - 2008
This one was pretty short and eventful but lots of pretty Tegoshi and it included the trip to Taiwan. Which is the ultimate TagoShige experience.
Highlights:
- Basically most of the tour Tegoshi seems to hang out with Shige and Koyama.
- Then there's the Taiwan footage and the infamous porn scene.
- That part where Shige offers his hand to Koyama on that circle thing because the guy's afraid of heights. Aww.
NEWS Live Diamond 2009
It seemed like this tour was even more self-governed than the previous ones. The guys decided on what to do with the costumes, setlist, dancing routines and other stuff. Tegoshi was still a lot more humble than now. His robe was white and he was still a bit bullied for being the youngest. But he already did most of the pre-concert speeches. Also apparently this is where the crossdressing begins in earnest.
Highlights:
- The Christmas party was cute. Also the double birthday party. Tegoshi getting all smug about getting a whole pack of tacky skull-printed stuff.
- This one featured Christmas!Yuuko and a schoolgirl!Yuuko. The latter also goes to bully some of the juniors albeit not very successfully.
- I really don't like KoyaShige but that little backstage scene was seriously the sweetest thing ever.
- Then there's the part with Shige doing Tegoshi's hair as they proceed to praise each other.
NEWS Dome Party 2010 LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!
This one is quite different form the previous three. The members have changed a lot more in that year then between 2007 and 2009. Tegoshi gets 87% more pretentious, Shige gets 67% hotter. And YamaRyo get 73% more alienated. They come late, leave early and just generally fall out with the rest. The concert level has gone up although the sparkly mess of coats is still a given. This footage was different in that it wasn't really a tour, just a bunch of dome concerts so it's mosty just rehearsals, discussions and hanging out in the common dressing room. The general atmosphere seems really nice and friendly but at the same time at that point it had to have been painfully obvious where this was going.
Somehow I can't really think of highlights with this one but I had to put more that 7 pictures here.