In addition to the documentaries I watched two older concerts - Pacific and LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! DOME PARTY. The funny thing is I was going to watch the Live Diamond but ended up skipping just that. Well, I'll probably end up watching it later anyway. But I think it's good to first experience how the older shows were before moving on to the latest one.
Overall the concerts were enjoyable. I mean obviously this isn't fucking DBSK so I didn't expect great vocal skills. But I have to say it was still hard to get used to such fail. Tegoshi stands out by a mile, others are very much hit and miss. Or miss and miss. Actually, if I had to give a second place I'd probably choose Yama Pi even though he isn't really a good singer.
In terms of songs it's also pretty hard. I mean with DBSK concerts were enjoyable since they made even boring songs sound good but here this isn't the case. With each new concert they get another couple of good songs so it gets a little better but the problem is there's still only about 1/3 songs I really like to my tension drops too often. So far he songs that get me excited are:
Sakura Girl, Dancin' in the Secret, Sayaendou, Happy Birthday, SNOW EXPRESS, Taiyou no Namida and even Akaku Moyuru Taiyou.
MOREPerformance aside there are other aspects. I always knew Johnnies' outfits were ridiculous but I was surprised at just how many bad outfits they manage to change during one concert. It's like, just make 3-4 that are half-decent instead. Right. But there's something I do like about NEWS' outfits. That is how their outfits are very personified every time. Massu's will always have shorter and baggier pants and Tegoshi's will probably have ridiculous skulls on them.
Also one thing that I still can't get over is that not only did the artists have no hairstylist for years they also seemed to wear no makeup whatsoever. I don't even mean stage make-up, but there seems to be no foundation. I mean it's cool and they look good anyway but it's only normal to use make-up when you're performing in front of 50 thousand people.
Pacific Tour
- I guess having member colours can be pretty helpful for identification purposes.
- It seemed quite varied having 3 duos as well as 6 solos. With some bands I'd be glad but not here. Even Ai Nante was ruined by the juniors running around.
- There was just one set of costumes I actually kinda liked, the silver one. Especially as they sing Snow Express.
- One of my favourite parts was the Member introduction song. It was silly but I really love these things.
LIVE! LIVE! LIVE! DOME PARTY
I think the general level has gone up here and the absence of juniors has made wonders to improve the atmosphere. However, I was highly annoyed at the way the concert was produced. I don't even mean the costumes and special effects. I mean the order of songs, the stages used for the songs and just the general flow. There was supposed to be a theme which was 4 seasons and it's a nice idea but it was royally fucked up. I got pretty pumped up at some points esp. Sakura Girl, Dancin' in the Secret and Sayaendou but I often got annoyed at song/costumes, redundant special effects such at tons of tons of fucking feathers and highly inappropriate transitions.
- Tegoshi, wtf happened to your hair?
- Two duos and two solos, huh? You can almost see the cracks running.
- The thing with putting 'Shige' randomly into lyrics is cute though I'm not sure if that's out of appreciation or bullying. Probably a mix of both.
- The amount of Tegoshi/Koyama fanservice makes me uncomfortable.
- The number of encores in this one is ridiculous. Just make one proper one!
- The triple-whatever encore also included the Barefoot Slutty Cinderella song. I'll never get over this.