It's Wednesday and concert time! (Or "surely you will walk on looking forward as a Dream Fighter")

[rikke_leonhart]

Hello everyone! Are you all enjoying the summer? I am :D I've been traveling a little bit and the days since I got back have been jam-packed and will continue to be, so. I'll try being all present and stuff? At least to post fic soon-ish xD

So yes, traveling! I've been to Brussels to visit Gati (:DDDD) and we went to Paris to attend the Japan Expo and also to see Perfume. Yes. Yes. YESSSSS. I'm still incredibly giddy about that and I keep telling everyone about it, I don't even care that next to no one up here knows them, I just need to share my giddiness xD

Gati and I queued for four and a half hours and we stood next to the biggest douchebag to ever have douched. I'm serious, douche was making fun of the girls, saying their English sucked and their dance was bad and uuuuuugh, I wanted to smack him. We did meet some Arashi fans though, which was nice :D We passed the time eating cherries and peaches and listening to Perfume songs :D When we got into the venue, Gati bought us t-shirts, and I just have to say that the official World Tour 2nd t-shirt is gorgeous - almost as gorgeous as the PTA t-shirt they were selling as well, oh my god, the pretty so glad we got our hands on those as well ;;__;;

We got really, really good standing places, just a bit elevated and no one obscuring our view, which was amazing. The venue was packed, completely sold out, so proud and happy for the girls :D The stage was really pretty with huge pyramid-like glowing objects on stage and the backdrop was lit up with "Perfume World Tour 2nd" and after a while, a voice started telling us in both Japanese and English to please not take pictures or video or anything of the kind. I mean, I get why, but good luck with getting everyone to comply up here in Europe. It's a completely different concert culture xD (Guilty, I filmed some... Also, I heard Japanese fans were bitching about it, but seriously, when in Rome...) There was a Kashiyuka cosplayer wearing the green outfit from the Dome concert, and when I wanted to take her picture, she wouldn't let me take picture of her legs, so I had to cut it off by the end of the dress XDDD She was totally stunning though, and her dress was amazingly well-made, she said it'd taken a long time, and I really believe it!

Everyone started clapping thrice and then yelling "PERFUME" and this went on for quite a long time and it was awesome :D I noticed a guy opposite of us on the upper floor was "fishing" Gati, like Ohno does during concerts, so Gati got fished :D We deduced there were more Arashi fans and we were happy, and I think Gati fell even more in love with her beautiful Arashi t-shirt <3

And then, the lights went out and a huge light show started before the extended mix of "Spending All My Time" began. It was the same performance as the one they did in Cannes and it is amazing. I really, really love that song and the remix is so, so good, and when the girls appeared on stage the screaming got really intense and I got goosebumps all over, I was totally shivering^^;; I think I spotted the superfan up there in the front, but I'm not sure, parts of the concert is a bit of a blur, I was crying, okay xD But seriously, the lights were amazing, their choreography is really something else. People were screaming along to the lyrics like crazy, no doubt because it's English xD

And it needs to be said: if you've seen their choreography in videos and thought "Oh, it's amazing" it's nothing compared to the lives. The girls are flawless. They are so beautiful and so amazingly good, so dedicated to the dancing and to the show and nothing will compare to it. I feel like I should dedicate several paragraphs to how beautiful I find Kashiyuka (they are all gorgeous, I know, but Kashiyuka is my favorite ♥) and I feel that epic songs should be penned as tribute to their legs. And Kashiyuka's hair. It's gorgeous. And shiny. Ooooh the shiny *w* Randomly, but Nocchi's hair is getting long!

(And really refreshing from up here where there's always a warm up band for an hour and then at least thirty minutes before the main act takes the stage - here, the girls just came on stage and the show was on :D)

Anyway! After "Spending All My Time", the girls shed the white overcoats they wore for the light show in "Spending All My Time", and they were wearing white-ish dresses with orange designs on the front. They went directly into "Magic of Love", which is incredibly cute. A-chan was smiling so much, it was adorable <3  Straight from "Magic of Love" to "Laser Beam", the audience went a bit crazy with it, jumping and shouting along. It's one of the songs I like the best, so I was really glad they did it :D I think it was the album version, but I honestly can't remember, nor do I care, because. Laser Beam.

But if I'd thought that the response to "Laser Beam" was slightly crazy, that was nothing compared to when "Polyrhythm" started. People went nuts. "Polyrhythm" is my favorite song of theirs, I absolutely adore it, and when it started, I just started crying, it was crazy. Shaking and crying and trying not to outright sob when Gati started rubbing my arms soothingly, but I was way too gone, just crying and trying to breathe and sing along. During the dance segment before the final chorus, all three girls were beaming and they just looked so damn happy <3

Then was the first MC segment! They introduced themselves in French and then Japanese and alsdhjslds THE CUTE. A-chan and Kashiyuka briefly left the stage, leaving Nocchi to fend for herself in English, which was really really good, she hardly had any accent at all :D Also, Nocchi's male fans are hilarious and very intense, they kept going "NOCCHIIIIII" in their deep voices and she looked really amused xD Then Kashiyuka got back and Nocchi started playing with Kashiyuka's hair and making her spin around, and then she went "Want to touch? :DDDDD" and everyone went "ALDHAKSDSLFSLJFSDK" and then Nocchi said "Nooooooo :DDDD" ugh the CUTE. Then Kashiyuka got waved backstage while A-chan reappeared, and then Nocchi left the stage as well. When they returned, they told us how they had fish and chips in London, and they asked us what they should have us react to, which ended up being "croissant", although the guy next to me kept screaming "BAGUETTE" xD So every time they called "CROI" the upper floor should shout "YAY" and when they called "SSANT" the lower floor (Gati and I) should yell "YAY", so we did that a few times and it was really awesome :D So, that was a tiny Japanese woman yelling "CROISSANT" on stage and the crowd going "OMG YAAAAAY" because we're that awesome. Yes, we all really enjoyed that, and the lower floor was louder than the upper one, take that, upper floor! A-chan also yelled "Boys! Girls! EVERYBODY ELSE!" and I went all "HEW?", but oh my god, the adorableness of the entire thing ;;__;;

Then the girls searched for someone speaking both Japanese and English and they got a guy near the front a microphone and he translated really well! It turned out he'd been in a Perfume dancing contest but couldn't go in the end, and the girls were so happy and told him to definitely come to Japan next time, awn they are just so cute ;;__;; A-chan also sang "Aux Champs-Elysées" which was adorable and she seemed really surprised that a lot of the crowd knew the rest of it and took over (which, really, A-chan? You were in Paris xD). Nocchi mentioned that before the concert, it had felt like being in a football stadium, listening to our clapping and yelling "PERFUME" and it had gotten them really excited :D A-chan also quizzed us on our knowledge of the songs and was really surprised that we knew the lyrics, and finally, when she found one we didn't know that well, she cheekily went "You should do your homework better! /BEAM" and oh she's such a cheeky, cute thing <3

Then they sang "Spring of Life", which I like infinitely better now than I did before, since normally it's a song I get tired of really quickly, but now I find it's really, really nice listening to :D Girls were still flawless <3 Then they did "Spice" and I love love love the choreography for it, I remember the promotional period for that single and it was so, so good. And then they did "Seventh Heaven", which is one of those songs I can never remember the name of, but I don't think I'll forget it again :D It's such a sweet song.

After "Seventh Heaven", the girls left the stage and the instrumental to "Handy Man" started playing, and another amazing light show and video on the backdrop started, which only got us to scream even more. (On another note, the B-sides have been amazing lately!)

The girls came back out after that, now in dresses that were mostly blue but had white and red on them as well, they looked to be made out of chiffon or something, but whatever it was, the girls looked absolutely beautiful ;;__;;

AND THEN. "Daijobanai". I freaking love this song like crazy, it feels so retro, it's kind of insane, and the choreography is damn rocking. Oh my god, the flawlessness on full display. So good, I was a mess by that point, my ears were ringing and I didn't care at all. That song is perfection and I was bouncing all over the place, I was so damn happy they did it and not the A-side which was good but kind of underwhelming. So, "Daijobanai" was amazing, and then they all got into formation for "Electro World", which, as I remember it, got one of the biggest reactions of the night, people went absolutely crazy. There is a reason why that when I start listening to this song I just never get around to changing it again. This song is so old school and it's still so crazy catchy and I end up singing "Electro wooooooorld~" for the rest of the day (and I have it on repeat as I'm typing this, as well xD).

After that, it was time for PTA Corner :D /flaps. Anyone who's ever watched a Perfume DVD knows of the PTA corner, and they made us learn the usual hand moves (A-chan happily chanting "OUT-O IN OUT-O OUT-O IN OUT-O IN IN" was so cute that I can't words anymore, I just can't) and then the shoulder moves for "Chocolate Disco", which, I suppose, is always good to know xD They also sang the teeth brushing song xD (Is that called "Hamigaki no Uta"? I can't remember, but it was incredibly cute xD) I honestly can't remember if they did "survival dAnce" and "Ultra Soul" as well, I feel like they did? Maybe xD At the end of the PTA Corner, they did We Will Rock You :DDDD Yes, that We Will Rock You. I'll let that sink in for a moment. Yes. They were entirely too adorable and A-chan bravely took on the first verse, which consisted of garbled, accented English and lots and lots of enthusiasm. Needless to say, it was too awesome for words, the chorus was amazing with the clapping and stomping and shouting :D

Aaaaaaaaand "Fake It"! There are songs in this world that gets a crowd fired up - "Fake It" is one of the very finest. With the entire venue jumping and screaming and bouncing all over the place with the girls, the atmosphere was nothing short of incredible. It's one of the songs that I can listen to forever and not get tired of it, but honestly, the feeling of it live, with the girls jumping and being gorgeous, amazing beings and just loving  it all, was the absolute best. Also, this song produces very well-coordinated jumps, seriously, everyone was in sync, it was so good :D

"Fake It" ended and then it was time for...

"Dream Fighter". Which made me bawl. The lyrics to this song make me tear up on a good day, on a particularly sensitive day I start sobbing violently. I just surrendered, I had no defenses left, I was just a crying, shaking mess, I had no way of singing along, I only had enough presence to shout "saki made~" along with everyone else just before the chorus, but Jesus, seriously. I know how I react to music, I know I tear up like a baby, but it's safe to say I wasn't prepared for that, I was just completely gone, and the girls, my god, the girls are utterly perfect beings. They'd made a video for the background that had the lyrics in French (I didn't even care because a) I know the lyrics by heart and b) I was crying too hard to even read the damn thing anyway). Gati was crying as well, we're weak for that song. I was a damn hot mess, and I have no regrets.

And from that emotional mess, they launched into "Chocolate Disco", the 2012 mix,which was such a genuinely fun experience that I want to listen to it again and again, and of course we shouted "Disco!" with A-chan <3<3<3 After that the girls left the stage for a little bit, then came back out, and then it was time for one of the biggest crowd pleasers:

"My Color". That is just one of the sweetest songs, it's so pretty and hopeful and we got to use our hand moves, the ones they taught us in PTA Corner earlier, and in the middle of the song, they stopped to teach us the entire choreography for the chorus, awn, I love this song so damn much it's not even funny. It just felt like the perfect song to end the concert with (even knowing they were doing an encore xD).

After they left the stage, we kept calling them, and they came back out and made us choose between "Nee", "Glitter" and "Love The World" as the final encore, and the girls were being unbearably cute, singing a little bit of the songs and dancing a little to make sure we knew which songs they were xD The other nights, for Cologne and London, they'd done "Glitter" and "Love The World", and I really, really wanted them to do "Nee", and it actually won marginally over "Love The World", so lskdjlksfhksjh HAPPINESS. They flawlessly got into the choreography and it made A-chan really happy that we all did the hand movement for the chorus. Ugh, all the best feelings <3

When "Nee" finished, they bowed deeply and for a really long time, and A-chan was tearing up when she said goodbye and thank you and that she wanted to always feel the same passion for this and ladjlkflhsdfald FEELS ;;__;; The feels were kicking me right in the heart. They left the stage under serious applause and the yelling and then before the concert, we'd all decided to sing "Voice". The fans had sung "Macaroni" and "The Best Thing" the other nights, so we really hoped we could pull it off. And we did, we so did. After the chorus, A-chan started singing along from backstage and then she giggled and said "Merci beaucoup♥" like the cute thing she is.

Video of it :D (Not mine, sadly)

All the fuzzy feelings ;;__;; After that, it was really over and we left, and we bought posters outside the venue. It was warm outside and not dark yet, the weather was amazing and we had so many feelings about those girls. Ah, so good. I want to attend Perfume concerts until I die. For now I'll buy some DVDs and be ridiculously excited for Level 3 and a DVD of World Tour 2nd, please? I'll listen to "Wonder2" for a bit and tear up and remember this for the rest of my life <3

Comments

[kajalmonsta.livejournal.com]

wow, that sounds really awesome!!! i really wanted to see them here in tokyo, but i couldn't unfortunately! but whenever i see them perform at tv, they are soooo amazing, and so in sync. how do they even manage that! your con report was such a fun read, thanks for sharing!!

btw,what other goods did they have? when i was hunting arashi stuff on day i stumbled over perfume sneakers, sneakers! how awesome is that please? ~

[rikke-leonhart.livejournal.com]

It was so awesome and even my usual wordiness doesn't do it justice, words are just not enough to describe it! Ugh, I love them so much, it's ridiculous, but I'm glad you enjoyed my flailing!

Oh wow, sneakers? At the con they sold the t-shirts, some singles, two DVDs and a towel! I'm not particularly well-versed in the usual Perfume merchandise, but the sneakers doesn't sound like official merchandise although I'm very likely to be wrong about it. Link me? It sounds awesome :D

[kajalmonsta.livejournal.com]

i did! it was a very nice read. and i know that feeling of being out of words, i had that after the Arashi con i went to, all i managed to text to my friend was 'I don't have words for it'XDDDDD

i can't link you, i didn't see them on an onlien plattform, i saw them at a place called nakano broadway which is the mecca of any fan looking for fan goodsXD at least for the JE stores, they don't sell anything unoffical there, they even have trainadds and all that stuff, it's amazing! i spent so much money ;___; and in the akb, perfume not JE section, i saw the perfume sneakers, they were black and perfume was written on the side, and the perfume black framed nerd glasses, which were pretty awesome as well! it might be veeeeery old goods though! was tempted to buy the sneakers, but my foreign feet won't fit them anywaysXD

http://www.google.co.jp/imgres?client=firefox-a&hs=Gz&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&biw=1024&bih=477&tbm=isch&tbnid=V71l7xdv5-7D0M:&imgrefurl=http://bonkurasu.animeblogger.net/2010/03/me-wants-perfume-pta-tour-goods-nao-o/&docid=RJFTfDfSp1SGaM&imgurl=http://www.perfume-web.jp/upload/media/3/20100303-FC%2525E3%252583%252584%2525E3%252582%2525A2%2525E3%252583%2525BC%2525E5%252585%2525A8%2525E5%252595%252586%2525E5%252593%252581%2525E7%252594%2525BB%2525E5%252583%25258F700.jpg&w=700&h=697&ei=n2LqUYjZBYrIkgWq9IG4Ag&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:1,s:0,i:80&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=174&tbnw=175&start=0&ndsp=8&tx=128&ty=89 couldn't find the sneakers, but those are the glasses!

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

AWESOME!!!!

*HUGSHUGSHUGS* we have missed you. What a wonderful, wonderful wonderful concert! Thank you for sharing your feels and giddiness. I just watched them again on MS and I'm the same as her, their moves are amazing and so precise, and their dancing to Nee is just ... @_@ mind boggling. They seriously are seriously awesome.

^___________^

[rikke-leonhart.livejournal.com]

<3<3<3<3<3

I have missed you so <3 /HUGS

I know, I'm sort of still in awe, still completely mesmerized by the amazingness of the entire thing, I'm surprised I managed a somewhat coherent retelling! I'm so glad I got to see them!

How has your family been? And how is your daughter? Is she alright now?

/HUGSHUGSHUGS

[nunuuu.livejournal.com]

Wow, they sound adorable! <3 So glad you and Gati had a blast.

PS: How in the world did you remember all those details

[rikke-leonhart.livejournal.com]

They are some of the most adorable things I've ever seen in my entire life, I'm so so so happy I got to see them ;;__;; /FEELS

LOL knowing my memory, it is a marvel I managed to remember this much (and more of a marvel that I'm evern somewhat coherent about it xD), and I only had to cheat to check in which order they did Spice and Seventh Heaven! It seems that my absolute want to remember this night forever just made everything imprint on my brain. I'm not complaining <3