Osaka-jo Hall is within the shadows of Osaka Castle in the east of the city. My Japanese is minimal to put it mildly and I arrived in plenty of time in order to figure where I would be seated for the concert. Showing my ticket to the ground staff at the entrance I was pointed to a queue at the west side of the arena. After a few minutes, the queue was moving and a guy appeared to make a long announcement to everybody, something along the lines of no cameras, recording equipment and definitely no mobile phones. Especially those equipped with cameras. Damn...
I go to the front of the queue and handed in my ticket (bought by a friend of a friend of a friend through Lawsons) and was given in exchange another ticket, which was my allocated seat. So I went back to the main entrance, pausing briefly by the packed souvenir stalls to get a t-shirt and the concert programme, and went in.
I took my seat, by the right hand side of the stage shaped like the top of a cut diamond and within a few minutes up stepped opening act Naomi Yoshimura at 6:00pm. Before a half empty but appreciative crowd she performed a short 3 song set, ending with the excellent ‘subete chikarani kaete misemashou‘, her last single.
Osaka-jo Hall soon filled up and at 6:50pm the lights dimmed. ‘Open Sesame’ blasted away as the band took to the stage, followed by Miwa and Masa. The ‘Diamond15 theme’ is performed, then the stage is lit up. A quick “Hello Osaka”, Miwa does that smile of hers and the crowd go wild as the band launch straight into ‘Asahi no Senrei‘. The crowd is on their feet, clapping along, and would remain so for the rest of the show. Next up is lively version of ‘Kessen wa Kin'youbi’ and I too am hopping with delight. Three songs in and the cost and decision to come here all the way from London was justified.
The first break and Masa (dressed in a purple suit and feather boa a la Prince) speaks. He attempts to curry favour the audience by saying how Osaka is their number one town, not Tokyo. It clearly works.
Throughout the whole show Miwa’s enthusiasm and energy is infectious. She and Masa are clearly having a good time, as evident in their cheerful between song banter.
Other notables:-
Miwa accompanied by two backing dancers dressed like members of Run-DMC (for the first half at any rate).
Miwa hovering above the stage in one of the diamonds hanging from the ceiling (can’t remember which song).
The very lengthy audience participation games lead by Rinko and Masa, during which the audience were split into two and attempted to follow the dancers in a short dance routine. Not fair that mine was much harder.
Miwa really going for the high notes on ‘Yasashii kiss o shite’ and ‘Hajimari no la‘.
Miwa emerging at the end of her break by launching into an impressive timpani drum solo on that precedes ‘OLA! VITORIA!’ (On the short DVD that came with the concert programme, Miwa is shown practising this solo with a tutor).
The disco remix version of ‘Winter Song‘.
There was a long six-minute wait for the encore. A clip from Amoretto was followed by Miwa and Masa appearing on a small stage at the back of the arena. Miwa sings a terrific version of ‘Ureshii! Tanoshii! Daisuki!’ with just Masa on acoustic guitar for accompaniment. They then walk all the way back onto the main stage, which is now lit up to reveal a 40-strong girls choir that provides backing for ‘Mirai O Tabisuru‘.
I really wish my Japanese was better. Before ‘Nando Demo‘, Masa spoke for about five minutes to the crowd who listened in hushed silence. Miwa also said something that drew gasps of disbelief and then tremendous cheers. As they ended with ‘Hatsuyuki - Ending Theme‘, Miwa had to fight back the tears
The whole show has flown by and before I know it, the time is 9:20pm and it’s over. Having planned to come here since the tour was announced last September, my hopes and expectation had been built up so high that it could so easily have ended in disappointment. But I wasn’t let down at all. I had a rollocking great time and my only gripe was the absence of ‘Asa ga mata kuru‘. Roll on Wonderland 2007...
PS: In the small telephone directory of leaflets and flyers left on every seat in the arena, there’s an ad for the a Diamond 15 concert to be shown on the subscription channel WOWOW on the 30th of April. I hope some kind hearted soul will make it available on Bit Torrent soon after!
Osaka concert, 10th of March
- Jei
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Re: Osaka concert, 10th of March
Thanks so much for the review!
That's two for Diamond 15...keep it coming...whomever![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
How long did you spend in Japan?
(I love the Kansai region)
Mobile phones without cameras are the exception these days...^^
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
That's two for Diamond 15...keep it coming...whomever
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif)
How long did you spend in Japan?
(I love the Kansai region)
Did they do a bag check or wand people over?newrynyuk wrote:long announcement to everybody, something along the lines of no cameras, recording equipment and definitely no mobile phones. Especially those equipped with cameras. Damn...
Mobile phones without cameras are the exception these days...^^
Did Naomi join DCT on stage at any point?Before a half empty but appreciative crowd she performed a short 3 song set, ending with the excellent ‘subete chikarani kaete misemashou‘, her last single.
Those two songs really do blend well together...especially in terms of energy ^^launch straight into ‘Asahi no Senrei‘. The crowd is on their feet, clapping along, and would remain so for the rest of the show. Next up is lively version of ‘Kessen wa Kin'youbi’ and I too am hopping with delight.
Heh..have this picture of Miwa in giant unlaced Addidas ^^Miwa accompanied by two backing dancers dressed like members of Run-DMC (for the first half at any rate).
Right on! Hell...bound to be some tour in '06I had a rollocking great time and my only gripe was the absence of ‘Asa ga mata kuru‘. Roll on Wonderland 2007...
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Re: Osaka concert, 10th of March
In reply to your queries, Jei:-
[b]How long did you spend in Japan?
(I love the Kansai region)[/b]
I was there for 8 days. Should have 9, but heavy snow in Amsterdam meant I arrived in Osaka 12 hours late and two missed connecting flights later. Luggage turned up a day late too so it wasn't a great start, all went much better since. Took in Kobe, Nara, Kyoto and Hiroshima too.
[b]Did they do a bag check or wand people over?
Mobile phones without cameras are the exception these days...^^[/b]
There was no bag check or anything, they just trusted people would comply. Also between in the interval between Naomi and DCT's sets, there were men wandering around with big signposts in Japanese with one word in English that said "OFF!!!" A great pity, otherwise I'd have had my phone out to take videoclips, never mind pictures.
Did Naomi join DCT on stage at any point?
She didn't, but she did plug her solo gig at the Osaka Muse on 15th of May.
[b]How long did you spend in Japan?
(I love the Kansai region)[/b]
I was there for 8 days. Should have 9, but heavy snow in Amsterdam meant I arrived in Osaka 12 hours late and two missed connecting flights later. Luggage turned up a day late too so it wasn't a great start, all went much better since. Took in Kobe, Nara, Kyoto and Hiroshima too.
[b]Did they do a bag check or wand people over?
Mobile phones without cameras are the exception these days...^^[/b]
There was no bag check or anything, they just trusted people would comply. Also between in the interval between Naomi and DCT's sets, there were men wandering around with big signposts in Japanese with one word in English that said "OFF!!!" A great pity, otherwise I'd have had my phone out to take videoclips, never mind pictures.
Did Naomi join DCT on stage at any point?
She didn't, but she did plug her solo gig at the Osaka Muse on 15th of May.
Sounds very much like the Nagoya concert. Too bad we couldn't arrange a DCTjoy.com meetup at one of the concerts. We'll have to do that for the next Wonderland or something. And as a note to Jay, they did bag checks at the Nagoya concert but it was a pretty cursory check; they didn't go pawing through anyone's bag, just a quick peek inside. It's less than three hour flight for me to Osaka so I'm in next time any of you want to go see a DCT concert.
Well, finances and circumstances permitting. I'm up for Wonderland 2007 for sure!
BTW. Whilst in Osaka, saw the opening credits for Kyuumei Byoutou 24ji on Fuji TV on Tuesday night. Nando Demo works really well as a theme tune for the title sequence, which features the same swirly wind effects that the music video has.
BTW. Whilst in Osaka, saw the opening credits for Kyuumei Byoutou 24ji on Fuji TV on Tuesday night. Nando Demo works really well as a theme tune for the title sequence, which features the same swirly wind effects that the music video has.
Re: Osaka concert, 10th of March
So is anyone in a postion to do a high quality cap of the concert and upload it?newrynyuk wrote:PS: In the small telephone directory of leaflets and flyers left on every seat in the arena, there’s an ad for the a Diamond 15 concert to be shown on the subscription channel WOWOW on the 30th of April. I hope some kind hearted soul will make it available on Bit Torrent soon after!
Or can anyone do a high quality cap of the concert, burn it on a DVD, post it to me, and I will upload it?
And if anyone finds themselves in a postion to get tickets for Wonderland 2007, count me in, as long as the notice isn't too short as I would need time to sort out the paperwork required to leave the country
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
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