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mr.children's DCT Concert report from the Fillmore

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2002 12:32 pm
by Jei
[Thanks to mr.children for letting me post this here -Jei]

mr.children's DCT Concert report from the Fillmore
(andytaylor@hotmail.com)

This report is for JEI and his dedication to the band, for Cori and her dedication to Jpop, all the DCT and JPOP fans.
I used JEI's style and format for writing this report. Hope you all enjoy this.


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Concert: Dreams Come True monkey girl odyssey west coast mix

Location: The Fillmore, San Francisco, California

Time: Doors Opened at 7:30pm; Opening Act at 8pm; DCT at 9pm

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Opening Act: Sheryl Crow sound alike (forgot her name) Played for 30 minutes (5 songs)

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DCT played for: 1.5 hours

The Band: 5 piece (Miwa [vocal], Masa [bass] , Twin #1 [electric & acoustic guitar], Twin #2 [Keyboards], Other guy [Drums/Percussion])



The Playlist: (same as the other venues, I took their from JEI)

* Snow Dance
* Suki dake ja dame nan da
* Pride nante shiranai
* Shiawase na karada (English Version)
* It's All About Love
* New English song (??? on title)
* crystal vine
* Flowers
* 24/7
* Asa ga mata kuru
* Itsu no ma ni
* Say It
* Love Love Love
* Encore 1: Ai suru kokoro
* Encore 2: Sankyu

Miwa's Outfit: Pink/Gold/White sparkling tank top; Orange pants sparkling tennis shoes
Masa's Outfit: White Vest/Cowboy Hat; Red leather pants;


Before the concert
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I arrived at the Fillmore around 7. I was late because the train I take back from work had huge delay and was late about an hour. I found parking right next to the Fillmore, which made it so easy to get home afterward. The line was not that long and I was surprised. I went there with my friend who is Japanese, her husband stayed at home with their baby because she is a huge DCT fan. We waited till about 7:20 when they started to allow people in. They searched for cameras and other things. Few people were caught with cameras and alcoholic beverages. When we got inside, we were only 4 rows behind the stage and had great view.


The crowd
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the main floor was about 90% full and the balcony area was full. The crowd was really divers. Here is what I think:
55-60% Female 40-45% male. I was surprised to see than many guys there.
75% were teen and their early 20s.
20% late 20s – late 30’s.
5% over 40.
85 % Japanese, the rest of us were non Japanese (whites, Blacks, Asians, south Americans, and ME)



My Experience
============

This experienced is unmatched for me. They are even better than the first time I saw them. Miwa owned the stage and her voice was unmatched. You know a great singer when they perform live and she was on top of her game and she hit all the notes and she was flawless in her performance. Masa is one of the best bass players that I have ever seen play live. You can’t appreciate the depth of talent till you see him play, 5 feet from you…(-:
I really enjoyed all of the songs, especially SNOW DANCE (the song that rekindled my love to DCT). The English songs were good too but I thought that she was subdued a bit. She was more carefree when she sang in Japanese. She danced and sang with passion and you can truly see it in her eyes that she appreciates the love she is getting from the crowd.

She talked to the crowd few times with the help of Masa’s translation. She kept referring to the crowd as my SAN FRAN BABIES…(-:
MASA was funny doing his bad translation sketch. There was a really funny moment when he pointed out that a guy (American) in the crowd was losing his mind.
The guy was a bit light headed I think and MASA kept asking him if he was ok. Another highlight was when someone gave MIWA an apple (green), she took it and realized that she did not have any pockets and returned it to him. Later, she took it and kissed the apple few times and gave it back to him. I think this apple will be on EBAY soon…(-:

I have to say that I was truly disappointed in the crowd. They were excited when they came out, when they sang LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and when they came back for the encore. Beside that, they were really tame comparing to the last time. Most of them did not know the songs and people were hardly raising their hands. I think most of them came just to see a Japanese act, which made me a bit mad. I even told couple of guys in front of me to shut up when they started to chat while she was singing.


BUT the biggest highlight for me was when she waved and winked at me. I was trying to get her attention by imitating her moves and she responded. But at that time I thought that she might have been waving to just about anyone. But the people around me, including my friend said after the concert that they envy me because she waved and winked at me. So I will take this moment and cherish it forever.

This was a magical night for me and other true DCT fans.
They said that they will be back soon and I will make sure that I will be there too. Next up for me, is to see MR. CHILDREN live next year in Japan…(-:

Yup, we went to the same show :)

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2002 10:08 pm
by tachikaze
Masa is one of the best bass players that I have ever seen play live. You can’t appreciate the depth of talent till you see him play

Since I was like the 4th person to get in I carefully positioned myself to be right between Miwa and Masa (forming the 3rd vertex if you will). It took effort to pull my eyes off Miwa, but I actually watched Masa play a bit.

I agree about the crowd. I asked several Japanese-looking people how many times they've seen DCT, if they're PP members, etc, but it seemed nobody knew anything about the band other than having some of their CDs, at best.

fwiw, the apple-giver was a Japanese woman, and Miwa pantomined cleverly that it just wouldn't fit in her tiny pants pocket. That was pretty left-field, but a fittingly bizarre ending to the concert...

The whole experience of seeing frontrow one of the most hugely successful duos of the 90's for just $25 with just will-call tickets is still seriously mind-bending. One theory I have is that since the tickets were pre-printed with seat numbers (he-he) most of the Japanese though it was reserved seating. Plus I expect this event flew under the scalper operations radar (having the recent Giants ticket action may have helped that too).

Masa gave me a high-5 coming in, and watching the SoD concert DVD I see he does the same thing in Japan. Miwa also ran out to the wings of the stage in the SoD DVD like she did at the Fillmore Wed.

I fear I was too low in Miwa's vision to get any glance, but I don't envy the other gaijin who got to touch Miwa. Being that close was more than enough (short of something like a conversation, etc)...

Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2002 10:26 pm
by tachikaze
Oh yeah, you know you've turned japanese when you want to be polite to the band (stop clapping) after the encore finished so they can rest up for their next gig. I am wrong in thinking that 90 minutes is more than enough from the band, given it's a Wednesday show and they've got 2 more, the ticket prices were so cheap and the venue so small?

Of course, "SAN KYU" is their signature goodbye song, but I wonder if a really raucous crowd could get them out for another set...

Man, it's great that the duo like performing so much to put that all that energy for such a small return (other than several dozen VERY happy DCT fans), and maybe several dozen more new ones (I dragged a friend and his gf to the show, and they loved it).

Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 12:13 am
by Jei
tachikaze wrote:I am wrong in thinking that 90 minutes is more than enough from the band, given it's a Wednesday show and they've got 2 more, the ticket prices were so cheap and the venue so small?
There's no such thing as more than enough from DCT. :)
Actually, I didn't have a problem at all with just 90 minutes.
But having seen them go 2 hrs+ on video makes you crave for more.
(Especially if 'Wonderland' is attached to the name...)
tachikaze wrote: Of course, "SAN KYU" is their signature goodbye song, but I wonder if a really raucous crowd could get them out for another set...
I wonder if the backing band had learned any alternatives ?_?
But since acapella at the end of concerts is a DCT trademark, it would have been nice to get Miwa and Masa to come back out.

I'm the guy that "lost his mind."

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2002 8:45 pm
by sdankoehler
I'm the guy Masa kept talking to, asking if I was ok. I was not "losing my mind" as much as my breath. Too much yelling, and not enough breathing. He gave me a high 5 at the begining too. By the way, I'm the gaijin Miwa touched also. :lol: One thing I've got to say, and I might have said this before, but I can't emphasize it enough. I work for Compaq Center in San Jose, and I usually protect performers and guests at concerts, show people to their seats and stuff, and I was not nearly as excited about the Paul McCartney concert the following Tuesday in San Jose as I was about seeing DCT from a distance of 2 feet! It's been nearly two weeks and I think I still have a DCT hangover! The fact that they noticed ME of all people made me very happy...and if they come back (and they'd better!) I will be there again...and this time, even earlier. DCT has got to be one of the best, if not, the best band in the world!

Dan
sdankoehler@yahoo.com