Towa Day
Date: April 16, 2005 (Sat)
Place: Yokohama Arena Sound Hall
Start: 18:00
Name of the show: 関東集中汚染企画モノ単独公演 Towa企画 (translation: The contamination of the Kantou region project: solo performances. Towa plan)
This was the first show out of the five which were united by the name [The contamination of the Kantou region project: solo performances]. Each concert was aimed at presenting one of the band members, and this one was Towa plan. Due to a couple of objective reasons it was a bit less successful comparing to the others, but still no less memorable.
It was not our lucky day from the very beginning. It so happened that only upon arriving in Yokohama we found out that we were as rich as $crooge McDuck for all we had was 800 yen for both) We had subway passes with enough money on them to return to Tokyo after the concert, butc we suddenly remembered about drink tickets which normally cost 500 yen per head and are obligatory if you want to enter and see the show ^^;; My friendfs card turned out to be empty and my euros were of no use either, because in Japan nobody cares about this alien currency and exchange offices are closed on weekends (it was Saturday ^^;;). On our way to Yokohama Arena we were discussing the variants of getting the money we needed ^^ For the first time we were hoping that there would be other gaijins whom we could ask to lend us some Japanese coins. In case there were no foreigners, we were almost ready to ask some Japanese girls, but doubted theyfd be willing to help ^^;;
When we finally reached Yokohama Arena our jaws dropped ? there was a huuuuuge crowd of people, not only Japanese, but a lot of gaijins among them. It didnft look like a Fatima show at all. Besides, we knew that Towafs day was not sold out. How could it be that so many people came to see them? Besides those people looked freakingly normal for this kind of event ^^;; Only after I sneaked a look at the tickets they held in hands I realized that these people knew nothing about Fatima, because they were there forc. DESTINY'S CHILD)))) I wonder what wefd look like if we tried to get into Yokohama Arena to see Beyonce with the tickets to Fatima *lol*. So, we went further to the right and found the small Yokohama Arena Sound Hall which was our final destination. A modest queue of Japanese girls mostly clad in Lolita clothing confirmed our guesses. Therefs no way I can forget some of them ? the girl in hot yellow stockings on fat chicken-like legs broke my poor heart -_-;
As we had expected there were no gaijins in the crowd, so we could only hope that in this very music hall they do not make you buy drink tickets.
Our ticket numbers were not so good - # 179, 180. I still do not understand where other girls got their first numbers from if the tickets we owned were bought on the very first day of the sale. Oh well. -_-
Ah, and I have to write about this boy whom we first saw in the crowd on Towafs day. Such a weird fellow! His clothes and behavior got us all interested. He was wearing a short coat (well, itfs always cold in windy Yokohama as it is a port, but it was not cold enough for wearing this type of clothing), a cap, a medical mask, and (as I later noticed)c a wig!!! Just a normal wig with brownish hair, and his own short black hair could be seen from under it. Evidently the guy didnft want to be noticed or recognized or whatever. But that was mysterious ^.~;
They started calling out the ticket numbers and on approaching the entrance we could see the girls taking out some money from their purses. Dorinku chiketto? Oh noooo! Hehe, evidently they just wanted to buy some goods, because on this day money for drinks was not required XDDDD
So we entered the music hall which was rather spacious, comparing to, for example, Shibuya O-West or Takadanobaba AREA. We saw some room near the stage in front of 4ge and hurried there. Big mistake. I had stood under the speakers before, but not in this hall. We waited a bit for the show to begin, listening to the music that evidently was chosen by the corresponding members for their personal shows. This time, as far as I remember, it was Enigma, Enya, etc.
The music theme from Pulp Fiction MISIRLOU started, the curtains went open and everyone went gwhaaaa!h. The stage arrangement was completely different from the usual. Since it was Towafs day, the drums were set in the middle front of the stage, or what is usually Kanomafs spot. Thus Kanoma occupied the left side and 4ge was on the right side of the drum set. Mizuha and Lay stood on a higher platform behind Kanoma and closer to the back of the stage.
The guys went on stage in the usual order, Towa being the first to appear and occupy his privileged spot of the night! It was strange to see him so close, because normally he can hardly be seen at all, sitting at the back of the stage and rather low (although even from that place he manages to dazzle the audience with his unfading smile ^.~). Towa was apparently impressed himself, because adding to Kanomafs explanation of the stage arrangement he said with visible content gMieru!h Haha! :D
They were wearing Noble King Snake period outfits (except for Kanoma).
I could see their older clothing live for the first time.
Towa:
Mizuha:
4ge:
4gefs head was decked with two pigtails on either side ^^; Since we were pretty close to him we could make a detailed examination of his outrageous makeup (Kabuki-cho would gladly open its arms for 4ge that night hahaha!) which was applied right on his slightly unshaven cheeks! Unforgettable sight! @_@
Lay sported the short blue dress:
Kanoma went back to his famous leopard suit combined with the furs, though not the white-white long-long ones, but the blue-ish kind:
The show started and, on hearing the first sounds, we wentc. completely deaf!!!! The acoustics of this hall were the worst I have ever experienced! (>_<) This mere thing smeared the whole impression of the show which was fantastic. As I could understand the hall was chosen according to Towafs place of origin, since hefs from Yokohama, but in my opinion if it was the only suitable hall for Fatima in Yokohama, then theyfd better stay in Tokyo, because the Tokyo music halls Ifve been to, never disappointed me sound-wise. We were reluctant to leave a very good spot, so we stayed in this ear-killing place till the first break.
The show consisted of 2 major sets; the first part included mostly older tunes (Downer, Love Me, Sticky Flower, etc. etc.)
During the whole set Kanoma behaved like a nasty boy making fun of everyone (especially of poker-faced 4ge), trying to make them speak, to no avail. His new place was unusual and rather small for him as hefs used to being in the very centre, thus he ended up moving around and occupying the whole stage XD If youfve never seen Kanoma dance, be sure youfve seen nothing :P He was dancing like it was his last day and was rewarded with contented glances by Lay. The latter made Mizuha repeat Kanomafs movements together with himself.
The first part was over, the curtains down and we moved from the dangerous place to the centre of the hall. While everyone was waiting for the show to continue they put on the record on which we could recognize the voices of 4ge, Mizuhac. and Zen!!! What they were talking about? I dunno. Even if my Japanese was a bit better, my ears were dead that night ;_; A Japanese girl in her report also complained that she couldnft understand what they were talking about, and judging by the rather weak reaction from the rest of the audience I assumed they experienced the same damned ear problem. Yay for Yokohama Sound Hall! -_-;
A bit later Tokyo-77 started and the show went on. For the second part the guys changed the clothes presenting their most recent look from Kesenai ame period:
The set consisted of comparatively new songs, starting with Noble King Snake single on to Kesenai ame/Muchina inochi e. Only the beautiful Shizumu taion slowed down the insane rhythm of the both sets, not for long though ^_^
One of the last songs was Humiliate. In the break before the song Kanoma the MC decided to poke fun at absorbed-in-himself and indifferent 4ge. It took him quite a while to make 4ge change places with himself. Looking at 4gefs face one could think he was greatly displeased. However, in the beginning of Humiliate he even played with Lay and Mizuha trying to push one of them from the platform and occupy his place XD Suddenly, in the midst of the song 4ge left the stage. Later I caught Layfs disturbed glances when he looked a few times in the direction in which 4ge had disappeared, but there was no 4ge during the gcircleh thingy, there was no 4ge when Kanoma sang gHumiliate me mooore, 4geeee!h, there was no 4ge when the song was over. It looked as though he wanted to knock the live on the head. Butc 4ge would not be 4ge if he didnft suddenly appear behind Kanoma and startle him XDDDDD Mysterieux! ^.~
There were a few encores because the audience wouldnft let them go. Some of them were, of course, pre-planned, but even when the light was turned on which usually indicates the end of the show, the girls continued calling out for Fatima. So, after some more waiting Towa appeared all alone. I have never seen him speak so much ^^; Sorry, but I understood very little due to the lack of knowledge and poor hearing ability. He was urging the girls to shout for the members to come out and one by one they went on stage, all but Kanoma. Each member improvised on his instrument. If my memory doesnft fail me, Mizuha performed the theme from Pulp Fiction, 4ge ? the musical scale))))
Finally, from behind the curtain something appeared which didnft really look like Kanoma at all ^^; It was a dummy head! Having waved this horrible monster at us for some time the vocalist went out himself announcing that that was the new Kanoma. He placed the head in front of the drums and hit it hard a few times with his mic stand. LOL. What got into him that night? Donft ask XDDDD
Before bringing the curtain down completely and finally, and after a long discussion of the fans' song requests they performed Marvelous, a special Towa-day version!
We were leaving Yokohama Arena Sound Hall deaf but pleased, hoping that our ears would have recovered by Mizuhafs show just a day and a half later.
Setlist:
Part I
SE MISIRLOU (Pulp Fiction theme)
1. Blind
2. Love Me
3. Star Spangled Butterfly
4. Sticky Flower
5. Anachronism
6. Persona
7. Downer
Part II
SE Tokyo-77
8. Shizumu taion
9. Akai bara no suupu
10. Noble King Snake
11. Shoujo to kuroozetto
12. Aishuu no teihen
13. Public Eyes
14. Kesenai ame
EN I
15. Humiliate me more, Darlin'
16. Candy $trippers
EN II
17. Marvelous
***The pictures (Shoxx vol 144 & vol 149) are scanned by Kuutamo.***
