There are a plethora of girl groups out in the K-Pop world and my absolute favorite of them all is 2NE1. I dig their sound and their look so I was extremely happy when I found out the vocal track of Kiss was available on the single.
I’m primarily known for remixing a lot of J-Pop, R&B and House and I haven’t done any K-Pop songs until now. I figure why not start with this one? The original is Pop/R&B club track. For my mix I kept the same tempo but went funkier and added a deeper bass line along with some House influenced synths.
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Release Date: March 3, 2010
Track Listing
- Neo Ttaemune Michyeo
- Naega Neomu Apa
- One & One
- Cheoeum Cheoreom
- Bo Peep Bo Peep
- Tic Tic Toc
- Bye Bye
- Apple is A
- Falling U
- Neoneoneo
- Geojitmal (Dance Ver.)
- T.T.L (Time To Love)
- Geojitmal (Slow Ver.)
- T.T.L Listen.2
- Joheun Saram
- Norabollae?
Review
T-ara (pronounced Tiara, like the crown beauty pageant contestants wear) is a South Korean pop group formed by and signed to the Mnet label. Breaking Heart is the repackaged version of their debut album Absolute First. Breaking heart includes all the tracks from that album and two extra songs, Neo Ttaemune Michyeo and Naega Neomu Apa.
If any of you follow Korean pop you know that girl groups seem to pop out every day like they’re manufactured in some sort of factory or something. Which is kind of true in a way… Anyway, T-ara is one of those groups.
The thing that one has to wonder about this group is do they have something that makes them stand out? Their first few singles (Lies, TTL and TTL Listen 2) showed that they had some potential to not get lost in the shuffle of similar groups. For me Lies was a great example of what they’re capable of vocally and the two versions of TTL gave me an idea of what kind of productions they would be getting.
This album does prove that they do have something that will allow them to be around for a while. How long? Beats me. The shelf life of any pop group is pretty limited these days. With quality songs like Neo Ttaemune Michyeo, Tic Tic Toc, Bye Bye and Neoneoneo I think they’ll be around to make a 2nd album.
It’s not surprising that I picked the more up tempo and dance like tracks. The group tends to excel a bit more at those kind of songs instead of ballads. (with the exception of the slow version of Lies) Overall this was much better than I expected it to be. I’d say it’s a fairly solid debut and is worth investing some time in.
CD Only Version
CD + DVD Version
Release Date: February 10, 2010
Track Listing
- This Is Who I Am
- Easy
- Bump Bump! feat. VERBAL (m-flo)
- Lazer
- Interlude #1
- Is This Love
- Mamoritai ~White Wishes~
- Interlude #2
- Nekorabu
- The End Soshite and… (album version)
- Possibility duet with 三浦大知
- Fallin
- My All
Review
After a brief and somewhat successful detour in North America BoA returns to the Japanese market with her seventh studio album Identity which includes the previously released singles Bump Bump! and Mamoritai ~White Wishes~. This is the first of BoA’s Japanese albums to not chart in the #1 spot on the Oricon charts. After listening to the entire thing it’s not hard to understand why.
I was expecting a bit of the electro pop influence from her North American debut to creep into this album, but instead it was business as usual. Well that’s cool, but the result of this rather safe approach is that there really aren’t any standout songs that are truly awe inspiring or attention grabbing. As I stated before, I think a bit of that edge from her North American productions would have been a nice touch & would probably have resulted in some sweet tracks.
If you’re thinking that my opinion that this album is crap well you’re wrong. Actually I think it’s pretty decent but just rather bland as a whole. There are a few tracks that managed to stick with me like the previously mentioned Bump Bump! which sounds similar to Namie Amuro’s Can’t Eat, Can’t Sleep I’m Sick with the horn stabs and up tempo R&B styled beat.
Lazer is probably the closest song that would be an example of the kind of songs I was expecting to hear on this album. It at least has a bit of a fresher sound. Although I could have done without the cheesed up spoken word break about wanting a red light. Dropping to the beat during that section is my preference but perhaps that’s just the DJ in me talking. I mean it would be a nice spot to mix out of.
Lastly there’s Possibility and Fallin. On Possibility I liked Daichi Miura’s voice. I don’t listen to many male R&B artists or groups these days but I think this dude is pretty good. I’ll check out his discography after hearing him on this track. Fallin just reminded me of a Big Bang type of song for some reason. I dunno why, but a bit of 4 on the floor action is always good stuff.
Overall this was a decent album that could have been better if a few riskier or edgier productions were chosen. Still, it’s a worth adding to your BoA collection and for you non-BoA fans. Well this won’t change your mind about her.
Identity CD Only (Japan Version)
Identity CD + DVD (Japan Version)
Contrary to what their last album is titled (Melon’s Not Dead), Melon Kinenbi is dead. I guess 10 years of being unappreciated and underutilized was enough huh? And really, it’s a shame that this group is disbanding. They were the only stable unit in H!P never having any lineup changes during their tenure. An accomplishment that no group will probably be able to lay claim to.
Let’s be honest here, they never really had a large fan base. Perhaps because they were older and not loli jail bait like many of their more popular peers in H!P. Hey! Don’t get upset, I’m just calling it as I see it. Loli jailbait > Melon Kinenbi is one of the observations I have made during my time as an H!P fan.
Anyway, individually none of them were really solo artist material but as a group they were solid. They had established their own sound that set them apart from the rest of H!P. They have their fair share of pop songs but for the most part they were the rock chicks. Well I guess as rock as you could get without infringing on Buono! territory or losing what little audience they had, but they were still the alternative to the pop sound that dominates UFA acts.
Hearing about them calling it quits sucks because Melon Kinenbi has a special place in my H!P fandom. They were one of the first groups I got into outside of Morning Musume and it was mainly because of that fine ass Megumi Murata. Her appearances on Hello! Morning’s Hello! Pro News pretty much got me hooked. With or without glasses that woman is gorgeous.
Um.. Where was I? Oh… Yeah. Sadness that I won’t be getting my Murata eye candy fix or any more new Melon Kinenbi songs. It’s nice to know that a collection of their b-sides (Ura Melon) will be released before the group officially rides off into the sunset. We few Melon Kinenbi fans can at least be comforted in the fact they went out on their own terms instead of some lame duck reason like “foot problems” or “modeling”.
Best of luck in your future endeavors ladies, thanks for the 10 years of awesomeness.
Apologies for posting this a little late but it’s been a crazy month. This set is a return to the familiar Soulful vocal tracks that many are accustomed to hearing in my sets. Enjoy!
このミックスはちょっと遅いですね。じゃあ、2月が忙しいでした。ごめん。とにかく、今月のセットにソールハウスに戻ります。
みんなさん、聞いて下さい。
どうぞ。
G’s House Sessions February 2010 (192k MP3, 102 MB)
Running Time: 1:14:45
Track Listing
- Fantastic Plastic Machine feat. Incognito – Reaching For The Stars
- A Lil Louis Painting – Give It Up (Frankie Feliciano Ricanstruction Vocal Mix)
- Angie Stone – Wish I Didn’t Miss You (Pound Boys Stoneface Bootleg Mix)
- Chieko Kinabara – 7 Days
- Hardsoul feat. Amma – Don’t Let Love Weigh You Down (Main Mix)
- GTS feat. Melodie Sexton – Through The Fire (Uplifting Mix)
- Big Muff – My Funny Valentine (Body & Soul Mix)
- Studio Apartment feat. AK – Beautiful Sunrise (Quentin Harris Reconstruction)
- Yuna Ito – Koi wa Groovy x 2 (DJ Passion More Passion Remix)
- Clazziquai – Futuristic (House Remix)
- Jamiroquai – Too Young 2 Die (Grant Nelson Remix)
- Robin Thicke – Sex Therapy (Moto Blanco Club Mix)
Last year was a great year to be an H!P fan in the west. Hangry & Angry took H!P’s first steps on to mainland North American soil in Seattle. A few short months later the flagship group Morning Musume landed in Los Angeles. Then Hangry & Angry appeared in Europe. Yes, it was a glorious time where H!P fans from all over the world joined together. Many who have been online friends, finally meeting for the first time. Relationships were formed, bonds were made and everyone celebrated for the common good.
Barely a year has passed and the Western based fans of H!P (and J-Pop in general) are still talking about those momentous occasions where the impossible happened and they finally came to us. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Seattle and Los Angeles experiences and cherish every moment (both good and bad) I had. Now our hopes are high that maybe we’ll be lucky enough to be blessed by another series of H!P appearances in the west. Many speculating on who they would like to see come over. Since last year I have been checking both the Sakura-con and Anime Expo sites to see who they have lined up for musical acts.
Sakura-con is building a solid line up with acts like Dazzle Vision and High and Mighty Color already booked. (I’m hoping for another H&A appearance) But what about Anime Expo? Can they pull off another coup and get another big name Japanese act to show? Well, based on this news and some rather disturbing insider information I wouldn’t be holding my breath. Somehow reading all of that explains a lot about some of my experiences at the con last year.
But wow were my eyes opened to the ineptness of the upper management. Let’s go through a few points here.
Refusal to honor contracts with Japanese industry
a) In addition to lying about supposed contacts in Japanese industry, Lattanzio had initially refused to sign a contract previously agreed upon that allowed Morning Musume (last year’s AX pop idol group) to releaes a DVD of their concert at AX in which 50% of the profits would go towards AX. After Morning Musume directly sent one of their people over, the contract was finally signed, but in the process, according to third party testimony by Chase, Lattanzio’s attitudes toward the Morning Musume representative was extremely impolite. (claiming that he showed up in jeans and t-shirt) As a result, that person has refused to work with Lattanzio and subsquently the Anime Expo convention in the near future.
b) Due to the offense by Lattanzio to Japanese representatives as well as the current conflict between the staff and Lattanzio, No Japanese industry is willing to work with Anime Expo as of right now. This is one of the reasons that there have been no industry or musical guests announced for AX 2010 at this time.
- Yes Michael Lattanzio was very rude to Morning Musume. Along with being rude he showed up to the meeting in flip flops, a t-shirt, and jeans. Though the rumors are wrong when they say he started cussing at them. They also got very pissed when he said he wanted money from the royalties from the show that they played at last AX.
Okay…. Well obviously someone had his head up his ass. Maybe you can get away with treating a no name, upstart group getting their big break at an Anime Convention like shit; but this was Morning Musume and in essence UFA/Sony Music Japan being disrespected here. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short time with dealing with major labels it’s to treat them with respect. You’re dealing with a business and your attitude should reflect that.
The other labels must have heard about this experience and are wary of any requests coming from AX. If I were running a label I would just hang up the phone on them. If they don’t have respect for one labels artists and staff what would make me think that they would treat mine any better? And that ’s really a shame because now the fans who replied to AX’s requests for guests of honor are just going to get shafted as a result of this.
Chase Wang was the Publicity Director for Anime Expo since 2003, having many high level contacts. According to Chase Wang, during a meeting with people from Orange Range (proposed musical guest from Japan for AX 2010) Lattanzio refused to honor previously agreed contract, stating that he will only provide 2 plane tickets for a 5 person band.
Yes Orange Range was coming to AX this year, however Michael Lattanzio pissed off Sony to an extent to where they did not want to participate anymore. This was due to his rudeness and pushing them to pay for 3 out of the 5 tickets to fly here. Basically it turned into Sony and Orange Range saying “we didn’t ask to come, you asked us to come” not a direct quote. But thats the basics with that. And you can see there attempt to hide it in the AX forums by Brian R
This is just plain petty and just not right. You invite a five member band to play at your convention and you’re only willing to pay for 2 members to fly over? Does that make any sense at all? Good on Sony and Orange Range for backing out of the deal. Seriously, WTF?
From the looks of it the management of AX really dug themselves into a hole that they probably won’t get out of. Sad really, because last year was my first AX and despite all the little quirks (and one really big one) that irked me I had fun and was looking forward to doing it all over again. Now I fear that won’t happen since there’s nothing to really entice me to make another trip to L.A. in July.
So those of you who were begging for more H!P or any of your other favorite J-Pop acts can probably stop now. The best you’ll probably ever get this year is this guy.
My 2nd Berryz Koubou remix is of a song from their 21st single release Watashi no Mirai no Danna-sama/Ryuusei Boy. The original version of Ryuusei Boy is an up tempo dance track with a strong disco influence. For my mix I decided to keep a little bit of that Disco touch while incorporating a more aggressive sounding rhythm section.
I kept this fairly simple and refrained from attempting any crazy type of keyboard/guitar solos during the break section. Opting instead to let the beat break down until the vocals of the final chorus kicked in.
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Ayumi Hamasaki remix #2 is another song from her A Song For XX album. For those who haven’t heard the original you can listen to it here. As I have done with Signal I took this song into House territory adding a bit of a funkier flavor to track as a whole. I also had the MIDI sequences for this song but they really didn’t gel with what I was trying to accomplish with this mix, so I tossed them all & went with an original composition instead.
This was supposed to be an entry into the annual remix contest at the Ayumi Hamasaki Sekai forum but I had only had the basic structure of the track completed when the deadline hit. Instead of submitting crap (like the last time I entered the contest) I decided it would be better that I withdraw & focus on working on the mix until I found it to be acceptable for listening.
Anyway, it’s done & any constructive comments or criticism is welcomed. Thanks much!
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Hikaru Utada (known as Utada outside of Japan) is an icon in the world of Japanese pop with 14 number one singles on the Oricon chart and an estimated sale of 70 million albums world wide. On March 4 2009 she released her third English language studio album titled This Is the One. In late 2009 it was announced that she would be embarking on a promotional tour starting in Honolulu Hawaii and ending in London, UK.
The Las Vegas show was the 5th stop on the In the Flesh 2010 tour and it was quite the experience. I had friends who had attended the Hawaii, Seattle and San Francisco shows and they had all had extremely positive reviews. Now that I’ve been to one myself I can fully comprehend what they were talking about. The following is my account of the entire concert experience.
Pre-concert
It was a Saturday afternoon in The Mandalay Bay hotel. People were going about their business and I had just returned from running errands for family back home when I decided to check out the House of Blues. I had been notified by fellow concert goers in Hawaii and San Francisco to arrive early to the venue since Utada’s concerts were proving to be very popular and many fans were jockeying for position to get the best seats by lining up early. It wasn’t surprising when I saw an already substantial number of people camped out behind the box office. I asked one of the people if they were lining up for Utada just to be sure, to which the person nodded a yes and went back to doing something with her cell phone.
Realizing that there would soon be more people to come I quickly made my way to my room to drop off my purchases from the morning and to charge my cell phone a little before going back down to the casino floor to camp out with the other Utada fans. Just before 1 I tweeted “It’s 1 in the afternoon and there’s already a line forming for Utada”. Then I received a call from my friends from L.A. who notified me that they were about 20 minutes away from Las Vegas and then proceeded to back to the House of Blues. When I returned to the line it had grown but I still managed to secure a spot close to the front for myself and my companions.
Since my cell phone was still somewhat not fully charged I refrained from using it to play any games to pass the time. I did occasionally log in to tweet my observations in line or to reply to mentions from my friends who were interested in what was going on. I also managed to play a game of Tetris before getting totally owned on the higher speed levels. But mostly I spent my time just blankly staring around the casino floor watching the patrons confusingly stare at us wondering why there were people camped out behind the House of Blues.
As time passed many more fans arrived and the line started to wrap across to the entrances of the casino. My friends arrived shortly after 2 and joined me in the spot I reserved for them. It was great to be around familiar faces and we all were greatly anticipating Utada’s show. We discussed how it amazing it was that we were going to be seeing her soon and how we would get as close to the front as possible. Which I’m sure many of the other fans were doing as well.
One of the ways to increase your chances was to buy a minimum of $15 of merchandise from the House of Blues store and get your receipt stamped for “skip the line” access. So I bought a flask for a friend back home (which will most likely be put to good use), dropped it off in my room and went back to my friends in line. One was sleeping and the other was playing cards & she leant me her DS so I could attempt to play Rhythm Heaven. It was so loud in the casino I could barely play the game properly. Most of the games I knew visually so I did okay, but seeing that it is a rhythm game actually being able to hear the music is essential. But I did manage to not totally fail the ping pong game.
At this point the entire line experience was fine and while there were many fans sitting and camping out we weren’t an obstruction to the flow of traffic within the casino. But then one of the venue staff (who I will call red shirts) asked us all to get up & move to the escalator area so they could set up the barricades for the concert. This is where the peaceful order that we had established turned into chaos and confusion.
For the most part people were civil enough to keep the established order of things the same once we were moved with only a few sneaky people from the back bullying their way in to spots they didn’t have before. We were all huddled together like cattle and there were no places to sit other than the small bit of floor space you could find to attempt to use to do so.
As I stood in line talking to my friends a few cheerful girls from a group behind us introduced themselves and their group to us. To be honest I forgot their names (gomen ne) but I do remember that many of them drove from various parts of the U.S. to see Utada. In the process of introductions I pimped Selective Hearing to the whole group (if there’s anything I’ve learned from my experiences at other concerts, it’s to pimp hard. =P ) and we all stood around talking until the red shirts came around again.
This time they had some barricades for us by the escalators essentially crunching everyone in front together and eliminating the idea of personal space in the process. But innovative fans found a way around that issue by basically extending the barrier a bit so people could have some room to move. As more and more people started to arrive for the concert my friend and I observed that many of them had bewildered looks on their faces wondering why the line was so long. What else did people expect? You have one of the most popular Japanese artists ever making a rare appearance in America. Do you really think no one would show up early for this momentous event?
Again more time passed and by about 4 PM the anticipation started to rise as the red shirts came around verifying the count for the “skip the line” receipts. Then more waiting, more talking and especially more standing. From what I could see from the way the red shirts were setting up the barricades for the line we would not have been in the way & could have sat in our corner by the box office while they set up. Sure some people would have to move but not the entire line.
By 5 PM we lucky folks who had our red dotted “skip the line” receipts were allowed to get closer to the entrance to the venue. Which resulted in even more chaos as people were attempting to form their own lines instead of keeping the established order of things we had back by the escalators. Groups were broken up, people were confused & basically it turned into a giant clusterfuck of massive proportions. We were commenting that our British friends would not approve of this queuing process and would have major rage fits calling us “bloody wankers” or something like that if they saw what was going on.
Luckily my little group was able to stick together throughout the entire process. Although we lost track of the group of cheerful girls who we were talking to before. Which was a shame really as they were quite fun.
As we reached 6 PM the red shirts started scanning tickets and doing bag and airport style body checks. Security is tight at the House of Blues. Cameras were to be checked in (for a fee) and once inside the venue phones were to be turned off. That message was reiterated both verbally and via large signs. Instead of asking us to line up single file the red shirts decided to wade their way through the crowd. It wasn’t the most efficient way to go about things in my opinion, but I’m not going to dispute their methods. It seemed to to be standard operating procedure.
At 7 PM we were told that the doors would open and that we were to proceed in a calm & orderly manner with no running. Of course, once the doors opened that was ignored & it was a free for all. People rushed the entrance and even yelled “stairs!” to warn their fellow concert goers about possible hazards. I was separated from my group but caught up to them quickly & secured a very sweet spot.
I was front row center and normally that would mean I would be some distance away from the main stage but in this case I was really close. It was similar to the placement I had for the Hangry & Angry concert in Seattle. I could see everything so clearly. At the front was a DJ set up for the opener Mike Rizzo. Behind that was the drums & percussion. To the sides were 2 keyboard rigs and on the right the bass & to the left the lead guitar.
Behind all that was a giant projector screen in the middle and 2 smaller ones on each side. The House of Blues venue was really nice with standing room on the side railings & floor. Seating was on an upper balcony section. I was expecting it to be a small place but found it to be a fair size. So as I got comfortable and worked on having a bit of personal space I heard Deep/Soulful House blasting from the PA. Oh how sweet it was to hear some real House music. I looked around & people were grooving along to the sound, which was a surprising but I was happy to see that there were some people who still responded to that type of House.
Around 7:30 DJ Mike Rizzo arrived to prep for his opening set. He had a blue CD bag with him & that was about it. He popped in a CD, did a short mix & the proceeded to walk off the stage. I was kind of like “what?” and wondered what was going on. The next half hour we listened to a mix CD of House music which I didn’t mind, but I found it puzzling that no one was up on stage mixing anything live.
Opening Act
8 PM hit and DJ Mike Rizzo walked back on to the stage & put the headphones on and officially started the concert. He greeted the crowd and said Utada would be on at 9. From where I was standing there was a collective groan of agony from members of the crowd as they were hungry for some Utada action. Instead we had to wait as Mike Rizzo hyped the crowd up with a of mix many, many, many Top 40 remixes ranging from acts such as the Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna and Sean Paul.
I don’t like to knock fellow DJ’s as I myself understand how difficult the job is. I mean it just isn’t knob twiddling & stuff but perhaps it’s because the natives were restless that they were not very responsive his set. Well except for the group of drunken guys on the left who were cheering every time they got a drink. So perhaps that doesn’t count. He did manage to get the crowd to loosen up once the last 15-20 minutes of his set came around so it wasn’t all bad. Perhaps this set would have worked in another city but the Vegas crowd was having none of it.
The Main Event
Set List
- Intro
- On & On
- Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI -
- Poppin
- This One (Crying Like A Child)
- Passion / Sanctuary
- Sakura Drops
- Stay Gold
- Devil Inside
- Kremlin Dusk
- You Make Me Want To Be A Man
- The Bitter End
- Apple & Cinnamon
- Come Back To Me
- First Love
- Can You Keep A Secret?
- Automatic
- Dirty Desire
- Simple & Clean
- Me Muero
9 PM and the band members arrived on stage. The lights dimmed, an introduction played & the crowd came to life. Cheers, clapping and a loud chant of “Utada!” echoed throughout the concert hall. I could hardly hear the introduction myself since it was so loud. Then after a few moments she appeared on stage wearing a form fitting black velvet dress with strategic rips & tears & some nice studded/jeweled boots. Her hair was much longer (down to her shoulders) and was fashioned in a messy rock star kind of style. To sum all that up, she looked amazing.
She started with On & On and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence -FYI- which got the crowd pretty hyped up. The majority of the songs played after were from the This Is the One album mixed with cuts from her older albums and a cover of Placebo’s The Bitter End. The Japanese songs (unsurprisingly) got the biggest responses and it was cool that quite a number of them were included in the set list.
From the start I was standing in awe watching her perform and was so thankful for my place on the floor. She has such an incredible stage presence and is a master of working the audience. To be honest, I didn’t even notice the band after a while; I was just looking at her and watching every movement she made. Her body flowed with the music so effortlessly and nothing ever looked to be forced. I saw that when she looked into the crowd, she looked at people directly and basically eye raped them. Yes, that is a good thing.
Vocally she was perfect. She has such a dynamic range that it made it difficult to sing along but some people made the attempt to keep up with her. (Most were really loud & off key) Others just chanted at the appropriate times instead of trying. But anyway, wow can she ever belt out those songs and in an extremely subtle way. There were no unnecessary diva notes, long runs or other pointless vocal gymnastics.
The MC segments had some interesting bits. I was not used to hearing her speak English at all. Sing it yes, speak it no. But the small breaks in between songs were pretty funny & she tended to improv a lot. For example, the first segment she went to get a sip of water & she noticed that her straw had a tear in it. So she went on about the straw instead of whatever she was supposed to talk about.
When it came for her sing Sakura Drops she had to explain what the big black box in front of her was. It was her keyboard covered with a cloth since she’s been wearing a lot of skirts on her concert tour. She had alluded to people thinking she was going to do magic tricks as part of her show whenever the keyboard came out.
It’s difficult to pick any stand out performances from this concert because the entire thing was outstanding. But for me I think the piano set she did starting at Sakura Drops and ending with Stay Gold was something special. Seeing her sit at the piano and just sing was awesome. Also hearing Devil Inside performed live was another highlight. It’s no secret that I don’t exactly dig the Exodus album and that song is one of the few that I love from it. Kremlin Dusk was a song I initially disliked but after watching her rock that song out I don’t have such a strong dislike for it anymore. In fact I kind of like it now.
Dirty Desire ended the concert portion of the set and after the band & Utada left the stage the crowd got really loud chanting “Utada!” and when that died down my friend started shouting “An-Ko-Ru!” (The wota chant for encore) which everyone else joined in on. So props dude for bringing a bit of H!P touch to the show.
After about 5 minutes the band returned to the stage shortly followed by Utada. The encore songs were Simple & Clean (although many were hoping it would be Hikari) and Me Muero. I recently found out what the title of that song means so now the lyrics make a lot more sense to me. At the end of Me Mureo there was a bit of fan service when Utada started throwing baseballs into the crowd.
She wasn’t winging them at high velocity or anything but more like slow, high lobs. I was too far up front to really have a chance at a ball but that didn’t matter at all. After that show ended and everyone started to make their way back into the casino.
Post Concert
The line ups to reach to the exits were long so my group stopped at the bar to get water & I got a Red Bull. I didn’t really notice the pain in my feet during the concert but after the adrenaline rush of seeing Utada wore off, they hurt. I had some trouble making it up the stairs to the exit and was thankful once I got to the top.
Thankfully there was an opportunity to sit down while I waited for my friend to pick up her camera and I spent my last American dollar (I gave most of them away as a tip for the Red Bull) on a slot machine. I lost that dollar in 10 seconds by the way. No lucky freak jackpot for me unfortunately.
Once the camera was picked up we stopped by a pastry store and sat down & talked about the epicness of what we had just witnessed. When I was able to walk again I went back to the House of Blues to see if there was any Utada concert merchandise to be snagged. Much like every other show there was none. I hobbled away disappointed but relieved that I could sit down again.
Then it was off to a late night dinner, goodbyes and back to my room. Where I stayed up for another hour; talking to people in the chat rooms about the concert.
Final Thoughts
My experience with J-Pop concerts has mostly been with idol related shows. This was my first real artist-based concert and it did not disappoint at all. I was glad that this was in a club setting rather than an arena because it gave off that more intimate vibe. I mean it’s rare to be in any type of close proximity to an artist of Utada’s caliber during a show so I consider myself fortunate to have clawed my way to the front.
I realize that her next shows on the East coast and in London are sold out but if you can find any way to get a ticket to her concert I highly suggest you do so. If you’re on the fence about her music, this show will convert you. If you’re already a fan then this will just make you a bigger one.
The following is inspired by a series of posts on International Wota. What I am about to say may or most likely will offend anyone involved in this issue. Much like last time, I will apologize in advance, but I’m calling things as I see them.
H!P vs. AKB48
There has been an ever escalating tension growing among fans of the idol groups. Particularly those of Hello! Project and AKB48. At first fans of both groups played nice & were generally cordial with eachother. This was because the upstart AKB48 were not taken as a serious threat to the mighty H!P empire. But things changed and slowly AKB48 started to gain popularity while H!P started to go into a decline.
Hello! Project’s downward spiral started a long time ago but was accelerated when the Elder Club was graduated en masse in early 2009. Gone were the core group of women who were so popular with many H!P fans and the general Japanese public. The ones who had carried H!P to greatness during the golden era were replaced by younger and equally (or more) talented idols.
Unfortunately this newer generation of H!P is for the most part unknown to the general Japanese public (but are very well known to wota). These young women are expected to continue the H!P legacy and take the company to new heights. Without the publics favor it’s a long uphill climb back to the top of the girl idol group mountain. Who are queens of the mountain? Well at the moment it’s AKB48.
You see AKB48 has everything that H!P once had during their peak. Television exposure, high sales and most importantly they are fresh to the general public. Their presence on Kouhaku (which had a lack of any H!P in 2009) is proof enough that they have everyone in their pockets. Not only do they have that but they are also gaining the support of disenchanted H!P fans. The ones who think the group is going too young to the point where they can’t relate anymore. Or those who think that Tsunku has lost touch with the current pop scene and is just re-hashing ideas.
This is where things get really messy because many long time H!P fans are treating this move to AKB as a defection and are labeling their former comrades as traitors. AKB fans are welcoming these new fans with open arms since it strengthens their numbers and re-enforces the fact that AKB is here to stay. Then there are those who are neutral and can equally enjoy the both groups for what they are. When you break it down they both cater to the same audience anyway, just in different ways.
Some may accuse AKB’s approach to be somewhat less pure and more adult oriented. Like it or not you can’t deny that it’s working quite well. You have many people flocking to that theater in Akihabara every day so they must be doing something right. The fact that they have a group like SDN48 to cater to those who like the more mature idol is quite interesting. There’s also the regular stages that conform to the conventional idol mold yet have that AKB twist.
H!P on the other hand is very corporate in their approach and really stick the idea of keeping their idols pure and innocent. It’s an established formula that has been around forever & they have adapted it to their business model quite well. While they may not have the large sales numbers of their glory days they still sell enough to not have to do a complete overhaul of their system.
Yet no one can agree who the queen bees of the girl group idols are (although it’s pretty damn obvious). Nor can anyone find a comfortable middle ground. This is the root cause of the ever widening division between fans. For some reason you must choose one or the other. Neutrality will only get you pressure from both camps until you bend to their will. Both sides will try to convince you that their idols are prettier, have better songs and are the better package. You will be bombarded with video, audio and pic spam links accompanied by long (and often boring) spiels. You will be invited to join forums to get a taste of the culture of the fandom (& read bashing of the enemy). It’s up to you to choose your path.
But what if you’re already involved in one of the fandoms?
The popular opinion is that H!P fans are the instigators. They are the murderous, blood thirsty mercenaries attacking the tree hugging, peace loving forest fairies that are AKB fans.
They are envious of the success that AKB is currently enjoying and would like nothing better than to see the entire group fail. Any mention of the three letters and they go into angry tirades (factual or not) pages/hours long to discredit their rival. Even if no one is paying attention.
That doesn’t mean AKB fans are off the hook. You too are guilty of instigating through passive aggressive behavior. Goading wounded H!P fans into arguments they can’t possibly win. Flaunting AKB’s accomplishments while at the same time claiming to be victimized by any rebuttals you receive. Using backhanded language that compliments & insults H!P at the same time. It’s not right to fling poo at your opponent when their back is turned you know.
Points of Contention
A lot of the points people argue about are so superficial and stupid that it blows my mind that things have escalated to the levels they’re at now. Should people really be fighting over who has the prettier idols? It’s so subjective that it shouldn’t even matter. No one will ever agree on that point.
Lip syncing. Normally I dislike this practice but considering that some of the dance routines both groups do are challenging & would affect the live vocals in ways that would make even a dogs ear bleed. Well.. I’ll let that one slide & you should too if you value your hearing.
Type of music is something that is hotly debated. Some favor AKB because they are taking risks with their songs. Others favor H!P because they enjoy the relative safety of their songs & usually know what they’re going to get. For me I don’t really give a damn who sings the song as long as it’s good.
Both groups generally put out the same kind of music and have also released some real stinkers (I have no idea why anyone thinks River or early Mano Eri is good). If a song sucks, it sucks. Simple as that. Don’t let your blind allegiance fool you into thinking otherwise.
Summary
If you think about it, this such a minor (and extremely stupid) thing to be fighting over. It makes us Western J-Pop fans look like immature Internet retards. We all love our idols and to be pitting them against one another is counter productive. Fans should be respectful of who one decides to follow and idolize. And in no way should they try to impose their point of view on others if people don’t want any part of it. There are plenty of fans for idol groups and it’s not hard to find those who are into the same groups as you.
This isn’t a war. There are no people impaled with glow sticks & sharpened photo cards. Friends & families aren’t being torn apart by it & there aren’t protests asking us to stop the violence & think of the children. It also isn’t a big happy party where everyone gets along. Tensions will rise, allegiances will be tested and many will fail to comprehend the sheer dumbassery of it all before it’s too late. There are more important issues relevant to Western J-Pop fans that need our attention & this isn’t one of them.