18/01/05 - Laguna Music Festival Report
I went to the SKE48 Laguna Music Festival on January 5. There has been and will be more streams of this event but I figured I might as well do a report since I’ve been inactive for so long.
This was my first proper SKE concert, so I was really excited to go. Unfortunately, Churi couldn’t be there due to her play, which began the following day. This concert was really long, but as usual I’ll start with the boring stuff like how I got there.
The Laguna park is in Gamagoori which is very close to where I live, so it didn’t take me long to get there. There was a free shuttle bus from the station to the park, and while they were only scheduled every thirty minutes there were a ton of people today so there were extra buses. I waited a while but nothing to complain about.
I then entered the park. I actually had to buy data on my phone (the first time I’ve ever had data on a phone) since the tickets were electronic and I had to show a webpage and have a staff click some button. I wish they let us print tickets out but I guess everyone owns a phone with data now.
I wanted to explore the park a bit but as usual I got anxious about how the ticket situation was going to work. After I paid online for my ticket I was given #C179. I think everyone was in the C block apart from those with handicaps. So I guessed that my ticket was good, but I didn’t realize how good it was, since the numbers actually started from 100, meaning I was the 79th in. Actually, the staff didn’t really properly check out tickets when we were going in, meaning some people could have cut in with a bad number and gotten a good view. Regardless, I waited around thirty minutes to get inside the “venue”, where I had to wait another hour for the show to begin.
(This was where we lined up with our numbers. We were calleld up and made our way to the stage on the other side of the bridge.)
It was very cold that day, so I made sure to dress warmly. I’m glad I wore a lot of layers because it quickly got colder when the sun set. A lot of others did not dress for the occasion and I could see that they were in pain after the concert. Counting the waiting and concert I stood for around five hours, which really sucks if you aren’t prepared for the weather.
Alright, now for the concert itself. I felt like an idiot during the entire concert since I forgot to bring my penlight that changes colours and only brought my green one. Have you ever watched a video and thought “Wow that person is so inconsiderate, always keeping the same colour? Why can’t they change and support the other members too?” well that was me that day. I was so focused on supporting Maya that I forgot to bring the other penlight.
One of my favourite SKE “classics.” All the members participated in the first three songs, so it took me a while to find Maya. I actually spent half or more of this song trying to find her. I finally did near the end of it.
Now that I found Maya I was on homing-mode for the rest of the concert. My target was locked and nothing was going to stop me from following her through the songs. I actually don’t care much for this song but I was pretty much fixated on Maya so I don’t have much to add here.
A classic. I think it was my first time hearing it live. This is one of those songs that pays to look at someone throughout it. Maya was just hilarious, although I can’t remember who she was with for this song. Again, I was on my Maya cam so no comments on the other members. This song just flew by since I was enjoying myself so much.
Maya wrote in her blog that she was given this senbatsu outfit for the start. It belonged to Sae before and she had it only for a short while since she was removed from senbatsu. She’s happy to be able to wear it again and hopes to get more costumes of her own as time goes by.
Since there are so many members there weren’t any introductions. Only ten or so members stayed for the MC, where they eventually wished Tani a happy birthday. Makiko and Wanchan came in for a surprise wearing yukata, but they hadn’t congratulated Tani yet so they had to go back. Makiko and Wanchan were given yukata since they were the two members born in the year of the dog. (Ranran is another one, but she wasn’t there today)
M04 Koko de Ippatsu - Makiko, Wanchan
I did not like this performance. I think this is the first time I’ve been disappointed when I’ve seen SKE perform a song. I’ve usually blamed the song over the members in the past, and maybe my expectations were too high. However I’ve come to really like this song after Churi performed it with Mizuno Airi at Zepp Tokyo last year, and I’ve watched that performance countless times. This performance did not match it at all, which was disappointing. That being said, they were wearing yukata which likely made it hard to move, but they hardly moved at all anyway.
Anyway, during the song the two members announced their goals for the year. Wanchan’s is to lose 10 kilos to do gravure and Makiko’s is to not fail a single time!
M05 Koppu no Naka no Komorebi / Love Crescendo（original members）
I’ve never been much of a fan of this song, and I always paid attention to the Transit Girls unit of the single since I liked a lot of members in it. However with my rising appreciation of Maya I was very excited to see this song. I made sure to call out Maya’s name when it was her turn, although I accidentally called her name at other times too. I made sure to call everyone else too during this song, I was very into it. It’s funny how a single member can make you like a song.
M06 Madogiwa Lover / Next Position
This song is pretty unremarkable and I actually totally forgot it. I was probably still thinking about the past song and was in bliss. Sorry.
M07 Kanpeki Gu~ no ne / STRAWBERRY PUNCH
This is some old AKB song and this was the first time I heard it. Yuzuki and Mikotti did a very good job though, everyone was pumped for this song and in a good mood. I didn’t see them during the Unit Contest but they did really well and I enjoyed seeing them as a unit.
M08 Wimbledon he Tsureteitte / Yukatan, Sakipon, Honono
Never really liked this song, but I surprisingly liked it. It’s different live, since you get to do a lot of calls and get into the song. I also was really impressed with Sakipon’s dancing and movements during this song. She’s one of my favourite performers and she didn’t disappoint during this concert. I also like her a lot in that outfit and she did a good job at keeping my attention.
M09 Ookami to Pride / Mizuno Airi, Kamimura Ayuka
Like the last song, I don’t really like this song all that much, but the pairing was just great. It was really cool to see them perform together! It really exuded freshness. I’m not sure whether their performance was shaky or not since I haven’t watched this song much.
M10 Finland Miracle / Ouchan, Machi, Ayamelody
Another song with a fresh feeling. I was really getting into the groove of the concert and enjoying myself, and it made me happy to see this unit. This was the first time I saw this song live. It’s a very nostalgic one since it’s a Ramune song and I thoroughly enjoyed it for that nostalgia factor as well as the bonus of seeing these younger members perform it.
MC2 / Next Position, Yuzuki, Sakipon, Narupi, Airi, Ayuka
I totally forgot what this MC was about, I’m sorry. But Next Position’s goal for 2018 was to stay together and not die a natural death!
M11 Kamoku na Tsuki / Nao, Mikotti
This is without a doubt my favourite 48g song, and I was just overjoyed to see it today. I was surprised that only two members performed it, and I really would have liked to see more members in it. I remember Churi performing it during a Request Hour years and years ago, so I want her to perform it again. Unfortunately she wasn’t there and Maya wasn’t in this song either. However for all this complaining about extra members, the two present were absolutely fantastic. Nao is probably the best performer in the group, and Mikotti really surprised me during this song. Both of their voices sounded absolutely fantastic and it blew me away. This concert certainly made me appreciate Mikotti more.
M12 Himawari / Yukina, Rara, Sarina, Piyosu
Not a fan of this song and I did not like this performance either. The sound was really awful and I had a hard time picking the vocals out from the instruments. I don’t want to be more negative so I’ll leave it at that. I saw people saying good things about it when they saw the stream so maybe I am in the wrong here.
M13 Manazashi Sayonara / Kano, Tani
A song that I like, but I think I’ve seen this song a bit too much, making it stale. I didn’t really “feel” anything from this specific performance, unlike previous performances of the song. It made me think of how great Nao and Airin were when they performed it. That being said it wasn’t a bad performance.
M14 Kono Mune no Barcode / Kumachan, Minarun, Nacchi
It had been a really long time since I had heard this song. I don’t really care for it much but I thought the members did a good job.
MC3 / Oshirin, Kano, MAchi, Honono, Kocchan, Wanchan, Yukatan, Piyosu, Hatagon
They talked about what they did on New Year’s, but I completely forgot what they said. Sorry.
M15 Omoide Ijou / Yokonyan, Juna, Narupi
Now this was special. I notice myself thinking that every time I see Yokonyan center a song, so I think there is a trend here. She is just a fantastic performer and makes every song she is in electrifying. You can feel her excitement and it easily makes its way into the crowd. Narupi had a bit of a stumble during the beginning of the song so I felt bad for her, but she recovered quickly and performed well for the rest of it. I didn’t really look at Juna much since Yokonyan drew me in and I was watching Narupi quite a bit. It was refreshing seeing this song with these members and I hope to see Yokonyan center more songs in the future. The nice thing about her long hair is that you can still see her hair flying around the stage even if you can’t see her body due to someone’s head being in the way.
M16 Ame no Pianist / Yumana, Reona, Satokaho
I thought Yumana looked great during this song. Again, another fun mix of members. However for whatever reason I didn’t feel much energy from the members during this song. Maybe it’s just the nature of the song, but I was looking for a little something more during this song.
M17 Cross / Oshirin, Hatagon, Aiai
This is where I turn into a total hypocrite. Notice how I’ve been saying how I appreciate the variety of the members in these units. This song is where I turned into a reactionary and wanted the traditional order back. I guess not having Churi in this concert and hearing her song made want to see her perform it, leaving me disappointed. The nice thing about the units is that they mix members from teams, however I was just left hoping this song only had KII members. I’m probably wrong to feel that way but it’s how I felt during the performance so I’m writing it here. I was also disappointed with myself for not bringing my other penlight since I really wish I could have turned to red for this song.
M18 Hanshateki Suru / Love Crescendo (with new members)
All those negative feelings vanished when I saw Maya on the stage again. Apart from Kamoku na Tsuki, which was a pleasant surprise, this would be the song I was looking forward to the most. I really like the short version they uploaded on the official youtube, so I was excited to hear the full version and see Maya perform it. She was great and so were the other members I caught glimpses of. In a way this felt like the climax of the concert since I got to see the song and member I wanted to hear/see the most.
And they stayed for the MC! I was in for a treat since Maya introduced the new Love Crescendo members. She said that Renahyuu needs to decide a character quickly because Maya isn’t sure what kind of character she has in real life, but she recommends people to go talk to Renahyuu if they share her interests since she’s great at talking about her hobbies. She then said that (Inoue) Ruka is a country bumpkin, since apparently Kumamoto is more country-like than Miyagi, and she hopes that Ruka can fish fans with her cute dialect since she’s one of the few to use her dialect.
She then said that Miyomaru is just skin and bones, but that under those thin bones lies a strong will to be an idol. And finally Chikako has a smile as big as the area of the Laguna park! No one can not be happy after they see Chikako’s smile. She wants Chikako to continue smiling. Maya wrote on her blog that her manager praised her for this MC. Maya then said she and Renahyuu had to leave to prepare for the next song, so I was really happy to hear that and just thrilled to hear she’d be in another song! The rest of the MC was about what they wanted to do, but I tuned out and just day dreamed about Maya.
M19 Matsumurarabu! / Kaotan
I hope the camera didn’t capture the disappointment on my face. I was shocked. This was the song Maya was going to appear in? I quickly realized that she meant a following song and that I was dumb to expect her to appear in the next song. Anyway, I found myself getting into the song. I think I’ve heard this song so much with KII that I just instinctively clap and cheer along. Kaotan threw signed balls and then got a bat (which she didn’t do well with) and a tennis racket (which she did extremely well with) to throw balls at the crowd during the song. So I ended up liking the song despite my initial confusion.
M20 Darenimo Iwanaide / Kocchan（Panda dancers: second draftees）
This was the first time I heard Kocchan’s solo song she got from the rock paper scissors tournament. I actually don’t have an opinion of it yet, I need to listen to it again, and I didn’t pay that much attention to Kocchan. Maya came in with Kocchan’s own Panchan and was a back dancer, along with the other second draft members. I was just overcome with the cuteness of the song and stared at Maya. Even though this was a solo song it ended up having other members too, which I liked. However, I wonder if that’s fair considering the performances before and after only had a single member too. I don’t think the other members detracted from Kocchan’s performance, even if I was mostly staring at someone who was not Kocchan lol. I felt that it added to the song and spectacle and her panda character.
M21 Ima no Watashija Damenanda / Akarin
I was starting to get a bit tired of the solo songs, since this was the third in a row. Still, I think that was okay since I hadn’t seen Dasu for much of the concert. Actually, this was the first time she appeared since the first three songs, so I think she deserved it. There were a ton of her fans around me, and they really enjoyed this song. This created a nice atmosphere and I found myself enjoying the performance too, even if I didn’t really like the song.
I simply did not like this at all. A fourth solo song in a row which featured a member who appeared plenty already. I realize that Jurina is popular but she surely could have gone into a unit with other members. Now I don’t want to blame her for this since it might not have been her decision but I was not particularly happy. The song was also quite bad. I think I would have come around to like it if she performed Akai Pinheel, either by herself or with another member. At least that song gets me excited. It also felt like this song would just not end.
M23 Igai ni Mango / Yunana center
Time for a great song to bring me back to life. The next units all had various members thrown into them. This particular bunch of girls had Maya in it so I was overjoyed to see perform this song with Yunana. Maya was very near me, so I got to look at her a lot during this song, and it was awesome. She made a lot of funny faces too, which made me laugh a lot.
M24 12gatsu no Kangaroo / Yokonyan and Ego double center
Maya’s unit left but I was really happy to see Yokonyan center another song. This song never fails to get me excited. It’s also one that gets me moving a bit, which was nice since my legs were very stiff and sore.
M25 Maenomeri / Rara, Chikako, Miyomaru front three
The third unit arrived and this song was equally excellent. I spent my time during these songs looking at all the members since there were so many. I also think this was my first time hearing this song live, which was really cool.
M26 Coquettish Juutaichuu / Nao, Sarina double center
Another excellent song. This part of the concert was great. It was a lot of fun saying the “ku-ki-zu-ke” part of the song.
M27 Sansei Kawaii! / (Inoue) Ruka, Kano, Yukatan, Miyomaru front
I honestly forgot how many times they changed between units. Miyomaru was there two songs ago and here she is again. Yet I can’t remember seeing Maya a second time. These units and members were a blur! It happened so quickly.
MC5 / Mikotti, Reona, Ouchan, Satokaho, Yokonyan, Nacchi, Ayamelody, Yumana
The topic was what they wanted to do to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the group. I can’t remember anything except for Ayamelo saying she wanted to do a SKE48 only sports meet where the fans could join in. I’d love to join that if it were to happen!
M28 Muishiki no Iro / （Makiko took Churi’s spot）
The new single that everyone wanted to hear. Of course I was only looking at Maya, but she’s on the edge at the back, on the left. I had a very hard time seeing from my angle. Jurina’s waist was in front of where Maya was, so I was trying to maneuver around it to get a glimpse. I remember just giving up and looking at Minarun instead and trying again later.
M29 Boku wa Shitteiru / ALL
I honestly forgot most of what happened here. I was just trying to get a look at Maya and got to call her name a few times. I noticed that I was usually the only one calling her name (from the voices I could hear) when it was her turn on songs. It kind of made me question if I was breaking a rule or something since people would be rather quiet when it was time to call her and other members around her.
(I feel bad for writing this but my point of these reports is to describe how I felt during the concert so I feel that it’s necessary)
Jurina wrote a blog after the concert saying she cried during this song because it hit her that she was the only first gen left when she was the only one singing a part of the song, making her feel lonely when she thought about it being the tenth anniversary. Anyway, afterwards Makiko asked Jurina what was wrong since Jurina was crying. To be honest I was pretty angry at this point since I felt that Jurina had taken up enough of the spotlight as it was and might have been acting dramatic to get some attention. I didn’t use to think of Jurina in this way but after the Unit Contest where she cried after losing to Strawberry Punch and caused a big scene which made Yuzuki upset I have started to wonder if she purposefully craves attention during these concerts since it seems to happen every time and the entire group needs to coddle her.
The members made us count down the illumination of the park. The colours were really nice and lit up the night sky nicely!
A nice song to end it off, felt very traditional. It was nice to sing the last part but I had to improvise and try to remember the lyrics since I don’t know them well at all lol.
The members bowed afterwards and said their thank you, but they only bowed twice instead of three times. Afterwards the members started waving at us in the crowd. Maya was right in front of me and I was furiously shaking that lightstick trying to get her attention. (Heat of the moment) Unfortunately for me, Makiko made all the members come back and do a re-take of the bow and thank you. Jurina fell down (for comedic effect?) during the re-take. I couldn’t help but think of what I thought of before, but whatever, it was Maya time again.
The person in front of me was rather tall but wasn’t much a problem for much of the concert. However, he was a Kumachan oshi and he had one of those fans with her face on it. Maya and Kuma were often together near the end and whenever Kuma was near us he would jump and wave that fan, obscuring me from Maya’s gaze. Anyway I made sure to stay clear of that thing as best of I could to make contact with Maya. Incidentally, the person behind me was a bit of a bother too, hitting my back a few times with his penlight and his bag.
I was hoping Maya would stay around our area of the stage, and she did for a bit. She waved at me and smiled a lot and I felt great to put it lightly. I just kept waving throughout. She would then wave at any other person she could spot with a solo geen penlight. She would make this circle motion for people who were far away, and then point at them to make sure they knew she was waving at them.
There were some Saanan calls after it was over, and she came out by herself and talked about how it was sad since it was her last concert with SKE. I actually can’t remember what else she said but it was along those lines. It was emotional yet she didn’t overdo it.
This was a pretty special event since I decided to focus entirely on one member during the times she was there, as opposed to other events where I tried to pay attention to everyone. It was a lot of fun. I think Maya is special in this case because she is always making a funny face and laughing with other members. I’m impressed by her serious side the most though. As much as she likes joking around she puts a lot of effort in trying to locate her fans. I noticed that during the first three songs her eyes would briefly scan the audience. It’s very subtle and happens extremely quickly, but it seems like she utilizes some parts of the dance to get a view of the fans. For example, I noticed that she looked directly at me several times at the start, and would make these brief gazes at other areas of the audience. This may sound unnatural but it actually looked very fluid. I assume this is how she kept track of me during the time I went to the Team E theatre performance.
After the concert I took pictures of the illuminations and met up with some fans from Taiwan and China. I didn’t speak to all of them but there was a group of six or so fans who made the trip for the live. Two of them are Churi oshis so I told them about how great Maya is and showed them some pictures to try and convert them.
I hope I can go to another concert or theatre performance before I have to leave!
