So first of all, wow. I really went all the way to Niigata prefecture this time, which took like two and a half hours by bullet train + local train + walking, just to see GRANRODEO live. Is this the start of my “I’ll follow you wherever you go, Kiiyan” love story? (But hey, Niigata is actually e-zuka-san’s home lol)

It was my first time going out of Kanto region, and thus my first time to ride a bullet train. Luckily, ikiyou was able to go with me yayyy though we both were clueless most of the time during the whole trip lol.

When we got off at Tokamachi station, we were like, “Oh.” We were literally sent in the middle of the mountains and the rice fields, “Where the hell are we?” It was nevertheless very refreshing and calming to see Mother Nature for a long time.

Tokamachi is supposedly the nearest station to the concert venue but it was still more than a kilometer away so we had to walk our way there. Because of the tight schedule, unfortunately we didn’t actually have the time to go around the town for sight-seeing or smth. So the walk from the station turned out to be our only chance to see the place. It was kind of shocking as the place looks very rural, far, far from the metropolitan that Tokyo is. There was not a single convenience store in the area (which is really weird because hey we’re in Japan) and for some reason we do not know, almost all the stores were closed. Aside from fellow Rodeo girls/boys heading to the venue, there were almost no people walking on the streets. But anyway, speaking of the streets, oh my gosh. They were playing GRANRODEO music on the town streets’ speakers. 😭😭😭

It was a wonder that a concert venue actually exists in that rural place. When we arrived at the venue, finally we got food yey. They were selling some GRANRODEO-themed food like the curry which recipe is made by e-zuka-san’s mom, crepe, and even bottled water.

So we went inside and apparently the venue was smaller than I expected so our seats which are on the far right in the 7th row turned out to be closer to the stage than I imagined.

I’ve heard most of the songs in previous live concerts, so I’m not gonna talk about each song here.

SEED BLASTER - I am still wondering why they chose this song as the entrance for the two days. I’m not complaining but I was just not expecting it. 😊

Y.W.F - e-zuka-san made us dance the YMCA steps. Takita-san and Shin-kun also joined.

マジカルストーリー - This is magical. Kiiyan was so cute the whole time I don’t even know why

Urban Sweet - Just wanna say that I always like Kiiyan’s vocals for this song

Snow Pallet - OH MY GOSH. My inner self was crying. This is one of my favorite GR songs and finally, I heard it live! And we got to dance the cute steps with them. Gosh. I didn’t really expect this dream to come true this night. Me looking at Kiiyan’s big smile and biceps as I dance along with him while listening to him singing it. “Back-up dancers” in cow kigurumi costumes came out on stage to dance with us.

HAPPY LIFE, delight song - They are indeed happy songs. Also my first time hearing them live and they do sound better live!

少年の果て - Acoustic. Tbh I’m not a fan of this song but hey, it’s acoustic. Kiiyan was definitely shimmering akin to the flicker in my eyes as I looked at the source of the most beautiful sound in the world.

Deadly Drive - Oh my oh my oh my. It’s right there. My life. Bungou Stray dogs and GRANRODEO. I’ve been blessed.

NO PLACE LIKE A STAGE, カナリヤ, modern strange cowboy - Classic favorites for live performances. Always. Also, the main cause of post-live muscle pain 😂

Infinite Love - Acoustic played and sang by e-zuka-san as requested from his birthday last February. I really like this song in acoustic but I doubt if I’d ever have the chance to hear Kiiyan sing this live, so it’s actually remarkable that I heard it instead from e-zuka-san. And wow, it was definitely good! He was shining huhuhu and he even hit the high notes yeyy

Go For It! - IGPX will always be fun. Takita-san called out the Rodeo girls, Shin-kun the Rodeo boys, Kiiyan the swimsuit girls, and e-zuka-san playing around with Tokamachi locals and people not from Tokamachi which occurred for God knows how many times. And finally, IGPX 10 times with everyone!

Other notes:

Is it just me but Kiiyan’s biceps look bigger this time?? Or maybe I just missed them wait what are you saying I was not staring that much okay don’t judge me asdfghjkl but we can talk about it all day Anyway Kiiyan appeared in a hot red coat the first time aaaaahhhhh but ofc he had to take them off after two songs because he’s it’s hot

e-zuka-san talked a lot during the MC parts. I mean, A LOT. I didn’t understand most of them because he was speaking so fast (in Japanese ofc) and at times he even forgot what was he mainly talking about since new topics continued to branch out. One of the main talks was him talking about people he knew who came from Tokamachi who also got successful in music. It got too long he even suggested for Kiiyan to go take a rest backstage for a while lol

In the morning, Kiiyan and e-zuka-san walked around the town. Kiiyan found the place to be really beautiful (as seen in the photos he uploaded on Twitter). The first time he went to Niigata was last winter for Odorodeo, so back then it seemed like everything was pretty much covered in snow. Moreover, yesterday was raining and so it was only today that the weather turned out to be the best. He was like, “Ah so there are also other colors here aside from white.”

Meanwhile, Shin-kun and Takita-san shared that they really liked the food in Tokamachi like the soba, e-zuka-san’s mom’s curry, and the fresh vegetables.

In one of the songs (om I don't remember which), e-zuka-san went around the audience area on the first floor, from left all the way to the back then to the right 😭😭😭

Kiiyan gave us a special bonus when he walked all the way on both sides of the extended stage during Go For It!. On our side, he stopped in front of the farthest right seat on the sixth row so he was almost in front of us. I couldn’t handle it, I slapped ikiyou’s back a bit too strong and maybe I was squealing way too much. 😂 I really hope he saw us because hey it’s easy to spot foreigners in the crowd. Anyway two other blessed girls got to high-five him OMGeeeeeeeeeeeee

While Kiiyan always does the last jump at the end of every live, he made e-zuka-san jump this time. Our ojisan was so cute! He was definitely the star in this live!

Photos/Posts from Official Accounts:

Oh my, I missed writing fan reports here! I did go to other events but I haven’t been feeling of writing them on tumblr. But this event is totally special being my first live outside Kanto, and also as GRANRODEO’s first full live this year. I definitely missed this feeling!! (Oh yeah including the muscle pain the morning after lol) Furthermore, venues with seats really provide a good space for a lot of movement. I am given the freedom to move and groove as much as I want compared to all-standing venues where we all squeeze and smh hurt one another, though that kind of fun is also special in its own way. But the good elevation of seat rows really gave us a good view of the stage the whole time.

Now, what’s next? Kiiyan’s birthday celebration in Yamaguchi? I absolutely want to but I still don’t know if I can afford to go there! Argh, it pains me to think about  it. Actually, it’s kinda sad that GR doesn’t seem to have a national tour this year. Anyway, no matter what, there’s still G13 in December! Time to go to Osaka yeyyy!