[10/05] Morning Musume。'14 Live Concert in New York

[rokun]

^ So sweet Slack. So you and Yuuchan got personally signed photos xD

I'm just sitting here at LaGuardia so gonna write a mini report at least for now...

Waited in line with Rayle, kitaoji, Yuuchan, and j-triumf from about 10 in the morning. When we lost the sun we started to freeze our butts off and the girls were worried when my lips turned blue lol. We were mostly lacking in info but heard they'd separate VIPs out (j and I were the lucky ones of the group) " when the time comes". It turned out that time was about 12:30, and the staff took us out of line to the theater doors in a little breezeway where we all rather disorderly clumped in a group. While we waited they came to hand out our perks including handshake wristbands & tickets (which were not used but will be souvenirs), the cds, and pretty awesome individually signed-photo vip lanyards. It seemed kinda chaotic, but then just before 3 they started letting us in. This is where it got crazy for me.

I headed in maybe a bit better than halfway down the vip line, with all the staff telling us not to run. They started lining us up at the door to the hall, and when I got up there the staff said they needed to split the line, so I followed another lady down the hall. We ended up at stairs down to another door, and they had me wait there while everyone else filed in behind... (Andrew's girlfriend right next to me btw, the only one I knew around there since all the line splitting had broken us all up). I chatted with the staff lady a bit who was kinda fun, starting to wonder, and when they opened the door... we were at one side of the hall, and they let our side in first, so despite them constantly telling us not to run we had no need to as we entered an empty hall and took front and center. It was amazing, and I thought I could even hang my Ayumi Chance towel off the barricade where the press sat, which I did.

It was an amazing vantage seeing all the cameras up front where they interviewed Eric, and when the concert got underway I had cameras in my face quite often too which I tried to avoid looking into directly lol. I was about 10 feet from the girls when they came to the front of the stage, so it was amazing... they were all so incredibly beautiful up close I didn't know where to look, though I of course spent most of the time on my Ayumin <3, and Sayu, Riho, Maachan... words can't describe, but I might try to later sometime. Ayumi and Maachan making faces at each other... Riho's bruised knee... Mizuki doing Kimagure Princess (you know what I mean) right in front of me... ahh.

Well, I'll try to write a more detailed account of the concert later on.

At the handshakes, I planned short Japanese phrases to say to them but figured I wouldn't be able to do them all on the spot. But I did! In contrast though, I didn't really seem to absorb their responses in my memory... lol.

Told Sakura she did well in that video where she spoke English (referring to the goods promo)...

Just told Duu thanks for coming, but she gave such enthusiastic gratitude in response

Told Maachan something about deciphering her blog, but I don't think she quite understood... lol, or that could have just been Maachan.

Then Ayumi... I told her I love her and asked if she saw me and she said of course she did! And more about thanks or something but we were taking too long so the staff pushed me forward... lol. But she wouldn't let go of my hand T_T this day made me love that girl so much more... <3 <3 <3

Because I was now behind and hooked on Ayumi, the next were a bit of a blur. I said something to Harunan, something to Kanon, and then told Riho to do her best at center... when being pushed down remembering what I really wanted to say to her and told her not to lose to 12th gen! She expressed her thanks xD

Then I told Eripon to work hard for center (after confusing her and Riho), which she thanked me for.

I had just enough time to tell Fukuchan to do her best as the next leader... perhaps? Before finishing with a frantic shake with Sayu where all I could manage was "Sotsugyou omedetou".


Then it was out the door, and... a try at the goods line, where they were sold out of everything but photo sets and Harunan towels. I got a photo set, and only afterwards heard about the nightmares so many people seemed to have at the goods booth. As you can see, I didn't wind up being part of that really. After not eating hardly anything after waiting in line all day and the concert, the jphip crew and hello party crew had an after party of our own of a wonderful meal at Gyukaku, and that was pretty much that....

[Sacul097]

Then it was out the door, and... a try at the goods line, where they were sold out of everything but photo sets and Harunan towels. I got a photo set, and only afterwards heard about the nightmares so many people seemed to have at the goods booth. As you can see, I didn't wind up being part of that really. After not eating harsly anything after waiting in line all day and the concert, the jphip crew and hello party crew had an after party of our own of a wonderful meal at Gyukaku, and that was pretty much that....

Oh god I forgot about the goods line/riot. Or rather I blocked it from my memory. I got into the concert hall early because VIP, and I left my friend behind to guard our spot while I went and got merch. At points it seemed I was actually moving farther and farther from the booth as people kept squeezing in front of me. Especially one guy from japan who was just shoving everyone. I managed to get a Duu towel for myself and a t-shirt for my friend (he wanted a Sakura towel but it was one towel per person), and got back into the hall before it started. I fought my way through the crowd looking for my friend. It turns out he had lost our spot because he had gone to look for me So I was decently close to the stage while he was in the very back of the crowd although he says he got a good view.

[resop2]

Hello everyone.

I am back home after a long journey. I was able to attend the H!Party and the concert but failed miserably at any of the after activities. I have a degenerative back condition so if I stand still for 10 minutes it will feel like ice pics are being driven into my upper legs. So, I was not able to stand in line for 8 hours and even if I did I would not have been able to handle the merchandise line, so no handshake for me. To add insult to injury, after the concert I tried going to a chic Ramen place and the line was way out the door so I just turned around and went back. At the after-party club thing I noticed that there were zero places to sit down so I also turned around and went back.

As for the concert, I was sitting WAYYYYYYYYYYYY in the back which in wota terms means I was at a different concert than the real wota. The loud was loud but not painful and one really felt the crunch of the bass guitar. For me, it was a great concert by a great group but not an OMG religious experience, probably because I was so far away and could not attend the handshake. I sat next to three girls who were really into it. They stood up the entire time while I sat most of the time. This would have worked out well if the girl closest to me didn't keep drifting into my line of vision. MM.'14 in oshiri-vision! However, they gave me some glow sticks so I should no complain. Not that it made any difference at all, but the monitor in front of my seat was the only monitor that was defective. It had no ability to show yellow. Everyone around me noticed this, too. As for kook theories, my only one is that Kanon had zero clue she was going to get a MONSTER pop from the fans and spaced out on what she had to say. Riho noticed this and deliberately and excessively screwed up her English segment so that people wouldn't remember Kanon spacing out.

I stayed in town with Chibs, Amped, and Kuro. We had a great time talking H!P. Unfortunately, I probably said less than 10 words to anyone else total since half the time I was being "The Anti-Social Wota" by sitting down against a wall.

At the H!P party I did the picture thing with Sayumi, and a nice guy helped me out writing up on a chalkboard the hiragana for "Sorry I am Bald". The dance segment of the party was 99% girls since most of the guys were to intimidated to get of the dance floor with a bunch of girls had who obviously practiced these dances until they were blue in the face. I also went to the free swag table several times and then got depressed for the girls whose pictures no one wanted. I only took one photo since collecting photos is an addicting activity and I don't want to blow my budget on it.

So now I will be going grocery shopping. Hopefully the combination of an inversion table session, Ice & Heat alternation for two hours, an NSAID and stretching will return thing to semi-normality.

[Sacul097]

Hello everyone.

I am back home after a long journey. I was able to attend the H!Party and the concert but failed miserably at any of the after activities. I have a degenerative back condition so if I stand still for 10 minutes it will feel like ice pics are being driven into my upper legs. So, I was not able to stand in line for 8 hours and even if I did I would not have been able to handle the merchandise line, so no handshake for me. To add insult to injury, after the concert I tried going to a chic Ramen place and the line was way out the door so I just turned around and went back. At the after-party club thing I noticed that there were zero places to sit down so I also turned around and went back.

As for the concert, I was sitting WAYYYYYYYYYYYY in the back which in wota terms means I was at a different concert than the real wota. The loud was loud but not painful and one really felt the crunch of the bass guitar. For me, it was a great concert by a great group but not an OMG religious experience, probably because I was so far away and could not attend the handshake. I sat next to three girls who were really into it. They stood up the entire time while I sat most of the time. This would have worked out well if the girl closest to me didn't keep drifting into my line of vision. MM.'14 in oshiri-vision! However, they gave me some glow sticks so I should no complain. Not that it made any difference at all, but the monitor in front of my seat was the only monitor that was defective. It had no ability to show yellow. Everyone around me noticed this, too. As for kook theories, my only one is that Kanon had zero clue she was going to get a MONSTER pop from the fans and spaced out on what she had to say. Riho noticed this and deliberately and excessively screwed up her English segment so that people wouldn't remember Kanon spacing out.

I stayed in town with Chibs, Amped, and Kuro. We had a great time talking H!P. Unfortunately, I probably said less than 10 words to anyone else total since half the time I was being "The Anti-Social Wota" by sitting down against a wall.

At the H!P party I did the picture thing with Sayumi, and a nice guy helped me out writing up on a chalkboard the hiragana for "Sorry I am Bald". The dance segment of the party was 99% girls since most of the guys were to intimidated to get of the dance floor with a bunch of girls had who obviously practiced these dances until they were blue in the face. I also went to the free swag table several times and then got depressed for the girls whose pictures no one wanted. I only took one photo since collecting photos is an addicting activity and I don't want to blow my budget on it.

So now I will be going grocery shopping. Hopefully the combination of an inversion table session, Ice & Heat alternation for two hours, an NSAID and stretching will return thing to semi-normality.

I feel your pain dude. I've got a medical condition where all my blood pools in my extremities when I stand up for too long so the concert was rough for me too. You should have brought one of those little portable tripod chairs like I did. It was a little uncomfortable sitting down surrounded by all those people but it was better than passing out.

[Sacul097]

I've been reading some people on the interwebs saying that Eripon was a little rude to them during the handshake event. Well I think I know why. From what I can tell from her blog, she had just lost all her NYC photos so she was probably in a bad mood 

[Chibs]

the japanese fans?  She did seem a little distracted, but I had a pretty good handshake with her.  I didn't let go of her until after i was holding on to Mizuki, so I got to tell them both that I wanted a ponpon event.  Mizuki seemed pleased by that.  I was able to talk to Maachan for a bit, but now I remember things that I wanted to say to her.  I also got to talk to Sayashi too.  I did want to ask Sayu about having a Rokkie event, but didn't cause I wasn't sure if it would make her depressed.

[winner]

You guys totally ROCK! Thanks for sharing!

[daigong]

THIS IS AWESOME! so good to see all DA HiPstaz new and old and seasoned pros showing how we get down!!

Incredible SLACK so amazing it all came together so quick yet so smoooooth. Mad love to UFA management I pimped hardcore!!!



My flight landed late last nite but I'll get pix n shit too! Great recaps keep em cummmin I was impressed with DA tiki buun and purple dress funk moshed it out in DA pit!!! Gangsta hand shaked em all!!

[manamin]

I don't post often on the forums, but dai told me I had better, so here goes. 

My luck on Friday was absolute crap, y'all. Thursday night/Friday morning like, midnight, American Airlines called me (in the middle of the night!!) saying my flight was cancelled. The recorded voice cheefully informed me I was rebooked on a later flight - leaving Grand Rapids at 6pm and arriving at JFK in NY at 1am. Whut.  No thanks, I'm female and traveling by myself. Guess what? Wait times for a human being at American Air were over 2 hours! Did I want them to call me back? Well.... no. Not really. They had rebooked me on US Airways though (they're merging) so I called US Airways. Hold time was more like 30-40 minutes. Now we're pushing 1am and the US Airways guy could not have been less helpful. "Well, that's all I see. You can try another day." Yeah, no.  Long story short, I went to bed really upset and tried American in the morning cos I was going in to work that day. Still 2 hours. Tried US Airways again, maybe 20 minutes wait. The lady I got was so helpful. She found me a much earlier flight - Grand Rapids to La Guardia (where I was originally flying!!) leaving at 1pm and arriving at 4:30, via Philadelphia. My boss was luckily cool with me leaving FAR EARLIER than planned. I went to work at 8, printed paychecks and scrambled to input weigh slips and left at 9:30.

Things looked much better - the airplanes I was on were SUPER tiny and old, but they stayed in the sky. EXCEPT my bad luck reared its ugly head just as my Philadelphia to La Guardia flight was set to take off. Popped in some gum for takeoff... and out popped a filling!    Turned off airplane mode (I know, so bad) trying to plead with someone to help me find a dentist - thinking I would have to get it fixed ASAP. Lucky for me slack said it had happened to him recently too and as long as I am careful I am probably fine. WHEW.

Arrival! Taxi to hostel! Will never do that again. Hot and car sick feels. Relaxed in hostel til I went to meet a bunch of people at Toys R Us. (Which by the way, has a giant ferris wheel inside!) We all chatted for a bit, then we were off to go get pizza. NYC pizza is delicious.  That is all you need to know!

I left after pizza, since my hostel was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay south of Times Square, and I was exhausted between the late night phone calls, rushing through work, and traveling.

Next day, much rain. So rain. Many soaked.  Met up with Chibs and we headed to the LEGO store. Thanks for sharing your super expensive umbrella, Chibs! By the time we got to the LEGO store, I was able to take off my Morning Musume '14 parka and literally wring it out. My jeans were soaked halfway up my shins. Wandered the LEGO store for a few minutes, then we found the Nintendo store. The guys decided to split off about then - I think people were meeting up for lunch? I decided to continue shopping and hit some of the girlier stores I knew no one would want to follow me to. So I hit American Girl Place (My childhood!), the Build-A-Bear factory and The Disney Store (I finally got myself a plushie Olaf!!!). By then my feet were KILLING me, so I headed back to my hostel to drop off shopping, change hoodies (the rain was over!) and change shoes before Hello Party.

Hello Party was fun. Team Mizuki wasn't so ace, good job to... was it team Masaki that won? Slack did a rockin' job being picked for the first game, though!!!   

Karaoke. Kind of. I think we snuck in with Jtri and co. for the tail end of their time but then there were no rooms open. Not sure what some of y'all did but I went back to my hostel and crashed.

Sunday... I did not wake up in the middle of the night to go get in line like a lot of people did. Perhaps I should have, I don't know. I finally got in line by myself ... sometime early afternoon? pika was kind enough to bring me water and I finally met Kim, who I kept hearing about from almond. Sadly, I only met her for like two seconds and the line moved. Ooops.

Was really lucky - met some Jphipers in the goods line that I kind of attached myself to.  Thanks for not telling me to go away! Managed to snag a CD after they had given up, so I was good for the handshake event.

Concert was excellent. I kind of miss MC corners, but I understand they were trying to keep it all English and that might have been hard. Though they could totally have played a game or something, I swear. My feet and ankle were really happy that I managed to find a seat to sit in, BTW. At one point the girl in front of me went to stand up (some people in the seats area were) and I was ready to be bummed and not see anything - but she looked back and asked if I could see (there was a walkway between her row and mine). When I said no, she said okay and sat back down. Major classy move, so whoever you were, I seriously thank you. I cried more than once. Silly to say, but having seen the girls in Japan, and then seeing everyone try their best to make them feel welcome. AAAANYWAY. Personal choice, my favorite was 9th/10th/11th gen's 'I WISH'. Excellent song, and they did a REALLY nice job of it. Also really happy that everyone did the pink glowsticks correctly - I was hoping we would make Sayu cry, but I guess she has gotten really good at not letting things like that get to her. Loved the crowd surprising the crap out of Zukki in her intro.  She never gets that kind of reaction in Japan, best as I can tell. Sakura's two lines of Let it Go were really well done too. Much  for that one.

Good setlist - though I'm not really a fan of the whole updated style of songs. Kind of wish they would mix it up and do the old styles of the old songs more often but I get that it doesn't fit with their present image.

Handshake event really was basically the highlight of the trip for me because... Mizuki recognized me.  100%. The girls were lined up behind the table for the event, but fans hadn't been lined up quite yet - so the girls were messing with the audience. Waving, making faces/poses... and in Maa-chan's case, making us call her Maa-chan and say we loved her. Which was adorbs. Mizuki was waving at people and then she suddenly saw me. Looked surprised, waved frantically. Then I saw her lean over and say something to Eripon, who looked confused/surprised and Mizuki pointed at me, waving again. 

Handshake line, I greeted all the girls with  お久しぶりです。 I'm pretty sure all of them recognized me, though with varying degrees. Sakura and Haruna, maybe the least so? Anyway, I told Sakura I support her both in Japan and America. I think. Memory of that one escapes me a bit. Haruka, she definitely recognized me. I got back a お久しぶりですね! I told her I wrote her a letter, and she was surprised and said she was really happy. Maa-chan, some how I got stuck at for a bit. Fine with me! I think she even squealed when she recognized me.    Similar to Haruka conversation-wise, but since I was stuck, I told her that the chekki I took with her was really cute. She waved it off. Ayumi ... I think she was the one who said something to the effect of "You came here too!" in Japanese. Haruna I think I was a little rushed with - possible just the Ohisashiburi and a thank you? Zukki, similar. Riho was surprised to see me, it seemed. I might have thanked her for coming to America? Not sure. Eripon was fun! She had figured out who I was, and was happy to see my Gaki grad bracelet.

Fukuchan!! Fukuchan knew exactly who I was. After my  お久しぶり she also said  お久しぶりですね! and actually grabbed me with her other hand too and thanked me for coming. I honestly do not remember if I said ANYTHING else. I 100% forgot to tell her I had given her a present,  so I am hoping she looked. Mostly I was flying high on how obvious it was she remembered me. Sayu seemed a little out of it to me. Jet lag? Not sure. But I showed her I was wearing her birthday bracelet and wished her happy graduation, and she thanked me.

I don't have much in the way of pictures, especially of the handshake event. I mean, it seems like they didn't care but I think it's too engrained in me that that kind of stuff gets you thrown out.

Gotta say, by far this was the slowest handshake I have been to. There was seriously only one guy there concerned with moving people along. Was nice to have actual time to talk to the girls the best I could.

Yakiniku with Slack and crew - we were still eating when everyone took a group picture so we weren't in it... but man the food was good.  So... no guilt over missing the pic.   That was pretty much it, but I did run into dai briefly at the airport on Sunday! Hope your flights went okay, Dai! 

Glad to have met so many jphipers! And, uh... sorry to the people whose names I totally don't remember. xD I'm really bad with names.  Hope to see you again sometime!

 

[Hart]

Quick recap of last weekend since I've got to get back to studying for my Pharmacy Technician classes:

Saturday - Met up with Kim, daigong, and pika at Harold Square after trying to find out where everyone else was. Thought to have lunch with a few Hipstaz at Katz's Deli. Instead ate a really good pastrami sandwich by myself.    Went to Duet 35 with those 3 and karaoke for about an hour. Actually Rick-rolled them at the end.    Instead of going to the Hello!Party went to Go! Go! Curry! a few blocks away. Did make a quick visit to look at the venue where Hello!Party was taking place. Then there was drinking at daigong and pika's hotel room. Finally got to meet JFC and J-tri. Before going back home, checked outside the BestBuy theater to see a few people waiting outside. Came home at around 6am (left the city around 3am, 1-hr subway ride to Jamaica, Queens, 1-hr wait for the bus till 5am    ) and slept for about 3 hours.

Sunday - Got into the city around 2pm. Found pika and JFC on the line outside for general admission. Stayed with those two to get merchandise, or rather CDs and tickets for the handshake event after the concert. Since I got the CD too late I was standing the entire time for the concert, along with pika. Barely got to see the girls on stage, most of the time looking up to the monitors. I'll comfess that I'm not up-to-date with the latest songs MM '14 has release, but if I have to compare this concert to the one I went to back in AX '09, I still had a great time. Liked all the English introductions, especially Sakura's. Thought it was cute when a few of them made some mistakes. Got a lil' emotional when 'I Wish' started. Knew instantly that Sayu might be singing a solo since I saw only the other 9 girls. Broke out the pink glowsticks right before Sayu's solo started. After the concert went to sit down with pika, JFC, greg, and kuro for the handshake event. Me and JFC were joking about what to say to the girls; I wanted to ask Eripon about Gaki and that I was also a huge Gaki fan.    Too bad we were one of the last people at the event since they were hurrying people up. Sayu and Eripon already had shawls on and Sayu looked really tired. Once I got up to shake their hands, it was a blur. Told Sakura 'Eigo ga jouzu desu', Sayu 'Sotsugyou omedettou gozaimasu', and the rest either 'Thank you' or 'Arigato'. I think Ayumi, Haruka, and Haruna held my hands a lil' bit longer when I shook their hands. After that, JPHiP dinner at Gyu-Kaku two blocks west from the theater. BEST JAPANESE BBQ EVER!!! Might have been a lil' too loud for the staff and other customers. 

....that's it. Left after the dinner since I did not want to wait for the bus again after midnight. Not before I had one last shot with pika and daigong. Had an awesome weekend. Lots of memories. Finally got to see kuro, JFC, J-tri, and pika in person.    Wish I could say more, but I've got studying to do....and NYCC coming up this weekend. 

[Chibs]

I'm still kinda sleepy, but that BBQ was great.  I kinda remember someone getting drunk.

[kuro808]

I'm still kinda sleepy, but that BBQ was great.  I kinda remember someone getting drunk.

Well someone actually managed to make it

[JFC]

Typing this up while I'm on a spare period at the school at which I'm working today.

I kinda remember someone getting drunk.

That may have been Yuuyami's friend (who's smaller than Ayuyu and who's name I totally do not remember *gomen!* ). She had one cocktail and by the end of the meal she was all lightly swaying from side to side and saying "I'll need help standing up."


Saturday, Oct.4th - I'm pretty sure that I was one of the last H!Pstahs to actually arrive in NYC. I was a little tired after landing in LaGuardia, but.....fortunately (should I be calling it that?) after the cab ride to the hotel I was wide awake again.    Got some wickedly awesome chicken 'n rice while I was waiting to meet up with daigong and the others. Had a group gathering in our hotel room (complete with a couple of calls asking for us to keep it down ), met several members for the first time in person (like pika, Kimuu, J-tri, TR0N, Greg, and a few others that I'm sure other H!Pstahs know from elsewhere/previous meet-ups) and others that I haven't seen in a while (like boyten, Hart, BigFreaky, Flyp, Ping). We laughed, geeked out on idols, watched Django and just talked random shit with the lights and sounds of Manhattan coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of our hotel room. At some point during the night, pika glomped me because he had tweeted (or posted on LINE) a pic of all of us in the hotel room, and almond noticed I was there and she texted him to do so.

Sunday, Oct.5th - It was probably around 10:00 or 10:30AM the next morning when myself, dai and pika woke up. First thing I hear is pika checking his Twitter/LINE feed and finding out that lineups had already started and that they were already going around the theater. Myself and dai were hungry, so we went to Grand Central Station to get some late breakfast/early lunch while pika went out looking for some people. Eventually made it back to the theater and found a spot in line with Flyp, pika, jaysonnj, and Hart (later joined by boyten and TR0N, who were helping pass around the pink glowsticks that had been gotten for Sayu).

Once inside the theater, yeah there was the whole thing with the merchandise line. In case it had not yet been said, once inside they split the crowd into 2 lines, one that would go directly into the theater, and another for people who wanted to get stuff from the merchandise table. Obviously, pretty much everyone who had only gotten a general ticket went in the merch line to be able to get (at the very least) the CD and ticket needed to take part in the post-concert handshake event. It quickly became outrageously clear that they had not planned this out well as the line-up was moving slower than a turtle stuck in a tar pit and was at least a few hundred people long. By the time that it was 30-40 minutes before the scheduled start of the concert, the staff made the call and announced that, in order to help speed things up and get everyone into the theater, ONLY the CDs (and thus the handshake tickets) would be sold prior to the concert and that all the other stuff (t-shirts, towels, and whatever else they had) would be made available after the concert.

After getting my CD and handshake ticket, I went in and grabbed a seat in the upper levels (my knee was acting up a bit, so I wanted to make sure that I could sit down if I needed to). The concert itself was amazing. Flyp and I were talking about it later that night, comparing it to when we saw them at AX in 2009, and we both said that it really is like a totally different group (not just in name or in member line-up). Now don't get me wrong, this isn't to say that they didn't put on a good show at AX, but here, in terms of energy level, on-stage execution of both the dances and their live singing, and in general the overall vibe of the show, everything felt like it was jacked up several notches.  The girls were all such pros. Sayu had problems with a costume change at one point, Maachan had some issue that she had to step off-stage for, and I think Zukki might have stumbled during the 3rd song, but they all handled it all like seasoned vets and the disruptions to the overall performances were minimal.

Sayu had the entire room eating out of the palm of her hand for the entire show. While we were in the line-up, a few of us were talking, wondering about if she was going to have a solo number and if so, which song would she do (LaLaLa no PiPiPi or Shabadaba doo). It was hilariously awesome seeing the crowd completely "marking out" when it turned out to be the former.   All of the other members have also stepped up their own games so much, even though we've seen them on videos and DVDs, there's just something magical about seeing them doing it live and in living colour.

As has been said previously, Zukki was so noticeably surprised and touched by the glowstick greeting that the crowd gave her. It was so cute seeing her get all flustered and trying to remember her English lines.   Ayuyu and Yasshii were both dancing machines. One of the things that I always look for (and look forward to) is when the girls get to sing live. Sure there may be the odd flub or squeaked vocal here and there, but for me, that's one of the intangibles that make live concerts more enjoyable (and dare I say, more "real"). Not surprisingly, most notably impressive during the concert (for me anyway) were Sakura (DAMN the girl has the pipes), Maachan and Fukuchan (both of whom could really let it rip when it was needed). The only hiccups I noticed were once when Yasshii's voice squeaked (I could be wrong, but I think it was during "Brainstorming") for a split-second, and during "I WISH",  Harunan's solo part was seemed to be a little deeper than what her vocal range is, so even though she managed to hit it, it probably didn't come out as smoothly as she would have liked.

I had missed out on the handshake event when they were here during AX, so I definitely had wanted to not miss it this time. A whole group of us grabbed some seats and eagerly waited for our turns. While we were there, yeah, Hart and I spent the time coming up with  things we'd say to the girls. Most of it was just "normal/regular" comments one would want to say, but yeah, we came up with a couple  of more...unique ones:

a) asking Zukki if her breakfast was oishi, and/or just saying "I had a big breakfast today too!"

AAAAAND THE BIG ONE, which would have been awesome had we been able to pull it off:

b) going up to Eripon, Hart would say "Kaichou, I'm a big Gaki-san fan too!" and then I'd be behind him in line and I'd go "WAIT! ME TOO!!!", at which point we'd both do the double peace with Eripon and go "Yaaaaaaaaay!"


In the end, when it came time for our turn in the line, I was just awestruck/dumbfounded, totally froze and just managed to say really simple stuff like "Arigatou" or "Thank you".   

Will edit add on later.

[almond]

At some point during the night, pika glomped me because he had tweeted (or posted on LINE) a pic of all of us in the hotel room, and almond noticed I was there and she texted him to do so.

Yup! Pika, God bless 'im, was kind enough to message me occasionally on LINE what y'all were up to since I ended up not being able to go. Had to send a hug your way on account of the still memorable fic comments you'd make 

[Rayle]

Man, completely failed to do accounts for Jpop Summit or Japan Expo, but I'm feeling the inspiration tonight. Just wanna keep that feeling going!

Flew in on Friday, arriving at the hotel where I was staying with rokun, Yuuyami, and Yuu's friend around 8PM. We headed out to 42nd street to meet up with the Crew at John's Pizzeria. Good stuff! We took group pictures at the end, so those should go up at some point. J-triumf and kitaoji hooked up with us at that point and we decided to explore Broadway and Times Square at night, and met up with Daigong's group on the way. We hit up the Best Buy Theater and caught MM on the marquee a couple of times, but more amusingly, a B1A4 (Kpop boyband) concert had just finished, so all of their fans were waiting for the boys to leave the theater. We explored the Square for a while, and came back just in time to catch the van B1A4 got in, so that Daigong got footage of the members through the van windows.

Saturday morning rolled around RAINING. SO MUCH RAIN. We loafed around until lunch time, hitting up Legend of Korra and the Carmilla web series, and then made our way to Katz Delicatessen, meeting up with Kitaoji and Madara from MM-BBS. We decided to have a viewing party back at the hotel, and J-Tri met us there, and thus proceeded one of the filthiest conversations ever, as we struggled to plug in the HDMI cable into the port on the back of a skinny TV bolted to the wall. Only two people at a time could get their hands into the back of the damned thing, so directions on attempted teamwork turned into describing the ports as penises and vaginas and trying align the fucking cable to Stick It In, with loads of lesbian innuendo. Great times. Yuu's friend won the MVP for having the smallest wrists and managing to finally get the thing into the Vagina Port.

We watched about halfway through the New Years' Countdown live before deciding to try for Karaoke, but they didn't have any rooms open before we needed to hit up Hello!Party, so we explored the New York Public Library Main Building. Got a group picture with one of the lions and everything. Then we had dinner at the Red Flame diner, before going to Hello!Party, which was loads of fun. Rokun, kitaoji, and I decided to support Team Riho since it seemed like none of her fans showed up. Slack managed to guess the Brainstorming/Wolf Boy intro game, major props! Yuu and kitaoji also kicked ass at bokken spinning/balloon popping. After the games ended, we went for Karaoke, and Slack's group joined us towards the tail end. There was Jpop. There was Kpop. There was Franz Ferdinand, Beastie Boys, Eminem, and Journey. Good times. Once we split up for the night we finished off the Countdown concert at the hotel room.

We attempted to get in line by 9 the next morning, but didn't leave until later, and then just missed our train due to getting on the wrong platform at first.  The line had juuuuust finished filling out the second side of the building, so staff directed us to start the third leg of the line across from Junior's. It was kind of sketchy since we were so far away from the rest of the line due to construction, but other fans turned up to line up behind us soon enough. We hung out with some French fans and a 15 year old, and Yuu brought a speaker, so there was much dancing (which was necessary, since our side was shaded from both sides so it was cold! Most of the non -JPHIP fans by us were newbies, and it was sad that when we cued up Romantic Ukare Mode, they didn't even recognize it, much less know the wotagei. Sad times. Ah well, Yuu and I (hah) had some fun doing Kpop dances over MM songs. At one point, I got a text from the Hello!Party crew that I was one of the raffle winners, so I got a freaking KingBlade lightstick! Said Hello!Party crew also made the rounds a few times, once with a full-size Sayumi cutout to take pictures with,  and a couple times with the pink glowsticks. There was a Japanese fan handing out free swag, so I nabbed myself a Password is 0 single. At one point she gave a CD to a Limo driver on the curb beside us, and we heard the music coming from the car radio. Since the line was just behind the entrance to The Lion King, there were a few times when people thought that's what we were lined up for, hah. One of the valet drivers across the street was sad that he couldn't attend the concert, so I think we might have made a new fan of him!

The merch line before the concert was a disaster. The staff wasn't in any hurry to get items, and there was no line management in front of the tables, so it was just a morass of people in front of the tables, and the line behind moving maybe two steps every half hour. Because of that, I might have missed out on some of the better standing room in the theater. Ah well. I joined Yuu, Kitaoji, and her friend in the seats towards the back. There were a whole bunch of casuals in the section behind us, as they didn't have any glowsticks or lightsticks. But ah man, the concert was great! Not just the girls, but the audience, too! I loved how standing room was completely full of KingBlade lights, and one big difference is that lights were up and waving for nearly everything, like in a rave, not as controlled as in Japan shows. We dance like we want, yo! And everyone was screaming at every opportunity. I'm proud to say that we started the "Eeeeeeehhhhhhhh"s on Eripon. You can hear us!



No, seriously, the audience was so great, half of the time I forgot to watch the girls for looking at the lightstick ocean. Pink ocean during Sayu's solo was dope.
But the energy of the girls was pure dynamite! They do not pull their punches.

After the concert, the merch line was much better, actually moving at a decent pace. Unfortunately, due to where I was seated before, as well as needing to retrieve my bag, most of the merch was sold out by the time I got to the front. I managed to snag a Zukki towel, though!
At this point, Yuu discovered that she had won a Prize from a Samsung Galaxy raffle, but since it was too late to redeem it for VIP at that point, she and kitaoji got a personally signed photo from the girls instead!

Then we all had Yakiniku with the Crew, and there was much bacon-fire and extra asparagus and general grilling shenanigans. It was great meeting Dai and JFC and Kuro and Hart. We were definitely way too boisterous for the place, including when we went all Oprah with the Kimchi rice along with Dave from NSK. Our poor waiter was ace dealing with us. Lots of group pictures were taken afterwards. And we saw a New York Subway Rat waiting for the train on the way back!

Ah, man, I've had MM songs stuck in my head all day, and I was both tired and energized all at the same time. Haven't had this condensed an idol experience since Japan Expo with Kikka last year. Definitely want to do it again. Y'all are all great fun.

[kuro808]

^ yeah can't help it with the group we had for the BBQ.

The four Filipinos fitting on one side of the table (could have been)

TBH I actually would like to thank Essy for making the thread and giving updates whenever possible. Too bad she couldn't come

[kuro808]

^ yeah can't help it with the group we had for the BBQ.

The four Filipinos fitting on one side of the table (could have been)

TBH I actually would like to thank Essy for making the thread and giving updates whenever possible. Too bad she couldn't come

[JFC]

Okay, following up on my other post now. I had typed it up during a couple of spare periods in the morning as well as over my lunch hour and was planning on trying to finish it up in bits here and there during the afternoon, however the stuff that had been left behind for the classes I had in the afternoon (all Grade 6 kids) basically required my full attention and so I didn't have a chance to do it (and there was no way I was going to stick around after classes had ended for the day).


Anyhooz...yeah. After spending all that time thinking of what to say to each of the girls...I ended up just grinning like a goofball and telling them "thank yous" like a giddy, dumbfounded fanboy. 

A few of us were wondering if the girls were still wearing their high-heeled boots for the handshakes that they wore during the concert. For me it just seemed a little odd that Yasshii was pretty much at eye level with me when I know that, unless she recently hit a growth spurt that hasn't been accounted for yet, I'm roughly 10cm taller than her.

After the handshakes were done and the theater staff were herding the last of us back out to the lobby, we saw that the merchandise table was COMPLETELY sold out.   Kinda pissed off about it because basically that meant that the people who were able to get through the handshakes early were able to get the shwag, while those of us who ended up going later got shafted. Oh well, c'est la vie, as they say. For me personally, sure I would have liked to have gotten a commemorative t-shirt or something. In the end though, I'm still happy with the CD that I got in order to get the handshake ticket.


Next, dinner at the yakiniku joint. Finally met Yuuyami face to face for the first time and I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from spazzing out and going "OMGASS YOU'RE SO TINY!"    The reservations had to be done in groups of 6 (for us anyway, as we had booked separately from the other group that boyten and rokun had gotten into that had apparently been able to make a booking for like, over 20 people). So we got 3 tables of 6 set aside for us, and I'm sitting down with daigong, Hart, Rayle, Yuuyami, and Yuuyami's friend who's name I forget (again, *gomen*, I really suck at remembering people's names unless I've been around them for at least a few days). Our table was probably the loudest of our 3 that were there, partially because our waiter (who, like Rayle said, was totally awesome and understanding as he dealt with us) mistakenly brought us a second foil pack of asparagus instead of the fish order we were supposed to get, partially because we had a few instances where we had some gnarly bacon flare-ups on the grill, and partially because we ended up squeezing 2 more people at our table (so we had ordered food for 6 people and were feeding 8 with it). It was also here that Yuuyami's friend had her one cocktail that I mentioned in my previous post.

After dinner we gathered for some pictures, and then we had to bid farewell to Yuuyami and company as they had to wake up in 5 or 6 hours to catch a 4:00AM bus so they wouldn't miss their Monday morning class. The rest of us headed back to the hotel for another H!Pstah group gathering. We weren't as loud as we were the previous night, or at least, we didn't get any phone calls from the front desk about other hotel guests complaining about the noise. However, the night was once again filled with merriment, shared memories of concert happening, and overall fangasming. The next day was Monday, which for several of us (myself included) meant having to head to the airport to head back to wherever it was we each called home.



Overall, it's hard for me to pick out a single moment that could/would sum up this weekend for me. I mean, there was the time just after the concert finished when a few of us were gathered just in front of the doors of the theater when Yuuyami proclaimed "I'm pretty sure that I'm shorter than ALL of Morning Musume, even Ayumi!"    There's the time back at the hotel during the second JPH!P gathering when I was talking to Flyp (at least, I'm pretty sure it was Flyp), and he said that, after seeing the current line-up in concert, "I feel like I've become a born-again MoMusu fan!", or the time at the hotel when I took one of the custom, heart-shaped silicone wrist bands that daigong and Ping had ordered, turned it inside-out and noticed that it's shape now resembled that of a nipple. 



Naturally, part of me would have liked for it to have been more than just a weekend, but you know what, any time that I can spend with others from the JPH!P family is time worth spending, and I wouldn't give it up or trade it for anything.

 

[Estrea]

Maaaan it sounds like everyone had great fun! I wish I could have been there!

Let's hope MM will make a real world tour, and then we'll party it up when we can next time!

Fight on guys! Feel the Momusu love and come back to the fandom! (for all you of lapsed faith )

[Sacul097]

I feel like they'll definitely be coming to the US again now that they have NakaMii. I think that's probably one of the main reasons they picked her actually.