Hoobastank Live in Osaka
I went to Hoobastank concert last January 21 in Namba Hatch. It was a regular winter day, the sky was clear but the air was cold.
I rode the Midosouji Line around 3:30PM. The concert was supposed to start at 5PM with the admission starting at 4PM. The starting time is a little strange for me since most concerts I've been to in the Philippines usually starts at night. I met Oya-san and his wife Shouko-san at the station exit. That was the first time I met his wife.
(Take a peak at the pictures below if you want to know what she looks like.)
Yes, I was the sandwich that day. hehehe. But it wasn't really awkward because both of them are really friendly and they made me feel comfortable. As we waited for our turn in the line ( the admission was done by ticket number ), they were both puffing their cigarettes while I looked around. They was this girl who caught my attention. She was on her way to the end of the admission line. She pranced around wearing a spagetti strapped blouse outside in the cold winter. Talk about guts, she's definitely oozing with it. Anyway, Oya-san said it was ok since she has a lot of body fat anyway which means it wouldn't really be that cold for her. =P.
When we got in, we head out to the memorabilia section. I wanted to buy some Hoobastank shirt but then it was too big and a little too expensive for my budget so I opted not to. We then went to the locker room to leave our things. Nice, don't you think so? In my country most concerts were held outdoors so there were no lockers. When I went to concerts before I usually bring only myself, a handkerchief and money. I don't even bring my wallet since it's bothersome and there is a big chance that it will get stolen by a pickpocket.
We went to get our free drinks then. The concert got to start around 5:30. Yap, despite the fact that most people in Japan are time concious, late still happens here. The concert venue was not really that big, it was only a moderate sized facility. Hoobastank sang most of the songs in the
latest album and some from the first and second album. The concert took only for about 1 hour and 30 mins. This concert is one with the shortest time among all that I've been to.
People were quite lively in there which amazed me. I know some of them can't understand the lyrics but then music can really transcend any kind of barrier including language, can't it? =) Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to bring cameras inside so I couldn't take pictures of the band or the crowd.
There was one time during the concert when one guy from the crowd shouted "Fuck Me!". When Doug (Douglas the main vocalist) heard it, he replied back "What? What did you just say?". Then the guy shouted again, "Fuck Me!!", Doug chuckled then and said, "I won't fuck you man, but Josh will, right Josh?". It's always great when artist interact with the crowd. That kind of connection makes the event more memorable ( at least it was for the guy who shouted "fuck me", hehehe)
I was a little dismayed thaｔ they didn't sing the "Without a Fight" song. That was one of my favorite in the new album, but then they sang "More Than A Memory" so I guess that makes up for it. =) They sang many songs and I sang along with most of it.
Some of the songs they played included:
Born To Lead, Moving Forward, Inside Of You, The First of Me, Good Enough, If I Were You, More Than A Memory, The Reason, Remember Me, Pieces, Running Away.
They had a little part in the concert where they urged the crowd to sing karaoke, and went playing the Jon Bon Jovi song Livin' On A Prayer as a prelude to awaken the crowd before singing "The Reason". They were great performers and the music was spectacular. After the concert we had an enjoyable dinner at Namba where we talked about a lot of stuff from music to movie stars including japanese ones. My first concert attendance in Osaka Japan was awesomely successful.
posted by kagz @ 8:14 PM
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