ThanKs 2 YOU KinKi Kids Concert Tour 2019-2020

After 2 years…

The last concert was in 2017-2018 which was the orchestra concert in Tokyo Dome and Osaka Kyosera Dome. Fans were, of course, disappointed when they didn’t have any concert tour last year but I think they make it up for the missing year with a fabulous concert this year.

15 December is the only concert I managed to get tickets for this concert tour, but it’s more than good enough for me, considering they only have 4 shows this time.

For all those who may be going to the Osaka shows and do not wish to know any information about the concert, please do not proceed beyond this point!

Tokyo Dome

Tokyo Dome has a special place in my heart. I started watching KinKi concerts from G concert tour in 2003-2004. Every winter, this is the place I will travel to celebrate the end of the year and start of the new year, and of course Koichi’s 1/1 birthday.

I went over to Tokyo dome on 14 December given the super good weather, just to have a feel of the atmosphere, take some photos and also have a look at the concert goods.

There were 2 areas for selling concert goods. There’s one near Gate 22 which is the usual spot coming from JR Suidobashi station. This is where you will find lines of fans waiting for their turn to get the goods. There’s another one near Gate 25 which is nearer to the Tokyo Metro subway Kourakuen Station. This is actually the one with almost no line and you can get your concert goods without waiting in line at all. I like the fact that they started accepting credit cards on top of cash! Each person is only allowed to buy 3 pieces of the same item.

Digital tickets

There are already other Johnny’s FC who have started using digital tickets instead of physical tickets but it’s the first time KinKi FC is releasing digital tickets for the fans. This means we won’t know our seats until we enter the venue.

ARENA SEATS!!!

The only thing I know is to go to the designated entrance gate but I wasn’t expecting to see arena seats!? I think I was too surprised when I see “arena” in the printed tickets that I didn’t react much.

Entering the venue

Ah… the winter smell of Tokyo Dome, it’s all very nostalgic. We made our way to the arena seats, and I almost want to faint because it’s considered pretty close to the stage, and I’m slightly on the right facing the stage, which means it’s the side for Koichi. 😀

Musical Fountain Show

While the concert starts at 17:00, you can enter the venue at 15:00. And this year, they added musical fountain shows at the 30-minute intervals for the first hour onwards, and then a 15-minute interval for the last 30 minutes before the start of the concert. Every show has a different KinKi BGM, orchestra-style.

By the time I’m seated, it was 16:45 and they were playing Anniversary with the fountain shows. I love this concept! It is not only pretty but also helps to humidify the area, because winters are so dry in Tokyo. But apparently, this is an idea (conspiracy?!) from Koichi to usher in the fans and let us arrive earlier at the venue. 😛

Concert Starts!

It was a very simple concert stage design this year, with no backstage, no moving carts, etc. KinKi, the live band and orchestra are all staying on the main front stage. This makes me feel even luckier with my seat because I can just keep on focusing on the main stage.

Curtains were drawn, and there we have the 2 boys who are wearing super shiny costumes. The concert started with the No. 1 fan-nominated song “Ai no Katamari”, followed by “The Red Light”. This is the first time they actually performed “The Red Light” live since there were no performances done when they released this single back then due to Tsuyoshi’s ear condition. Next up was “10ve in the Φ” which they had dancers dressed in costumes with LED lights. And then they switched to my favourite KinKi ballad “Seppaku no Tsuki”.

First MC Talk

After this, they started their first MC talk. KinKi Kids are well-known for their long MC talk so I was already preparing to be seated but I was so surprised when not many people are sitting down, maybe everyone forgot how it’s like to attend KinKi concert after 2 years?

For the concert this time, they mentioned a lot about Johnny-san, and I did notice that when they are singing, they will look upwards at times for certain lyrics which seem to resonate with their feelings towards Johnny-san.

For “Seppaku no Tsuki”, they mention this lyrics which I also like a lot “さようならと言われるよりも　言う方がきっとツライ” which literally means it’s definitely more painful to say good-bye than being said good-bye. (Sorry for the lousy translation, but you get what I mean…)

Koichi also mentioned that this is the first time they are holding concerts in Tokyo Dome without Johnny-san because he will definitely attend every time. So he made a joke that probably Johnny-san is coming down from heaven and trying to get into Tokyo Dome but he will get bounced back at the roof of the dome. Tsuyoshi also shared some funny imagination of Johnny-san being a newbie in heaven.

They just kept on talking, and saying they are kanashikute (meaning sad) and suddenly moving the topic of “Kanashimi Blue” to Dojima-san who was also part of the live band this time. Koichi started asking Dojima-san about some part of the lyrics why it is written this way since he wrote that song, and then telling the fans that they will not sing this song. *throws penlight*

Finally, they ended the long MC talk (which is only the first one!) and moved to super cool section of Tsuyoshi on his guitar and Koichi dancing. They did a funk music arrangement this time, which I guess it’s due to Tsuyoshi’s music preference. The outcome is a very cool grown-up version of the familiar songs like “Bonnie Butterfly”, “LOVESICK”. And then they suddenly switch to the ballad “SNOW!SNOW!SNOW!” which is also very nostalgic for fans. And then they switch back to the dance numbers “Want You” and “Give me your love”. I really hope they release a DVD/Blu-ray for this concert because Koichi fans will want to see him dance “Want You”. I think it’s the same choreography they did for M concert, which is super sexy and fans were doing a lot of whistling / screaming. LOL!

Second MC Talk

By this time, Koichi was covered in sweat since he’s been dancing for most of the songs while Tsuyoshi was playing the guitar.

Tsuyoshi thought of the setlist

Apparently, the concert setlist was first created by Tsuyoshi given his ear condition, I guess he has to consider how much his ears can take to sing in such a huge venue with all the sounds and echoes. When the setlist was revealed, Koichi was surprised that there were a lot of uptempo songs, but it was Tsuyoshi’s idea for fans to see the solo characteristics of Tsuyoshi with his guitar, Koichi with his dancing and KinKi with their singing. I think it’s a great concept, and they found a good way to bring out the best of their own solo strengths and combined into KinKi power.

Koichi mentioned that for “Give me your love” which he said in a very robotic manner, the choreography was done by YOSHIE-san. She’s the one who also did the choreography for “Bara to Taiyou”. Indeed, there were many signature YOSHIE-san’s moves for this performance too and she was also watching the same show at Tokyo Dome on this day!

They also mentioned about “SNOW!x3” that they haven’t sung this for some time, and they translated this to “YUKI!x3” (which means snow in Japanese) and Koichi joked that some fans who are named “Yuki” must be thinking “Koichi just mentioned my name!” But Koichi quickly rebutted and said “I’m not calling your name…” and he apologised and asked the fans not to go to King & Prince. (Me: Sorry already did!) He added that it’s okay to go to King & Prince but come back to KinKi sometimes. LOL! I love how Koichi knows what fans are thinking/doing. LOL!

They tried to move on to the next section which are all older songs (even before they debut), but somehow Koichi kept talking. It’s rare to see Koichi being so talkative but he seems to be enjoying himself so Tsuyoshi let him keep talking.

Dreams about Johnny-san

Koichi said he had a weird dream after Johnny-san left, that he’s going to attend the funeral for Johnny-san but forgot something and went back to the house(?) and Johnny-san asked him “how come you are back?” and Koichi just mentioned he forgot something. Tsuyoshi also said he had dreams of Johnny-san too that they were having dinner together but there was no conversation and Johnny-san just kept crying.

Koichi continued to say that his phone call records still have Johnny-san’s phone calls, which show how frequent he gets phone calls. 😛 And he’s not ready to delete those records, so Tsuyoshi just told him to delete when he’s ready.

Koichi’s movie ambassador

Tsuyoshi kept on trying to move to the next song but Koichi kept coming up with new topics. He mentioned about being the movie ambassador for the upcoming “Ford v Ferrari” that will be screened in Japan on 10 January 2020. It’s funny how Tsuyoshi had a hard time trying to understand what Koichi is trying to promote, and Koichi mentioned a similar movie “RUSH” which KinKi Kids did the Japanese voice-over. Koichi just had to mention the sexy scenes he did, which of course led to many fans whistling again. LOL! Tsuyoshi then asked Koichi when the movie will be screened and Koichi said he doesn’t know… Oops! Mr. AMBASSADOR?! Anyway, the staff helped to check and let them know through their monitor screens later, and Tsuyoshi shared the screening date earlier than Koichi… 😛

Koichi’s complaint about bento

The MC talk is never-ending with Koichi starting to talk about the bento and food catering in for different work scenes. He mentioned that he went to Hey!Say!JUMP concert rehearsal and realised they have food catering services, but for KinKi Kids, they only had bento, plus it’s all fried food. Tsuyoshi joked that because they are “Showa” (not Heisei). Koichi further exposed himself that on that day, he actually had the Endless SHOCK 2020 press conference, so the organiser TOHO prepared very fancy matsutake bento, but Koichi just brought that bento to Hey!Say!JUMP concert rehearsal venue, and saw that they have food catering… It ended up that Koichi didn’t like the food catering items, so he ate the fancy bento. *fans all fainted*

Staff were touched by first show, but!

And he further mentioned that the staff for the concert this time told them yesterday for the first show, when the curtains were drawn for the first song, they were so touched and tearing because it’s so nice to see KinKi performing together again… I bet it’s the same for many fans, and Koichi had to bring the topic back to food again, saying if the staff were so touched, they should prepare better food! Tsuyoshi shouted for Koichi to stop and joked that maybe the staff will prepare some sushi chefs in their waiting room in Osaka Dome, but imagine if Tsuyoshi went to Dojima-san and said the food is good with all the chef preparation, and Dojima-san said he only had bento, then it will be so shocking… *speechless* Anyway, Koichi got so high here and his voice got higher and also louder… Tsuyoshi joked that Koichi seems mentally unstable today. LOL!

Digital tickets vs older generation

Tsuyoshi kept on reminding Koichi that because they talked too long yesterday for the 14th show, he’s trying to keep it short today. Koichi then mentioned about the digital tickets that for KinKi fans, it must be worrying for us due to our age/generation, right? Fans were all so quiet that Koichi had to shout “How come no one is raising your hand?!” LOL! Please don’t treat fans like we are ancient dinosaurs! We are already using smartphones… Though everyone agreed with Koichi that we prefer the physical tickets. 😛

Old songs section

Finally, they are moving on to the next song “Tayori ni shitemase”, but before that, Tsuyoshi was telling the fans to do some simple movements along with the song. It’s simply speedy tip-toeing during the chorus part, and then we have to move left and right (from the waist up and neck) during other parts. (Super hard to explain this but it’s pretty silly moves) Because Tsuyoshi is playing the guitar, most of the time, it was Koichi leading the moves for the fans.

From an old song to another song “Kaimono Bugi”, this is the shocking one because they re-arranged the song and make it into a very cool dance performance. After this, Koichi went to the backstage and Tsuyoshi sang a new song “KANZAI BOYA” dedicated to Johnny-san who named them with this group name before changing it to “KinKi Kids”. It’s funny how Koichi appeared at the end of the song, acting as Johnny-san.

MC

Another MC time but shorter to introduce the next song “Borderline” (from B album) which no one will imagine that they will sing at the concert. Tsuyoshi also mentioned about “BackFire” which he and Dojima-san really want to perform but somehow always got rejected… so Tsuyoshi insisted on having this “Borderline” performance because this is the only time they can “play” such a song at this specific concert.

Tonkotsu Aji?!

They brought out some sampling device that recorded part of the original song where they have some lines that were supposed to be rap, but KinKi cannot rap so it became some lines with heavy Kansai dialect. Both of them started playing with the devices, especially the part that says “明日何時入り？” (by Tsuyoshi) “とんこつ味”! (by Koichi) It seems like Tsuyoshi really likes this part of “tonkotsu aji” that he kept pressing on the button. Koichi also mentioned that the staff had a tough time trying to make the lyrics of the Kansai lines and Koichi asked if this song is in the karaoke list, and fans shouted YES! even with those Kansai lines. Next time, I need to go karaoke and check out too. 😛

Sign of Bra?!

Before singing the next song which is their new single “Hikari no Kehai” (meaning “Sign of Light”), Tsuyoshi went to backstage to change his costume. He had his mic on and was talking to the staff about his “bra strap” or something along that line. Of course, it’s a joke but Koichi picked that up and reminded Tsuyoshi that everyone can hear what he’s talking on the mic, and Koichi doesn’t want to associate Tsuyoshi with bra, so Tsuyoshi replied with if it’s okay for Koichi to be associated with bra then? Koichi then joked that he needs to put on a bra soon with the growth of his chest muscles… Tsuyoshi continued with “please discuss with me before you really put on a bra, I think I will understand. Just don’t let me see when we are performing…” Here, Koichi made a gesture to adjust his shirt collar so that Tsuyoshi can see his chest, and he said “Bra no Kehai” (sign of bra) Tsuyoshi immediately noticed this and “scolded” Koichi for trying to connect with the next song they are trying to sing and Koichi laughed and said “my method is exposed?!”

Anyway, Koichi said he heard from fans that “Tonkotsu aji” was trending on Twitter on 14th night, and as expected, “Bra no Kehai” became the trending phrase on Twitter on 15th night. LOL! When they finally can move on the next section, Tsuyoshi was drinking water and Koichi said “Hikaru no Kehai” which is slightly wrong… and Koichi apologised that it was unintentional as Tsuyoshi almost choked on his water. 😀

FYI, there’s a very nice article aka concert report for this concert and the trending word “Bra no Kehai”. Sorry only in Japanese.

Acoustic section

I love the next section where they did the acoustic version of “Giniro Angou”, “Renrui” and “Topaz Love”. It’s really a luxury to be able to listen and watch KinKi Kids sing with a highly progressional group of musicians. Koichi reminded all the fans to sit down and enjoy this section too. <3

The boys moved backstage to change their costumes before appearing with one of my favourite concert songs “Kiss kara hajimaru mystery”, followed by “Garasu no Shonen”, “Bara to Taiyou” (which I read that YOSHIE-san was dancing at her seat too”) and “Hakka Candy”.

Before they moved on the next song “Harmony of December”, Koichi made his farewell greetings. He mentioned that he thought about a lot of things after Johnny-san passed away, and he wanted to tell us that it means everything when both of them are standing side-by-side together on stage. *touched* It’s a big change for Koichi because we know that he went to Johnny-san to discuss about disbanding some years back (in one of his magazine interviews) but I guess now things have changed and they found a good balance to stay together.

ENCORE

KinKi Kids appeared again on stage for an encore starting with “Boku no senaka niwa hane ga aru”. And Tsuyoshi made his farewell greetings as well as introducing the next song “You…” which he mentioned that he was offered by Tackey to write a song for Johnny’s stageplay (by A.B.C-Z). He actually wrote a couple of versions of the lyrics, and the one they sang during this concert is one that he said he wrote to express the story and friendship between him and Koichi based on what he experienced during the funeral of Johnny-san.

You…

The lyrics of this song started with below which depicts the scene of what Tsuyoshi saw, felt and did to Koichi.

君が涙を初めてみせてくれた
気づかないふり出来なかった
どんな人にも悲しみが流れている
背中を掌で撫でた

Basically it’s a scene of Tsuyoshi seeing Koichi crying, and he couldn’t pretend he didn’t notice that. Everyone was sad and Tsuyoshi stroked Koichi’s back.

I was trying hard not to cry, thinking it must have been so hard for Koichi and rest of the Johnny’s artists. At the end of the concert, they show a huge photo of KinKi Kids in their private clothes with very peaceful smiles. Some eagle-eyed fans noticed some railings of the hospital bed and guessed that they were in the hospital room of Johnny-san when this photo was taken. As expected, it was actually a three-shot of KinKi and Johnny-san but for the concert, they only showed KinKi Kids. Fans were all going “awww….” at this photo because they look so natural and sweet. Super different from their usual work “poker faces”. 😛

Final Note

After 2 years, they got back on stage with a super concert setlist to entertain us, displaying all kinds of charm KinKi Kids has in terms of singing, performing, super long MC talk and interaction with fans. It was a 3-hour 20-minute show. and definitely the place I feel most comfortable with, and let’s hope they will do another concert tour next year too!

For now, fans attending the Osaka concerts, please enjoy the 12/31 countdown concert and 1/1 Koichi birthday concert to the fullest! Fingers crossed for a DVD/Blu-ray release!