So it's been awhile, just want to make a quick review of the Babymetal concert that happened a few days ago. It was an excellent show and the band was amazing. The girls had so much energy They were dancing so much and so aggressively, I bet they were really worn out afterwards haha The lead vocalist Su-Metal is a fantastic performer and can really sing, she really carries the show and I loved her solo performance of 紅月-アカツキ- I loved hearing it live I got tickets in the balcony this time to avoid another 'Perfume' situation, and it was a great view, I could actually see stuff... yay I'm not really a mosh pit kinda gal so I don't think I would have survived that kind of crowd. My only little complaint was the strobe lighting throughout the show, I was praying I wasn't going to have a seizure lol
This Saturday I attended the live orchestrated presentation of Distant Worlds and it was beautiful! The legendary Nobuo Uematsu was present and he came on stage! We had great seats, however, there was a bit of a mix up at the beginning where we sat in the wrong row because it was marked "OOO" and our tickets said "O" so we just figured that was how they labeled things A bit of a brain fart but half way through the first part the staff directed us to our assigned seats. Honestly it didn't make much difference since you could see the orchestra and the screen from any section in the audience. It was a breath of fresh air from my Perfume experience let me tell you
Seeing the visuals from the game and the live orchestra was breathtaking, especially with the visuals of the more recent games with the incredible cgi animation!
I recienly bought the limited edition copy of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (limited edition) and have been playing it constantly (along with the first Theatrhythm game, so when it came time to experienceing the concert, I basically new all of the songs by heart even though I haven't played all of the games yet.
I have only played Final Fantasy 7 and 8 all the way through and bits of the other games such as 6,9 and 10, but I am familiar with most of the songs from those as well. Final Fantasy 8 was the first one that I really got into and I loved the music so much, it was better than anything that I have ever heard before when it comes to soundtracks and scores.
I particularly enjoyed when they performed music from Final Fantasy 1-3 including the main theme from Final Fantasy 1, it sounded so beautiful and perfect as an orchestrated piece. It's amazing how a piece of midi music can translate to something so out of this world! I also loved when they played music from FF6, 7, and obviously 8 (Especially the opening number with Liberi Fatali and the Tallis Choir). Other highlights for me were numbers from Final Fantasy 13 (Which I didn't think I would enjoy as much) and 14 which I was pleasantly surprised! It was very epic with the vocals of Susan Calloway is was so amazing and epic, possibly the best part of the show! Susan Calloway also performed songs from Final Fantasy 8 (Eyes on Me) and Final Fantasy 9 (Melodies of Life) But her performance with the music of Final Fantasy 14 was the best hands down! I will have to listen to the soundtrack now for sure! Arnie Roth the conductor was a great MC as well.
Another exciting part of the show was when they did a segment on the battle theme music including "Fight with Seymour" from Final Fantasy 10 and "Let the Battles Begin" from Final Fantasy 7 which was a real treat because it is by far the best battle theme music in the entire series. I remember playing FF7 for the first time and being amazed by that piece of music. It's better then anything I have heard in a game or a movie. AMAZING!
For the final ohncore number they performed "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy 7. Nobuo Uematsu joined in with the choir and it was an epic ending to a magical night.
We skipped on buying merch because of this...
... yeah I've had enough of that nonsense, plus my copy of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is basically a souviener in itself, plus I preorderd the Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Static Arts mini (Squall Leonhart) Which is what they were selling at the table plus copies of various Final Fantasy soundtracks. The only thing I wish I had bought was the program, boo
SO CUTE
I'm so glad I attended the show this time around, this is the 3rd time this tour has come to Toronto, so it was about time. I was amazed by the choir's performance and it really added that extra dimension to the show. It is such a unique and magical experience and I hope to see it again
So this time around, this trip was not as good as our journey to see Morning Musume'14. It was a bumpy road from the beginning to the end.
The first rough patch started as soon as we got to the airport. We decided to fly instead of taking the Megabus, it was pretty brutal last time so we got round trip flights. For some reason there were a lot of complications trying to check in and get our boarding passes, it took almost a hour because the airline staff were really disorganized. Long story short, we were very close to missing our plane. We were both very sleep deprived because it was a 6am flight, so stress + lack of sleep was not a good combination to start off our journey. It basically set the tone for this entire trip.
We arrived at Newark NJ airport and got the shuttle bus to downtown NY for $16. Finding the bus stop and catching the next bus was pretty easy so no complaints there. Before heading to my aunts where we stayed last time, we decided to look around and do some shopping since the bus dropped us off in the Rockefeller area. We checked out the Nintendo store aka Nintendo World once more.
So much Kirby! So cute! They rotate the museum section of the shop with different displays
Saw a cool Jeff Koons art piece across from the NBC studios, looked like it was just being unwrapped.
People where Ice Skating! New York was getting ready for the holiday season!
We also saw the giant Christmas tree under construction, too bad it's wasn't completed!
We also hit up Uniqlo which we don't have here in Toronto.I picked up some cute shirts that had some cute Illustrator's designs on them
We were pretty worn out by the time we got to my aunts place. Before that we had to wait awhile at a bagel shop because my aunt had to go out and we were waiting for her to get back so we could get into the apartment. We were so tired by then, but forced ourselves to go out and hang around Times Square. We attempted to go to the "Hold Your Hand" Meet up dinner but we were really late. By the time we got there everyone had left, probably to go Karaoke. I really wanted to be involved this time but when we got back from shopping we took a long nap, then took too long getting ready to go out again. Plus I left my Metro Card behind and had to walk all the way back from the station to go get it! One of my main regrets from this trip was that I didn't make any new friends within the fandom and go to any gatherings...
After realizing that the meet-up was basically over, I decided to be a little tourist go up the Empire State Building. Sharon thought it was overpriced so she stayed behind and waited for me at McDonald’s. I took a bunch of photos, but boy was it freezing up there. I also felt a bit dizzy and nervous standing near the edge so I didn't spend too much time outside.
We later met up with our friends who also flew in from Toronto to see Perfume and stayed at their hotel for the night. In the morning We decided to do some shopping before getting in line and checked out Book-Off and Kinokuniya. I think we got in line maybe around noonish, and the wait went by pretty quickly oddly enough. We saw some great cosplay, which I wish I had made the effort to do myself We were planning on making "Cling-Cling" costumes but never made the time to get together and work on them There were also Fans from Japan and I presume staff of Perfume filming the line up and having everyone shout "We Love Perfume!" Some fans were also dancing to "Spending all My Time" and had it memorized really well which was pretty impressive. A Japanese fan was also handing out pieces of colourful paper for fans to write messages on to the girls. Here is what I wrote, on the back we had to put the name of our favorite song:
They were also handing out Perfume trading cards! I chose A~Chan!
The venue started to open their doors around 10 minutes after it's original scheduled time at 7pm, which I think made everyone more anxious. The staff started pulling the gates further apart so that the line could get wider. Here is where things started to freak me out, as soon as they pulled back the gates people were rushing and pushing frantically, and I started to get crushed between people. Soon we were standing next to people who we had never seen before in the past 4 hours, so people from the back were obviously pushing through the line to get to the front. I started to get a bad feeling, knowing that this was going to be a stressful night having to be around these aggressive people. Once they started letting people in, all hell broke loose. The venue was really disorganized in this department, and were letting people stampede and run through whilst trying to check their bags and scan tickets. Once we got inside everyone was rushing through this one door. It was a double door but no one thought it would make sense to have both doors propped open for an easier flow. I was getting crushed while trying not to get separated from my friends. Security had to yell at everyone to back up because people were crushing one another. It was so insane and so out of control, and honestly I was not expecting this kind of behavior from people who call themselves fans of Perfume.. It was nothing like entering the Morning Musume'14 concert. We decided to skip getting merch and make getting a good spot our main priority. I knew that you could buy official merch online here anyway so no huge loss for me.
Here we are waiting for the show to start (lighting inside wasn't so great)
We were pretty close to the stage, so we all thought we were going to get an amazing view. As we were waiting for the show to start, I noticed there was a large transparent screen covering the main stage as well as big screen behind it. I knew they were going to do some really cool 3d projections and I started to get really excited! There was an announcement made by the concert staff saying that no cameras or photos were allowed, and if I can remember correctly, to be considerate in the crowed (no pushing shoving etc.).....how ironic. Anyway... Finally the 3d projection opening started with 'Enter the Sphere' and I was SO EXCITED and thrilled. I was so happy and living in the moment those first few minutes. Then the curtain projection came down and I could see their silhouettes, EEEK! They started to dance, but the only member I could really see was A~Chan. I remember thinking WOW there she is in the flesh a few feet way from me, in her zone doing one of their many complex dance routines.
I know this is going to sound really strange, but here is where everything went downhill for me How could we be so close to the stage and not see anything you ask? Well we were behind this taller guy who constantly had his arm up throughout the concert, blocking most of our view. To top it off, a really tall girl, quite possibly one of the tallest girls near the front, eventually shifted herself right in front of me so all I could see was her back 0__0 I mean, I could see Perfume, but only through the spaces between peoples heads, and that’s on my tipy-toes leaning back and fourth, side to side. It was uncomfortable, is was frustrating, it was disappointing. During "Spring of Life" which is one of my favourite songs, a guy from behind me got a button from his sleeve caught in my hair. I spent most of the song trying to untangle myself and he wasn't really making an effort to help me. I was being yanked around while he was waving his arms. NOT FUN. The only time I saw the group dancing together was when they were further back on the stage which was pretty rare. The rest of the time I could only see one member at a time, so I couldn't get the full experience of the dance routines, which is like...what seeing Perfume live is all about.
I felt pretty gutted during most of the show, I tried very very hard to let it go and just enjoy the moment, but it was so frustrating not being able to see anything yet being so close to the stage. This is just my personal opinion, but I found the crowd to be very selfish and inconsiderate, basically people were willing to step all over each other to get the front row center. Before the show started there was a girl behind me asking me to take off my backpack, and I did it for her, but I guess I was the only one who cared about the well being of others during this concert it seemed...During the MC some people were shouting and interrupting them while they were talking, they had no self control and it ruined the experience for a lot of other people. I was supposed to be crying tears of happiness, not tears of disappointment and frustration. I was heartbroken.
What I can take away from this experience is that, I am never going to a concert in the GA standing section again. When I saw Kyary Pamyu Pamyu I couldn't see shit, and even though we were practically in the front, we couldn't see shit for Perfume either. It's just too much of a risk of getting stuck behind someone taller, or having some selfish ass-hole push their way in front of you. I know when you are in an audience like this, it's more of dancing and going wild type of situation. But with Perfume, it's not just about enjoying the music, the visual performance is why I traveled all the way from Toronto to see them. The projection display the amazingly timed dancing, the costumes, the girls and their personalities. If you can't see anything properly then honestly, whats the point?!? Also the music is not live, neither is the singing, so if I all I can see is the back of some girl and hear the music and the screaming fans, then the experience is just not the same. Again, I tried my best to make the most of it, but I was too disappointed. From now on, only balcony/assigned seating. That's it! Unless for some reason I am guaranteed a good spot! In comparison, the Best Buy Theater (Which was where I saw Morning Musume'14) was a much better venue and I wish that they had held Perfume's concert there. You had the option of going into the standing area or you could go back and sit in the seating area. You had more of a chance to pick a spot with a good view. The Hammerstein Ballroom was basically either you stand on the GA section or be high up in a balcony, it's a very pretty and historical venue but it wasn't the most practical for this sort of event.
I ended up snapping a few photos because by that point I had nothing to lose and I wanted to get some sort of perspective of what was going on!
Despite all that, the show itself was fantastic The girls were so amazing and sweet, and I thought it was so ironic that they were so genuine and caring, yet the audience I was in was the completely the opposite. During the MC they were very funny talking about eating cup cakes (which A~Chan thought were too sweet) She also talked about eating a cream cheese bagel with smoked salmon which was funny because we also went to a bagel place by my aunt's apartment and ate a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon! A~Chan is a very good MC! Then they got the crowd to have on side chant cup cake, and the other side to chant bagel. It was pretty cute, I was too distraught from my awful experience to really get into it Even when they performed "Dream Fighter" my favorite Perfume song of all time, I was too sad to let it sink in and enjoy it...
My biggest regret is that I didn't try to make the most of it and just be in the moment, I got so caught up with being disappointed and frustrated that I should of just "let it go" no pun intended. Even during that part where they sang a verse from the song, I couldn't get into it, I can't really explain why, and now that I look back, it was pretty stupid of me.
Even if the experience was ruined I am still very grateful that I was apart of that audience, and that they performed so close to me. I'm so grateful that I was there in the first place, and I wish I had that frame of mind during the actual concert.
After the show I said hi to a fan I chat to on twitter, who was at the front row and Perfume talked to him! So glad someone had an amazing experince and it made me happy I lost my friends when I introduced myself to him and had to go find them afterwards, so I didn't get a chance to talk to him more. I'm also really shy and not very good at approaching people, so ya..... ^o^;;;
Took this outside the venue after the concert, so many buttons!
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, here are some bits of the show that I actually was able to enjoy somewhat; I was happy that they performed "GAME" and did the iconic dance with the glow rods lighting up in unison. I feel this is what Perfume is becoming known for; incorporating technology and lights with music and creating an amazing show with these elements. Seeing the lights go up with the beat was very epic. I also loved being able to see their costumes up close. The fabrics were gorgeous and glossy and luxurious. I got excited every time they had an outfit change, and I liked how they had different dresses under their black "Laser Beam" outfits. I also really loved the turquoise costumes they wore at the end. The fabric and cut of the dresses were so flowy and ethereal, they looked liked princesses, and radiated a magical glow. My last view of them was walking off the stage in the those outfits and it will always stay in my memory.
Again, I really regret not being in the moment and appreciating what I had at that moment. The show was pretty similar to my experience seeing Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, but it was understandable that we had a bad view that time because we didn't wait in line and were far in the back. With Perfume we made the effort and were so close to them, so I was even more disappointed and I my expectations were just crushed, which is why I felt more devastated. Nonetheless, I feel like this concert was a huge learning lesson in terms of what sort of attitude to have in certain situations. If I ever have the opportunity of seeing them again, I'm going to dance sing and have fun, and just let loose! and also cosplay
On another positive note, the day after the concert my aunt took us out to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were we looked some really cool vintage Japanese kimono's and prints:
We then walked around Greenwich Village, where there were a lot of vinyl record shops that I wanted to check out. I was flipping through a bunch of random records and lo and behold:
What are the odds I bought it then and there no questions asked. Since we skipped on buying merch at the venue since we were so sick of the crowds, it was a nice little thing to happen after all the crappyness before. I believe this is out of print and hard to find so I felt pretty lucky!
We also had some really good Vietnamese food at a place called Saigon Shack!
Our final day was a drag because it was raining the entire day! I wasn't wearing a waterproof jacket so the water was leaking through! I couldn't really enjoy the day, but we checked out some shops in Soho again, and hung out in China Town. Then we were running behind schedule and had to rush to catch a bus that took us to JFK airport MORE STRESS! Well, rushing there turned out the be a waste of time because the plane was delayed, then it was CANCELED! I had work the next morning so that meant I was going to be late for my shift The airline re-booked our flight for the next morning (6am ) and shuttled us to a nearby hotel. The cab driver took our hotel voucher with him when he dropped us off, so we had to wait for the hotel to track him down and have him bring it back before we could check in! ARGH! By the time we were settled into the hotel it was already 1am, leaving us with barely any time to sleep before going back to the airport. See what I was saying how this trip was sour from start to finish? Had to go straight to work as soon as I got off the plane *SOB*
Well... to end this on a positive note...I am still determined to see Perfume again and make it the best experience of my life! Thank you A-Chan, Nocchi, and Kashiyuka for all of your hard work and dedication, and putting on an amazing show I wish I could experience it all over again! New York is still an amazing city in my eyes and I hope to come back soon
This past weekend I saw my favorite J-Pop group perform live in New York City! I have been a fan of Morning Musume'14 モーニング娘。since 2003, and have always wanted to attend thier concert. Unfortunately due to school and financial reasons I have never had the chance to travel and see them live. I regret not trying harder to make this dream come true. Over the years I have watched members join, grow, and graduate, always hoping that one day I could see them in concert. When I heard the announcement that they were going perform in NYC, I said to myself I must go to this event! This is my last chance to see the group before Michishige Sayumi 道重 さゆみ graduates, the only remaining member from when I became a fan! The trip was do-able because I live in the Toronto area, only an hour flight away from New York.
I traveled with my best friend (she originally introduced me to the world of Hello! Project over 10 years ago!) by the MegaBus (we returned via plane) We were on a budget and wanted to save as much money as possible. The trip was an overnight journey from 12pm to 11am on Friday October 2nd. Sleeping on the bus was difficult and uncomfortable. I have to say I will not be doing this again, but it was an interesting experience.
Start of journey!
End of journey! 0___0
I was lucky enough to have family who live in the heart of New York! My aunt let us stay with her during our trip and took us out for Izakaya: Ariyoshi the first night, it was delicious! A game show from Japan was being played in the restaurant featuring Arashi 嵐 playing against and a group of Rakuten Eagles baseball players! One of them is currently living in NYC with his wife, former Country Musume カントリー娘。 member Satoda Mai 里田 舞!
The next day (Saturday) we explored the city. Our first event on the agenda was to meet up with a group of fans who wanted to organize a flash mob dance for Morning Musume. We were running late and by the time we got there everyone had left Apparently only a few people showed up and there was not enough people to pull off the event so it was canceled o___o; We were near Central Park when this happened so we decided to explore the south part of the park taking lots of pretty photos
We then came across the official Nintento shop in Rockefeller Center
Later we found Book-Off! and I picked up a cd by Michi, I wanted to buy more, but the cd's were pretty expensive for being used, so I decided not to do too much shopping there. We also stopped by another Japanese book store Kinokuniya! This location was much bigger then the one I had visited in LA. There was so much stuff to look at that I had a hard time deciding what to buy, so in the end I didn't do too much shopping. I hope to come back on a day when not much is going on so I can have more time to look around
My Book-Off purchase :) Michi 's first album 'Up to You' Limited edition
After a lot of walking around and shopping, we arrived at the Hello!Base party located in Times Square! Before entering the venue, we bought our tickets and had our Polaroid taken for a scrapbook that would be presented to the girls. We were also allowed to write messages on our photos. I looked pretty awful in my picture but didn't want to be a bother and have another photo taken X_X They also gave us name tags that included each member. (I chose Sayumi of course) We arrived a little late, and came in during the games event, were the audience was separated by rows, indicating a team for each of the members. Each team was competing against each other playing various games to win points. It was very well organized and a lot of fun! I have never been at an event like it before and it was a very unique experience! The best part was the dance party where everyone was dancing and chanting to Morning Musume songs! I had a blast! I was able to meet and chat with other fans, I wish I had hung out a bit longer with everyone. The best part was dancing to Fujimoto Miki's 庄司美貴 - ロマンティック浮かれモード Romantic Ukare Mode! SO MUCH FUN Doing the famous Wotagei dance with other fans to this song made me laugh so much
Staff and fans had left Hello!Project photos and other goodies to grab, this is what I picked up
Sunday was the day of the concert, I wasn't able to get VIP tickets so I had convinced myself that I was not going to get a handshake pass. The only way I thought I was going to get one was if I waited in line in the very early hours of the morning (a lot of people were already doing this) I wasn't willing to go that far (I like my sleep) so we didn't get up until around 9am. We arrived in the line around noon so I was worried we would not get a good spot in the audience and be in the very back As we were waiting, we met a group of Japanese fans who were inviting people to their after party (unfortunately we couldn't make it) They were handing out free official photos and cards of the members I am amazed at how far they traveled for the show. There were also fans who organized and were handing out pink glow sticks for Sayumi. I am in awe of all of the hard work and effort that they put in to achieve this
Due to construction happening in the area, the line stretched out for a few blocks throughout Times Square. People would come by and ask what we were waiting in line for and would look puzzled by our response. Well... they don't know what they're missing
It wasn't long before we were going through Times Square and into the venue. As soon as we went in we chose our spot in the audience. We decided to sit further back in the seated area of the Best Buy Theater. This guaranteed a good view of the stage and of the group. My friends held my spot for me while I attempted to by a cd in order to get a handshake pass, not really getting my hopes up. In the line I met 3 people who also traveled from the Toronto area. We chatted about who our favorite members were and about how Abe Natsumi's 安倍 なつみ graduation was the most epic and dramatic out of all the graduation concerts. The line was really intense, when I got closer to the merch booth, everyone was pushing against the table and it was pushing back o_____o Security looked on edge. I felt really bad for the men handling the merch booth...people were shoving money in their faces while they were scrambling around to give out cds and give people their change. In the end I was able to get a cd only a few minutes before the show started! Success
I wish I had taken more photos but I was afraid I was going to have my phone taken away, but apparently cameras were allowed Of course I found this out after the concert! I managed to snap a few shots.
The show was fantastic, we had a great view of the formation dancing which I feel is the strongest aspect of the group at the moment. It was cute hearing them all talk in English and you could tell they practiced really hard! They are all extremely talented and hard working girls! I really liked the set list and was also really happy that they included some old classics. When they sang "I Wish" I got teary eyed, it really stirred my emotions and reminded me of why I became a fan in the first place. My favorite song from the current lineup is 'Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai' 君の代わりは居やしない so I was really pumped when they performed it, it was fun chanting Nippon Nippon Nippon! I was so happy being in the audience, chanting the same way fans do at Morning Musume concerts that I have only seen on DVD. It was such an honor to be surrounded by other overseas fans. The girls wore american themed costumes which was a nice touch and a detail that was very much appreciated! One of the main highlights was Sayumi's solo (she sang a song I had never heard of) where everyone had their pink glow sticks up, creating a sea of pink lights It was truly magical! The main highlight for me was that the legend himself, Tsunku つんく♂ was sitting 2 rows in front of us! I would have loved to have met him in the handshake event as well! It was so surreal watching the concert and sitting so close to the man who started it all, and wrote all of the amazing songs that were performed on stage! Satoda Mai 里田 まい was also in the audience next to him but I had no idea!
Finally, the time came to meet the girls at the handshake event. I would consider myself a more of a casual fan, so I don't have a favorite member other then Sayumi for nostalgic reasons. However, I have always be drawn to Suzuki Kanon 鈴木 香音 for her down to earth and goofy persona and Ishida Ayumi 石田 亜佑美 for her natural charisma and dancing ability. I wasn't sure how to feel because I'm not a super fan of the girls the way I was back in the day. As the staff were setting up the tables I started to get really nervous. Since I didn't think I would get a cd in the first place I was not prepared at all. I hadn't practiced my Japanese and I just had no clue what to say to any of the girls, since I honestly didn't know much about them. When it came to my turn to meet them, I was very flustered and blurted out a bunch of random things like "Thank You" "Arigato" "I came from Toronto" "Have fun in New York" Most of the girls just looked confused because I barely spoke any Japanese (shame on me!) I was wearing my name tag from the Hello!Base party the night before and Haruna Iikubo はるなん addressed me by my name! I can't remember exactly what she said, but I know she said "Maria" I was so stunned and happy that she looked and my name tag and said my name in English! She was very engaging and very sweet! I really like her now :) Ayumi was also very sweet even though I was talking really fast in English, I was going on about how amazing she was at dancing or something like that! When I got to Sayumi I tried to tell her that I had been a fan of Morning Musume for a very long time, but I had a feeling that she didn't get the message. She looked tired and jet lagged so I felt bad! I did a little bow and then ran off, I was very nervous and felt silly! I was a bit disappointed on how my interaction with the girls went. It seemed some of them were annoyed that I didn't try to speak Japanese, but maybe I'm just being paranoid. The staff were quite pushy and were hurrying us along so it was hard to make a connection with anyone. It all went by so fast that I can barely remember all of the interactions. In any case, I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to see them up close. It was the icing on the cake to the experience
My goods from the event, I wanted to get a t-shirt and towel, but when I was in the merch line they were only selling the cd because they wanted hurry the crowd so that they could get fans into the concert hall before the show started. When I came back after the show everything had sold out
The rest of our trip consisted of my aunt showing us around the city, we visited Soho, Little Italy, China Town, Strawberry Fields, and the Highland Gardens! We also went Karaoke and sang a bunch of Hello! Project songs! Here are some highlights:
Thank you モーニング娘。 '14 for traveling so far from your home to make one of my dreams come true! I can finally say that I have seen the group live! I hope one day I will see a concert with all of the OG members and that I can finally go to Japan
Here we are at the end of our trip waiting to board the plane back to Toronto! We will be back in November to see PERFUMESo excited!!
I finally got my limited edition copy of 'Cling Cling'
This release is different from their regular special edition singles, because this one came in beautiful box packaging <3 Check out the photos below :)
The main cover is a 3D hologram!
I really love when special edition singles come with a photobook! It has lots of beautiful images from thier 'Cling Cling' PV shoot
The Tracklist:
1. "Cling Cling" 2. "Hold Your Hand" 3. "DISPLAY" 4. "Ijiwaru na Hello (いじわるなハロー)" 5. "Cling Cling" (Original Instrumental) 6. "Hold Your Hand" (Original Instrumental) 7. "DISPLAY" (Original Instrumental) 8. "Ijiwaru na Hello (いじわるなハロー)" (Original Instrumental)
My favorite track would have to be 'Hold Your Hand' I really love the upbeat tempo and the 80's instrumentals. I reminds me of Kylie Minogue's older songs, that were produced by Stock Aitken Waterman. The Single has a great selection of songs and offers more then the average j-pop single (usually there is an A-Side and a B-Side, however this has twice the amount of songs!)
'Cling Cling' has very catchy instrumentals, I find the main melody to be a bit simple, but it's still very fun and the overall song has a very epic and exciting atmosphere :) 'DISPLAY' really showcases Yasutaka Nakata's production style, with the thudding electronic base line. I really like the PV that goes along with this song. いじわるなハロー is also very catchy with a fun mellow style chorus then goes into a heavy electronic beat during the instrumental break, it's different and refreshing. I also like the scale melody instrumental that repeats and echos! I also really enjoy listening to the instrumental tracks and getting the full experience of the audio production.
I was hoping that DISPLAY would be a full video, the preview looks amazing! I hope they release the entire video soon! The 'Cling Cling' PV is very different from what I normally expect from Perfume. It has very interesting lighting as is set in an a Chinese Flea Market with blazing city lights. Usually Perfume's PV's have a very minimal and modern style to them. It's interesting to see them take their visual style in a different direction. The costumes are really beautiful!
Other features on the DVD give us a glimpse into a small tour they did earlier this year, showing fans and staff participate on stage. I hope to attend a concert that is similar to this, as it looks more intimate.
They were dancing so much and so aggressively, I bet they were really worn out afterwards haha
I got tickets in the balcony this time to avoid another 'Perfume' situation, and it was a great view, I could actually see stuff... yay
Other highlights for me were numbers from Final Fantasy 13 (Which I didn't think I would enjoy as much) and 14 which I was pleasantly surprised! It was very epic with the vocals of Susan Calloway is was so amazing and epic, possibly the best part of the show! Susan Calloway also performed songs from Final Fantasy 8 (Eyes on Me) and Final Fantasy 9 (Melodies of Life) But her performance with the music of Final Fantasy 14 was the best hands down! I will have to listen to the soundtrack now for sure!
So cute! They rotate the museum section of the shop with different displays 
Security had to yell at everyone to back up because people were crushing one another. It was so insane and so out of control, and honestly I was not expecting this kind of behavior from people who call themselves fans of Perfume.. It was nothing like entering the Morning Musume'14 concert. We decided to skip getting merch and make getting a good spot our main priority. I knew that you could buy official merch online 
How could we be so close to the stage and not see anything you ask? Well we were behind this taller guy who constantly had his arm up throughout the concert, blocking most of our view. To top it off, a really tall girl, quite possibly one of the tallest girls near the front, eventually shifted herself right in front of me so all I could see was her back 0__0 I mean, I could see Perfume, but only through the spaces between peoples heads, and that’s on my tipy-toes leaning back and fourth, side to side. It was uncomfortable, is was frustrating, it was disappointing.
During "Spring of Life" which is one of my favourite songs, a guy from behind me got a button from his sleeve caught in my hair. I spent most of the song trying to untangle myself and he wasn't really making an effort to help me. I was being yanked around while he was waving his arms. NOT FUN. 
