Just got back from Japan last night after a few day stay. It was short but sweet, my friend and I went for the sole purpose of seeing the 10th Anniversary concerts at Budokan!

We flew into Japan the evening of the 5th, checked into our hotel and immediately headed out to Budokan, just a few minutes away on foot. Unfortunately it was extremely windy and soon became very rainy, but the ELT banner was up so it was worth going even if our umbrellas did little to no good.


Ah, that banner was a beautiful sight on a cold, dark, wet night!


Things looked much nicer the next morning.

We had managed to get nice tickets for the 7th on Yahoo! Auctions, but we'd run out of time on getting them for the 6th, which left us at the mercy of resale shops for the 6th (buying tickets the day of the concert). Luckily we found a pair that would satisfy us and the day's tension eased off.


There is a ticket of a performance today.

After a successful morning in Shibuya we headed back to the hotel to drop off our loot. Being right near Budokan meant that every time we went to or from our hotel we'd take a few minutes extra to check out the scene there.


There they are setting up the merchandise stands for the tour goods.


A few ELT items I picked up at bargain prices at RECOfan. ^_^

We went back to Budokan awhile later and things had gotten a lot more lively but still not crowded yet. We each bought one of each of the tour goods (quite a hefty sum of yen) and hung out awhile, taking pictures and videos.


Large bouquets were now out, with lots of J-Pop senders. Misono, TRF, Mihimaru GT, etc. I forget who all's names I recognized.


Awesome lighting with Budokan all lit up and the sky dark. The picture doesn't do the moment justice, I'm afraid.

We also each grabbed a copy of the Crispy Park DVD which we've been dying to see ever since we attended the concert back in December. Ah, I can't wait to relive it, I'm gonna have to watch it tonight! Anyway though, there were two TV screens showing the concert and the audio was blasting the premises in full ELT glory. We hung around to watch SCARLET, SWEET EMERGENCY and Asu no Kokoro before heading back to the hotel to drop off the tour goods and grab our tickets and binoculars.

It was great being back in Budokan (we'd been there in December to see HY perform), that place is so awesome. The stage had long walks on both sides, extending right out to the first floor (first floor is up from the arena seats below). A large, rounded curtain hung around the stage with the big ELT 10th Anniversary logo on it. Wish I could have snuck a camera in with me...

The tickets we'd picked up earlier that day would have had us far off to the right (Ichiro's side) on the first floor and given us a REALLY up close seat when the members came out to those sides, but when we got there we found those seats had been covered and we were moved down to the arena, pretty far back but not too bad. Oh well.

Concert Tracklist:
Opening
Feel My Heart
Future World
JUMP!
Talk Segment
Daisy
UNSPEAKABLE
Talk Segment
Face The Change
For the moment
Kiwoku
Talk Segment
Necessary
FOREVER YOURS
RESCUE ME
SWEET EMERGENCY
AMBIVALENCE
Fragile
Time Goes By
Talk Segment
Free Walkin'
Shapes of Love
Talk Segment
Mata Ashita

ENCORE
Deatta Koro No Youni
Hi-Fi Message
Dear My Friend
Over and Over (instrumental played as people left the place)

Note: I'm not bothering to check on proper capitalization on song titles

The opening was cool, nothing too exciting but I liked it. The two large screens on each side of the stage played a video showing grassy fields, trees and carnival lights. The camera moves through and around the scene with transparent animal shapes (silhouette like) and such here and there. It goes on for awhile with some fireworks and then reaches a stage where there's transparent silhouettes of ELT. Finally, lights behind the stage curtain illuminate the two of them from behind, casting real versions of the same silhouettes against the curtain. Feel My Heart starts up, the curtain drops and the crowd goes wild! ^_^

The whole concert was absolutely magnificent of course! It was so sweet, I thought, that they did so many of the really old ones. The high point of the concert for me was Necessary, Rescue Me and Forever Yours, which I wouldn't call a medley, but they just packed the three of them together with each blending into the other non-stop. Then with that feeling of ecstasy built up they hit hard with Sweet Emergency (which is a much Sweeter Emergency (longer and even more awesome) in concert if you didn't know) and Ambivalence. OMG! These five songs in a row, it was almost too much!

Coolest single moment was during Free Walkin' when Ichiro raised his hand in that salute fashion he does and looked out over the crowd. Even as far back as we were he spotted the two of us and gave a look that told us he definitely recognized us from the December concert! It was so incredible, and during Free Walkin' of all times!

Flashback to December 6th: We had 6th row tickets but the first three rows were removed to make room for the camera track, so it was actually 3rd row! We were on Ichiro's side, SO close (picks and towels fell near us but alas, we didn't get any of them). We had a lot of eye contact with the members throughout that whole concert, but during Free Walkin' he stayed over on the extended part of the stage, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US FOR THE ENTIRE BREAK! And he gave us this awesome look with raised eyebrows and a smile.

Okay, so yeah, that same sweet moment in Free Walkin' was kind of relived from a distance in the 10th Anniversary concert, so that's why it was the singular greatest moment of the concert. ^_^

And of course, we would get to relive the concert again the next day, the 7th! This time we would be even closer, very much off to the side but 3rd row! While waiting for the concert to start I noticed the guy next to me had ELT playing on his iPod, that was cool. ^_^


The tickets we had bought in advance.


Another shot of Budokan on the 7th.

Incredible concert once again, especially knowing what to anticipate this time. Mochida didn't notice us till near the end during Hi-Fi Message when she was out on the far platform, but she definitely recognized us from the December concert as well once our eyes met. Ichiro though, he spotted us early on during Future World and we got a few glances from him every now and then even though he was on the far side of the stage. Then, if you can believe it, he gave us yet ANOTHER special look during Free Walkin'! Unreal, we got so hyped up! As if the song wasn't awesome enough on its own, it's now become our link to Ichiro-san!


After the concert, a shot of streamers I got, along with my shirt (yeah, I decided to wear it even though it was super expensive), the papers included in my seat, and some unofficial posters being sold on the street.