It's been a few years since Jin broke our hearts and left KAT-TUN, a move that brought a mass exodus from the band that now remains but a shadow of its former self.
Jin left Johnny's Entertainment in 2014 and started and independent label. It was a bold move that had a very small chance of succeeding. Losing both the powerful backing of Johnny's and broken hearted fans behind was definitely a dangerous play. But he was persistent. He was resourceful and he succeeded. Not only has he released albums pretty consistently, but he was able to regain his popularity and success to be able to do 2 back to back concerts at Yoyogi National Gymnasium. A concert hall that can seat over 13,000 people.
One of the more interesting aspects of any concert is always to see the people that come to see the show. Some concerts are easy to decipher. Johnny’s concerts are mostly attended by women, but of all ages. Rock concerts are more mixed and have a dress code of “black” and “any band shirt you can find”. For this concert, the expectations might have been to see more of a Johnny’s turnout, and while there were definitely more women than men, one could not ignore the presence of men and not just as fans’ boyfriends. Men and women of all ages were gathered and excited for the concert. Were they all fans from back in the day? Does it matter?
The stage setup seemed very humble. A big stage with a catwalk leading up to a smaller stage. Two screens on the sides of the big stage. Everything was black, no big sign, no big decorations.
15 minutes later than the scheduled time, Jin came on stage wearing a beautiful three piece suit. He stood under one soft spotlight so as he was barely visible and started to sing Eternal; a soft ballad. His voice was beautiful and soft. Immediately after the song ended, the introduction movie played and after that he played a new song. This song was upbeat and more of a dance tune. After the song ended, Jin did a short M.C section in which he talked about how it’s been 4 years since his indie debut and that he aimed for Yoyogi and achieved it. To celebrate that, he decided do “résumé” of songs and sing older and newer songs, to the delight of the audience.
He then went to do a long medley of about 8 songs where he sang about 2 minutes of each. It was fun and fast paced and left the audience craving for more.
On the main stage you could see blocks of LED screens and great light shows and videos were screened. The smaller stage turned out to be on hydraulics and moved not only up and down but diagonally too. Fans were both in awe and terrified of Jin losing his balance and just rolling down the stage.
During TEST DRIVE, That’s What She Said and Aphrodisiac, Jin got on a small moving platform was rolled around so that every part of the arena, from the very front to the very back got to see him up close. (Some Johnny’s tricks never die).
He sang and even danced a bit to a couple more songs and then went on an M.C break. Unfortunately, Jin is not known for his strong public speaking skills and the M.C felt a bit long and he didn’t really say much. At some point his manager got on stage, gave him a beer and things went a bit more smoothly. They talked about how chances for a tour this year were a slim because of how busy Jin is (he is expecting his second child after all…). They also talked about Jin’s new fragrance and how it might not be the best smelling perfume because Jin likes sweet scents. The fans (who had bought the fragrance. It was sold out) agreed that sweet wasn’t the way to go. Laughs were had and the manager left the stage. Jin then decided to start the next part with a ballad and sang Baby.
As a great surprise, another stage was revealed at the very back of the venue and Jin went to it and joined a real live band who waited for him. They then sang PAPARATS, Mi Amor and the incredible Care. He then went back to the main stage and sang the rest of the songs.
During HEY WHAT’S UP? The song CHOO CHOO SHITAIN kept being mixed in and everyone thought that he would switch to sing that and that maybe Yamada Takayuki would join him on stage. Alas, that was not the case and the songs kept getting mixed, creating a weird but fun remix.
Finally, He closed the show with another new song called Yesterday. It was a soft song entirely in English with a catchy hook.
To the disappointment of the fans, he did not come back for an encore and the fans tried to rebel against the announcement saying the concert was over with cries of “encore! Encore!” to no avail. Jin remained hidden.
Overall, this was a very interesting concert. Jin was on stage by himself for most of the show, only occasionally accompanied by backup dancers. The pacing of the set list was a bit confusing. Starting a concert with a soft ballad and ending it with a new song is very unconventional. But overall, he sounded amazing and gave a good show. He still has room to grow as a solo artist but that’s not a bad thing. Leaving Johnny’s when he did and how he did means he won’t be able to lose that label for a while, and though he doesn’t seem to deny his past, he does not seem too proud of it either and is working hard to distance himself from it. This was most prevalent with the minimal costume changes and the very unprepared M.C.
Johnny’s M.Cs tend to be long commercial breaks with each member promoting their current drama/commercial/movie/etc. Or teasing each other. They’re scripted and precise. The exact opposite of what Jin did during the concert. He did admit that this is his weakest point and that usually during tours he starts the tour awful and end the tour adequate.
Looking forward to seeing more of him and how he evolves in the future.
Set List
01 Eternal
02 (new song)
M.C
03 BASS GO BOOM
04 MY MP3
05 Yellow Gold
06 A Page
07 Christmas Morning
08 Set Love Free
09 TEST DRIVE
10 That’s What She Said
11 Aphrodisiac
12 Sun Burns Down
13 Oowah
14 アイナルホウエ
M.C
15 Baby
16 Love Song
17 Baby Girl
18 PAPARATS
19 Mi Amor
20 Care
21 We the Party
22 Slow
23 Dayum
24 Summer Kinda Love
25 HEY WHAT’S UP? (CHOO CHOO SHITAIN Remix)
26 Yesterday (new song)
Thanks for your review. I order the Blu-ray of this concert already and is waiting for it to be shipped.
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading! Enjoy the concert! :)
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