FES☆TIVE

Joint Mini-Live Report....

The KissBee/FES☆TIVE Mini-Live Doubleheader at Tower Records Shibuya (2018/05/08)

I love when things are convenient. If you read my last couple of posts on my blog (and on the forum), both Wasamin and Minyo Girls appeared at the same mall on the same day this past Sunday, making for a fun and tiring mini-live quadruple-header with my favorite singer, and one of my favorite groups. So when I noticed that both KissBee and FES☆TIVE were performing at Tower Shibuya on the same day, I couldn’t pass up another great opportunity. Not only was I getting “2 for 1,” but I was also getting to see FES☆TIVE’s new lineup for the very first time. Of course I was also going to get a little facetime with both Misaki-chan from KissBee and Hinarin from FES☆TIVE. That’s a big plus since I know they have noticed that I have not been coming to their lives nearly as much as before.



I headed out in the late afternoon, just before the rains came. By the time I got to Shibuya Station the storm had established itself over Tokyo. My evening started with dinner at Guzman y Gomez, which is an Australian Mexican food chain that has multiple Tokyo locations, including one across the street from Tower Records. I considered going to the new Fatburger, which just opened in the former 109 Men’s building, but I just wasn’t in the mood for a burger at all. KissBee was up first at 6:30pm, followed by FES☆TIVE at 9pm. Jeez, I didn’t know they did in-store lives that late into the evening. I don’t think they make it a habit though, since they were announcing that they would have to shut things down at 10:10pm, regardless of the queue…

KissBee (6:30pm)



This is the release week of KissBee’s 2nd Album, Pop Honeycomb. I made it up to the 4th floor of Tower Records, but not before I was “greeted” by the group on the big video screen in front of the store. The event space was totally packed, and their was a huge queue to buy CDs. I looked around for copies of their new album, but all I saw were their old singles for sale. WTF? This is release week, isn’t it? Moreover, most of the people in line seemed to be buying the group’s old singles. I decided to instead find a spot to watch the show, and worry about the CD later. I was jammed in the back, and couldn’t see anything. However, KissBee ropes off a section for people who wish to photograph the event. (Personally, I hate that they do this, and I think some of the guys who do the photography are jerks) I noticed that the photography section was only half full, so I bee-lined my way over to that section and got a spot just inside the roped off area with a partially obstructed view. This was much better than where I was before. KissBee came out for their usual mic check and rehearsal performance. Misaki-chan eventually spotted me and gave me a little smile and nod.



Most of the songs they performed were from the new album. My favorite has to be the first track LOVE Sugite Shibo~tsu! The other two album songs they seem to be promoting, OKAWARI Paradox, and Kare Ki ni Hana wo are also very nice. Ultimately they did a six-song setlist, with a couple of their older songs tossed in as well. In one of the final MCs of the set, Sakura-chan announced that the album took 1st on the Oricon Daily chart, so the members were all very happy.



They ended the show with their usual janken for prizes, which I have never won. Then the photo-op. Luckily most of the fans in front kneeled down for this (except for the camera jerks I mentioned before) I decided screw it, since I was on the side anyway. I basically stayed upright and got some decent pics, even if I wasn’t very close to the stage. I love as part of their gimmick they all make goofy faces during this segment.



Once the show ended I went straight toward the registers. Their wasn’t a line yet, and I asked if the new KissBee album was behind the counter (it was) I quickly got my copy (as well as an upgraded version of my Tower ponta card) and was able to lineup for the free High Touch. When I got to Misaki-chan she kinda squealed my name much the same way Wasamin always does. Cute!



As for benefits, the general rule on release events is 2 tickets for an unsigned cheki, and one ticket for a handshake where you can get something signed, either the cheki, a photo provided by the member, or on this day the CD. I chose to do the cheki and have my CD signed. While I was talking to Misaki-chan, I was asking her about the new tracks on the album. I knew which songs in the show I liked, but I didn’t know which one’s they were on the CD, so she pointed them out to me. It helped that the song I really like came over the PA just as I was asking, and she was like “This one?” while pointing to the ceiling.


My Type-B version, I still need to go pick up my Type-A copy is Asakusa.

Anyway, I got my Misaki facetime, and my signed CD and cheki. I decided to bail out of Tower Records for a while since it was hot in the store, and I was really thirsty.

FES☆TIVE (9pm)


The new FES☆TIVE: Shin-members (Red, Blue, Green) in front

So while KissBee was promoting their new album release, FES☆TIVE was doing a preorder event for their 7th single, Yamato Nadeshiko Sunrise, which comes out in two weeks. Now the last time I saw FES☆TIVE was one of the last performances of their old lineup before three of their original members graduated. Since then they have added three new members, and based on their official pics all three of them are extremely cute. Especially Doko Ruriko, who happens to be Hinarin’s cousin, and a former member of Tokyo Cheer2 Party. While there was a point where I was wondering if I would be cutting ties with this group after so many graduations, I must admit that the new members have really energized the group, and me as a fan.


Ruriko

The group came out for a non-song mic check. I immediately started checking out the new members since I wanted to see what they looked like in person. The first one who noticed me was Ruriko, who immediately pointed at me and started whispering something to Hinari. And BTW, of the three new members I thought Ruriko was by far the cutest. The other two were cute too though. FES☆TIVE did a quick 4 song setlist with no MCs, aside from a short member introduction at the very end. It turned out they were trying to rush through the event since Tower had put a time limit on it, and I guess Saria could not do chekis after 10pm? So after the show ended, everyone queued up, and Saria almost immediately came out to handle her cheki/handshake line. It wasn’t until around 5-10 minutes later that the rest of the group came out.



The system was quite simply one ticket for a handshake, 2 tickets for a signed cheki+handshake, or three tickets for a 30-second video+handshake. I preordered 2 CDs, and despite the cuteness of the new members, I used them for a signed cheki with my “go-to” girl Hinarin.



I love that Hinarin gets really touchy-feely with me when I visit her. I told her that I love the new members, and they are all extremely cute. Now on one hand, you might think Hinari would get jealous about that. But Hinari was extremely worried when Koto, Yuna, and Miki graduated. It is obvious that she LOVES being in FES☆TIVE, and I think she is relieved that the fans like the new members. I noted that she now has family in the group. (I didn’t know the word for cousin) She told me Ruriko was her itoko, I countered that in English we say cousin, which she repeated back to me. I also mentioned that I really liked the rock and roll style song they performed. Of the four songs they did, I only recognized one of them. I’m not sure if the rock-style one was the new single or not, but she seemed to get really excited when I said I liked it. Finally my time was up, but it is nice that they give you a fairly long time to talk with each member.

And with that it was getting close to 10pm, so I took off after thanking the group staff. I’m not sure if I will be getting to see wither of these groups again this week. FES☆TIVE is scheduled to perform twice at Tower Shinjuku tonight, while KissBee is back in Shibuya at HMV Modi. Technically, I could go to both. But the question is whether or not I want to. We’ll see. In the meantime, I spent the rest of the evening tweeting photos from the event, as well as Minyo Girls’ event on Sunday. The cool thing is that a lot of KissBee’s members react when you post pics of them. I got likes from almost all of the members, the manager, and couple of KissBee West members, and even a “Thank You” reply from Misaki-chan. Yes, idols are awesome!

 

A cute little story....

After pondering how to spend my Wednesday evening, I decided to see FES☆TIVE again at their Tower Shinjuku appearance. If you read the above post, it was a matter of seeing them or KissBee. I like both groups, however the deciding factors were 1) the FES☆TIVE event was closer to where I live, and 2) I get off a little cheaper buying singles than albums. Anyway, FES☆TIVE was performing twice, at 6pm and 8:30pm. I arrived in Shinjuku around 6:45, and had dinner at Soup Stock Tokyo before heading upstairs to the shop. The problem was I misread the schedule and thought the event was at 8pm. There was nobody around the event space, so I disappeared for a half hour and came back...

I was debating whether to buy 2 CDs, and just meet Hinarin, or get 4 and meet with Ruriko as well. Ultimately I decided just to get 2. It was at this point I was informed that we actually had to draw for entry into the event space. I got entry #91...not good. Luckily, #91 ended up being more like #30, so I was pretty close to the stage. Again, it was a relatively short set, four songs with no MCs until the end. Also, the sound system sounded awful, especially during the new song. It was as if the woofers had blown out or something. The girls were also off-key, which made listening to that entire song a painful experience. It's funny, but it didn't sound that bad at Tower Shinjuku. So I'm not sure what to make of it.

BTW, the members were all dressed in seifuku for the appearance, which was a cute change of pace. Anyway, the story....

I was fifth in line to see Hinarin. When it was my turn I told her that I had a lot of fun the previous evening, and wanted to come back and see her again. Her response totally floored me....

She told me she read my twitter post about her the previous evening. She then recited my entire post, almost word for word (in Japanese, of course) She said it made her very happy to read it...

I basically said I went to the event, and all the new members were really cute. However, Hinarin remains my #1 girl in FESTIVE.

I told her I absolutely meant it. Hinarin then went in for the kill and again started hammering me to go to their event on Friday night. I told her that I already had plans to do something else, but I would come to more of the preorder events.



It just goes to show, idols really appreciate when you write nice things to them. Which reminds me, I need to write Wasamin a fan letter. maybe I will write one to Hinarin too.

A couple of other observations, as I watched some of the other members during the hs period...

The new "green" member, Kondo Saeko, is extremely shy.

Ruriko, the new "red," and Hinarin's cousin, is very quick-witted and outgoing. It seems she and her fans were constantly laughing throughout the event.

Finally Piano. Ya know, I have never really watched her interact with her fans before, but she was next to Hinari this time. She gets really intimate. Very touchy-feely. Hinari does that a little bit too, but not nearly to the level of Piano. Piano's flirting definitely hits "Danger" level.

 

Announced tonight...

Shiozaki Reia and Momohara Hiyo will be leaving FES☆TIVE after the release events this Sunday in Akihabara.

This really seems like a sudden announcement, and almost like it might have been a management decision. Don't quote me on that, just a feeling I get.

This leaves Hinarin as the only remaining original member of the group. Quite the change since I saw them in San Francisco less than three years ago. Hinari has already tweeted that she is committed to carrying the torch for the group, although you can definitely sense the sadness in her tweet. My poor Hinarin, she has gone through so much lately.

My guess is they have replacements lined up for them already. We'll see how soon the new members join.

I was planning to go to either their Thursday or Friday event this week. I would love to make it to Sofmap on Sunday, but I already have a busy day planned. We'll see.

 

FES☆TIVE Release Event Live at HMV & Books Shibuya (2018/05/24)

I was trying to decide between two events on Thursday and Friday. One was Keyaki Matsuri, and the other to see FES☆TIVE. Since Keyaki Matsuri is all about beer, I decided to do that one on Thursday just in case I imbibed a little too much it would give me time to recover for Friday night, as opposed to Saturday when I will be at AKB's handshake event. After a couple hours and a few small beers in Saitama, I goa little bored of beer drinking and figured I would go to see FES☆TIVE after all, and one the way I could knock one other thing off of my "to-do" list and pick up all of my single preorders.



I really wanted to see FES☆TIVE this week since the announcement of Hiyo and Reia's pending graduation. Not so much for them, but I could tell that Hinarin was stressing quite a bit over all the changes within the group, and I thought perhaps I could help cheer her up. Anyhow, I still got to Shibuya relatively early, and spent some time in the cafe across the street before going into MODI, I made it upstairs around 20 minutes before curtain, bought two more copies of the CD (which makes 2 of each version for me) and got a spot on the far left end of the rail by the DJ. There weren't very many people in attendance. In fact you could have gotten within 6 feet of the stage up to five minutes before the show, although a few more trickled in at the last minute. I talked to Pin (a FES☆TIVE superfan, who has been going to see them since forever) and she asked my where my friend Anthony was. Apparently Anthony told her that he was coming to see the group with me. I was like "Huh?" When I asked him he said he might be busy. Oh well.



Before the show started Saeko popped out few times for unknown reasons, as did Reia. Well, Reia was talking to the music tech, and playing with his board, LOL. She seemed fairly "devil may care" since announcing graduation. Hiyo-chan seemed unaffected though. One interesting thing, and I didn't know what to make of it, but at one point there was a very pretty girl standing in the back, and the girls asked shop staff to bring her up to the front, which they did. She was standing right next to me, but in the staff area. I was really curious who she was? Was it an idol from another group? Was it the sister of one of the members? (She looked A LOT like Piano) or could it have been a future member??? She was kinda tall, so maybe Hiyo-chan's replacement? Ultimately I don't know, but the girls paid a lot of attention to her throughout the show, and she left right after the final MC.

Another interesting aspect of the show, the new girls are starting to fish me a little bit. First it was Saeko (new green), who was making a lot of eye contact with me and smiling during the rehearsal. Later on it was Minami Marika. (new blue) It seemed like every time I looked her way she was staring right back at me. It just seemed as if she was really trying to get my attention.

It took a while to get the cheki portion of the event started. The girls spent quite a few minutes in the dressing room, then they do group handshake and individual handshake before chekis. I had two tickets, and was first in line to use them both on Hinarin. I was surprised, however, how short ALL of the lines were. Hinari had the longest line, with six people in it. After standing there for over 15 minutes, Piano and Maria's lines were still completely empty, and Saeko's line had one person. WTF?

Eventually it was my turn. I asked the staff to be careful with my bag. Hinari asked why, and I told her there was beer inside. She laughed, and said she could smell the beer on my breath, LOL. (It had been over three hours, I was sober at this point) I asked her how she was doing, and she made the comment about being the only original member left. I told her when I read that I wanted to come see her, and that everything would be okay. It was cute, she dropped the genki demeanor for a few seconds and seemed completely authentic. We also reminisced about San Francisco, when the original group was still intact. At that point I noticed the guy never took our cheki. He forgot...



Hinari called the guy over, and he quickly snapd the pic as I was just turning, and still talking to Hinari, hence the weird facial expression. Unfortunately when she gave me the pic it was hadn't yet completely developed, and she had already signed it, so I felt bad about asking for another one. But I knew the moment he snapped it that it would turn out that way. Oh, and this is the second time a FES☆TIVE photographer has snapped me in mid-talk. In fact the last time I was not even looking at the camera, LOL. I finished off by reassuring her the the future of the group would be good, and that I still support her. And with that I took off.

 

It had been almost a year since I had seen FES☆TIVE. And although I have periodically checked their schedule, I just haven't been motivated to see them. There are a few reasons for that, one of which is that I have been really busy over the last six months. Another reason is that I know many of the original fans have stopped following the group. It seems that since they introduced their new lineup, they have attracted a somewhat different, and quite a bit wilder crowd. (I notice they exact same dynamic occurring with KissBee right now too)

Anyway, I was out in Odaiba for Oktoberfest, and kept hearing various idol groups performing out in the distance over at the Niku Festival next door. I didn't think too much of it since I didn't remember seeing any of the groups I liked scheduled to play there. But later that evening I decided to check the Niku Fes performance schedule on my phone, and whaddya know? FES☆TIVE was due to perform in 10 minutes. Despite the steady rain, I decided to walk over their to check them out. I wasn't willing to pay the 2900 yen to get within the fence for a closer view and buppan (Actually, FES☆TIVE has already finished their buppan by the time I got there) Instead I watched from just outside the fence, where I could shield myself from the rain, and still have a decent view. I wrote a brief report, coupled with a report about the KissBee live in Odaiba the day before...

http://www.intlwota.com/chuodori/?p=6303

 

FES☆TIVE New Single Release Event at Tower Records Kawasaki (2019/09/27)

I knew it had been a long time since I had properly seen FES☆TIVE, over 16 months. (I'm not counting my chance encounter with them at Niku Fes in May) Since I knew I would be leaving Japan for an unspecified period, I checked the schedules of all the groups I like to find events to possibly attend. FES☆TIVE just happened to be releasing a new single this week, and had a full schedule of events I could potentially go to. The issue was that I was in the middle of attending a training, and while I could go to most of the lives, it was a question of how tired I would be. I first planned on going Tuesday in Shibuya, but bailed due to feeling exhausted. Same with Thursday, where they were appearing at 9 p.m. at Tower Shinjuku. Too tired. However, Friday was the last day of training, and I felt like blowing off a little steam. So despite Kawasaki being the furthest event from where I live, I decided to go.

I had been to Tower Records Kawasaki a couple times before to see Wasamin and Kiss Bee. It is very close to the station on a posh shopping street. I needed to transfer onto the Tokaido Line at Shinagawa Station, but those trains were running 15 minutes late. I still made it in plenty of time, but the trains were really crowded due to the delays. Arriving in Kawasaki, it dawned on me that the Lazona Oktoberfest was still going on, so I headed over for a quick pint before the show.



BTW it was dark, so I didn't notice until I took a sip that they gave me the wrong style of beer.

I made it to the store around thirty minutes early, and to no surprise it was already packed with fans. This is part of the reason I rarely see FES☆TIVE anymore. All idol groups seem to go through a similar cycle, and at some point the group crosses a threshold of popularity where the younger fans begin following the group, which ultimately chases a lot of the original, older fans away. Kiss Bee, another group I like, is going through the same changes right now too. The crowd becomes a bit more rowdy, the lines get longer, and frankly the events are somewhat less fun, at least in my experience. That said, I still love Hinari, and want to support her whenever I can.



I didn't want to stuff myself into the crowd, so I decided to play a subtle 'gaijin card' by standing at a CD listening bar (with a great view of the stage) checking out the new Blink-182 album. (It was pretty good) I was a foreigner, and I was wearing a suit, so I'm sure nobody thought I was there to see the mini-live. In fact, a few fans began milling around me as if they were waiting for me to finish listening to the CD and leave. My cover was almost blown when I saw a representative from Tokuma who knows me from Wasamin's events, but he was so busy that he paid me no mind. Eventually the group came out for a rehearsal...

Uh, oh. Where's Hinari??? She wasn't rehearsing with the rest of the group. I quickly checked Twitter. Hmm, she said she was in Kawasaki, she asked everyone to come see her. Just then, one of my old FES☆TIVE-friends Pin came into the shop. She didn't even notice me until a grabbed her as she passed me. I asked her about Hinari, and she was sure Hinari would be performing. Pin asked me if I had purchased CDs yet, which I hadn't since I wasn't sure if Hinari was there. It turned out she had extra tickets, and sold me a couple of hers (and gave me one CD) so I was set! Eventually the girls came out for the main live and passed right by me but Hinari had her head down the whole time.


My buppan tickets

They did a five-song set. I am fairly sure all the songs they performed were relatively new, which meant I never heard any of them before, including the new single which I heard the first time during rehearsal. To be honest, I thought all these new songs were much better than their early stuff. A little more edgy and intense, slightly less "cute." So in that respect I am really happy about the group's direction, although the new single, Haretoke, Appare Japanese is very cute.


if the video does not show watch the video here
The new single MV

Hinari eventually did notice me standing toward the back, and waved to me a couple times during the show. Pin gets really into the calls. Unfortunately I was unfamiliar with all the songs, so I just followed her lead. Eventually the show ended, and this time Hinari did wave to me as she walked by. The Tokuma rep also finally noticed me, commenting that he'd never seen me in a shirt and tie before. I told him I wanted to become a salaryman; "Honto???" LOL

Everyone went where they thought the buppan lines would form, but then staff informed everyone that the lines were forming on the other side. There was a bottleneck to get over to the queues, but I took the long way around ending up 9th in line to see Hinari. Pin wasn't nearly as lucky, ending up much further back. It was an almost 30-minute wait for the girls to come back out for buppan. It was hot in the store too, so not the most comfortable wait. It ended up being 10-15 minutes before my turn.



I wasn't sure how Hinari would react. I know in situations like this, where a fan hasn't been around for a long time they are thinking "Where the hell have you been!?!?" In fact, I heard from other fans that Hinari had been complaining about a lot of her fans abandoning her when the group went through their major lineup change. But ultimately idols are just happy you have returned, as was Hinari since she had a huge smile on her face when I came over. I essentially filled her in on what's been going on with me over the past year. By the way, she smelled incredible! I'm not sure what kind of lotion or perfume she was wearing, but I could clearly smell her all over my hands and shirt for the rest of the night. I am guessing there may have been some pheromones present in the scent too, since I felt as if I was under her spell. LOL.



After that I went back to the station for dinner. Panda Express! I knew I had a long ride back, and there were a lot of people on the platform, so I splurged for a 'Green Car' ticket, which is like a luxury train car. I am so glad I did too since the entire train was packed for most of the ride, and meanwhile I was dozing off in my comfy reclined seat. FES☆TIVE have more events this weekend, although I am probably going to miss them. However I will try to not let so much time go by before the next time I pay Hinari a visit.

 

if the video does not show watch the video here

Just checking if this type of video link works. I went to see FESTIVE for the first time since 2019. Needless to say, Hinari was excited to see me