Four fans, Suzanne from Australia, Daniel from Mexico and Hitoshi and Kenji from Japan share their impressions, expectations, feelings and reactions from the last BABYMETAL shows of the World Tour 2016 at Tokyo Dome on September 19 and September 20. Four fans from the one hundred ten thousand fans who gathered for the biggest BABYMETAL show to date! Read the reviews below!
BABYMETAL at Tokyo Dome reviewed by fans from Australia, Mexico & Japan
BABYMETAL RED NIGHT & BLACK NIGHT - REVIEW BY: DANIEL FUENTES FROM MEXICO CITY, MEXICO:
Finally, after a rather hectic year, the time for Tokyo Dome had come.
This was the year I decided, like many other, to follow Babymetal around the globe. With most of the tour being in small venues, I was rather excited to see what a BM show in their homeland would be.
I decided to arrive in Japan a few days before to watch some other idol and rock shows, meeting friends and in general get in the perfect mood before the shows. On the morning of the 19th, me and my friends went to honor the popular Asagaya-Shinmeigu shrine, best known as the place where the Megitsune video was recorded. Among a litany of BM fans there, we felt quite at home, however just a fraction of what would come next as we headed for Tokyo Dome.
Outside the main entrance, and any other entrance, Tokyo Dome was overflowing with activity, resembling much more a festival than a regular show. Huge merch lines formed in front of endless stands soon to be opened, while myriads of cosplayers had their pictures taken next to any fan who wished to ask. People from all over the world ran into one another, recognizing each other, meeting their japanese friends, sharing stories, as if we knew each other since forever. Overall it felt more as if we were attending a party of a common friend than just a concert.
The rain that had been menacing Tokyo for days finally fulfilled its promise and poured on us mercilessly from the early afternoon. But it might as well been raining actual cats and dogs and it would have had little or no effect among the mood of the fans who sat there patiently waiting for the show to begin, revealing the monsoon all over as nothing but a minor nuisance, a tiny prelude for the rainbow of emotions we had all been preparing to for months now.
After a rather messy (and seemingly unnecessary) wait to get in, we reached our seats, which had happily been assigned together. The enormousness of the place was quite impressive, but it wasn’t until the lights went off and Koba’s introduction began that the real dimension of the place came to be. A universe of fans yelling and cheering at each of the announcements showered the venue: No encore, no repeated songs and instructions to wear the neck brace that had just been given to us at the entrance were given. And then the show started.
To the tune of Road of Resistance, the crowd commenced the synchronized roaring that would continue all through the show. The girls, shining in their brand new gold and black suits, appeared on top of the massive structure surrounded by circular flat screens, and used a lift hidden within the structure to quickly come down and do the choreographies and callings we all knew. The spectacle of seeing 55,000 people sing and follow the moves in perfect coordination, not one person quiet, no one person standing still, was overwhelming. As the show progressed into “YAVA!” and “Iine!” the full power of the Japanese concert experience came to be, as thunderous callings from the crowd, singing together at once, made the place rumble in fast echoes that added to the hype of the show itself. The first highlight of the night came when “Syncopation” began with a short melodic intro and it was finally revealed to all the fans not part of the exclusive batch of member lucky enough to assist the OTFGK shows in Japan, not that that stopped them at all of singing the song’s comebacks perfectly as if they had trained for this forever. A stunning moment came during “Amore”, when as Su began to sing, the fans surprisingly sang along with her, something rare in the Japanese fans but quite common in her interpretations of if in the overseas shows. A sudden 1-2 combo hit us all when Black Babymetal showed up right after to deliver a tremendously powerful performance of “GJ!”, a song that seems designed for this precise crowd and venue, only to have Su-metal come back with the powerful “Akumu no Rondo” and once more have Black Babymetal to finish the “show off” part of the concert with “4 no Uta”. To finish this combo in which each of the members of the band had the chance to show us their very best skills with our undivided attention, of course the Kamiband took the stage to deliver the amazing intro to the chaotic “Catch me if you can”. Lacking a circle pit, the mood kept its level as the fans cheered loudly at the song again in perfect unison, making me wonder for the first time if BABYMETAL’s crowd, known for their quick adoption of Metal practices actually ever needed them at all.
The closing combo for the night couldn’t have been better arranged: the two greatest hits “Gimme Chocolate” and “Karate” did their part at making the crowd go completely apeshit to their tunes, ending with a massive call to everyone to jump on their sits during Karate. With the crowd massively hyped after this, the band introduced the long awaited “Tales of the Destinies”. While I had had some concerns regarding the live performance of a song like this, all of these were completely dissipated as I noticed the Kamiband playing it flawlessly (and yes, even more heavily, as live shows tend to be) with Moa and Yui accompanying with a gracious yet energetic choreography that must have been hell to learn, as it followed the song’s rapid changes in a genius way, probably work of the best wits and tricks of Mikiko-metal (and yes, the choreo during the piano part is kawaii AF, so let’s just get that off the table, shall we? lol ). The song integrated seamlessly into “The One” which closed the show with the 55,000 neck braces, now turned into blinking lights, doing the show for the girls, who seemed moved almost to tears by the massive spectacle of their fans shinning together with them from their seats.
The show ended with an announcement for Black Night for the crowd, who proceeded to leave the venue under the now even crueler rain outside. Members of the BABYMETAL Japan fan group had kindly invited me to join them in their after party for their show, so all I can say is that there was no better way to end the night than meeting some of the most hardcore, devoted and cool fans that I’ve ever had the chance to meet.
Now versed in the ways of a rainy entrance to Tokyo Dome, we took our time to arrive and reach our seats in calm yet barely minutes before the start of BLACK NIGHT. This time our group was split in two due to our seat assignments, however this was highly compensated by us getting much closer seats to the stage (row 4 of the mosh’s seats, in fact) which was perfect to witness what was about to happen now.
As “Babymetal DEATH” began playing, the full force of the crowd came into effect, making the stadium roar with their screams as the girls came up from the floor in cruces reminiscent of the infamous ending of Legend 1997. Back into their more ‘metal’ red and black outfits, the girls moved into a much more active, exciting show than the one from the day before, going with the combo “Awadama Fever”-“Uki Uki Midnight”, in which I must admit I completely lost it, as Uki Uki Midnight was the one song the band had to skip during their show in Mexico and they had never played it again in any of their shows I had attended to, so to me it was like the fulfillment of a debt long due. A curious moment followed as “META! Taro” started playing, and it was us, the international fans, who set the rhythm of the crowd’s chants, having the Japanese joining us as for this one tiny moment, we had the experience of hearing it multiple times and had developed our own sing along to it.
Next it came the “show off” combo, starting with the explosive “Sis. Anger” and followed by the long lost “Mischiefs of the Metal Gods”, this time serving as prelude for Su-metal’s deep performance of “Akatsuki”. The first shock came when Black Babymetal took the stage again for an unexpected and perhaps last rendition of “Onedari Daisakusen”, joined cheerfully by a maddened crowd that remembered still every little movement and chant of the song. As if it had not been enough, the shock developed into absolute mindblown ad Su-metal took the stage again to perform “No Rain No Rainbow” for the first time in 3 years. The crowd this time changed rapidly into a dead silence of people absorbed in contemplation of Su’s emotional performance, with a large number of people visibly crying.
The final arc of the show was composed of 4 of the most powerful and crowd leading songs of the band. Starting with “Doki Doki Morning” (not anticlimactic at all after NRNR, despite what common sense would say) and moving on to Megitsune, the crowd began rapidly to shapeshift into a more recognizable BABYMETAL crowd, with people following the dances and cheerfully singing in idolish fashion as if this was no longer a massive event, but rather a tiny, almost familiar show from the early days of BM. This rapidly changed though, as “Headbanger!”, through a rather extended bridge of ‘Hedoban’ calls, quickly evolved into a mass-cult unending bowing and headbanging by fans all across the stadium. Deeply shaken by this event, the crowd joined in a scream instead of a Wall of Death as “Ijime, Dame, Zettai” the big finale, began. Never missing a jump, never holding back a yell, the crowd exploded into mayhem as the song came to an end through a series of repeated calls of “We are BABYMETAL”, as the girls walked from catwalk to catwalk, all over the stage, approaching the crowd as much as possible, completely overwhelmed by the magnificent response in front of them. Yui’s face was almost in tears, while Su-metal kept looking at the crowd with a massive smile and a kind of smug face as if she knew, just knew, that she was queen of everything her eyes could see at the moment. The band took the catwalks for a moment as the girls took the lift to the top of stage to finish the show by hitting a massive gong, marking the end of what (not so) arguably might have been the very best BABYMETAL show of all times.
No major announcement followed the end of the show and quickly and efficiently the crowd was dispersed out of the stadium in almost mathematical order, section by section, in a matter of minutes. This order however was overturned by the general feeling in the whole city after the show: No matter where we went, which train we took, which bar we hit, which street we walked, we continuously ran into fervent BABYMETAL fans throwing kitsunes at their unknown comrades whenever they saw them pass. The city at night came to be, for a short, ethereal moment in time, the world BABYMETAL had promised to us all, a world united by their music, a place where everyone, everywhere, would join you in happiness at the realization that we are, unquestionably, THE ONE.
Following the shows, I found some uncertainty among the fans in the form of: “What can they possibly do NOW? What can possibly follow Tokyo Dome? There’s nowhere else to go from here!” Perhaps now, finally BABYMETAL is truly entering unknown territory. No phenomena as this has come to be before and certainly it will be a while before it happens again. What I do know is that, after that night, it will no longer be BABYMETAL leading the way and us following. It is us, we and them, who symbiotically create the path now (whether Kobametal, the press or the fans like to believe it or not). After that night, THE ONE might have taken a whole new meaning for us all. And I can’t wait to see what’s out there for us.
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BABYMETAL BLACK NIGHT - REVIEW BY: KENJI SEKINO FROM TOKYO, JAPAN
At a few minutes past 7 o'clock, Judas Priest's "Leather Rebel" faded out halfway and gave way to Koba-Metal's recorded pre-show speech. On a big screen he declared setlists of 2 nights would be completely different. It had been kept secret and I had avoided any report from the previous night, so it was a huge surprise. He also predicted no MC, no encore.
After a new video introduction of BABYMETAL saga, the show actually started with "BABYMETAL Death". I recognized Kami Band on the stage but not any of BABYMETAL.. Then, from each end of 3 aprons, I saw Su-Metal, Yuimetal and Moametal arising respectively fixed to a cross. My jaws dropped. Never seen so shocking and impressive opening of a gig. None more metal! But BABYMETAL pulled no punches. Upbeat "Awadama Fever" and "Uki Uki Midnight" followed and received frenzied reaction.
"META! Taro" 's Scandinavian folk metal-like warm melody was also well-received. With a video introduction about anger, Yuimeal and Moametal performed "Sis.Anger" that was most brutal moment of the night.
Before Kami Band's instrumental intermission, supposedly taped Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" was played and hit my sweet spot because the song was made famous by Danish metal band Pretty Maids. Check out their "Fortuna -Back To Back" medley for pure headbanging heaven!
Then it was Su-Metal's turn to show her presence. Her solo song "Akatsuki" was the most moving moment of the night. Its soaring melody, lyrics about immortality of love, Su's gorgeous red cloak and her confident performance sent shivers down my spine. Superb!
"Onedari Daisakusen" followed and again it was Yui and Moa's show. They proved they can shine on their own. The crowd responded loudly shouting its choruses.
"No Rain, No Rainbow" was preceded by video introduction and turned out to be the last of 4 songs from "Metal Resistance". Its positive vibe was another highlight of the night.
After double whammy of "Doki Doki Morning" and "Megitsune", "Head Bangya" brought the entire audience into submission. Literally 55,000 people were banging their heads. The biggest mass headbanging I've ever seen!
Neck corsets given to all audiences at entrance were manipulated to shine red during "Ijime, Dame, Zettai". It was a really beautiful sight to see. When the song was over, Su-Metal, Yuimetal and Moametal ran all over the round stage and all aprons and greeted fans with huge smiles. When they started yelling "We are BABYMETAL!", it was clear that the show came to a happy ending.
My only Tokyo Dome show before BABYMETAL was Aerosmith and it was a big letdown. A great band, but magic of their music was lost in such a huge setting. It taught me that playing a 55,000 capacity, the biggest indoor venue in Tokyo is a great feat, but fulfilling audience's expectation is another thing.
But BABYMETAL's answer was simple and logical - just bringing in their biggest stage production ever. And it perfectly worked! Su, Yui and Moa made full use of the round stage, aprons and an upper stage which was very close to Dome's ceiling. It must have scared the hell out of them, but they showed no sign of stage fright. Their confidence apparently reached another level.
As it was my first BABYMETAL gig, I did a lot of homework watching their past shows. But BABYMETAL totally went beyond my imagination. How Can I praise enough the biggest, the most OTT, larger-than-life gig I've ever seen? Fox-godlike!
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BABYMETAL RED NIGHT - REVIEW BY HITOSHI SUGIOKA FROM TOKYO, JAPAN:
I was asked to write about RED NIGHT because another fellow fan from Japan was set to write BLACK NIGHT. As music fan, BLACK NIGHT was better, as personal experience RED NIGHT was better for me. I wrote another Fan Review when I mentioned that one of my colleagues where I work is great fan of Ayami Muto and Suzuka Nakamoto, but not great fan of BABYMETAL. The day Ayami announced her retirement from Idol business she was very sad, so I decided after thinking to invite her to attend to Tokyo Dome. She said yes, so created THE ONE for her and luckly got tickets for RED NIGHT, we attended together.
The night before, I was really anxious so wrote her, let's call her Saki, I wrote Saki and told that I was open to give her one of my BABYMETAL t-shirts to attend with the colours, but she said she wanted to attend early to get the goods, we did it.
On Monday, September 19 (holiday in Japan), rainy day as most of my experiences attending to BABYMETAL events, I went with my Rain Poncho, while she brought a cute umbrella, as we were waiting in the incredible long merchandise line to get the goods around 8 or 9 in the morning, we saw many fans from abroad. We noticed a group of fans from United States, other fans were from Sweden and some from other Asian countries. Saki got all the goods, luckly she is very small so she didn't have problems to get the Tee.
When we gathered at the doors waiting for the great moment, I was anxious to know to stage, it's going to be 360 stage? They are going to play in different stages? When we reached our seats noticed Saki's eyes looking everywhere like shocked, we were shocked, everybody was shocked at the big stage in the middle surounded by 3 big coffins representing the three girls. A few moments before the show, after Kobametal's announcement of different setlists for both nights I wondered if these two shows where actually their last shows in Japan forever. As the lights turned down, and the first sounds of "Road Of Resistance" started to roar, I got scared and decided to keep every single memory from this shows in my mind. Noticed Saki was very concentrated in the show, I felt happy for her.
After "Road Of Resistance", "Yava!" and "Iine", strange intro, in loop repeating chords of what I was expecting to see, "Syncopation". I personally think this is one of their best songs ever created. Su-Metal's voice was on point, YuiMoa choreography and backing vocals perfect, Kami Band better than the album version. Followed "Amore", looked around including Saki all fans very touched by the blue lights and Su-Metal's angelic voice while the notes from the instruments are tearing the sadness from the hearts of each of us there filling our hearts with a overwhelming sense of peace.
Followed "GJ!", "Akumu No Rondo", "Yon No Uta" to lead the intensity and one of the most expected moments of the night. One can't lie, people can't lie, the reaction from the audience when the 4 Gods hit the stage was incredible. Their instrumental was the classic performance, BOH, Mikio and Takayoshi took the stage and made their best while Hideki (obviously, laughs) had to stay playing drums. "Gimme Chocolate", Saki asked for a Call & Response but did't happen, but happend during "KARATE". Suzuka san did the calls in English, giving a sense of overseas artist, her English is perfect and her leadership makes one think if she realized at some point that she was at Tokyo Dome asking to 55.000 fans to jump!
The best moment of the night, possibly was Amore, but not. The moment was when unexpectly BABYMETAL showed off "Tales Of The Destinies", possibly the most complicated track to play live. Thankfully there is a group of GODS behind the girls that make sound easy the most complicated version of "Dream Theater on drugs" as some american fans say. I cannot express the sentiments, just feeling, not thinking! The performance, the choreography part during the piano part, YuiMoa "KAWAII"!! I'm very thankfull to be witness of this legend.
After, followed THE ONE just like the album "Metal Resistance", whispering said to Saki's ear to sing along because this was our song, the song for the fans. As I saw her enjoy the last song while I was touched by the most memorable moment when all corsets showed their secret lights and the Tokyo Dome was illuminated by our love for BABYMETAL through THE ONE.
I waited for this moment to mention the Black with Gold costumes. I didn't like them at first, because was Red Night, but everything made sense when the girls carried with them beautiful gold cloaks to sing with us THE ONE. Everything made sense to me, looked at Saki's eyes and noticed that she was very touched when the song ended like everyone else around us. She said "Why no see you?". I was speechless, I forgot to explain this moment, but she understood. "They leave the stage with no See You when they play THE ONE."
After all, the experience was unique. I can't say how much I enjoyed the show, the BABYMETAL experience. Was my first show attending with a friend, means a lot for me, as fan of BABYMETAL. I hope they keep together and made us cry, enjoy, and smile for many more years. Hitoshi-metal DEATH!!
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BABYMETAL RED NIGHT & BLACK NIGHT - REVIEW BY: SUZANNE NGUYEN FROM BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA:
-RED NIGHT: I said to myself a while back around the time of their first World Tour, if by the time BABYMETAL reaches Tokyo Dome status and they’ve still yet have toured my country, Australia, I’ll definitely be going no matter what. And to think that just merely 2 years later they announced not just one but a consecutive two days one man live show at the one and only Tokyo Dome. As soon as I saw the announcement, I knew this is it. I was desperate to see them so I just have to go. So I started to make arrangements around my university commitments in order to make this trip work. And in all honesty, without the help my friends around the world for finding me tickets to both Red Night and Black Night, I doubt I would’ve made it. I honestly can’t thank them enough and will forever be indebted to their kindness, which once again made me realise the strength of the bond that we share in our Fandom that no other communities out there can compare (cries).
So in the end I made it to the Land of the Rising Sun three days before the actual show dates and by the time Doomsday came around on the 19th of September, I knew things were about to get real. On the morning of Red Night, I met up with a few friends and we headed off to the Asagaya Shinmeigu Shrine, which was where the Megitsune Music Video was filmed at, to give our respects and wish Su, Yui and Moa along with the Kami Band success at their Tokyo Dome shows! The Shrine’s main theater hall, where the Megitsune Music Video was shot, displayed BABYMETAL’s autographs for the public to see. There were quite a number of people there, of course majority of which were BABYMETAL Fans. The Shrine itself wasn’t too big or too small either, just the right size but has a completely sacred aura around it regardless.
After offering our thoughts and prayers to Kitsune Sama, we finally headed over to the prestigious Tokyo Dome! And by the time we got there around 10:00AM, it’s to be expected, the end of the Merchandise line can no longer be seen (laughs). There were people walking around checking out the massive venue, others in BABYMETAL and Kami Band cosplays, everyone was just having the time of their lives. After the exchange for my ticket, I also quickly jumped in line for the Merchandise queue before it got any longer than it already has and by the time I reached the Merchandise booth, some items were already completely sold out T.T (cries). As everything was strictly listed as one of each item per person, I managed to get everything for sale on the board, except for the sold out ones, which I hoped they would stock up for tomorrow’s show. At 12:00PM most Fans have already arrived within the Tokyo Dome grounds wondering around all over the place and by 4:00PM the rain was coming down on us hard, I didn’t have an umbrella so I used my THE ONE Hooded Towel to cover over my head most of the time. Luckily it was also time for the doors to open and venue’s staffs were starting to let Fans inside. The ticket scanning was a long process, after all they did have to get though all 55,000 of us, but it was done in a nice and orderly system. I had tickets to gate 22 which was right in front of the Merchandise tent, so I didn’t have to go very far to line up to get inside. After scanning our ticket, every single person was handed a crystal clear corset as a gift before walking through the venue’s revolving doors. But I still wasn’t truly “inside” yet, I personally bought some gifts for each of the girls so I had to hand them to one of the staff members and signed off some paper work first before heading down the huge hallways to find my block, aisle and seat.
As soon as, I opened up the curtains to enter, a gush of air-conditioning blew into my face and I was overwhelmed by the size of the venue. We quickly found our seat and sat down, I was just constantly internally screaming and crying tears of joy, I can’t believe I was sitting right then and there at that moment. Oh, did I mention that this was my first BABYMETAL concert? And not only that, it was my first concert ever, like I’ve never been to any other gigs up until that very moment. Ever. I was walking in blind, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I just knew it was gonna be awesome (laughs). Looking around the venue, the main stage was set up at the centre of the room, on which a tower like stage rose up with flat circular monitors set up around it and a platform as it top with another mini tower on top of it again. But that’s not all, at the bottom connected to the main staged was three massive coffin shaped catwalks extending outwards towards the audience. The sight of the whole stage production was just breath taking, I would like to say that I shouldn’t be surprised with Amuse Inc.’s stage production anymore, but I can’t help to be overwhelm at the set up every time, it’s just incredible and the show hasn’t even started yet! I was still in such a shocked state that it hasn’t hit me that I’m actually there. To think that 110,000 people from all over the world gathered here tonight and will be tomorrow as well, just to witness BABYMETAL mark a new legend in their history. The audience was mainly split up into four sections: The floor closest to the stage, which was where THE ONE seats were located. The outer edge, which was the second closest to the stage – where we were sitting. On top of us are a small set of balcony seats, which I believe are the VIP seats section. Lastly, on top of that are the big sets of balcony seats.
I felt my heart beat quickens, when KobaMetal’s Music Playlist was turned down, the lights dimmed and the crowd cheered. Despite being a seated event, as soon as the lights went out everyone got off their seat, not a single person in that room dared to sit for what we were about to witness was a sight to be remembered for the rest of our lives. Behold Kitsune Sama’s Messenger, KobaMetal, appeared on the huge monitor screen in front of us and told us that “there will be no MC, no Encore and no Songs will be played twice” within these two days.
After the announcement KobaMetal vanished off the screen and the intro to Road of Resistance broke out through the entire venue! I frantically searched for the girls on the main stage but they were nowhere to be seen, not until I heard the crowd cheered louder that I looked up and there they were. All three girls stood proudly in their new shining Black and Gold Outfits raising their flags at the very top of the tower with pyro started to go off in every direction! Somehow part way through the song the girls managed to get down from the tower onto the main stage, but I still can’t figure out how they did it so quickly, true professionals! Although to my dismay that the call and response section of “Oooh!” was cut shorter than usual, it made sense because it was the opening song, not the usual closing song!
After the grand opening, they jumped straight into Yaba! the crowd went absolutely insane, me included of course! We chanted in perfect sync with Yui’s and Moa’s “Ai No Te” sections never missing a beat!
Next was Iine! the green lasers came on shooting across the venue and the EDM electro pop hit us out of nowhere. As usual the rap section was replaced with a series of “Yo, Yo, Yo!” followed by the call and response of say “Ohhh!” with this time Su yelling out “Tokyo Dome!” then the beat dropped and the entire venue bowed to the melodies of the Death Metal bridge!
After that, the entire venue suddenly quiets down due to an unfamiliar, yet familiar tune ringing out. Everyone was trying to figure out what the next song was and when it finally hit us, the guitar riffs confirmed it – Syncopation! Su’s voice was completely on point for this song, she hit those high notes at Fox God speed like they were nothing to her, outright candies to my ears. We crazily chanted “Suki, Kirai, Suki, Kirai, Suki!” along with Yui and Moa throughout the song, it was a complete madhouse!
Yui and Moa then went in for a short break and Su grew wings! That’s right, Power Metal track Amore was next and Su easily nailed it. It was the calm before the storm!
Then Su disappears off stage and the heavy kicks come in whilst the audience clapped in tune and BLACK BABYMETAL comes out under the platforms for GJ! The girls powered through their rap verses one after another and in between there was an extended call and response of “Motto Motto Hora!” in which we happily returned!
For the following song, Yui and Moa once again disappears and the Queen comes back out to haunt the crowd with Akumu No Rondo, her daunting dark voice froze every soul in the room. I had goose bumps throughout the entire song, it was just remarkable!
After the dark performance Su goes back in and out comes back the epic duo for Yon No Uta! As soon as the drum beats started the crowd echoed “Yon! Yon!” in unison and cheers broke out when Yui and Moa were in sight, to say that people were going crazy is an understatement. Like Budokan, the centre stage rotated from time to time and the girls did an extended version of the call and response section and went around each corner of the stage to interact with the audience, it was adorable!
Next up, the girls handed the spot light over to the Kami Band for their solo! Consisting of the usual lineup of Takayoshi and Mikio on Guitars, Boh on Bass and Hideki on Drums! The musicianship of the Kami Band is absolutely phenomenal as they say, to be able to finally hear it live with raw sounds was just on another whole new level. Takayoshi, Mikio and Boh each walked out onto the coffin shaped cat walk to do their solos and they all ran back to the main stage during Hideki’s solo. The girls appeared from underneath the platform rising up whilst chanting “Hai! Hai! Hai!” along with the audience! Around half way through the song there was a new call and response section which we easily adapted to, there was just no limit to the three girl’s energy, unbelievable!
This is the part where I swore I felt the entire room shook and the roof blew open, as soon as the intro to Gimme Chocolate was on… Oh My Fox God, the crowd went berserk! Unfortunately, there was no call and response during the end but that didn’t stop the energetic Fans from going all out! Finally the lead single of Metal Resistance, Karate, was played! During the call and response section Su asked quietly in English “How are you feeling today, Tokyo Dome?” we responded in the best way we could, showing them how happy we truly were to be there by screaming on the top of our lungs! When Su asked us to put our “Hands in the Air” there was like a sea of hands in the air but that’s not all, when Su told “Everybody Jump” the entire venue felt like it was shifting due to the incredible force and I just love the feeling of it!
Suddenly, the monitor flashed red, little lasers were bouncing around and a video was played on screen. I couldn’t believe it, it just couldn’t be. They hinted and made references to the lyrics of Tales Of The Destinies in the video, like there was just no way they were gonna play Tales Of The Destinies now…! When the video was over, there was a voice saying something I couldn’t really make out, but it sounded like the voice opening of Sis. Anger? But if it really was Sis. Anger I would’ve noticed the citing of the Book of Revelations. But it wasn’t it, then there was a countdown of 5 4 3 2 1… and boom! The intro to Tales Of The Destinies rang out and the audience just lost it! I still can’t believe that they debuted Tales Of The Destinies live right in front of me! Su’s voice was beautiful on this song, but I did noticed a few off key notes, but that’s to be expected it’s the first time they ever played this song live so they haven’t had experience with it much yet. And the piano solo on this song…! Argh, Yui’s and Moa’s choreography for this part of the song is the absolute cutest! I just can’t! You all just have to see it for yourself! I would love to have taken a photo or video of that moment but we followed the rules of Camera, Dame, Zettai (laughs)!
As Tales Of The Destinies slowly faded out, but not completely, as it led straight into The One exactly like on their Second Album, Metal Resistance! And within an instant the entire venue lit up bright white thanks to our corset and the girls appeared in Sparkling Black and Gold Cloaks, the entire venue went wild! But I was panicking because mine didn’t lit up (cries)! So when you’re watching the BluRay and find a black dot in the crowd that’s probably me, I’m sorry ><! Apparently there was this white tab I had to pull off before the show, but I didn’t know about it until then, so I desperately tried to pull it off with the help of my friends standing around me and after a while, like already half way through the song, we finally managed to get it off (laughs)! And it finally lit up brightly like everyone else’s~ Su sung the lyrics in English with Yui and Moa coming in with perfect harmonies! I could see the tears in the girl’s watering eyes when the camera zoomed on in each of their faces and projected it on the big monitor. Everything was just so beautiful and when we reached near the end of the call and response section of “La, La, La, La~!” which was extended, to the point where I could no longer feel my arm fist pumping in the air! At that very moment, it finally hit me that I was actually there experiencing it live. It was such a breath taking sight. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it, just wow.
The show ended with a big flash of fireworks that exploded on the centre stage and all three girls disappeared without a trace. No “see you~”, just nothing left but the monitor displaying “BABYMETAL WORLD TOUR 2016 LEGEND – METAL RESISTANCE – 9.20 – BLACK NIGHT – TOUR FINAL AT TOKYO DOME” for tomorrow’s show. Me? I just fell back down into my seat and cried >< I didn’t know what to do, like woah, I just seen BABYMETAL live for the very first time in my life and it’s their biggest show up to date. What was I supposed to feel?! Then we were asked to leave by the security, because our entire block has already left without us, it was completely empty (laughs). So we slowly made out way out in a civilised order to our meeting point for the After Party, but that’s another story (laughs).
-BLACK NIGHT: I was stoked, ready for round two! So I decided to come to the Tokyo Dome venue much earlier than yesterday in order to hopefully get the rest of the Merchandise that I missed out on the previous day. I noticed the “Sold Out” sign that was there yesterday was removed, so I was relieved to confirm that they did in fact stock up for today. That’s when I also realised that the Merchandise booth does not open until 1:00PM today and it was currently 8:00AM at the time. So I stood around and talked to a few BABYMETAL Fans and then went off to Trio in Akihabara to see some of their other BABYMETAL Merchandises on sale. Due to the heavy rain, it took me longer than I expected to get back. So by the time I returned back to Tokyo Dome and lined back up in the Merchandise queue in the rain, it was already 2:00PM and the items I wanted was already Sold Out again, much tears… (cries). So I ended up purchasing a few other extra things that my friends asked me to get for them on their behalf.
At around 4:00PM the typhoon that has been headed towards Tokyo for days hit us head on, but a little water and wind wasn’t going to stop any BABYMETAL Fans from attending this show! The area around the venue was just as busy as ever regardless of the strong wind and heavy rainfall! When 5:00PM came around, the staff has opened up the door and started to let Fans in. Today, my ticket gate number was 20, so I headed off to queue up there and like yesterday, after they scanned my ticket they handed me another crystal clear neck brace before walking through the rotating doors of the venue. I walked down the venue’s hallway, found my aisle opened up the black curtains and once again I was greeted with the sight of the amazing stage set up from yesterday’s show. I continued in and excitedly found my seat to be much closer to the stage than it was yesterday. I quickly noticed there was a massive black cloth covering the end of each of the three coffin shaped catwalk. I thought maybe the girls will appear from under there? I sat listening to KobaMetal’s Music Playlist whilst watching Fans fill up the sold out 55,000 capacity venue. Up until once again the music was turned down, the lights dimmed out and everyone got up from their seat.
It was the second time I’m experiencing this and yet my heart rate would still not slow down at all (laughs). KobaMetal once again appeared on the huge screen like yesterday he told us that “there will be no MC, no Encore and no Songs will be played twice” within these two days.
After KobaMetal disappeared, the Kami Band launched right into BABYMETAL Death and as I predicted, the black cloth were removed and the girls rose from underneath the stage on a platform! This time they were back to their signature Black and Red Outfits! But what surprised me was that they were tied to a cross at the end of each of the coffin shaped cat walk! It was a sight to behold, what a time to be truly alive! When the platform came to a complete halt, the girls broke off from their crosses and ran to the centre stage and danced violently! Way to start off a show, just pure awesomeness all the way through!
The girls leapt straight into Awadama Fever right after that epic opening and left us with our jaws agape, speechless (laughs). Everyone chanted in “Aaah Yeah…!” and did the bubble choreography over their heads in unison along with the girls, was just an astonishing sight!
Lasers were on, that’s right, next was Uki Uki Midnight! The girl’s choreographies were absolutely top notch during this song. They performed cheerfully with bright smiles through the entire song.
All of a sudden heavy viking metal beats kicked in and a heavy voice growled “Meta!” the crowd cheered loudly completely overjoyed to recognise the familiar beats – Meta Taro! I was pleased to hear Yui’s and Moa’s solo lines sung perfectly loud and clear. The way the entire venue did the salute choreography along with the girls was just astounding!
When the lights went out and the room was just a void of darkness, a video appeared on the screen “Burn! Burn! Burn Your Anger!” and the Books of Revelation could be heard cited, yup, its BLACK BABYMETAL time with Sis. Anger! The girls danced so aggressively that I could feel the badass and power emitted from them pulling me in (laughs).
As the two girls disappeared off stage, the Kami Band took over with Mischief Of The Metal Gods! Today’s lineup was Takayoshi and Leda on Guitars, Boh on Bass and Hideki on Drums. It’s been a while since Leda performed with BABYMETAL, so I was surprised to see him there. I felt the instruments vibrations all the way from where I was standing! The Kami Band once again showed their raw talents and skills as a musician, it was just amazing to see, hear and feel all together at once!
After a heated buildup from the Kami Band solo, the sound of the piano rang out across the room and calmed the audience, which lead onto the intro of Akatsuki. Su’s voice just pierces through the silent crowd and then the instrumentation kicked right back in raising the tension all the way up again, with pyro shooting out from all sides around the stage!
Next up, the crowd welcomes BLACK BABYMETAL back to the stage for Onedari Daisakusen! I was totally caught off guard when this song came on, I didn’t think they would play it after dropping it from the set list last year and the video yesterday that bid “Goodbye Father”. This was the first time they’ve played it this year, I missed this song so much. So I was really pleased to be able to see thing song being played!
The next song was just straight up right in the feels. Su sung No Rain, No Rainbow live for the first time in two years since Budokan Black Night. There was a clear noticeable difference in her vocal range, she is much more in control of her voice now than she was back then. When she sung the chorus tears just started to stream down my face out of nowhere. I did not know why that happened, I wasn’t even thinking about it. I guess my heart just responded to what I was seeing and hearing (laughs). The performance of this song was just perfect, I could not pick up a single flaw at all.
If the last song made me cry myself to sleep, the next one totally woke me up! Yui and Moa came back to stage to join Su for Doki Doki Morning and the whole venue came back alive again! We all did the “Ring, Ding, Ding!” part together at the same time!
When this song came up, I literally screamed, it’s my absolute favourite song that turned me into a BABYMETAL Fan, Megitsune! The intro alone gave me goosebumps, not to mention the rest of the song. I can’t believe I finally heard this song live, after listening to it on studio version for years! Towards the end Su told us to “Jump! Jump! Jump!” and that’s exactly what we did, at that moment I felt like we tore the entire Tokyo Dome roof down!
Next up was Headbangya! it’s just on a whole new level of awesomeness. There was an extended call and response of “Hedoban! Hedoban!” towards the end of the song, which we easily complied to and sang along. Many of THE ONE seated members actually got down on their knees and bowed towards the stage. I thought our corset would light up during this song because it would’ve made perfect sense but it didn’t!
Lastly, it was time for the finale. Su spoke of a different intro in English for Ijime, Dame, Zettai! Unfortunately, due to the way the venue was set up, no Wall of Death could be formed for the song, but regardless of that, the crowd was still amazing. A sea of Fans doing the “Dame Jump” in unison is insane! Towards the end of the song, the entire venue lit up! This time with red lights around our neck instead! I noticed drones flying around trying to get the best footages, so I’m super keen to watch the BluRay and relive the moment all over again!
The girls closed the show with their typical “We Are…!” in which the crowd responds with “BABYMETAL!” they went out onto the end of each catwalk to say it! I suddenly felt really sad, because I know it was coming to an end. I felt tears starting to form in the corner of my eyes, every time I scream back “BABYMETAL!” but as they came out on the last catwalk right in front of me, something unfortunate but cute happened. As Su was coming down the steps she slipped and fell on her backside! Everyone in the audience gasps, in fear for her safety! But she recovered and got back up so quickly that I had to ask my friend next to me to confirm if it really just happened (laughs). Yui came down after Su and almost slipped as well but managed to save herself from falling. Moa was happily walking down penguin style but her facial expression changed immediately when she noticed Yui almost falling. Su kept on walking towards the end of the catwalk. Moa came over to Yui’s side to support each other and they walked together, that’s when Yui almost slipped again but this time Moa caught her and they held each other. When that happened Yui let out a small squeal in surprise causing Su to turn around and look at them as she waited for both of them to catch up to her!
When they reached the end of the catwalk, Su repeated “We Are…!” and we responded “BABYMETAL!” then she looked over to Yui and Yui nodded. Su handed Yui the mic and Yui had a go at saying “We Are…!” and of course we responded with “BABYMETAL!” then Su looked back over at Moa and Moa nodded. However, Su refused to give the mic to Moa to give her a turn and kept it for herself instead. Moa slapped Su’s shoulder lightly a few times because she wasn’t being fair with the mic (laughs)! At that point I just looked like an idiot, because my face was a mess due to all the tears and I was breaking into laughter because of what just happened. I honestly didn’t know how to feel anymore, whether I should be sad or happy (laughs). So then what happened next was, Moa used her own mic with a bright smile to say “We Are…!” and once again we responded with “BABYMETAL!” When the girls were heading back to the main stage, they made sure to walk very carefully in order not to slip. Except Moa, who was doing her usual penguin walk and almost dive in head first before coming up the steps but managed to keep her balance (laughs).
Next, Takayoshi, Leda and Boh came down to each of the catwalk for their last solo. As Leda was coming down he also slipped at the exact same spot that Su has slipped earlier! This caused him to do a roll and he quickly recovered whilst staying in character, such amazing professionalism! Whilst everyone was busy watching the Kami Band, no one has noticed when the three girls made their way back up to the top of the tower until they called out “We Are…!” for one last time and we screamed back “BABYMETAL!” that’s when a massive gong appeared out of nowhere behind them! Su pulled back, hit the gong with a loud bang and streams of pyro fireworks shot out from the tower and the girls disappeared from sight as the crowd went insane!
Then the monitor flashed for a closing video and we were looking forward to any new announcements but it was concluded with “Only The Fox God Knows” and “To Be Continued Next Metal Resistance See You There” along with the announcement of Live Viewing across the nation. I guess I was slightly disappointed at the end there because there weren’t any major announcements (laughs). Nonetheless, the show was just absolutely mind blowing, I was completely overwhelmed and at awe by the end of it all. Even up until now, I still couldn’t believe what I’ve just witnessed. So this is what it feels like to experience BABYMETAL live. It’s addicting, I can tell you that much >< And you honestly got to see it with your own eyes to believe it! Kitsune Up!
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Thank you Suzanne, Daniel, Hitoshi and Kenji for sharing your reviews.
Reviews by: Suzanne Nguyen, Daniel Fuentes, Hitoshi Sugioka and Kenji Sekino.
Write a comment
trail of BABYMETAL DEATH (Wednesday, 05 October 2016 11:07)
aka BAT-METAL!
Kenji! Congrats getting this published this week.. I'll read it now. . I'm goiing to cry about chickening out going to Tokyo, again. Worst decision ever.
trail of BABYMETAL DEATH (Wednesday, 05 October 2016 11:54)
I can't finish reading this. I am kicking myself for not going! At the end of the day, I prefer to see rock bands on a small stage - you get more of a 'Rock Band' feelling that way, ;plus it's nice when the girls stay closer together - they work as a team so well! Still, this looks like the most amazing stage (DEATH STAR!) ever created. I wonder what this show's budget was to put on.. Mind boggling.
Crying now..!
Hello Japan! I have a guest room for two fans - I'm close to Madison Sq Garden (huge), and of course all the smaller venues in Manhattan, USA. BABYMETAL will eventually come back here and it would be great to host some guests! I can also get to all the major East Coast cities pretty quickly, so wherever they play around here, I'll be there.
By the way, you can just come anyway, no need to wait for a BM show!
trail of BABYMETAL DEATH (Wednesday, 05 October 2016 11:57)
aka BAT-METAL
I want to be the first person to call this stage "BABYMETAL DEATH STAR" - but pretty sure somebody already coined that. If not, you heard it here first!
"That's no moon! It's a BABYMETAL space station!"
Akira (Thursday, 06 October 2016 19:19)
Great review, my favorite is Hitoshi's. Because you can see a growing relationship with his friend. Hope they get in love too thanks to BABYMETAL!