It was a beautiful day here in Aomori prefecture, so I knew it was going to be a special night. We arrived at Aomori-shi Bunka Kaikan about 10 minutes before the scheduled start. However, there was still a throng of people waiting to get inside, so I knew it would not start on time. Looking around, I soon discovered I was the only American there. Which turned out to my advantage (I'll explain later in this message).
Our seats were outstanding. We were seated in the 9th row, right in front of Kana-chan.
At 6:45, the house lights dimmed, and they played a video. At the end of the video, it showed all five members on stage waiting for the curtain to drop. At this time my heart was pounding I was so excited. Then the curtain dropped, they were all dressed in white, and they started the concert with "Seven Years After". Needless to say I was going nuts!
After singing "Oh Yeah", "Go Away Boy", and Sekai De Ichiban Atsui Natsu, they all changed clothes into something more "sporty". All in very short shorts. During the time they were changing, Kyon-chan was asking the audience who had bought "Natsu No Owari", "The Greatest Princess", and the video "The Platinum Days -1" when they were released on February 1st. I was surprised that not too many people had bought the video. I realized I was the first one who was applauding when she asked about the video.
As soon as everybody came back on stage. They started into a 10 song medley beginning with "Tokyo Kanojo". During this medley they played "Bee-Beep", "Tomodachi No Mama", "Hello!", "Melody Melody" "Dakara Honey" "Jungle Princess", "Kiss" "Sorenarini Iihito" and "Yuhiga Yondeiru"
After the medley, they started their question and answer period. Which was good since I needed to sit down. This is when being the only American there was to my advantage. After answering a couple of questions on what their favorite P2 song was, and how they wanted to be proposed to, I raised my hand and yelled "ha'i". Kaori-chan looked at me and said "ah Amerikan-jin" she asked me if I spoke Japanese, I told her "skoshi". She then said that they speak English very little. So I then asked my question "Where can I get all your song lyrics in Romaji?" I must've spoke too fast, because she immediately said "Please, speak more slowly." I asked again, and then my Japanese friend asked the same question in Japanese. Kaori-chan, said that my Japanese friend can translate the lyrics for me. Well, that wasn't really the answer I was looking for, but Kaori-chan told my friend that if you get the CD's that are imported from Korea, they contain the lyrics in Romaji. My friend then asked about how they got the name Princess Princess. Kaori-chan said that a record producer came up with the name as they are all pretty, and a Princess is supposed to be pretty. Kaori-chan mentioned about "Akasaka-Komachi" and "Julian-Mama" (which nobody remembers). Kaori-chan then explained why they don't understand English too well. She said that when they were in school, they didn't study English since they were playing music all the time. Being able to talk to them was my highlight of the whole concert.
They then got back into their set. "Diamonds", "Rock Me", "Julian", "Get Crazy!", "M", "Romancin' Blue", "Guitar Man", "Heart Stompin' Music", and "Fly Baby Fly". Then they left the stage, leaving us to clap continuously for what seemed like 10 minutes. They came back out for their encore. They started with "Natsu No Owari", then went right into "Highway Star". During "Highway Star", Kana-chan saw me (I was easy to spot, being the only American among 2,500 Japanese) and she waved at me. What a thrill! The entire hall was anticipating their next and final song "19 Growing Up". When it was over, I was physically and emotionally drained. After waiting for 6 months, and listening to Princess Princess every day, the concert was a dream come true.
After it was over, I was approached my some Japanese girls in the lobby and on the way back to the car wanting to say hi! I had my 15 minutes of fame last night. I don't think the concert could have been any better. Out on the street we noticed that two of the trucks were parked. And some people were taking pictures of the trucks. I remembered that I had my camera in the car, so we came back and took pictures as well. Did you know that they have five trucks hauling around all the equipment, and each one of them is designated for one of the girls. For example Kyoko, all the writing would be in one color except for Kyoko Tomita, which was in a different color.
Some of the highlights:
I ended up buying a t-shirt, poster, calendar, key ring, towel, the picture book, a phone card, and the set containing Kyon-chan's sticks, guitar picks from Akko-chan, Kaori-chan, and Kana-chan, and a sticker from Tomo-chan.
I've probably forgotten a few songs, but right now I'm surprised I remembered this much.
According to my friend, the reason they are breaking up is not because of Kaori-chan getting married. She says it is because they have reached a point where everyone wants to do something different musically. And instead of changing the P2 music style, they want to end it here while their music is still recognizable. Kaori-chan has an outstanding future as a soloist. I don't know what the others will do.
I guess I have June 1st to look forward to, when the box set comes out.
Harry
Back to Princess Princess Home Page.