100 posts tagged “yokohama arena”

Unlike the vacation-style tours that Morning Musume has taken with their fans to places like Hawaii – where they might play a little soccer, stroll around in bathing suits on the beach and eat fancy snacks – the world-famous Japanese all-female ensemble will perform a major concert during Anime Expo 2009, July 2-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, sources close to AX 2009 have disclosed.

Bottom line: Morning Musume will come to work, not play, at AX 2009, and make history in the process. Finally, the top female music-and-dance act of the past decade – and quite possibly of all time – will break into the U.S. market with a bang, since more than 50,000 fans are expected to sign up for the huge four-day convention.

Hopefully, the Nokia Theater, an architectural gem of a venue that seats 7,100 a couple blocks from the Convention Center, will be site for the show. The glowstick-graced Nokia was ideal last year at AX 2008 with Ayaya looklike Yoko Ishida , idol blogger-singer Shokotan and others making U.S. debuts.

But Morning Musume, the flagship group of the wildly popular Hello! Project company, is another story entirely, a virtual living legend in the annals of Japanese idol music. One of Momusu's main members, Koharu Kusumi, is already a well-known anime-theme singer and anime voice-over.

For those unfamilair with Morning Musume, most of the group's dozens of hits since 1997 are written and arranged by the brilliant Tsunku, who founded the group 12 years ago with only five members and a modest ballad, "Morning Coffee," that exploded on the Japanese music scene, mostly through radio air play.

However, in 1999, the mother of all J-pop hits, "Love Machine," a song Morning Musume will hopefully reproduce in July (though there is talk of retiring the song from the H!P repertoire), simply blew up in Japan, selling more than 2 million copies and catapulting Morning Musume into orbit. The group became a smash live act, filling giant venues like the 17,000-seat Yokohama Arena and 20.000-seat Saitama Super Arena with lively, glowstick-wielding fans at least twice annually with major concerts and endless tours at smaller theatrical venues.

In recent years, Morning Musume's popularity is said to have subsided considerably over the heyday of the early 2000s, but that in part has to do with junior groups Berryz Kobo and °C-ute, Hello! Project spinoffs which have rocketed upward in global popularity since their debuts in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Taken as a whole, Hello! Project remains an astonishing phenomenon, clearly the greatest all-female music company in pop history – both in concert ticket sales and DVD sales globally. All this despite being limited, like some anime titles in recent years, to a Region 2 DVD format which prevents much of the American market from experiencing the awesome spectacle of a Morning Musume or Hello! Project concert.

Yet, here they are, bigger than life. Morning Musume. It will be an Anime Expo never to be forgotten. Just remember to sign up early so you won't miss out on this opportunity of a lifetime. This might well be bigger than the Beatles' invasion of the U.S. in 1963.

This is Rad signing off – for now.

Anime Expo 2009 couldn’t have said it better:

 

“With excitement beyond belief, Anime Expo proudly announces the attendance and performance of Japan’s most celebrated and top all-girl music group Morning Musume (also referred to as “Momusu”) to the nation’s largest anime and manga convention held July 2-5, 2009, at the Log Angeles Convention Center.”

 

What? Can this possibly not be a dream? Morning Musume in the United States? YES!

 

We did make a strong case for this last year after AX 2008 invited some anime theme singers, including up-and-coming torch singer Yoko Ishida and elusive blogging idol Shokotan:

 

http://bloggerparty.com/setting_right_for_morning_musume_in_the_us

 

Was AX listening? Or at least reading? Let’s hope so.

 

The bottom line is that Morning Musume is coming to the United States, and the rejoicing needs to be heard from coast to coast, across the Pacific all the way to the modest Higashi-Abazu offices of Up-Front Artists, Hello! Project and the amazing Tsunku himself.

 

At last, the best song-and-dance ensemble in the history of music is about to be unleashed on the American public. For real.

 

Now it is hoped that Morning Musume will do more than just stand in a line and look pretty at their first AX press conference, and that they will grant interview requests to the U.S. media. But if they do, will the American press know what to ask? And ... will they perform, at least a mini-concert, at AX 2009? Please, God, make it happen!

 

Now last year at this very time, I had just returned from my first Hello! Project concert experience in Yokohama and proclaimed that in no way could any of us, in our lifetime, expect Tsunku to export that kind of concert to the U.S.

 

But then came AX 2008 when Ishida, Shokotan and others gave anime fans a little taste of what J-pop is all about, and it was easy to see Buono!, Berryz Kobo or even Morning Musume taking the stage by storm. Hopefully, that stage will be at the Nokia Theater, a beautiful venue that resembles a smaller version of Yokohama Arena.

 

But if not the Nokia, what about the much larger and adjacent Staples Center, as we have suggested a number of times in the past? It’s all located right there near the Los Angeles Convention Center.

 

It’s time to start dancing in the streets. Morning Musume is coming to America! It will be the biggest happening since the Beatles in 1963. Get your tickets now.

 

This is Rad signing off – for now.

Japan 2009 has ended and our journey covered more idol music than should be allowed by law. In 11 days, there were 10 shows and at least 200 performers in five venues stretched over more than 1,200 miles of ground travel on top of airline flights between Japan and the United States.

 

Overall, 20 separate ensembles – some reunited, some graduating and others still on a steep climb toward success – made their mark, including the Hello! Project’s Elder Club graduation, as a new era has begun.

 

But the greatest part of all this ended up being the music fans of Japan and chance meetings with some of the most dedicated visiting foreign devotees, including Jpopmusic.com forum commentators Arden Smith of Albany, Calif., Bernhard Scheller of Switzerland and Ryoko Miyabara of Singapore. They and others made this trip despite the brutal global recession and horrific exchange rate between the strong Japanese yen and weak U.S. dollar that made this project that much more challenging.

 

Unlike 2008 when I had no idea what I was doing, this year the concerts were better and more numerous, and I made a concerted effort to talk to the wotas themselves, and their foreign counterparts – all ages, all backgrounds. The results were amazing and will be rolled out here on on sister blogsites Radreview and YankeeOtaku as the reports and illustrations are prepared.

 

In the meantime, general thoughts:

 

*** This appears to be the best-ever Wonderful Hearts Tour and Yokohama Arena concert combination ever for Hello! Project. There was high drama, accompanied by perfect moments and colossal, though not fatal, breakdowns. But the magic worked and worked very well. Likewise, all three AKB48 teams – A, B and K – appeared to be in top form at the Don Quijote Theater. Every stop appeared to be sold out or very close.

 

*** Shibuya’s club scene is also very exciting, and has a great incubator club in Shibuya-O Crest, but fans have to love their tobacco smoke to enjoy the music. And that’s OK, because what the Shibuya scene has recaptured is what the U.S. club atmosphere was in the 1960s and ’70s before antismoking fervor caught on. However, as a longtime non-smoker, the haze just got to be too overwhelming. Shibuya-O East downstairs has been the site of many a Melon Kinenbi bash (which they are expected to continue despite the Elder Club gradyation), and THE Possible taped a fine DVD there in 2007.

 

*** Wonderful Hearts uses compact theatrical venues that seat around 2,000 or so and travels all around Japan. The Hello! Project finale every January takes place in the 17,000-seat Yokohama Arena. Having seen both shows a week apart, I can safely say that the Wonderful Hearts experience was far more explosive, less ceremonial, more energetic, more spontaneous  and featured superior song selection and dance than did the arena venue, despite the Elder Club  graduation drama.

 

*** Kago Ai’s sweet little stage play in Ginza was eye-opening especially as the script spiced up the story with two idol tunes that Aibon sang while wearing a fabulous golden idol outfit. In Sunday’s Elder Club show at Yokohama Arena, the only missing piece of the puzzle was – Aibon, who left the company in early 2006 and again in 2007 in the wake of smoking and boyfriend controversies.

 

*** Tsunku’s and UFA’s choice to end the Elder Club appears to be the right one for now. Made up mostly of former Morning Musume members, the Elders’ beauty, charm and musical talents remained, even right up to the end, top-drawer in every way. From the looks of promotional literature handed out at the graduation concert, the Elders will remain active musically in the months and years to come even if theyt are not officially underwritten by Hello! Project. Mari Yaguchi, Miki Fujimoto, Yossie, Ayaya, Nono and Rika looked and sounded years younger.

 

*** One key indication of this was that most of Sunday night’s graduation show crowd appeared to be be greatly slanted toward the Elders. It was notable that in the Yokohama Arena concert – and not the Wonderful Hearts tour – Tsunku tried to sneak in new singles by Berryz Kobo and Buono!, sings that had barely been released. The wotas seemed stunned and had not yet had a glowstick routine even conceived for these new songs (both were great songs, by the way), so they ended up just listening and applauding politely. Just another indication just whose fans packed into the arena, which opened upper-deck seating behind the stage for overflow attendance.

 

*** What does the future hold? Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute and the Eggs and their offspring might be able to carry the ball on their own. One thing for sure is that next January’s Yokohama Arena concert – if there even is one – will be substantially different, and different for years to come.

 

This is Rad signing off – for now.

 

Miki Fujimoto, looking and sounding like she did six or seven years ago, had wotas dancing in the aisles and even in their seats all weekend during the Hello! Project Winter 2009 concert at Yokohama Arena that ended in the graduation of the company's entire Elder Club troupe.

Miki's stunning rendition of one of her old hits, "Romantic Ukari Mode" (2004), was clearly the top song of what was, by our count, a 34-song setlist for the three concerts, one on Saturday night and the other two today (Sunday), Japan time, the second ending just a couple hours ago.

Using Eggs as backdancers, Miki blew out the 15,000 or so who packed out Yokohama Arena for each of the three shows, and each time the song was done, it emerged as the signature piece to each of the three concerts. Especially riveting is a frenetic arm-waving wota dance step that fans clearly remembered and reproduced for the world to see. It was a truly amazing display of devotion from fans to a singer whose boyfriend-related resignation from Morning Musume in 2007 sent Hello! Project into a public-relations tailspin it has yet to clear up even with the resounding, historic Elder Club graduation concert done.

In addition to Fujimoto, more than 20 singers had been listed on Hello! Project's Elder Club, including such luminaries as Yossie, Rika, Yaguchi, Yuko, Yuki and the entire standalone veteran Melon Kinenbi quartet, had their final official H!P performances at a joint Hello! Project on Sunday. The actual departure for the Elder Club is late March.

Or is it?

 

Hello! Project recently announced that separate fan clubs for the supposedly graduated Melon Kinenbi and the eight-member Ongaku Gatas, of which Yossie was appointed leader in 2007 right after her May 2007 graduation from Morning Musume. However, Gatas was on the Elder Club roster and pegged for graduation, which essentially is a termination, from Hello! Project, as the company decided to reduce number of performers and groups, or "units," under its banner.

The fact that Hello! Project is quietly lining up support for its newly released units is feeding rumors that the Elders might find alternatives for professional singing and dancing closely related, but not directly connected, to Hello! Project.

"That could be the strategy," said Swiss fan Bernhard Schelling, in attendance at all three concerts. "Why else would they need more fan clubs? It's most likely a marketing move."

That was hinted Sunday night in a rare joint statement oddly read aloud in unison by Elder Club members Abe, Yuko, Ayaya and Melon Kinenbi singer Ohtani Masae after the concert ended.

"The statement was basically thanking everyone at Hello! Project despite the fact they won't be doing business under that name any more," said Ryoko Miyahara, a Singapore resident and fan who understands Japanese and was at the weekend concerts to hear the unison readback of the statement. Such language leaves the door open for some manner of career extensions, and in Melon Kinenbi's case, they've already said they will contine to play clubs under that name even after their H!P business connection officially disappears.

As for Yossie and Rika, their first appearance in the United States as Hangry & Angry will take place at the Sakura Con anime event April 10-12 in Seattle, Wash. Even Yossie had to let go a little Sunday. Ayaya and Abe will no doubt still dominate the Tokyo dinner-show scene, should they continue to perform as they should.

They are all at the top of their game and showed it at Yokohama Arena. 

In the meantime, we'll see if we've heard the last of the Elder Club.

This ia Rad signing off -- for now.

 

Tonight was a concert for the ages at Yokohama Arena. The problem is there are two more shows to roll Sunday before the final curtain comes down on the graduation of Hello! Project's Elder Club.

The Elders -- including heavy-hitters Yossie, Miki, Rika, the rest of V-u-den and Melon Kinenbi -- simply can't get it through their heads that it's over. To hear them all earlier tonight about two bhorus ago, you would think the clock had turned back six years.

Nono, Mako, Konno and Mari were in uniform and looking and sounding as sharp as ever. Tsunku skilfully blended past, preset and even a little future to make the show one of the best Hello! Project has ever produced. It certainly is by far the best performanxce of any kind I've witnessed in my lifetime.

It didn't start out that way. Tsunku really baited everyone beautifully by downplaying the opener, using the sweent anthem "Ame no Furanai Hoshi dewa Aisenai darou," the same song with which he concluded both Wonderful Hearts 2009 and Hello! Project Summer 2008.

Then came Manopaino, the insufferable single that might have been cute at first, but has worn out its welcome. Manoeri could have at least done her second single, "Lalala Sososo," which was on the Wonderful Hearts setlist, instead of dragging everyone back to an even older bad memory.

 

After that was Ongaku Gatas' well-done but forgettable last single before they "graduated" plus torch solos by Yuki and Yuko, Boredeom was setting it. It looked for sure like this would turn into a tribute to the oldies-but-goodies of Elder Club-dom.

Not!

First, Satoda stepped up with a zesty rendition of "Honey Pie" with Eggs in support. Then, Kusumi lightened everything up further by singing her "Happy Happy Sunday" single with two red-clad backdancers the audience needed a telescope to see. I don't know who these Egglets are, but they couldn't be morethan 5-6 years old. Memories of Hagiwara in the old days.

Speaking of which, Hagiwara and °C-ute kept away from their black suit jackets and went with white-shirt-and-tie tops for "Forever Young," a decision made because the all-black ouitfits just didn't read well on stage. We'll see if the Wonderful Hearts DVD shoot brings back the blazers.

But it made little difference, as °C-ute's lime-green motif looked astonishing as did the other fruit-colored outfits on Morning Musume and Berryz Kobo. Berryz stunned everyone by unveiling its newest single, as did Buono!, but all the junior groups sort of let the Elders take control for the most part.

Miki tonight had a sensational solo with the Eggs, in which the wotas exploded into a frenzy of jubilation and dance that you could only sit back and watch. Clearly, Fujimoto is one of the best ever.

In another masterful touch, former Morning Musume members reenacted the split of the group which occurred some years back when they split into Sakuragumi and Otomegumi. Just as in 2007's 10th anniversary concert, both Sakuragumi asnd Otomegumi were reprised tonight, only better since nore original members were available.

Another awesome moment came with Konno, Mako, Risa and Aichan -- Morning Musume's fifth-generation members -- teamed up for the memorable song (the actual song title escapes me) they also sun at the Konno-Mako graduation in July 2006.

There's more to say, but two more shows yet to see and hear, plus a report on AKB48's Team "K" which I saw earlier today. 

This is Rad signing off -- for now.

 

AKB48 Team "A" is still alive and kicking at the Don Quijote Hotel, recession and all. So is Minami Takahashi who has been front girl for this group, and for AKB48 overall, since its inception in 2006.

Minami was a scorching as always last Monday night, as was the rest of Team "A." It would be nice, though, for AKB48's choregraphers to give Team "A" more than just black and/or Gothic costuming. Right now, Team "B" gets all lthe flashy colors, and most of the attention.

And I must say, in all fairness, that the show was a little stronger last year when Team "A" and Team "K" combined for one show, and Team "B" for the second. But Team "K" is now back in business (we'll might miss them and my faves Oku and Ono because of scheduling, but they might add a noon show Saturday) and that means three quality acts rotating at the Don Quijote.

However, Minami was never intended to be a leader, because AKB48 didn't want to fall into the same trap as Morning Musume and Hello! Project by naming a leader and sub-leader for each group, one expert says.

"That was intentional," said Ulrich Jansen, 58, an aeronautical engineer from Cologne, Germany, whose wife is Japanese and who holds a deep knowledge of the historic inspiration behind such idol groups as AKB48 and Hello! Project. "Minami just didn't seem to have the face for it. She's so tough-looking." Dimples and all.

But in the early AKB49 PVs it was Minami who did all the standing out.

"They (AKB48 staff) studied the videos of those early songs are discovered Minami was in 85 percent of the time," Jansen said. "I guess that tells you something."

Since then, Minami has been the unquestioned queen of AKB48, at least for now, But the inspiration for Tasushi Akimoto's invention of AKB48 goes way back to as early as 1913 with the so-called "Takarazuka," an all-female musical revue that performed musicals, using women to play men's parrts (remember Morning Musume's "Cinderella" when Risa played the prince?).

"After so many years the Takarazuka became, well, boring," Jansen said. Sooner or later, someone like Tsunku was bound to come up with Hello! Project and someone like Akimoto was bound to dream up AKB48. That's how good ideas become great.

This is Rad signing off -- for now.

Like something out of a movie script, former Morning Musume and "W" bad girl Ai Kago, wearing a fabulous full-blown golden sequinned idol costume, sang two pop songs, including Hello! Project signature ballad "Watarasebasi" (Watarese Bridge) as part of her new play, "Shunputei Koasa," at Le Theatre in the Ginza District about two hours ago.

Aibon was splendid as an actress who displayed extraordinary depth and range, and was an immediate hit with the 1,500 or so in attendance inside the nearly-full, upscale Ginza theater, tucked away on the third floor of a posh shopping complex just southeast of Tokyo Station.

Wotas in attendance -- there were only a handful as the crowd was largely older people there to see veteran storyteller and actor Koasa, who starred alongside Aibon in the short but delightful three-act comedy -- found themselves in tears, holding their heads in their hands, or both during Aibon's majestic rendition of "Watarasebasi," made famous by both Ayaya and Gomaki in years past.

Aibon was drop-dead beautiful in the gold outfit, which resembled Risako's fashion statement in the Hello! Project Winter 2008 concert a year ago at Yokohama Arena, where this weekend the historic Elder Club graduation cioncert is due tio take place. Her voice was crystal-clear and full. The crowd didn't know how to react. This largely geriatric group never expected an idol mini-concert, especially when the play was billed as a slice-of-life episode pitting a senile old man against his nursing-home attendant.

But when thew curtain went up, there was the adorable Aibon, decked out in white heels to boot, belting out "No Hesitation," another catchy pop song (I'm not sure if Tsunku is behind this one).

The play was unexpectedly fresh and, again, carried a broad message. The first act portrayed Aibon as an idol singer backstage with what appears to be her manager (played by Koasa who wore  a black Beatles-like wig). It seems as if in this act the manager and his singer went their separate ways (now does that sound familiar?).

Aibon's character gets the bad news after the manager splits and she reads a note he left. She starts crying and it almost as if she's drawing from some type of real-life experience (now where would anyone get that radical idea?). There wasn't a dry eye in that theater during that sequence.

To recap, Aibon is regarded as one of the most popular Morning Musume and Hello! Project members ever in the period of 2000-06 but self-destructed in a series of smoking and boyfriend scandals (it is, by and large, against company policy to smoke or date while a member of the Hello! Project music company). Her last show was two years ago, Wonderful Hearts 2006.

In the play's second act Aibon portrays a young student or businesswoman in a beige suit who appears to be rebelling against her boss, her mentor, again played by Koasa. It takes place inside a tavern or bar of some sort. In the third act, Aibon plays a pink-clad nurse, while Koasa portrays an eccentric old man in what appears to be some kind of mental hospital and totally dependent on her care. All the dialogue was in Japanese so we're making an educated guess about the general plot.

But, in any language, Aibon's stage presence was mesmerizing.

Technically, excellence was everywhere. Set designs were awesome, as were lighting and sound. A great show and Aibon is showcased wonderfully. That she sang a couple siongs for us was just icing on the cake. The use of "Watarasebasi" is yet another indication that a thawing of sorts is occurring between Hello! Project and Aibon., who twice left the company under a cloud in 2006 and '07.

Is a comeback in the offing? The recession in Japan is deepening, and new ideas are needed. How about at least a cameo appearance at Sunday's early Elder Club show at Yokohama Arena? What harm could it do?

This is Rad signing off -- for now.

Nagoya rocked Sunday when Hello! Project capped its sensational January tour with a pair of explosive shows inside a pressure-cooker Chukyo Performing Arts Center.

You know, Nagoya, the city that is to Tokyo what, say, Fresno is to Los Angles back in the States: Rough, unkempt, blue-collar, defiant. It was almost humorous to see Wotaworld descend upon the lamblike academic culture where students and professors alike got to see first-hand what real musicians and their fans were really all bout.

In fact, Nagoya's more streetwise feel gave the concert a lot more punch for those who attended.

"We are so glad we came," said Yoda Akihito, 30, who traveled from Tokyo on the Shinkansen, or "bullet train," for the 3 p.m. show along with friend and felow computer programmer Hongo Tadayuki, also 30.

"I was also in Nagoya for that concert, the evening performance," said Ulrich Jansen, an aeronautical engineer who works in Cologne, Germany. Ulrich revealed this information only today at the Don Quijote Theater in the Akihabara Disrtrict of Tokyo, where AKB48's Team "A" performed earlier tonight.

But Wonderful Hearts was just that -- wonderful. It was a fiery blast of music-and-dance creativity at the very time everyone needed a boost. Just a few blocks away people were signing up for unemployment as the global depression has just started wormingits way into Japan.

However, where there was despair outside, there was joy inside the four walls of the majestic four-deck Chukyo University hall, all 2200 seats and them some filled to the brim with glowstiok-laden fans, including many middle-aged business types who saw a shot and took it, copying the choreography and donning full-blown gym outfits to boot.

All of Hello! Project's main units -- Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute and the Hello! Project Eggs, were splendid. However, Tsunku isa goong to have to akter the way soloist Mano Erina, or Manorina, is used. Ger second single sou8nded just as muck like a nursery rhyme every time I hear it and Sunday was no exception.

Time to upgrade Mano, maybe graduating her out of one hell -- that of inoccuous soliost -- into a hotter hell -- struggling to make the grade as an idol-music soloist. Fiddling around on a keyboard is one thing, real music is quite another.

The best number was 17th on the setlist, a quartet featuring Berryz Kobo vets Saki, Miyabi, Yurina and Risako, This song jammed and the silver outfits were awesome. Risako was the monster soloist and had the wotas screanming for mercy.

The other monster was Maimi of °C-ute, who from a lofty perch the killed "Natsu Doki Lip Stick," a song Maimi has been killiong for two years now with nobody noticing. The Eggs joined, including stunner Saki Ogawa, as background dancers for Maimi.

It was a riotous show, spectacular in every way, and a great way to prep for the Hello! Project Winter 2009 concert and Elder Club graduation this weekend at Yokohama Arena -- and Aibon's stage play that opens Tuesday in the Ginza District of Tokyo.

This is Rad signing off -- for nme.

Where's the recession in AKB48 land? Judging from today's first-show-of-three (the third of the day starts in about an hour), a nooner, Team "B" is raising the roof and the company payroll at the newlty decked-out and freshly renamed Don Quijote (sans Quixote) Hotel in the rollicking Akihabara District of Tokyo.

Springlike weather Friday brought on spring fever on the eighth floor of the Quijote, where a revamped theater, amped-up crowd, more full families and just about every kind of indication of exploding success can be found all over the place. When we last saw AKB48 a year ago, Team "B" wasjust an afterthought, as frontline Team "A" and Team "K"  had merged, sort of leaving Team "B" in a lurch.

Not any more. It was confusing and enthralling at the same time today, because the songs were brand-new (I don't think a DVD yet exists for this show), the choreography was fantastic, lighting fabulous and outfits state-of-the art -- from crazy pajamas to lilting lengerie to the usual schoolgirl-uniform firepower, it was an amazing and energetic display.

Further, the three teams are again separate units and rotete at the Don Quijote less often, staying fresher with each show. But they're also doing three shows at a shot on weekends. Sunday, for example,Team "K" goes at noon, 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Don:t even know the names of the Team "B" songs yet, but there's this Joan of Arc-type nmber in which I believe lede singer Saeki or Hirajima (I'm just not certain who was which) carried a flag on stage and planted it. The usual performance-ending anthem was evennore tear-jerking than usual,and the whole team spent alot of time dressed in nightclothes.

Other highlights: Ota, who looks like Chisato of °C-ute only quite a bit taller, was very good along with Nakagaw, who does for Team "B" what Hagiwara does for °C-ute.

And, speaking of °C-ute, Berryz Kobo, Morning Musume and others in "that other company," AKB48 is coming after it, and in this down economy, look out.

More on all this after I can get some names attached to the lesser-known Team "B," and the songs attached to the names.

This is Rad signing off -- for now.

We won't be sitting right next to the stage, and we're not on the floor, but seat locations for the Jan. 31-Feb. 1 Elder Club graduation concerts at Yokohama Arena have just been e-mailed minutes ago by the always-reliable Ohta.

And, in a way, I'm relieved. Last year, CK through Ohta got me on the floor. It was probably too much of a good thing. My ensuing exhuberance (which continues to the present day) got me booted off most forums. Maybe just sitting quietly in the mid-level arena seats might be best for all concerned.

Comments on the seat locations:

*** All three are at vastly different angles.

*** The Jan. 31 show at 6 p.m., which usually serves as almost a dress rehearsal for the eventual DVD  shoot the evening of Feb. 1, is in the "A" section 16 rows up, fifth, close to an aisle. If last year's main stage, straight crossover, circular walkway and three launch pads remains in effect for 2009, then the view should be awesome, about 50 feet at most from the main launch pad opposite the main stage, which looks to be placed where the "D" section is located on the arena map.

*** The early 1:30 p.m. show Sunday, Feb. 1, shows a seat in the "C" section, which would be about a 90-degree angle to the left of the Feb. 31 location. Row 15, seat 8. Actually, not bad *I was in row 22 and at a much more severe angle to the main stage. In 2008, this was the best of the three shows.

*** For the all-important DVD shoot later at 6 p.m. Feb. 1, the "E" section is the spot, row 19, seat 72, this time 90 degrees to the right of the Jan. 31 location in the "A" section. This is actually a break because seat 72 looks to be far more to the left (and, hence, a better angle to the main stage) than the earlier numbers. Actually getting on the DVD might happen, but not to the degree it did last time as CK can attest. I'll be but a mere speck if shown at all.

The main point is that history will be made, Yossi might actually cry, and that well be there to see it (kock on wood).

One more comment: These seats were obtained through an early auction in December, so that we could (1 afford seats because they would have skyrocketed at a later auction, and (2 get into the arena in the first place. However, in doing this I wasa not privvy to seat locations until just today, a week before the show.

Sure, it would have been great to get the "A" seat for the DVD shoot, but all things considered, we're looking good.

This is Rad signing off -- for now.