Around January last year, I took a Nihongo Speaking class at the Extramural Program of the Department of Linguistics, University of the Philippines Diliman. The term ended around April, and as a final requirement, we were to deliver a speech on any topic.
The timing was perfect as that was the time when I went back from my very first Japan trip. Aside from the sakura, which, because of climate change were still so few in March, the main purpose of my trip was actually to catch the Saitama Super Arena leg of the Ambitions Tour of the Japanese rock band, ONE OK ROCK (OOR).
That became my second meeting with the boys, as my first was the one in Manila, during their 35xxxv Asian Tour in 2016. Having said these, I could not help but to see the differences between the two live performances.
Production Value
Performance level has never been an issue with this band as it has been their trademark to deliver adrenaline-pumping musical stunts whenever and wherever they are in the world. However, there’s no doubt about it. It seems like performing in your own home court or country will always be the best, bringing the Japan show a notch higher.
Aside from the signature performance, the band has also been known for their superb concert lighting. In Saitama, that lighting was complemented by carefully-planned visuals shown on the backdrop and floor screens.
In Manila, the lighting was still awesome, but the backdrop was simply a cloth with the band’s logo.
Ticket-selling
In Manila, the nearer you are to the stage, the more expensive the ticket is.
During the 2016 tour, I was one of the lucky fans to purchase tickets for the Meet & Greet. Because of that, I was also in the mosh pit that time, lining the barrier in bassist Ryota Kohama’s side of the stage.
The Japan concert scene is completely different from Manila’s. There, the tickets all have the same prices, and the seat numbers are determined through lottery, with results released only a few days before the actual concert date.
The ticket number “assigned” to me and my Japanese friend were in the seated area, towards the back of the arena, opposite the front of the stage. The area was quite far from the performers, but thanks to the screens, I was still able to see the band members’ faces.
However, this didn’t stop me from having the best OOR concert experience ever.
Crowd
Sheen at the Saitama Super Arena, Japan.
Watching the live in Japan, for me, was not just about ONE OK ROCK, but more of a combined experience of the performance plus the Japanese crowd.
During that time, I discovered that the Japanese concert crowd, being known worldwide for being polite and mannered, knew how to listen. Filipino fans, on the contrary, being known worldwide to be happy people, were so lively during the 2016 live that they can sustain the energy all throughout, but sometimes, at the expense of the song.
The concert in Manila happened at the SM MOA Arena in Pasay City. During the 35xxxv tour, cheers filled the arena, from the moment the band stepped on the stage, up to the last note of the encore. Yes, the enthusiasm of Filipino fans were shown consistently during the concert, even within slow songs, and I think the band actually loved it.
However, on the Ambitions tour in Saitama, the Japanese fans were also jumping and banging their heads during the fast songs. However, when ONE OK ROCK was already performing the slow songs, particularly the piano version of Wherever You Are and another song, Take What You Want, the crowd turned incredibly quiet and simply opened their ears and hearts for the artist.
The arena then was so silent that all the emotions of the song, from the smallest Ohhhh in the lyrics to the highest note of vocalist Takahiro Moriuchi’s voice, simply pierced through my heart, until I just found some tears flowing from my eyes. During that time, it was actually astonishing for me to find myself crying, in the middle of a rock concert.
I didn’t know if it was also just an effect of being too happy on my first Japan trip or simply because ONE OK ROCK was my favourite band. I didn’t know if it was also because I was in the seated area, where the “intensity” of the crowd could be considered milder.
No matter what the reason was, all I could say was that, I wanted to experience that again, crying because of being able to completely absorb all the emotions sent by the artist through the song.
On January 29, I will be watching at the Lowerbox A portion of the SM MOA Arena for the 2018 ONE OK ROCK Ambitions Tour. It is a seated ticket, so maybe I will have another kind of experience for a Manila concert. Let’s find out if I will have the same observations or if I will also cry while hearing some slow songs.
The original speech, written in Nihongo, that I delivered in class, has been published on my Ameba account, a Japanese blog.
The concert in Manila is brought to you by Pulp Live World. Tickets are available through SM Tickets outlets and online.
Banner photo taken by Pulp during the 2016 Meet & Greet. With usage permission from the author.
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