[Live Report] Sundown Festival 2012, Singapore - Alice Nine [2]

Isang fan report tungkol sa kanyang karanasan sa pagdalo sa Sundown Festival 2012 na ginanap sa Singapore. (Alice Nine report) - mula naman kay ezcap1st


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Didn't manage to get into the first 50 slot. Alice Nine was the first to arrive, at 6:50-ish. The MC asked them to greet their fans and Nao went like, 'Huuuu~~! (high-pitched)' lololol. Can't really hear the MC's question, but I think it was something along the lines of, 'Is it your first time in Sg, what do u think of it here'. Shou replies that it's their first time in Sg and they're very happy that the fans are so enthusiastic. That's the rough gist of it.

The 2nd question is kinda embarrassing... The MC asked what did they think of the fans in SG? Especially the fangirls? I think the translator had a hard time translating and the actual meaning may have become slightly muddled in translation. I myself was very embarrassed, because the question was so blunt. I think the MC was using the same approach most of them use with K-pop groups: ask direct questions and fish for compliments to make the girls happy... -sigh- The translator said they were very thankful for all the support and happy about it. That's what I heard anyway.

Lastly they asked about Hiroto. Shou answered that Hiroto wasn't feeling so well and he's recovering right now, but please don't worry about him because he'll come for the performance. Then they were supposed to sign the posters for the lucky first 50 fans of A9, but since Hiroto wasn't there they felt like they weren't a complete band and didn't want to do it. In the end those lucky 50 ppl received a poster from them and got to shake hands with all of them. They could pass presents to the manager before going onstage. The order was: Shou, Nao, Saga and Tora. I'm quite sure the fans who went up said stuff to them, because some of the guys were bending lower. The security was shitty, they kept shooing the girls away really quickly. Since Tora was last, he was the man passing the posters to the lucky girls.

Then they gave away one poster that's already autographed by all the members of A9. All you had to do was answer a question correctly, and make yourself distinctive so that they'll choose you. Question was, what's the title of the latest album A9 released? Nao picked a girl and he said, 'You! You! Yeah! Yes!' as he waved towards a girl and signalled to the guard. The girl in question happened to be holding up a purple board for A9 so... Take note if you're ever going to see A9 live. Before they left, Shou thanked the fans in Singapore, again. He's so sweet.

Shou was wearing a zipped-up plain black jacket and jeans, Saga was wearing a plaid red shirt + white undershirt + black jeans + sunglasses, Tora was wearing this spiffy black & gold jacket + graphic tee + black jeans and Nao was wearing black jacket + graphic tee + black jeans and those unique aviator shades of his.

I happened to meet my niece & her friend there, so we decided to stick together. When A9 left, lots of fangirls ran down the escalators to the first floor. It was a mess and we got split up, so when I called to ask where she was she said that she & her friend were waiting at the lifts to see A9 leave. We met up and waited for quite some time, but we didn't see the guys. Instead we saw one super handsome guy leaving. IT TURNED OUT THAT WAS THE NEXT ARTISTE & A9 HAD ALREADY LEFT, SO WE WERE WAITING FOR NOTHING.

Went to eat dinner and were hopping mad that the taxi we booked to 'stalk' A9 didn't come. Lousy cab service. _|_ But we decided to try our luck and cabbed to the hotel they were staying at. Saw lots of other fangirls there and exchanged information. The K-pop fans waiting there happened to be friendly and one guy told us that A9 went to the F1 area to rehearse, since Hiroto had arrived. Then the Korean group came out and the fans chased after them. So we reasoned that, since BTOB were leaving to practice, A9 might be coming back soon? We waited until 10.30pm before giving up and going home. No sign of the guys.


Left early in the morning (by my standards anyway) to look for the event venue. Walked to the wrong building beside it, went in the wrong/opposite direction of where the venue was and had to walk a long stretch to the correct place. Ended up being guided by a nice girl who was coming back from buying drinks. Was too late... Had to queue in the sun. Luckily I'd brought along an umbrella, but the heat was really horrible. The other girls who came in groups were smarter, they did shifts or just ditched their bags to mark their queue position and sought shelter in the neighbouring building (which is the Singapore Flyer). The time passed really slowly and the queueing experience was really hellish, because I suffered from a mild stomachache after eating an early lunch. I kept doing toilet runs and chatted up a girl nearby, but she wasn't an A9 fan.

Speaking of A9 fans, I saw several of them in different lines, that's why I didn't get to talk with others. There was this stylishly dressed girl in a sex pots shirt, skinny jeans and boots with her friend, and another pair who dyed their hair blonde & red respectively. They had boards written with 'Hiroto o daiji ni!'. Then at the head of my line, there was this group of Alice Nine fans... The red+blonde combo went up there to queue with them around late afternoon after another fan came & told them that they were in the wrong queue.

Left the SG Flyer building after putting in contacts and saw an Alice Nine fan ahead, so I went and exchanged a few words with her. Apparently the whole group of A9 fans queueing in front met on an unofficial fan group on FB & planned to queue together, I guess. They were camping overnight, that's how they were number one. I suppose they were the ones who knew that A9 were rehearsing...

Poncho distribution was absolutely horrendous. As the fan I talked to said, they just gave out a handful of plastics and expected it to go all the way to the back of the queue... I didn't get one and that nice fellow fangirl gave me hers, since she was queueing in front and was sheltered from the rain by the tent. The crew finally gave out enough ponchos for everyone, and it rained for about an hour, then it cleared up just in time for the opening of the gates. The ticket checkers sucked; they didn't care about ppl waving tickets in their faces but went for the ppl going right & left beside them. -_- In that case might as well have torn the stub off myself and gone through without any fuss. The ppl checking bags were lousy too, I just opened my bag and got ready but they didn't care at all. In the end I just ignored them and went straight to the moshpit. I bought a ticket for the right side, where Hiroto is.

I was among the first three rows of ppl who were standing at moshpit, but the inconsiderate woman beside me kept pushing over to my space. Then her friends went out to buy merchandise & food; when they came back they hogged the space DIRECTLY in front of me. ALKSDHFJUIOWERNGFIKJN THAT FRIEND WAS A MAN, A TALL MAN WITH A HUGE CAMERA, FUCKING INCONSIDERATE. After waiting and enduring lotsa shitty advert time, some random acts came out. A dance crew came out for multiple performances and to me, it felt like those acts were NEVER-ENDING. There was a SG band too, the vocalist said they came to warm up the crowd, but honestly, they made me sleepy. We're so psyched up for the artistes we bought tickets to come and see, yet we have to go through these... Not that I don't support homegrown talent, but I'm already tired from the queueing. Can't the organisers sympathise with us fans and just let us know how much longer we need to wait, instead of making us waste energy/get defeaned by these random acts???

Yes the music was deafening, maybe because I was really in front, but the bass was so loud it resonated in my chest.

I sat down and thought I'd continue to hang in there until they finished, but then looked at the merch booth to see it was empty, so I changed my mind and decided to go buy stuff. At the booth they told me that everything had been sold out, except for the pamphlet and clear holders (files). I was iffy on the file designs, and just bought the pamphlets. You could take PSC magazines as well, for free. It's promotional material on the PSC bands, basically they show you gorgeous stuff and tempt you into signing up for the fanclub. Actually ppl who went to the press conference the day before received those magazines too.

The pamphlet is gorgeous! It's like a photobook actually, I think it's A4 size, the insides have glossy pages of gorgeous photos of the A9 guys in their tour outfits. Well, it was expensive, but I was hoping that I'd be able to beg A9 for a signature later at the airport...

Bought food, went back to moshpit and ate the food, listened to the Taiwanese act, Anthony Neely (he's the super handsome guy we saw leaving JCube), MCs came out and turned the stage over to the Chinese act... Still wasn't A9. Was tired and just sat on the floor; went to answer Nature's call and got back with lotsa time to spare. After she finished, the MCs came out and did a really long segment where they threw out signed posters from the Chinese artiste and Sundown shirts. The staff started coming out to set up the equipment and tune it; fans started going wild and chanting 'Alice Nine! Alice Nine!' over & over. MCs said that we should give them some time to prepare... Our chants drowned them out. Not that we're rushing A9, we're just super psyched to see them! The staff came out to test the mic and I think they didn't tune it well because I couldn't hear him. Eh, so long as they're comfortable... Not quite sure who the staff were, but they did some awesome guitar riffs and drums. :D

Finally they came out! By that time it was 10PM. Nao went straight for his drum set, Tora & Saga went to the far side, Hiroto came over and got his guitar from the staff.

Shou came out with his arms spread wide open like some kinda king. The girls went wild~ They were in the outfits they're using for their tour in Japan! So first it was Heart of Gold, and Shou got the fans to scream 'hey! Hey! Hey!'. Then he started singing... I was so overwhelmed by their presence I was grinning like a loony. Hiroto started off by sending us a kiss! I was standing directly in front of where he's positioned, so I got the full Hiroto fanservice experience. Hiro-pon was headbanging, giving us fans this seductive/fierce face, then switching to a huge grin the next moment, ahh he is the best;;; If anyone is worried, please rest assured he looks totally fine & healthy! I feel like Shou kept looking in our direction. Well, it's probably because there are purple/blonde/red-haired girls in the front row, their hair colours are really prominent and Shou probably has an impression of them from the day before.

Shou said, 'Hello Singapore!' Girls screamed. Shou: 'Are you ready?' Girls: 'YEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!' Shou repeated that once or twice more, I think, then they started in on Rainbows. I WAS SO HAPPY BECAUSE I LOVE THAT SONG AND I COULD SING THE LYRICS TO IT. I was waving my hands around really wildly too, I hit almost everyone around me. Which is that annoying guy beside me. There was another guy behind me too, plus one more beside him. Yeah, three guys near me... They were screaming along to the songs! I think I hit the guy behind me's camera multiple times.

My position was excellent, I tell you. It's right in front of that box where Hiroto props his leg on as he plays his guitar. So Tora came over and strummed his guitar coolly, Shou came over after him. Then Shou grabbed Tora's shoulder and sang like, a line and directed his mic over to let Tora sing into it.

Tora just turned over, so that his guitar and body were facing Shou, and their faces GOT SO CLOSE TOGETHER I WAS SPAZZING OUT AND THINKING THAT THEY MIGHT KISS AND ASLKDFJWOIUFNKJANSHJ SCREAMING GIRLS IN THE MOSHPIT but no they just shared the mic and sang a verse, then Tora and Shou left and Hiroto came back.

When the song finished Shou said, 'Next is my favourite song, Fantasy'. I could understand his English! Hurray! The fans quieted down and swayed their hands along... It was wonderful. At the end the song phased into Blue Planet, if I remember correctly. That one, luckily I could remember the lyrics to it too. Afterwards, Shou said something, I forgot what, but he announced the song title 'Tsubasa'. This one, the lyrics I'm not so clear on. I just followed other's cues... The guys beside me were totally gung-ho in shouting, 'crying in sorrow!'

At the end Shou said, 'The last song is Shuunka shuutou'. I didn't quite catch it, and when they played I was all ?_? because that song is really old and I don't remember the lyrics! Uh, Shou and the others went to the front stage for this, I saw the staff running out to throw more wire for his mic. When Shou went up in front, Hiroto was after him and Hiro-pon patted his back in a 'go on, bro' kinda way!! Aww~~ I also saw Shou pulling on his mic wire, heheheh. It was just long enough for him to be able to sing at the front stage.

I don't quite remember when, but I guess it was during the second song when they exchanged positions, Saga came over and did this funny thing where he raised his left hand over his eye like he's signalling to the ppl at the back that he can see them. I found it amusing... and wished that he looked at us fans in the moshpit a bit more. ): IT'S NOT ENOUGH.

Then Hiroto came back while Saga was still there and gave him this look like, 'hey why are u still here in my place, huh?' HAHAHAHA. Saga quickly got his leg off the box and went back to his position. The next time Saga came over, he was holding something in his hand, and he gave it to Hiroto. I think they were smiling, can't quite remember, Hiroto took it and threw it back out at the crowd. I REALISED THAT IT'S A BRA. Actually I suspected it when Saga came over with it LOLOLOL. Saga gave his junior a peace offering...

After seeing the staff run to lengthen the mic wire, I recalled that Shou went like, halfway over the walkway/segment leading to the front stage during an earlier song, then he returned. I suppose the staff realised the problem and quickly remedied it for their ending. Oh! After they finished performing, Saga took a bottle of water and drank a bit, then he screwed the cap back on and walked out to the front stage AND HE THREW THE BOTTLE OUT. I WAS alsdkfnjoiwhfnjkam FUCKING ENVIOUS OF WHOEVER CAUGHT THAT BOTTLE, THEY GET AN INDIRECT KISS WITH SAGA /crying

Didn't see much of Tora because he's so far away and he's not headbanging as ferociously as Hiro-pon. Not to say that he was very cool & composed, he did move, but I suppose he can't do too strenous activities. Ah, Shou asked us to jump for a song... The girls in front of me didn't jump much, but they were pretty good at headbanging! I wonder how you can possibly headbang and watch A9 play? I'm quite a noob at headbanging so I just focused on watching A9. When they finished Shou kept saying, 'arigatou, arigatou' and took a bow with his hands clapped in front of him. Tora was the first to leave after waving at us; I think he was saying 'bye-bye'. He was so nice, he waved at his side and he came over to our side to wave at us. Shou left next, Nao afterwards, then Saga, and Hiroto came back to his area after returning from doing whatever he was doing at the front stage. Hiroto took a deep bow with his hands clapped in front of him like Shou, and he maintained that position for quite a long time. I guesstimate maybe 3 min or longer? I was confused but kept screaming anyway.

Waited for an hour but no sign of them. Was debating whether to give up... Was tweeting & texting other girls to update them on the situation. Also talked to the other girls waiting at the airport and a friendly one told me that, since I've already spent the cab fare I may as well hang on for a bit more. So, about half an hour after that, A9 finally came!!! A girl went out to take a look at the van and came back and told us that she saw Tora. Despite there being lots of ppl so excited and waiting for them, the man is oblivious and gaming away on his phone. Yeah.

A guy, dunno who, he's a photographer and the first person to know that A9 had arrived, informed us that A9 were not accepting presents anymore and that we can't beg them for photos/autographs because they're on a tight schedule. Also, we shouldn't scream loudly and scare them, or rush up and get super close to them. Eh, that's why they have security guards/bodyguards on standby... But nobody did that lah, we're all civilized and polite fans. We just lined up in two rows and waited for A9 to pass through. Their staff went by first.

They already changed into casual clothes, Shou was in a red plaid hoodie that covered his blond hair and wearing sunglasses, Tora was in a hoodie (can't remember colour, maybe it was white) and donning shades too, Nao was in a jacket and those aviator shades of his, Saga was in a jacket and shades. They waved at us as they walked past, and once they reached the end of the check-in hall, us fans ran to the immigration & customs hall. There's a glass that separates the two areas, so no worries about being mobbed. Their carry-on luggage had to be checked, and Nao was so funny, he raised a camera like he wanted to take a photo. The girls in front of me were absolutely willing to pose! I'm unsure if he really took a photo though.

Unfortunately there were some random passersby that decided they wanted to join in and see what's the big deal. They took photos and caught the attention of the security guard, who told them to stop taking photos and started shooing us away. -_- Damn those pesky morons. I was tired and quite ready to leave, but my gut screamed that I should turn back, so I did, and I saw Shou standing there and just smiling and waving at us!!! The other girls were still waving back at him and I hurriedly did the same. He turned to go after waving for maybe two minutes and didn't turn around anymore.

Hiroto wasn't with them and some girls were wondering where he was. Answer: no idea. Maybe they didn't get him a ticket to leave together since he arrived later.

I talked with some girls at the airport, right, and I learnt that one had come to SG all the way from Malaysia just for this event where Alice Nine came!! Wow, that's dedicated. There were also a group of girls that said they'd be camping overnight at the airport... Yeah, those are the ones that probably camped to get a good spot at the performance. Maybe they might have seen Hiroto when he left. I don't know anything, I don't have the contact of those ppl. By that time it was like... 1AM in the morning? I returned home really late and wiped out, was cold as well from the rain.



Source: ezcap1st @ LJ