Macross F Galaxy Tour

[Tochiro]

Well, the big concert is on at Yokohama tomorrow!

So far Yoko Kanno has only been 'officially' confirmed for the added-on 3rd concert at the Budokan, but most people I know who are going to Yokohama are, of course, hoping she will be there as well.

Not to mention the main guests of the evening, Megumi Nakashima and May'n of course!

I know theres some fellow Japan lurkers on this board - anyone going?

Will try to post some pics (if they are allowed) afterwards!

[Gubaba]

Well, the big concert is on at Yokohama tomorrow!

So far Yoko Kanno has only been 'officially' confirmed for the added-on 3rd concert at the Budokan, but most people I know who are going to Yokohama are, of course, hoping she will be there as well.

Not to mention the main guests of the evening, Megumi Nakashima and May'n of course!

I know theres some fellow Japan lurkers on this board - anyone going?

Will try to post some pics (if they are allowed) afterwards!

Better yet...try to record the whole show and put it up...

Anyway, have fun...I wish I were going...

[d3v]

If only some Zentraedi would cause a ruckus where I lived so that May'n and Megumi would have to be flown in for some culture warfare.

Edited October 12, 2008 by d3v

[Lethalzero]

i hate not being a japanese xD

[taksraven]

i hate not being a japanese xD

Join the club.

Although I think that I just hate not being in japan more rather than not being Japanese.

Taksraven

[adrianop]

Vids would be nice. Maybe even some after concert pics.

[whistler]

man, i'm totally jealous! have a great time, and definitely looking forward to pictures!

- whistler

[Macross1982]

Man!! I wish I had some fold quartz to be there tomorrow and be back in California the next day for work

[Tochiro]

Well, bothering with vids kinda detracts from the fun of being there in a way.

Will definately try for pics, although Yokohama pacifico is pretty huge and dark, so I cant vouch for quality, sorry ^^;

Fingers crossed that Maaya Sakamoto turns up

[Knightwing]

Hi guys

Just back from Macross F Concert Final at Pacifico Yokohama. It was absolutely great!!!!. It was 2 and a half hours of continuous singing from both Megumi Nakagima and May`N with Yoko Kanno as pianist. But no Maaya Sakamoto and Shoji Kawamori.

The song was started from Triangler (fight on stage version) from both girl and end with mix version Diamond Crevasse and Ao No Ether from both girl too (as the way of say good bye to the fan)

After that Yoko play piano on SMS Shōtai no Uta ~Ano Musume wa Alien song which the singer were all the fan that come to watch the concert (I love it).

The quality of music was absolutely great, but sometime there were very minor technical fault which cause the voice of both girl did not reach to speaker like 1-2seconds and if I did not remember wrong, Megumi cried during singing (2 songs).

Sorry for so brief report, 2.5 hours of standing and cheering during concert and rushing to buy Macross F Merciantdise berfore concert start drained all of my energy.

Hope to hear opinion from other people who also went to the concert.

Knightwing

[d3v]

Sorry for so brief report, 2.5 hours of standing and cheering during concert and rushing to buy Macross F Merciantdise berfore concert start drained all of my energy.

Wow, you mean the concert wasn't able to replenish your spiritia?

[Duke Togo]

Wow, you mean the concert wasn't able to replenish your spiritia?

Once again, someone confusing Macross 7 and Macross Frontier.

"Macross F Concert Final" is a bit of a misnomer, considering there is a movie on the way.

[wolfx]

Once again, someone confusing Macross 7 and Macross Frontier.

"Macross F Concert Final" is a bit of a misnomer, considering there is a movie on the way.

Its a play on "Firebomber Final Concert" and the words FINAL that comes out at the end of the OP of Dynamite 7. See...everything can be related to Macross 7. BOMBAAAAA!!

Knightswing: Glad you had fun there !! I bet it was really fun and I wished I was there. Hopefully we get half of the greatness that was in Yokohama in Singapore next month. Too bad only May'N will be there, and not Nakajima-san.

Better than nothing i suppose.

[s-girl]

was there any new merchandise there???

Or any special Concert-related stuff?

And I wonder if there's any likelihood of a special CD release for material there. (Still hoping fo ra Turn-A Gundam type of orchestral release for MF.)

[akt_m]

No yurtubis vids???

[nugundam93]

you're a lucky man. no pics? heheh.

[adrianop]

Wow, you mean the concert wasn't able to replenish your spiritia?

Only RL Nekki Basara can replenish RL Spiritia.

[mike_s_6]

After that Yoko play piano on SMS Shōtai no Uta ~Ano Musume wa Alien song which the singer were all the fan that come to watch the concert (I love it).

I would have loved to sing along with the SMS chant What goodies did you buy?

[dreamweaver13]

wow! must have been amazing! i hope a video of it comes out.

[UN Spacy]

I'd also like to know what merchandise was available.

Thanks for your report! It's times like this when I'm extremely jealous.

[Knightwing]

OK guys

I will try to answer as much as I can remember

For merchiandise, as I did not follow much on which one already out or not. Only merchiandise that is suppose to be available only in the concert is magazine summarise the progress of macross frontier so far with 1 or 2 poster (I have not yet open the poster) and sticker which combine to form 1 set with nyan nyan bag and cost 4000 Yen with option of Macross Frontier carlender 2009 for another 1000 Yen.

Other problebly out already as I found some in Akihabara like T shirt (black with picture of Sheryl Poster, black with picture of Ranka art work on Monster and white with picture of Sheryl), SMS Cap, SMS Jacket, Fan, Mouse pad, towl. Many sold out very quickly. I think I bought nyan nyan bag set with option, T shirt, SMS Jacket, Fan, Mouse pad, towl. Some of merchiandise actually sold out before I arrived the venue.

Apart from those mechiandise, I tried to buy VF-25 model and trading card box set, but cannot find anywhere in Tokyo!!!!!!!! it was totally sold out.

The age range of audient at the concert seems to be consisted mainly with over 25 years old ( seems to be old fan of Macross), I cannot find any young children at all and strangly a lot of women come to this concert.

Also before concert start as usual, there was Macross karaoke for fan to sing and of course this year so many guys tried to sing Ranka and Sheryl song which you don`t have to guess what the outcome should be. Sometime it was so funny or horrible, but full mark for their courage and madness of their dedication to Macross F.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Knightwing

[d3v]

SMS Cap, SMS Jacket,

Do want!

[Tochiro]

Ok guys, sorry to keep you waiting.

Now, before I begin. I'd like to explain that the event organizers were REALLY tight on security – ie, taking pictures. They searched bags at the entrance and had a table for the confiscated cameras. Having said that, I've been to enough Japanese events to know how to bend the rules a bit. So I got some pics in the lobby and around the venue, but none in the concert itself, sorry. I was lucky enough to be on the ground floor (there were 2 galleries as well), only 8 rows from the front, but there were security guys in black in every aisle. Maybe they were out looking for Mylene or something? ;-)

So, without further ado, here we go:

<u><b>1)The leadup</b></u>

For those of you who didnt try to get tickets or who weren't in a position to do so, tics were notoriously hard to get. You had to register online to go into a DRAW to win the right to buy a ticket. The ticket placing was random and couldnt be changed. There was a time limit of several days to then actually purchase the ticket you had won the right to buy. If you didnt buy it within the time limit, you lost the right to buy it.

I entered the draw – but no luck. A friend entered – no luck.

Within 20 mins of the draw results being emailed out, tickets were appearing on online auctions for 20 000 to 30 000 yen. There were 7 pages of tickets being auctioned at one point.

Then I got a call from a work colleague who had entered the draw as well on my behalf – he got the tickets. And whats more, they were good seats!

I've heard that Galaxy Tour tickets were harder to get than the Macross Anniversary concert tickets last year (I didnt manage to get into that one), since Macross Frontier is the popular thing right now. Looking at those online auctions, I didnt doubt it.

<u><b>2)Pre-Concert – Chinatown</b></u>

As a tie-in marketing event, a store in Chinatown, Yokohama, was selling Nyan Nyan Tuna Buns. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-10-07/yokohama-museum-to-sell-macross-frontier-tuna-buns ). These were limited to 100 per day and 300 on the day of the concert. They were unfortunately sold out when I got there. The Macross F Goods Corner was also mostly sold out, with just a few towels and mousepads left. I snuck a few pics and headed over to Pacifico Yokohama for the concert.

<u><b>3)Pre-Concert – Pacifico Yokohama</b></u>

There were already hundreds of people waiting at the Pacifico when I arrived at 4:30. The concert was due to start at 6. Everyone was watching the last episode being played on a huge screen on the back of a van. There was a lot of cheering when the final medley scene came on.

To one side was the greatest Macross F car of all time. Decals on the front and sides and even the roof (although this was hard to get a good pic of. Sigh... I need to be taller). Very cool stuff.

The goods shop had been opened earlier in the day for some reason, but was closed just before they started letting people into the lobby. I was assured by staff however that the store would be reopened once they started letting peope in. Whew... was worried there for a sec. ^^;

Anyways, I headed to the end of the line and waited ....

Once I got into the lobby, the store was indeed in full swing. The basic 4000 yen pack had a Nyan Nyan paper carrybag, a reversible poster (Sherryl and Ranka on one side, Alto and the boys on the other), a concert booklet (really nice – see pics), some stickers and pamphlets. I also opted for a card calendar and some books which Ill get to later. There were also shirts, towels and traditional Japanese fans on sale.

One side of the lobby had the upcoming Mac. F Valkyrie toys and character figures under glass for fans to look at. Theres a 12 000yen VF25 coming out that looks awesome. The figures were very much in a similar vein to the Evangelion Portraits series that has been popular over the last couple of years, although the Macross ones seem to be slightly smaller.

The other end of the lobby features a cardboard cutout of the Mac. F cast, and signed artwork and greetings from staff of the show, including some nice, if small, colour sketches of Ranka and Sherryl.

Yet another part of the lobby was being used for a karaoke competition. I'm not sure what participants won, but everyone was so into it that it didnt really matter. A couple of girls did impressive Ranka impressions. One even got the 'kira' bit right and the crowd went nuts. One thing I have to point out is that Japanese guys singing Lion or Triangular is not a good idea. In fact, its a very bad idea ^^; Fortunately a few guys broke out some Mac. 7. Before long everyone was yelling along with Dynamite Fire and Holly Lonely Night. DYNAMITE!

There were a few random cosplayers as well. I got pics of a few (they didnt mind helping me to sneak some pics as long as security was elsewhere). I even saw one girl dressed as the flower girl from Macross 7, but she disappeared up a flight of escalotors before I could ask for a photo.

<u><b>4)The Concert</b></u>

I've been to a few anime events in Japan and a lot of concerts and let me say that this was by far the best anime concert I've ever been to, bar none.

I don't remember all the details, but I'll go through some of the highlights.

Firstly, the whole concert was Nakajima and May'n. No Maaya akamoto or Kawamori unfortunately. Kanno was on piano the whole time but did not get introduced until the first encore. There was a band, but those three carried the entire show for almost 2.5 hours.

Interestingly, the girls stayed in character the whole main concert, even referring to themselves as Ranka and Sherryl. During the encores however, they used their real names and introduced the band, etc. Kanno got her first introduction at this time (2 hrs in) too, although everyon obviously knew who she was.

The concert kicked off with a duet version of Triangular, followed by the ep. 25 medley – a strange choice for a 2nd song but I wasnt complaining.

The stage had a transparent sheet over part of it – either singer could stand behind it and be seen by the audience, but images could also be projected on it too. There was also a tiny section of the stage that could be raised hydrolically 1.5-2 meters into the air. The amazing thing was how these different elements were combined. At one point, Ranka went up behind the screen singing 'My boyfriend's a pilot' when these huge CG valkyrie flew in 'around' her thanks to the projection screen. The Gerwalks hand was exactly where the lift was, so when it raised it seemed that the Gerwalk was 'lifting' her in its hand as she was singing! Then, 2 other battroids danced on either side of her as she sang. Of course, then Ranka got scared – and what do ou do when scared and stuck waiting for a giant robot to put you down? You sing Ninjin loves you yeah, of course!

Utterly amazing.

The screen was also used to project series footage or even juxtapose footage of one of the girls over the other, which was a really nice effect.

Kanno was handling a piano and a keyboard and giving infrequent dirsctions to the band all at once. Yet often she couldnt even stay sitting down she was so energetic. At one point she got up behind Nakajima and May'n and started dancing along, much to the approval of the crowd!

Other highlights were Kanno coming out into the center of the hall (off the stage) and doing a piano solo. Theres something about over 5000 people singing along to the SMS anthem that is just terribly surreal.

The final encore was a duet of Seikan Hiko, along with a an animated clip telling the audience when to wave their arms, clap, or kira! It was originally from the Macross F. Website: <a href="http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ppZWEOdsApk&feature=related" target="_blank">http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=ppZWEOdsApk&...feature=related</a>

Pretty much every vocal track from the series was covered, with the more popular ones being played 2 or even 3 times (ie, a full version, medley version and final megamix version). My only real disappointment was that there was no Sherryl only version of What 'bout my star. But there were plenty of duets to make up for it.

Oh, there was a home documentary clip at one point showing Nakajima and May'n rehersing and practicing together – even Kawamori and Kanno made an appearence in it. Very cute.

While its far from common, Im hoping that a DVD/BR or album of the concert is released or that some footage of it is included as an extra in in the DVDs. It was so good that it would be crazy not to release it.

<u><b>5)Merchandizing!</b></u>

I have included pics of all the merchandise and toys I mentioned above. One thing I picked up that was a pleasant surprise was 2 design sketch books – one for female characters and one for male. These are 90% character sketches with a few bits of mecha and background sketches as well. I've never heard of these before. The pages are only single-sided, leading me to believe they were put together in a hurry. Nevertheless, they have proper prices printed on the back (approx. 1800 yen each) , so they might go on sale through normal channels at some point. They are pretty darn awesome and I've included a few sample pics for everybody. Please dont ask for scans, as I don't support the scanning of magazines and books.

Whew, well thats about it! Sorry for the rambling rant, but I hope I managed to convey what the concert was like.

It was an amazing experience. A day during which the line between fantasy and reality was blurred, ever so briefly.

Edited June 8, 2011 by Tochiro

[Mark Nguyen]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31319140@N05/...57608016144402/

Ooh! Any cahnce of a better scan of this one? There's some new mecha views we haven't seen yet in there - including Battle Galaxy!

Thanks for the detailed reviews!

Mark

Edited October 14, 2008 by Mark Nguyen

[BlueMax]

man.... if only i could be there.......

[s-girl]

Wow, thanks for posting these. I'm digging the Sheryl and Ranka vans... but also the look at the merchandise. I think these are the first "real" pictures of the upcoming gashpapon series I've seen and I think I'll be buying all of them .

I also noticed the costume of Alto, which on top of the SMS jackets being advertised on the official home page, suggests to me that they're going to do official cosplay costumes (way cool).

Also noticed the Bobby sketch (win) as well as the character animator's workbook. This too, is excellent news for me. (Gurren Lagaan was the most recent property to "separate" out the workbooks. Infuriatingly, GL went with at least 4 I think.... Typically most shows I watch put out one at best, and it only does feature characters. Lately these things have become popular, particularly since they're nothing more than color covers with black and white interiors. Movic is the publisher that usually handles a good majority of these books, but I've seen a few other publishers come on line.)

NOW... need to save up mega moolah....

Edited October 14, 2008 by s-girl

[d3v]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31319140@N05/...57608016144402/

Ooh! Any cahnce of a better scan of this one? There's some new mecha views we haven't seen yet in there - including Battle Galaxy!

Thanks for the detailed reviews!

Mark

Good lord, is that Battle Galaxy in cruiser mode I spy?

Also, I'm pretty sure that Mr. March will want some scans of these bits of lineart.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31319140@N05/...57608016144402/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31319140@N05/...57608016144402/

Edited October 14, 2008 by d3v

[adrianop]

SMS Jacket, Mouse pad.

So Want!

The gashapon pics look nice. Glad I preordered them.

Sounds like the concert was alot of fun.

[UN Spacy]

Superb review Tochiro. Thanks!

[Morpheus]

(Brain short circuited) Me want, me want, me want, Dulfim, Battle galaxy, all lineart

[dreamweaver13]

Ok guys, sorry to keep you waiting.

Rather than put pics up on the forms, I've put a selection of what I took up on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31319140@N05/...57608016144402/

Now, before I begin. I'd like to explain that the event organizers were REALLY tight on security – ie, taking pictures. They searched bags at the entrance and had a table for the confiscated cameras. Having said that, I've been to enough Japanese events to know how to bend the rules a bit. So I got some pics in the lobby and around the venue, but none in the concert itself, sorry. I was lucky enough to be on the ground floor (there were 2 galleries as well), only 8 rows from the front, but there were security guys in black in every aisle. Maybe they were out looking for Mylene or something? ;-)

So, without further ado, here we go:

Great review Tochiro, thanks!!

wowwwww....... i can't begin to explain how MUCH i wanted to be there!

i definitely hope a DVD of this Live comes along.

any of you guys find any clips from utube or other sites?

[Ishimaru]

I think my body just mass orgied itself.

[Renato]

Thanks for that in-depth review! Sounds fantastic.

1)The leadup

For those of you who didnt try to get tickets or who weren't in a position to do so, tics were notoriously hard to get. You had to register online to go into a DRAW to win the right to buy a ticket. The ticket placing was random and couldnt be changed. There was a time limit of several days to then actually purchase the ticket you had won the right to buy. If you didnt buy it within the time limit, you lost the right to buy it.

I entered the draw – but no luck. A friend entered – no luck.

Within 20 mins of the draw results being emailed out, tickets were appearing on online auctions for 20 000 to 30 000 yen. There were 7 pages of tickets being auctioned at one point.

Then I got a call from a work colleague who had entered the draw as well on my behalf – he got the tickets. And whats more, they were good seats!

I've heard that Galaxy Tour tickets were harder to get than the Macross Anniversary concert tickets last year (I didnt manage to get into that one), since Macross Frontier is the popular thing right now. Looking at those online auctions, I didnt doubt it.

Count yours truly among the "losers". I tried my best to get these tickets, alas.

[nugundam93]

those are sweet pics! thanks.

[d3v]

Man, here's hoping the concert itself get's released as an album ala Live Fire. Hopefully they'll add videos too.