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These pictures are all about meeting Akino Arai and her concert!
I'll do another entry will all the other Paris pictures/info which will be friends only~
So, we travelled down to London on Wednesday, got the Eurostar on Thursday morning to Paris - arrived in the afternoon and went to the Manga Cafe for 6pm to meet her!
Me waiting outside, she hadn't arrived yet, I was very excited XD
Some of the guys had brought flowers~ aww
Me and Jen seemed to be the only 'English' people there - the guy came out to explain what was happening first in French and then Japanese (for the VIP guests) so I made Jen ask 'en anglais!!' ...and they all laughed at us for being dumb haha. But the guy was very nice - while waiting he asked where we were from and I told him I'd come all the way from Scotland to see her and that I was a huge fan and had loved her for many many years!
There she is! After waiting over an hour she suddenly appeared! Quick must bombard her with cameras :o
what a nerd :B
I had painted her a card and wrote a little message inside~
Greatest moment of my life!! The translator kindly told her my story and she seemed to be very touched ;_;
She asked if I had drawn it myself and said it was "very beautiful and gorgeous" ;______;
According to Jen I was shaking a bit, but come on, how are you supposed to react when meeting a Goddess!
So that was Thursday, luckily the weather that night was so perfect after the heat and stress during the day!
Friday night - outside the concert. Yaneka were the support act, didn't care about them, just wanted Akino!!
What I wore - spent ages trying to find a nice dress, most people wore jeans though. I don't care - to me it was certainly an event to dress for :)
The concert was absolutely amazing, just her on the piano, Hisaaki Hogari on acoustic guitar and I can't remember his name on violin (he was superb!). Very intimate - the stage was so close and she spoke to the audience :D
Standout performances for me were new tracks "Mizu" and "Inshou" (I think it was that one), plus "Tasogare wa mirai de matsu" ~ also, normally I'm a bit blah about Voices since it's a 'classic' and I've heard it so many times, but hearing it live... just her voice and the violin, was amazing :0
Oh and the projection for N.Y. - I had no idea that was how it was performed! She stood solo and behind her on the projection was a video of her singing the 'duet' parts! Lovely~
I didn't want it to end - my only regret is not staying an extra night and attending the Saturday concert too.
Recording of Voices (I must have been much closer than that because it seemed like she was right in front of us singing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flkyi7KT
Mizu, recorded from one of the Japanese concerts but similar arrangement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-gz402
Sorry, terrible photos, but her loveliness shines through! I didn't really want to whip out my big Canon so we just used the little Kodak which has seen better days - I'm on the lookout for 'official' pictures she might post on her website/blog.
Some of the merchandise - the photobook which I've been meaning to buy for over a year! Got that signed, and a little calendar with artwork by her :)
I had thought maybe, after seeing her live, that I would find some satisfaction. But no, now I have to have more! There are concerts scheduled in July in Tokyo, will I have enough money by then? Who knows...
I'll do another entry will all the other Paris pictures/info which will be friends only~
So, we travelled down to London on Wednesday, got the Eurostar on Thursday morning to Paris - arrived in the afternoon and went to the Manga Cafe for 6pm to meet her!
Me waiting outside, she hadn't arrived yet, I was very excited XD
Some of the guys had brought flowers~ aww
Me and Jen seemed to be the only 'English' people there - the guy came out to explain what was happening first in French and then Japanese (for the VIP guests) so I made Jen ask 'en anglais!!' ...and they all laughed at us for being dumb haha. But the guy was very nice - while waiting he asked where we were from and I told him I'd come all the way from Scotland to see her and that I was a huge fan and had loved her for many many years!
There she is! After waiting over an hour she suddenly appeared! Quick must bombard her with cameras :o
what a nerd :B
I had painted her a card and wrote a little message inside~
Greatest moment of my life!! The translator kindly told her my story and she seemed to be very touched ;_;
She asked if I had drawn it myself and said it was "very beautiful and gorgeous" ;______;
According to Jen I was shaking a bit, but come on, how are you supposed to react when meeting a Goddess!
So that was Thursday, luckily the weather that night was so perfect after the heat and stress during the day!
Friday night - outside the concert. Yaneka were the support act, didn't care about them, just wanted Akino!!
What I wore - spent ages trying to find a nice dress, most people wore jeans though. I don't care - to me it was certainly an event to dress for :)
The concert was absolutely amazing, just her on the piano, Hisaaki Hogari on acoustic guitar and I can't remember his name on violin (he was superb!). Very intimate - the stage was so close and she spoke to the audience :D
Standout performances for me were new tracks "Mizu" and "Inshou" (I think it was that one), plus "Tasogare wa mirai de matsu" ~ also, normally I'm a bit blah about Voices since it's a 'classic' and I've heard it so many times, but hearing it live... just her voice and the violin, was amazing :0
Oh and the projection for N.Y. - I had no idea that was how it was performed! She stood solo and behind her on the projection was a video of her singing the 'duet' parts! Lovely~
I didn't want it to end - my only regret is not staying an extra night and attending the Saturday concert too.
Recording of Voices (I must have been much closer than that because it seemed like she was right in front of us singing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flkyi7KT
Mizu, recorded from one of the Japanese concerts but similar arrangement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-gz402
Sorry, terrible photos, but her loveliness shines through! I didn't really want to whip out my big Canon so we just used the little Kodak which has seen better days - I'm on the lookout for 'official' pictures she might post on her website/blog.
Some of the merchandise - the photobook which I've been meaning to buy for over a year! Got that signed, and a little calendar with artwork by her :)
I had thought maybe, after seeing her live, that I would find some satisfaction. But no, now I have to have more! There are concerts scheduled in July in Tokyo, will I have enough money by then? Who knows...
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