I thought I'd start a thread to share experiences from the 25th anniversary live. Here is my account of October 4th:

The morning of October 4th started with my brother (Cody) and I leaving our friend's house in Kyodo. Our friend was kind enough to let us crash at his place from Oct.1st. We had a lot of fun including a takoyaki party.
One of my big concerns since planning the trip to Tokyo was what to do with my large luggage. I had a flight to Kumamoto booked for 12:15PM on the 5th (to spend the rest of my stay in Japan with my fiancee and to spend time visiting family).
We had no idea what to expect from the pillows concert. Would we be invited to the after party like Charm Face was five years ago and be out all night? We had no clue, so we actually had no hotel booked or anything. I guess it was pretty stupid, but we like to wing it.
Luckily, someone offered to let me stow my luggage at her place not all that far from Tokyo Dome, so I would be able to pick it up.
However, the worst experience I had in Tokyo was lugging the piece of crap on the crowded train. The train was completed packed and I ended up crushing my fingers when the train came to a stop and the pull handle of the luggage snapped down. There was blood.
After we finally got that crap taken care of, it was finally time to meet up with some fellow busters.

We had all been in contact via Facebook chat or Line, so we were all trying to plan things out. Unfortunately, the plans to all get together didn't work on the 3rd. So for the 4th, we met up at Suidobashi station.
Cody and I started walking up the steps of Suidobashi station when we noticed a familiar face. It was our friend Tomoyuki from Men's Pallows! And when we reached the top of the steps, Brye, Anton (Ashinow), Phillip (Bebop) were waiting. It was so cool to see so many IMers/pillows fans.
Tomoyuki, Brye, Phillip and Anto wanted to have lunch. Cody and I had already eaten, so we headed over to Tokyo Dome city to meet up with another friend. Our friend's name is Minami. He is the one who did the cool cover of Bran-new Lovesong in the contest.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/l5B43qc.jpg?1[/img]

We went and mingled around the entrance of Tokyo Dome City hall around 1:00-1;30 or so; somewhere around there. There were some many Japanese busters wearing pillows t-shirts.
We met Miharu, the winner of the dance contest. She is very young and came there with her mother. She was adorably giddy the entire time and couldn't contain her excitement.

The goods were scheduled to be sold at 2:30 and the line was starting to get pretty big, so we got in. While we were waiting in line, a girl approached us and told us that she was collecting messages for the pillows. She had a whole bunch of paper busterkun cut-outs that she made herself with scissors. We each wrote a message on one. My message was something generic like "Thank you for 25 years! We like you, pillows" or something dumb like that. The previous four busters who were eating lunch met back up with us and got in line, which had grown a lot by this time.
After waiting in line for a pretty good while, we noticed a giant puff of hair sticking out from afar. It could only be the legendary Juan (Tidusauron)! He was with Andrew (TheFamousLoser).
A bit later, Busterkun and Yumechan (the special winner of the dance contest) came out to entertain the crowd! It was hilarious seeing the giant busterkun. That thing can barely move his arms.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/m3rz5cy.jpg?1[/img]

When it was finally our time to get into the concession stand, I bought the Strange Chameleon bag, an orange buster keyholder, an adorable buster phone charm, and the bootleg CD.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/mzIFwMm.jpg?1[/img]

Next, we tried to figure out what we were supposed to do. The entire contest was so vague and confusing. We waited around near the entrance for a while and were joined by Eri (Borderline Case cover winner). After a while, we figured out about a line the was special for "guests". We got in that line and were given blue stickers to put on our shirts that said "cover contest". Inside the entrance had many bouquets of flowers from artists like Glay, The Collectors, etc.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/6SPfkRm.jpg?1[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/wGNezs1.jpg?1[/img]

Right after getting in, Yoko from AVEX approached us. She told us that Chris (ladybird) had contacted her about the fan video, and that there may not be time to show it to them today. She told us that she will send it to them. After hearing this, I was pretty sure that an after party wasn't going to happen.

Our tickets were for the lowest level of the venue; the arena. Minami had more experience with the venue than Cody and I, so he suggested standing in the back part of the "arena" area because it was better to see and hear the band. Miharu and her mother also joined us. I'm not sure if Miharu was able to see anything, because she is short. I don't know where the other IMers were standing, but I think Juan and Andrew said they went to the very front.

The staged looked pretty cool and had a large tree standout in the back that resembled something from the Scarecrow PV. The BGM was Stone Roses and such. No Kelly's Duck. The lights went off and an intro on the venue's two large screens started playing. It was a slideshow of pictures of Yamanaka, Manabe, and Shinichirou starting from baby pictures to adult years. The image of Coinlocker Babies Yamanaka and Persia Manabe got a good laugh out of the crowd. An orchestrated version of Little Busters played during the slideshow. The slideshow ended, the pillows took the stage and opened with Scarecrow. I'll just post the entire setlist now:

Scarecrow
Midnight down
I think I can
Happy Bivouac
Another Morning
Babylon tenshi no uta
I know you
Sariban ni naritai
RUSH
Hibi no uta
Tashikame ni ikou
About a rock'n'roll band
Terminal's heaven rock
Boku wa kakera
Funny bunny
GOOD DREAMS
Quarter bakugeki no tomo
Strange Chameleon
TRIP DANCER
Please Mr.Lostman
Kono yo no hate made
Hybrid Rainbow
No substance

(encore)
Happy Birthday
Little Busters

(double encore)
Ready steady go

(triple encore)
Advice

After the second encore (I think it was after the second... might have been after the first), the PV for Moondust played on the screens. It had the pillows on a moon-like setting and an astronaut collecting moon rocks. It's a really great PV, in my opinion. I've been a big fan of the song since when I first heard it on the Nico stream.

After the concert ended, we made our way back to the area with the flower bouquets again. The AVEX guy (sorry, I forget his name) was there and told the contest winners to wait. There, we saw a couple people from the Droidekka winning group. Unfortunately, they were late to the concert and could only catch the last 30 minutes. The Sucrose (Instant Music winner) was also there. After some minutes, the AVEX guy took us all back to the corridors of Tokyo Dome City Hall.
We waited a while in the corridors around where the "guests" stay. We spotted several amazing people back there including Jiro from Glay, Tatsuya Kashima, Haruyuki Oki from The Pees, White Ash, etc. Jun was also hanging out back there. There was an elevator that I was standing right next to. The other winners had their backs to it, but at one point Sato suddenly popped out and walked past everyone. Almost no one noticed. It was hilarious.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/PYEZvcg.jpg?1[/img]
[size=85](from left: Miharu and her mother, The Sucrose, Minami, Mafu, Cody (Melonote), Juan, Andrew, Droidekka, Eri and her guest... and Yumechan!)[/size]

After a bit, we were all asked to enter a room. Inside was Yamanaka, Manabe and Sato. There were two Squire boxes against the wall that they had just pulled guitars from to give to the winners. AVEX had all the contest winners stand against the wall and began congratulating everyone one by one. They started with Cody/Melonote.
He shook their hands and they gave him the Sawao cyclone which was inside a soft case. When Manabe shook his hand, Manabe was secretly hiding a pick which he slipped to Cody. Manabe is such a chill dude.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/njys5f7.jpg?1[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/wBNVOS5.jpg?1[/img]

Other things I remember about.... Juan thanked them for encouraging him or something, but Yamanaka didn't understand. Yoko translated a bit, but didn't really get the message across. Droidekka gave Sato a Slime from Dragon Quest and something with music on it that they were trying to figure out. Miharu was in tears and crying. I think she gave Yamanaka a letter or something. She was super happy to receive the Cyclone.
Some AVEX member took pictures of each winner as they met the pillows. After all the winners were congratulated, everyone in the room clapped. I guess Cody had his Cyclone leaning against his legs while he was clapping, but it fell over. Everyone laughed (especially Sato). Cody apologized ("sumimasen!") and got a big laugh out of Manabe.

Afterwards, Yoko led us all through the corridors until we reached the outside of the area. We were all sent on our way.
Outside, we met up with all the IM busters again and talked about meeting the pillows. We were kind of disappointed that it was only a quick handshake and we didn't really get to chill with the pillows, but Tomoyuki had booked a bar for his own buster after party. Everyone wanted Cody and I to join, but I was feeling really sick after sweating like a faucet and being dehydrated after the concert (I had been very sick since arriving in Japan), and also we had to figure out what to do since we didn't have a place to stay.

Minami offered to let us crash at his place, and we went to Tomoyuki's after party long enough for a couple pictures. While we were heading out, Minami wanted us to stop by another bar where a bunch of Japanese busters were partying. They were all really nice and super excited to see the Sawao Cyclone. After meeting everyone and having a quick drink, we headed out (and ended up staying somewhere else, but that part is not so interesting).

[img]http://i.imgur.com/BeRMDLI.jpg?1[/img]

The entire experience still feels really surreal and like a dream. Meeting so many forum members from IM was really cool. I'm just sorry that I wasn't able to spend much time with you guys.
This was the first plllows concert that I have ever attended, and I thought it was amazing. I have already seen several people complain about the setlist, but I think you're all on crack. It was an incredible performance and all the members were really in the zone. Yamanaka's vocals sounded extremely good and every song in the set was a good one (except for Ready Steady Go, of course). Maybe some of the hipster fans are disappointed that half the set didn't consist of the 2nd movement or whatever, but it was a great show.

Now, I am finally able to relax in Kumamoto for the first time since arriving in Japan. My flight was delayed a bit because of bad weather, and I'm super lucky I made it here before the typhoon. Today I am listening to the Bootleg the pillows CD for the first time, and it's brilliant.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ymxoNqf.jpg?1[/img]

Anyway, I wanted to share my experience with you all. Hopefully other members will share their stories as well. If possible, I'll try to edit this post and include some pictures.

Great writeup, I've been waiting for this. Glad to hear it was as amazing as you'd dreamed! The pillows' concerts in Japan are a truly different experience. With so many people there who truly love the band, there's an amazing energy to it.

People have a serious problem with being immature about expressing their displeasure when they don't like something around these parts. They say "trash" when they mean "not exactly what I would have wanted," rather than respecting the facts; that A) what Sawao and the gang want out of rock is not necessarily what they want out of Sawao and co., B) that one man's trash is another's treasure as well as the other way around, and C) that it's incredibly disrespectful of the band we love so much, and the fellow Busters whose opinions we disagree with, when we use such language.

Too bad about not getting to really meet the band, it's sad that they turned it into more of a formalized ceremony this time around, but maybe it was past Sato's bedtime.

Thanks for this! I really need to go to Japan and see them again. Waiting for a western tour is too much

Glad you guys had fun

I wasn't even there, so perhaps my opinion is meaningless, but...

Yeah, of course they're free to perform whatever they want to perform. I don't think it's necessarily disrespectful to point out the fact that the songs in this set are their standard fare, though. There's hardly anything special about it. That's all fine and well, until you realize that this is their 25th anniversary show. You'd think they'd put together a more creative, diverse set for an occasion like this. Apparently not. Wanting to hear a more diverse mix of songs doesn't necessarily make one a "hipster", either. No one expected them to play, like, Native World or anything lol.

What's important is that the band and fans in attendance had a good time. It sounds like y'all did, and that's great. I guess what I'm saying is that, if I'd thrown down for a plane ticket and gone to see that show... I would probably have been disappointed with that set. Quite. I would have still had a good time, I bet. But I'd be more than a little bitter.

And come on. I know that some of us might have been extra harsh on the setlist, but...

>The big show, marking 25 years as a band
>"Let's end it with 'Advice'!"


... [i]seriously[/i]?

[quote="Lesser_Hamster"]
>The big show, marking 25 years as a band
>"Let's end it with 'Advice'!"


... [i]seriously[/i]?[/quote]
Yes. We all rocked the heck out to it too. It was awesome.
And I'd take Advice over Poison rock’n'roll any day of the week.

I don't see how this setlist was disappointing compared to Budokan. We got GOOD DREAMS, Midnight Down, Hibi no uta (heavily under-rated great song), Let's see if that's true or not, etc.

And Marekenshin, I'm not sure about Sato, but after the third encore Yamanaka motioned to the crowd like "ok, go home!". It was funny. You could tell he was beat. They really put their all into this show.

[quote="Lesser_Hamster"]You'd think they'd put together a more creative, diverse set for an occasion like this.[/quote]

Well, considering they picked several really great songs that weren't the typical fare in addition to songs that you know people were going to be disappointed if they WEREN'T played, it seems like a pretty diverse setlist to me. The problem here really comes from people not liking one thing as much, and imposing some sort of judgment on that.

You're one of the guys who manages to mostly express their disappointment in either a mature or light-hearted/amusing way, but we do have a long-standing issue with people having trouble conveying their personal likes/dislikes in ways that aren't overtly rude. If you'll note, Mafu's writeup PRE-EMPTIVELY expects people to talk trash about the setlist even in this thread because of the way that people behaved over on FB and tend to behave in general among our communities in regards to this kind of thing. It's probably far more disappointing to have to worry about seeing all that negativity being slung around in regards to your favorite band than the disappointment of "aw man, I wanted Like a Lovesong!"

Hey this is brye speaking because i dont have Wi-Fi
The show was really fun and it had its golden moments but ending it with songs like advice and ready steady go seems like a cheap way out but it was a fun high energy ending that left all of us happy and wanting more pillows. They gave us plenty of amazing songs and i do wish they had played swanky street at the end instead but regardless of how it ended, i had an amazing experience with amazing friends

I know people love to complain about the setlist, but actually when I saw it I thought it was really awesome. I have seen them multiple times and never got to see A LOT of the songs they played, and I wish I could. Sure, Ready Steady Go! maybe isn't their greatest song (it isn't) ... but live, it's so fun anyway! And as far as Advice goes, yeah, they overdo it, but I wonder (I think it was mentioned years ago on here) if they play that because of the line "I want to see you again someday"... maybe I am taking too romantic a view of it.
However, if I were to critique, I think for the big anniversary, they could have included more from the whole 25 year span. But still, not bad.

I am still so jealous of you guys, and so happy for everyone, especially those for whom this was the first time seeing them. Woo!

[quote="yaro"]I know people love to complain about the setlist, but actually when I saw it I thought it was really awesome. I have seen them multiple times and never got to see A LOT of the songs they played, and I wish I could. Sure, Ready Steady Go! maybe isn't their greatest song (it isn't) ... but live, it's so fun anyway! And as far as Advice goes, yeah, they overdo it, but I wonder (I think it was mentioned years ago on here) if they play that because of the line "I want to see you again someday"... maybe I am taking too romantic a view of it. [/quote]
I bet it was the "Leave me alone, away with you!" part, hoping people would take the hint and leave.

[quote="yaro"]I know people love to complain about the setlist, but actually when I saw it I thought it was really awesome. I have seen them multiple times and never got to see A LOT of the songs they played, and I wish I could. Sure, Ready Steady Go! maybe isn't their greatest song (it isn't) ... but live, it's so fun anyway! And as far as Advice goes, yeah, they overdo it, but I wonder (I think it was mentioned years ago on here) if they play that because of the line "I want to see you again someday"... maybe I am taking too romantic a view of it.
However, if I were to critique, I think for the big anniversary, they could have included more from the whole 25 year span. But still, not bad.

I am still so jealous of you guys, and so happy for everyone, especially those for whom this was the first time seeing them. Woo![/quote]


I agree....it's a solid set list, sure, but I was expecting th er 25th anniversary show to be mu cb more varied in terms of songs. Especially coming off the tail of their shows where they played so many old songs. I was expecting more of a retrospective of sorts, covering a few songs from each movement.

Anyway, great writeup, sounds like a blast. I really want to see them in JP someday, their US shows, while great...the crowds can get annoying. Every DVD live I've seen of them in Japan just seems great.

Awesome report Mafu! Thanks for giving us a detailed look on what happened, because you know we all wish we could've been there. Sounds like you all had an awesome time, and I'm glad you finally got to see them. It makes me feel spoiled that I've seen them three times myself! I'm curious how many people were there though. Was it totally sold out? Any cool interactions with other Japanese fans? I'm always curious about how they view us Western fans.

As for the set list, I admit I was a little disappointed at first. I thought they would play a song they hadn't played in ages like they did at the 15th and 20th anniversary shows. I was almost expecting Kanojo wa Sister since that was the one single they didn't play at either of the 1st or 2nd Movement shows. But then I realized... this is a damn good set list and I can't complain. if I had been there I'd shit bricks because I've only seen seven of those songs performed live. It was the first time they played Hibi no Uta and Good Dreams since 2011, and it was the first time they played Happy Bivouac since 2004. So they covered a lot of bases. Would it have been nice to see Something Like a Romance? Yea, but it seems like the band played their asses off and put on a good show with a solid set. We can't complain here guys. The pillows have given us a lot this year, including the ENTIRETY of Kool Spice played live. Can't get much better than that my friends.

[quote="Marekenshin"][quote="Lesser_Hamster"]You'd think they'd put together a more creative, diverse set for an occasion like this.[/quote]If you'll note, Mafu's writeup PRE-EMPTIVELY expects people to talk trash about the setlist even in this thread because of the way that people behaved over on FB and tend to behave in general among our communities in regards to this kind of thing. It's probably far more disappointing to have to worry about seeing all that negativity being slung around in regards to your favorite band than the disappointment of "aw man, I wanted Like a Lovesong!"[/quote]
Yeah, exactly. I apologize if I offended anyone with the "crack" or "hipster" remark, but I thought the complaints were really ridiculous when I saw the Facebook page. But I understand that for most of the international fans, the only performances that a lot of us are ever able to see are from the DVDs or whatever. So, of course it would be cool to see something really unusual. But I'm not disappointed that they didn't break into Swinger's Night Club, Boku de iraru you ni, or whatever, because expecting so would have been very stupid. It would have been a nice surprise, but I can't say that I'm disappointed.
They gave us the 2nd Movement/1st Movement bluray some weeks ago, and they are amazing performances that I will watch over and over again many times. But the 25th anniversary live was also very, very cool with a great assortment of songs. Also, while Ready Steady Go isn't one of my favorite tracks and I usually skip over it, I still rocked out during the live. Songs like that are more enjoyable when you're surrounded by energetic, fist pumpin' busters.

[quote="Son Goshin"]Awesome report Mafu! Thanks for giving us a detailed look on what happened, because you know we all wish we could've been there. Sounds like you all had an awesome time, and I'm glad you finally got to see them. It makes me feel spoiled that I've seen them three times myself! I'm curious how many people were there though. Was it totally sold out? Any cool interactions with other Japanese fans? I'm always curious about how they view us Western fans.[/quote]
Yep, it was sold out. Last I heard tickets were going for around $500 on Yahoo auctions before the concert. I took a picture of the "THANK YOU! SOLD OUT" sign. I gotta upload some pictures for you guys when I get the chance.
Some Japanese busters approached me with extended hands. They simply wanted to get a handshake and say "thank you, I like busters!". I guess they were surprised to see a foreign fan. Barely anyone noticed my brother even though he's in the winning cover contest video, but Tidusauron is a celebrity in Japan. hahaha
At the Japanese buster after party, everyone was very surprised to hear how long we had been fans. I can't wait to hear about the experiences and accounts from other IMers. I hope you all survived the typhoon!

Thanks so much for sharing!! I really wish I could have been there. >.< Sounds like there were a lot of great moments! Sucks about your fingers, but I'm glad it didn't get in the way of enjoying the show. Can't wait to see the pics!!

Regardless of the songs, 3 encores is pretty awesome. I only find Advice an odd choice to end on since it's rather angry and so few of their songs are. But it's still good. I think the set list overall has a nice range of songs.

Yo guys. When I get back to the states on Saturday, I'll be giving you my report from the front-center of the arena. Sawao actually pointed at me at the beginning of the set right before they went into a song! It was SUPER awesome. Also, I had a lot of interesting and exciting interactions with Japanese busters during the tempest of the show. One experience during Funny Bunny in particular was one of the most amazing experiences I've had as a pillows fan.

Of course, meeting the band major too. I don't wanna go into details while I'm trying to absorb Japan though. When I first came here, I was a bit unsure if I was actually prepared to move here. But after meeting Japanese busters and Japanese friends here and there along the way, I'm very eager to move here to live and study next year.

It has been an amazing experience. Today, Brye and I are going to meet up with TheFamousLoser (Andrew) and Cody (Melonote) so we can all hang out one last time in Shibuya and Odaiba today!

Great report and nice setlist. Man, I'd love to see Hibi no Uta, Good Dreams, Let's See If That's True Or Not, and I Know You live.

Also, amazing that Kashima was there! I don't think I would've recognized him, but that's pretty sweet that he still kinda keeps up with the band.