FAN ACCOUNT: Team H Osaka day 2, October 17th 2016

FAN ACCOUNT: Team H Osaka day 2, October 17th 2016

by Zozie Jo

Instead of spending our third consecutive day in a JKS-related queue we actually ventured into Osaka. We met Chris and several other eels in Dotonbori and then proceeded to indulge our obsession again… we had lunch at a restaurant he’d eaten at, took photos on the bridge in the same pose as him, and shopped for things with his face on. It would be a real problem if we weren’t all as crazy as each other but fortunately, we are.

Afterwards we headed over to the venue to find that Suk still hadn’t arrived. We waited for him and Eva stood on a conveniently placed tree trunk to get a good view. He had the window down and waved but it was too quick to really take in! My total inability to see him and be able to fix the experience in my brain persists (I suppose I will just have to keep going until I get over it…).

Our very few hours of sleep in the previous few days were beginning to catch up with us so we bought ourselves coffee and ice cream from Lawson and sat in front of the venue to enjoy them. Once we revived a bit we took pictures with the banner Eva had come up with asking Suk to bite us. It caused a bit of a stir among the other eels milling about but also among the staff at the merchandise stalls, some of whom came over for a better look, which was convenient because we got one of the men to take a picture with all of us in.

So, to the show…

It turns out that the way to top one of the best nights ever is to repeat the experience the very next night but to have better seats! For day 2 Eva and I were sitting in block A, in the seventh row, right opposite the right hand stage extension, so when he was on that bit we could see him very clearly.

The concert was wonderful - Suk seemed so high and so happy, he was smiling and laughing a lot. I thought the first night was good… I had no idea. Maybe the second night his singing wasn't as good and maybe he forgot the words occasionally or sang at the wrong time, and at one point I think they even started playing completely the wrong song, but he was beautiful and happy and relaxed and it was so, so good.

To begin with, when they appeared out of the stage, I was not sure about his clothes - he was wearing all white again but the shirt and jacket were both long. I had to change my mind though because there were air vents in the stage extensions so when he was dancing on them his clothes blew around. The shirt was made of very fine, thin material. Most of the time he kept one hand there to keep it in place but one time when he was right in front of us he accidentally let go or forgot to hold it so it blew up, revealing a gorgeous flat belly!

He was very playful tonight. When he was walking around the arena he was using the smoke guns and water guns as usual, playing with eels. He also took an eel’s mask of his face and held it over his own face, and then even kissed his fingers then pressed them against a lucky eel’s mouth. Everyone screamed so loudly!

During the talking section, he managed to break the stage. It was very cute. He knocked a strip of lights with his foot  and they slipped down a bit. Then he tried to fix it and it fell further! Everyone was laughing and so was he but he was also apologetic, Japanese eels said he was saying sorry, sorry, this is expensive!

When they first started playing ‘Wow’ Suk gestured ‘stop, stop’, crossing his arms. When the music stopped he showed us all the dance moves he wanted us to do and made us practice a few times before letting the song continue. During the encore when all the dancers were on stage too, BB showed some break dance moves. Then the dancers gestured to Suk, it's your turn now. He tried to say no but then tried a move which didn't go well and ended with him flat on his back with his hat fallen off. Then one of the dancers was pulling his shirt up to show his chest and tried to pull Suk's up too but Suk wouldn't let him. But then he slyly lifted his own shirt up and gave us a lovely view of his belly hair! And his lack of ponyo. There was a collective sigh from eels at that flash of skin. He had a big grin on his face when he turned away.

When the show ended Eva, Mara and I could not stop dancing and singing. We carried on until we were chased out by arena staff. I hadn’t had anything to drink but I felt completely intoxicated and was no doubt acting like it too (i.e. like a complete idiot). Fortunately the majority of the Japanese eels were clearly a bit high too and indulged us with smiles or danced with us or even gave us gifts.

Afterwards we went for dinner with some of the Korean eels and they very kindly agreed to go somewhere within walking distance of the venue so that we wouldn’t end up missing the metro again. I was such a sweaty mess that I wished I could have had a cold shower before going but I had to settle for just going outside for some air every few minutes. It was such a fantastic day and night and nine days felt like far too long to wait to repeat the experience.

TEF says: thank you to Zozie Jo for sending us your amazing, detailed, and fun fan accounts of the shows!  

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