I was lucky to view the concert from the front row, besides the small bunch in the center. <3

To celebrate the 1,000,000th download milemarker of Terra Battle, the new smartphone created by Sakaguchi Hironobu and his team at Mistwalker, the special mini-concert performed by Uematsu Nobuo and his Earthbound Papas band was held last night at the Apple Store in Omotesando, Tokyo.

Attendance to this event was completely free through the Apple Store Omotesando Website. All you had to do was reserve a ticket in advance, although they quickly “sold out”. Strangely enough, reservations became available before the previously announced time, which could be why I was able to get a ticket. I was extremely nervous whether or not my reservation went through because of this.

I arrived on site around 6:00pm, an hour before the concert was said to begin. I think there may have been a little miscommunication about this, though. Typically for any given concert, you will be informed on the time when you can enter the facility (会場 kaijou) and the time when the actual concert will begin (開演 kaien). My memory could be failing me about this, but I don’t think we were ever informed on the entrance time. Then again, it’s taking place in an actual Apple store, so they have to be open for business all day, so… xD

Anyway, those who reserved a ticket were directed to get into a line that stretched to the very back of the store. We only waited there for a couple minutes until meeting with a staff member to check your name with the master list of RSVPs. It was all very high tech, using iPads to enter names and sign in each individual. Very cool and handy!

When I was allowed to enter the reserved area, there was still a lot of open space, and I easily made my way to the front of the area. There was exactly enough space for one person at the very front, stage left. 😀

As I settled in a little bit and managed to take off my jacket without bumping into the people beside me, I could enjoy the pre-concert tuning the band members conducted for at least the first 30 minutes after I arrived to my viewing space. They played many tunes only halfway, but there were at least two tunes that were played all the way through, one of which was Aeris’ Theme from FFVII.

After the sound check had concluded, the boys left the stage via the door stage right, just below the stage. Since this particular Apple store had all but one perimeter wall made out of glass, I noticed a couple of the boys walk outside and down the road for a quick breather. ^^

Anyway, as far as concerts go, the show itself was quite enjoyable with a rather subdued crowd. That’s what’s very interesting about many concerts in Japan–the majority of the crowd will listen quietly to a performance with very minor reactions. The largest movement the people in the crowd ever made was possibly bobbing one’s head in tune to the music. This is very common in Japan. It felt very strained to even “whoooo” during their entrance. xD

Since this was just a mini-concert, they were only able to perform a total of 7 songs. Here’s a brief look at each of the tracks:

1: [テラバトル] Terra Battle / Main Theme
2: [地平線を超えて] Beyond the Horizon / The Maker’s Beckoning
3: [戦いの波形] The Waves of Battle / Braving the Battle
4: [エアリスのテーマ] Aeris’ Theme (FFVII)
5: [剣と槍と弓と] Swords, Spears, and Bows / A Battle of Teamwork
6: [全てを賭けて] Risk it All / The World’s Awakening
7: The Man with the Machine Gun (FFVIII, Laguna’s Battle Theme)

I’m going on memory regarding the YouTube links to the tracks above, so please excuse me if I made any mistakes matching themes to the titles.

Once the concert had officially ended, Sakaguchi Hironobu walked on stage to thank everyone and also announce a very special occurrence of the day–> it was Uematsu-san’s birthday!! Yay! Sakaguchi-san handed him a large bouquet of flowers and Narita-san began playing Happy Birthday on the keyboard… but the crowd wasn’t able to enter into the song very promptly… but I tried to sing as loudly as I could. xD

Then all the boys left the stage area, and the host from the Apple store concluded the concert by asking people to not loiter around the exit. He was very clear in stating that this was THE END of the concert, as sometimes people tend to expect an encore. xD

Many, many people still hung around thereafter, taking photos of the boys cleaning up after the event, but I left rather quickly thereafter.

All-in-all, it was a great concert, and boy, did it go by quickly!! Their next concert will be held in Mexico in April. Safe travels, boys! I look forward to seeing your show again in Japan sometime!! <3

External Links

Famitsu App
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SocialGameInfo
Aplista

* I took all the photos on this page except for the one on the very top, which was actually taken by Fujioka Chihiro, the percussionist of the band that night, who took the photo after the soundcheck.