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Hello everyone,

The entire "Seiko Matsuda Love & Emotion Japan Tour 2001" ended only two days
ago at Budokan. It was also the third consective night at Budokan. (The live 
recording was done over the last two days.)

On 8/1 day one: 
I rushed out to work at miraculously 5.30PM on the dot. (This concert thing
is probably the ONLY thing that could make me leave the office on time really.) 
The show started really late..close to 30min after scheduled time at about 7pm. 
It was hot... peak Japan summer at 34-40 degrees Celcius is no joke. We were 
all in our working clothes, men in shirts, ties and briefcases, women in
well-pressed skirts and blouses..... all sweaty and on one hand, holding a 
paper fan with the face of Seiko on it. =) Once inside the hall, we quickly 
made phone calls to see where our fellow friends were sitting... oh, right in 
front among the first few rows, another at one corner side of the arena, 
another on 2nd Floor ... we were all waving our Seiko paper fans fanatically at 
each other, feeling proud of ourselves to have successfully secured a seat for 
ourselves and for making to the hall on time.

The show starts and all the 12000 fans were focused and screaming their lungs 
out for Seiko. Seiko said since it was the last three, she would try to say yes 
to any requests...much to the delight of "request corner" veterans. During the 
show, Seiko had a slip with the lyrics of "This si the Place" and later asked 
the crowd if we had realized that. It was really a minor one, but come-on, of 
course we knew (^^). We even knew when she modified a dance step, added a 
new "ooh-huu" in a song or when the props changed a little, we even noticed on 
which stage (city) her wig got too much static electricity (l leave the rest to 
your imagination), we noticed also when she shouted 'HEY!' for "20th Party" or 
missed out 'Come On' for "Love&Emotion" in some shows and some not...  We are 
talking about "a Seiko fan" here, "average" considered among  all Seiko fans 
but "hard-core & maniac" by observants with awe... (It is quite well-known in 
JP that Seiko-fans are quite-a-very-different breed from a generic definition 
of "fan"....to put it simply in simple term, C-R-A-Z-Y & U-N-S-H-A-K-A-B-L-E!   
hahaahaah... I take it as a compliment...=) 

Where I sat, I was 4 rows behind and 3-4metres away from where SAYAKA sat. 
Small in size, and mature in mannerism and taste than any 14 year old, we 
noticed that she was singing along "Sutekini Once Again" during the show. 
(That was the only song I saw her singing as 99.999% time my eyes were glued to 
where Seiko is...err and also where Sax Hiruta-san and dancer Sekip were).
Whenever Seiko was asked (in TV/radio/magazines interviews) is she felt that 
SAYAKA sounded like her, she would say that both she and SAYAKA don't know.... 
and wonder where the strong resemblance claimed by 3rd parties was. And Seiko
also thought that SAYAKA was shy to sing her songs in front of her, because
although they sing together using their karaoke system, SAYAKA had not sung her 
songs eventhough she had asked her to before. But she did wonder if ever SAYAKA 
sang her songs when she was not around. (There, you have your answer, Seiko) At 
the encore, Seiko pulled SAYAKA onto the stage for half the final song....
(newsline in papers the next day naturally) She doesn't have the sense of 
rythmn like her mother (she is only 14!) and had expressed that she wanted to 
do acting more too (in some magazines before)... Well, to compare to her mother 
would be cruel, as we all know how special Seiko is but I am looking forward to 
her singing debut.

To me the gem of the show was one of the bonus songs that Seiko did for the
audience. The song was "Vacancy" from the album 9th Wave. Remember I mentioned 
that Seiko's delivery of her locals was different from the previous years... 
remember what I had mentioned about her performance at FUN TV program, and the 
HMV talk show etc.  You hear that voice of 2001, see the facial expressions 
when she sings, when she looks at each one of us, when she talks, when she 
replies to our to-put-seiko-in-a-difficult-position questions,etc.... The joy 
that she exhibits on stage, at every stage she stepped upon, was like never 
before one has seen. The ease and feel of "being at home" is evident. If you 
think Zepp DVD was great... wait till you hear this year's. Is it an 
accumulation of everything experience over the years, and the relationship with 
her fans? It is probably so, something like this can never be attributed by 
just one thing one incident. To have a superstar like Seiko to express her 
appreciation to her fans the way she does it is incredible. It is true, that if 
it was sincere, the message will be reached. I have never believed this saying 
in so much depth and confidence till now. Seiko, if you are reading, the fans 
have heard you.... that was what brought tears to our eyes on the second night 
8/2, and when you sang "Vacancy" even though it was just a few lines you 
touched so many of us. That piece couldn't have been sung better, than that 
moment, at that time in Budokan, by Seiko 2001. 

We are all proud to be part of this Seiko History in the making.


8/2, Day Two:
The concert ended about 9PM the night before and we chatted at a nearby 
McDonald's (for cheap drinks!) and stood outside the shop yakking away even 
after it closed at 10.30PM. We split at 11.15PM as I had to catch my last 
trains home and tsk tsk, there is still work the next day. I took a day off on 
the 8/3 and decided to take a half day off on the 8/2 (totally unforgivable to 
do that before prior notice in JP... but oh well... I couldn't possibly be 
productive at the office that afternoon anyway. And it pays to have worked hard 
all this while...thank you boss!) So for once, I reached the Budokan early, 
about 2-3hours before the show started and watched the people strolled in. 
Mothers, kids, grannies...Seiko-lookalikes, sunflowers....

Throughout the show, there was more tension too as the local TV crew (for cable 
telecast on 10/9 hurray) and the camera crew (for DVD release) were there as 
well. Seiko was made to sing the commerical song which SAYAKA sang, and for the 
first time there was an immediate call for encore right after it ended. Caught 
by surprised, Seiko laughed really hard and sang it again and then teased the 
band by going a few notes for a third time. what an entertainer. By this time, 
Seiko had her band to play to the tune.  In the beginning of the tour, she only 
sang it in acapella. Bit by bit... it was pieced up... Now you know why people 
go for many many shows...=) All for a possibility of a once in a life-time 
moment like when she sang "Vacancy", and a super time from start to end of the 
120minutes performance, to hear her speak the local dialect, etc. I bought 
along a friend, a non-Seiko fan, to her first Seiko Live.... her response 
was "I never expected it to be THAT GOOD..."

Needless to say, this live was the one where Seiko was most moved... and us
too.....The GEM of the show? Seiko's MC...., wins hands down. (see previous 
posting) We are moved when we see Seiko enjoying the show on stage so much and 
so relaxed with us. Likewise, Seiko herself is also moved when she sees us 
enjoying her shows, singing and dancing and listening so attentively to her 
words and her songs


On 8/3 final day:
Already we were warming ourselves up for the big event. We rested well in the 
morning, met up after lunch at a karaoke for the entire afternoon singing you 
know whose songs, and got our props ready... that I mean sunflowers on the 
Seiko paper fans, head gears etc, anythign to link to the 2001 Tour.... it is 
the last one and it is all to go. You see lots of people dress up in party 
clothes... in Seiko's on stage style etc... what a feast... phew! were we all 
geared to wanting to have a good time with Seiko, at the same time I guess we 
were all so terribly stressed up at work too (hahaha) There was no let down. 
While the first night was "bonus of Vacancy & SAYAKA on stage", and the second 
night very touching and special moment for both Seiko & her fans, the final 
third was all party, fun and absolute enjoyment for everyone on and off the 
stage. FUN FUN FUN ... that it was JUST SUPER ENJOYMENT. At the start of the 
show, she had said that she was a little nervous the day before 8/2 and 
although there was still the camera crews on 8/3, she hoped that everyone would 
forget about them and just have a goood time. And it was, like magic. It was so 
much fun right from the start that even the impromtu bonus request songs such 
as "Seifuku", "Pink Scooter" "Pineapple Land", "Jungle Girl", "Kazetachi nu" 
and and and "Glass no Ringo" was overshadowed. (do you notice the number of 
bonus songs in just this one show?!) The mood was just F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C.

LET'S PRAY THAT IT WOULD BE A NO-CUT VERSION DVD RELEASE OF THE LIVE......
it would have been such a waste to have it edited and compromise on the actual 
Seiko Magic Live so vivid on that night.

Laughs & blunders on 8/3:
Seiko sang "Pineapple Land" and asked for a retry because the key was low. It 
was really funny as she was teasing the band for the blunder, and just before 
she started singing the 2nd time, the band slip again leaving her stranded as 
she has already started singing. The third try was alright. Straight after that
was another request. It was "Pink Scooter"...she has still teasing the band and 
when she started singing for the "pink Scooter", she sang it to the lyrics and 
tune of "Pineapple Land"...it had the entire hall laughing. Her blunder this 
time round. She sang SAKAYA's CM song  again. and the crowd had also asked like 
the day before for an encore...So Seiko happily did that... and even continued 
to a THIRD, catching her band and us off guard!!!! She tried to sing "chisana 
Love Song" but failed miserably, as she had forgotten the tune and lyrics.... 
of the song she had written, she said. "Glass no Ringo" was wonderful a full 
verse and chorus, total acapella and with great dim lightings (Kudos to the 
quick reaction of the Lighting crew). It would have been wonderful had the 
song "Glass no Ringo" been followed by "Vacancy". 

Everyone in the hall had so much fun, the backstage crew came up to stage in 
the Encore in crazy clothers, we had a penquin up on stage too all dancing to 
the tune to adictive "20th Party"... There were so many people calling for a 
second encore, a level never before, and we were sure that Seiko and band would 
come out, judging by the mood we were all in, but unfortunately the announcement
that the show had ended and the lights come out just minutes later. Budokan officials
were the only let-down perhaps....and our bodies too, as we ached from over dancing.

There is still another one and a half months left to Summer in JP, but to most 
Seiko fans in JP, our summer has already ended. We are ready for winter..., and 
the Christmas Dinnershows. I can't wait... and the Love&Emotion Vol2 (promised 
to fans to include an acapella piece during the Osaka live). We had a all-night-
long karaoke session after the show till the next morning, and already we were 
singing the tunes of Seiko's Christmas songs in the peak of summer in Japan!

Of course we are all sad too that it has all ended and to most of us this is 
the time of the year that we feel that a year had really past. Nope, not Dec31,
not on our birthdays... We are not sure how long this can go on, but we know 
that so long that Seiko is on stage, so long as she is still singing, we will 
be there for her, as she and her songs have been there for us all the time. 
This had been a very special year for many fans in Japan...Seiko herself, the 
Tour and her music had given us so much fun time and good memories, ...at the 
same time encouraged and inspired many of us. This is what I have been hearing 
what many fans say, and exactly what Seiko herself had hoped to achieved.


What a singer, what an entertainer, what a concert it was. 

With the 2001 Seiko we are seeing, I am wishing very hard that there will be a 
re-live of a Zepp Tour, a CD release of Seiko Live Acoustic single or a DVD 
release of the FUN performance.

Tzing
PS. Look out for super drummer Ryuben and how busy Sax Hiruta is switching from 
one instrument to the next... Not forgetting great dance steps from Sekip too!