Sashiko Keeps Her Word! “Swimsuits LIVE” Realized in HKT48 Yokohama Arena Concert

| 48 / 46 Group | Posted by TGUadmin on Jun.28.2015

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Yesterday, the first of the final performances of HKT48’s first national tour, which started last September, was held in Yokohama Arena.
Today will feature a daytime and a nighttime performance, with a total of 36,000 attendees expected over the three shows in the two-day final performance.

When the doors opened, there were about 300 photos, costumes, and displays, as well as broadcasts over the venue radio by the group members’ families and HKT48 staff.
The sense of a climactic finale was palpable.

Starting from Sashihara’s shout of, “Go, HKT!” the up-tempo songs came in quick succession, and a fever of excitement filled the venue.

There were three giant, 8m dinosaurs on stage, and two smaller, 2m dinosaurs on the runway into the audience. In one act, Asuka Tomiyoshi was eaten by one of the dinosaurs.
After that, Sashihara said, “Now that it’s the final, dinosaurs showed up,” and laughter erupted from the audience.

During the middle of the performance, in the sudden darkness, a video of the band members practicing instruments was broadcast on a screen.
In the video, Sashihara said, “We’ve always been thinking there is something we had to do. We decided to do something in which everyone could participate, and we came up with a few ideas, but…
Because we decided it should be something that wouldn’t work if anyone is missing; a plan that needed all the members, we wanted to make a wind symphony.”
Then, each band member appeared on stage with an instrument and all 45 members performed “Flying Get” on wind instruments.

Sashihara revealed that this was a top secret project: “We made absolutely certain that no information would leak; it was forbidden to be seen with an instrument.”
Moriyasu said, “At first, we were bewildered, but everyone practiced with all their might.”
After that, they performed “ONLY YOU,” and “Life is Rock…” by BOØWY, the legendary band who led Japan’s rock scene in the 80’s, in their own band’s style.
At the high point of “ONLY YOU,” the audience joined in for a large, climactic chorus.

And then, for their final encore song, “Melon Juice,” Sashihara did a live costume change on stage, appearing in a swimsuit. In a pledge to reclaim 1st place in the General Election, Sashihara, who sparked “Swimsuit LIVE!” said: “This is the best! From now on, I’ll show up in a swimsuit every time!” bringing the climactic first day of performance to an end.