HKT48 Rino Sashihara Her Last Live at the AKB48 Theater, was An Unprecedented All Night Concert !!
HKT48 Make Noise at HOT STAGE to Close Out Tokyo Idol Festival 2017!
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As Rino Sashihara was the chairperson for Tokyo Idol Festival 2017, it was a given that HKT48 would be one of the must-see performances of the weekend. The Hakata-based sister group of the 48 franchise closed out the second day at HOT STAGE. HKT48 fans filled Tokyo Idol Festival 2017’s largest stage, adding to the heat stirred up by the preceding performance by anti-idol group BiSH.
HKT48 showed up with colorful uniforms to perform “12-byou”, a song covered earlier by STU48. Rino Sashihara called for the audience to get excited as the group continued on with their debut song “Hatsukoi Butterfly”, centered by second generation member Meru Tashima. They ended this first segment with single “Sakura, Minna de Tabeta”, Tashima joined by fellow second generation ace Mio Tomonaga in a double center formation.
Pausing to introduce themselves, Sashihara unexpectedly broke into tears. “A lot happened with HKT48 lately that got me worried,” she said, “but I’m so happy so many people came to see us.” A few days before the festival, a member’s private Instagram account was leaked. Although no sensitive content was found, it seemed to have caused Sashihara much anxiety as one of the group’s managers.
HKT48 cheered up the mood with a medley of summer songs, composed of AKB48 classics “Ponytail to Shushu” and “Everyday, Kachuusha”, as well as NMB48’s “Nagiichi”. The audience danced excitedly and flashed peace signs to the AKB48 Himawarigumi cover “Rock da yo, Jinsei wa”, the members racing around the stage appealing to the front sections and cameras.
“I hope everyone brought a towel and will dance with us… Even you, in the back, who are not fans of ours!” Sashihara screamed for the next and seemingly last song of the night. The highly anticipated rock-style single song “Melon Juice” was welcomed with the shining green pen lights of the audience.
As everyone started leaving the venue and the members were waving goodbye, Sashihara prompted people to stick a little longer with a playful “Oh, are you guys leaving already?”. The encore call started immediately after the group left the stage, a rare occurrence at a Tokyo Idol Festival stage. HKT48 came back on stage for their ultimate song, the second draft generation member Hana Matsuoka centered “Saikou kayo”. The production team made sure everyone could participate by showing the lyrics on the big screen on stage, ending the performance and closing the evening with a blast.
HKT48 seems to have left a big impression on the Tokyo Idol Festival 2017 crowd, their performance being one of the most praised on SNS during and after the event.
Photos by Nathan Gey
Set List
01 12-byou
02 Hatsukoi Butterfly
03 Sakura, Minna de Tabeta
04 Ponytail to Shushu
05 Nagiichi
06 Everyday, Kachuusha
07 Rock da yo, Jinsei wa
08 Melon Juice
E1 Saikou kayo
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Related Links
HKT48 Official site: http://www.hkt48.jp/
HKT48 Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/hkt48_official_
HKT48 YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/HKT48
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HKT48
Melody
Webdesigner slash idol enthusiast living in Tokyo. Resident token foreign wota and accidentally unofficial international PR for Chubbiness. Former AKB48 fan. Loves shopping, food and Grey's Anatomy a little bit too much.
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