Ok, I’m back from the AnimagiC convention with Kalafina as well.
They did two 1 hour concerts Friday and Saturday evening.
I attended on Friday.
Cause of the concert being directly after, they didn’t appear at the opening ceremony, but they showed a short film message.
It was their first time being in Europe und their first concerts here.
The concert started with a short introduction movie, nothing spectacular, just pics and their names.
Setlist (like Flame Sniper already posted):
Of course almost all from Animes.
On the big screen in the background they showed excerpts of the Animes or just some colorful effects.
In between the songs they spoke to us and they tried to do the main part in German with reading from notes.
They made fun of their German pronunciation, though Wakana was actually really, really good!
At one point they asked us what’s our favourite dessert, so random. XD
They were standing most of the time in their typical three line, doing some arm choreography.
Though at the end they jumped and celebrated with us, waving hands and smiling
They wore red and black dresses, pretty similar to those from the to the beginning CD photoshoot.
It was great fun, although there were some minor audio problems here and there, at least on my side.
Their vocals were great as much as I could hear!
So far the good thing.
Everything else was sadly pretty bad for me.
First of all there wasn’t a booth at the con to buy CDs and merchandise or at least get some information about them.
Not even a single poster or official photos anywhere at the area, but it was like that with every music guest, so it’s still ok.
Frustrating enough, they just sold CDs at the signging event after each concert and just who bought a CD got a signature.
On Friday we decided not to go to it, cause we thought it would be too full already after the concert (and it was, there were people send away).
On Saturday we went there 1 hour earlier as we already saw it. There was a queue already, but we still were near to the door to the signing room.
It filled and filled after us, there were hundreds of people waiting at the end. But Kalafina didn’t show up…
After another half an hour everybody got the information that there are only 60 CDs left to buy!
And that’s it… there was a big uproar, but the organizer didn’t know as well until Kalafina’s management told them.
So they counted the people…and just about another half an hour later Kalafina showed up. They stayed for, well, not more than 10-15 minutes and vanished at once after that.
Even though my friends and I were near the front we didn’t get anything. You can tell how disappointed and angry we were just like anybody else!
The management didn’t even apologize! I mean, ok, maybe they did underestimate the popularity of their stars, but heck, they had to check before that there were just a few CDs left!
Or stating before that everybody is able to buy just one CD. Let fans wait for 2 hours for nothing and not even apologize...man!
Also the management treated Keiko, Wakana and Hikaru like porcelain dolls. It wasn’t allowed to do any photos, (which is absolutely ok for the concert).
But not even when they came out on the area on Saturday to make some photos before the big Beethoven statue.
They were always surrounded by a bunch of strict staff.
It was ridiculous especially compared to the other Japanese guests who were wandering through the fans without being bothered, making photos and being happy.
E.g. Kanako Ito, the other JPop artist, was so open minded and charming just like the two people from her staff. I’ve got a personal photo, a shirt and a signature!
CDs were sold out for her as well on Sunday at the panel, but they made up for it with being so friendly and offering something different.
Kalafina did two Q&A panels as well, but we didn’t visit. So I don’t know, maybe they were a bit fan-friendlier and more openly there.
And I don’t know if anybody of the German fans asked them about the incident on Saturday. Would have been interesting to hear.
Surprisingly we were allowed to make photos of them at the final ceremony (wearing some beautiful white dresses).
But the batteries of my camera were low and my friend refused to do any photo after what happened. So I’m sorry, I don’t have any photos to share with you.
At the final ceremony they said they want to come again.
So I guess we hear and see some more of them in Europe in the future.
I enjoyed the concert, but I’m pretty disappointed by everything around them.
I won’t buy the albums I’m still missing anytime soon from CDJapan or YesAsia out of protest.
Maybe some time later when I’m not that disappointed anymore.
Though I'm absolutely happy to have seen them live, it was great!
EDIT:
There was a report about their stay and the concerts on Mezamashi TV this morning.
Take a look here:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/atsutomoblog...s/1724395.html