Zepp Tokyo – My Evening With Rain: Round Four (The Final Round)

[Image credit: as tagged]

Thursday, November 28, 2013

All good things must come to an end. I know dear Rain was most probably exhausted by this the 10th and final show of his Zepp Tour but the man was still overflowing with so much energy, verve, swag and smiles. I was filled with a mix of excitement and sadness as I made my way to the venue. I knew I was not going to want the evening to end.

I started the evening of the 4th show the way I started off the evening of the first show – in the company of Superdog and Rainna Su Cha from Thailand. Omgeeeee, I LOVE these Clouds. And, I have to say that my cool quotient went up exponentially so much by simply being in their presence! Couple that cool with my dear friend, Michiko, and the fabulous is simply off the chart! The only way to have made that moment even more spectacular than it already was, was to sandwich Rain in between us all!! Just sayin’!! ^.^

[Image credit: Rainna Su Cha]

Oh, the 4th and final show. Wow. My ticket number for this show was 62. This is what happens when you know friends in high places!!!! My dear sweet J-Cloud Michiko procured that fabulously numbered ticket for me and I cannot thank her enough because it was THE golden ticket to be sure!!

What it ultimately translates to is this: I was going in with the first group and would possibly land in the first or second row from the stage. There is a part of me that agonizes over not trying to sneak a picture or video or two. But I have to be honest, the security was tight and even the many J-Clouds surrounding me were against any attempts made to take a picture. They were not policing me to be mean – on the contrary – they knew the drill and they knew the risk of taking a picture or video would mean expulsion from the venue. They were merely trying to protect me.

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Furthermore, I have to admit, being that close would have had me busted not only by the guards patrolling the area, but by Rain himself! He would have busted me big time as he was THAT close and I did not want him to think ill of a US Cloud for breaking the rules. There are pictures and video floating out there of the final show and to those brave Clouds who took a chance, I applaud your bravery and your ninja picture-taking skills!

The final show was bittersweet. Rain seemed a little tired but not short of energy. I would say in this show we saw him at his absolute cutest and playful. Oh….there definitely was a lot of sexy going on – but that is just a given when Rain is on the stage. He came at us hard with Rainism to open the show up and his moves, along with the entire crew, were tight and aggressive. You know, the little things like Rain’s socks and his jewelry confirm to me that he takes such attention to detail when he presents himself on stage. His socks were argyle and brown to match his shoes which were a soft camel color and this offset the gray suit nicely. I absolutely love his style. When he wore the gray, he chose gold jewelry – but only rings and bracelets – he wore nothing around his neck.

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When he switched to the pink jacket, black t-shirt, black tights and leather shorts, he switched out his jewelry as well and chose silver and chrome. So tasteful. He stayed with the silver and chrome for the remainder of the show but changed into loose-fitting black sweats, a white tank and one of his sweatshirts for the last portion (which of course was removed during I’m Coming because what is that song without the shirt lift, right?)

[Image credit: unknown]

My ticket got me to the semi-first row. I was kind of wedged in between two Clouds in front me – so I was probably officially second row, but it still felt like first! LOL! I will say that I am now forever spoiled by my Zepp experience and being in such close proximity to Rain while he performs and interacts with the audience. A large stadium venue is not going to suffice now that I have been close enough to hear him snap his fingers. Seriously….that’s close!

For the fourth time, he changed up the hip grind in Hip Song. This one was perhaps his most playful. And he may have done something similar in shows previous to Tokyo, but for Tokyo, we got 4 different hip grinds. This final time he set up for the old school grind, forearms covering his face. However, he played peek-a-boo with arms as he grinded giving the cutest smile with each opening of his arms. Aiiiiigoooo!!! I  have not seen him do that in any Hip Song performance (but I admit that I probably have not seen them all)!! So.flipping.cute.

During the dance break of I Do, he went particularly wild with the dance on the left side of the stage and I really can’t explain the dance – but I will try because he did it more than once and he is such a hot dancer…I mean seriously! He sets up, stretches his arms out diagonally and then slaps the air with them as he is thrusting his hips. It may not sound like much in the description….but trust me, it is HOT. During that dance break he is wearing those black leather shorts and has taken off the jacket at this point so he is in all black. And he got SO into it. Too hot to handle!!

After My Girl and Love Is, he was seated up top at the little bistro table and the cute kept coming. He sighed, put his hand on his stomach (O.o) and told us in Japanese that he was hungry. Yes, I admit to remembering the oddest things, right? I just thought it was so cute.

I cannot remember what song it was (and maybe someone who was there may remember and can drop it in a comment) but in shows 2, 3 and 4, he did come off the stage and close to crowd starting on the left hand side and walked along the barrier to shake and slap hands. He did not do it in the first Tokyo show so I missed the opp then. On the second show, I was close but did not get a touch. The third show you will recall I stayed back a bit from the stage so I missed that opp as well. I was DETERMINED to touch Rain if he decided to come down off the stage in show #4. He did, and I had my second moment with Rain.

I could not see where he was and had to rely on the spotlight as it followed him down the line. I just held my hand firm and hoped and prayed I would get a handshake….a touch, a grasp, a wisp….I didn’t care! I just wanted to make contact! Oh…..I got it alright. In fact when he got to where I was, he stopped. O M G!!!!!!!!!! He looked right at me, nodded and gave me a low five slap/hand grasp! His ring dinged the bottom of my ring finger on my right hand as he grabbed my fingers.  Flail. Faint. Sigh. Squee. I touched Rain.  The end. LOL!

How do you recover from that? It was not so much getting the hand grab – it was that he stopped and faced me – dear lord. Seriously, nothing is the same after you have a Rain encounter. I don’t think I remember too much after that….LOL! But I do remember the encore, and specifically, the second encore.

The Encore – 4th Show (Part 1)

Once again he and the crew were behind the door when it opened  with the lot of them huddled together, heads down, bopping to the opening beats of  Instead of Saying Goodbye. Cloud USA-er Maria Cammarota remembered that during the encore for show #2, Yong Deock was left alone the stage when everyone got back behind the door – so I suppose it was YD’s payback in show #3 when Rain emerged from behind the door and the crew did not follow, closed the door, and left him alone on the stage! They really do have a lot of fun on that stage and the camaraderie between all of them is so apparent. They all enjoy themselves so much and I get the feeling that Rain is probably the biggest prankster of them all!

They gave us a little Magic Stick and Rain let every single one of his crew (except the girls – and PK (Gori) since I think he may have still been injured) have a moment to break it down after he gave us a little. When he came out in the baseball cap and hoodie pulled over – I knew we were going to see some major hip hoppin’!!

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He pushed Kevin out to go first – yeah he literally pushed him to the center, then stood back and watched. Q Sang, Yong Deock, SooBong and Hongshi KILLED it when they each had their moment!! It was so awesome. I think it was Hongshi that went into a complete side handstand, held it and then released. And, it was either YD or Q Sang that went down into a partial split that impressed Rain so much that he let out a huge “WOAAAH” – it was a party on the stage that night!

We also got a little more Mariah – Rain walking from one side of the stage to the other tossing out Rain goods. It was crazy…it was Christmas for real!! I do recall him ending by wishing everyone a Happy Christmas, waving and smiling to the audience. He is so very charming, so warm and so sweet (and let’s not forget handsome)!

The Encore – 4th Show (Part 2)

It was apparent that we were not going to leave until we got a little more Rain and I had feeling he would come back out a second time because they did not open the side doors and start shuffling us out. The whole while the crowd was chanting ‘Jung Ji Hoon, Jung Ji Hoon, Jung Ji Hoon.’ When he returned, he ran and slid across the stage from right to left. Exits off  the left then comes back running across the stage to the right. Exits off the stage then comes back arm and arm with Hongshi kind of skip/jogging. I think he ran back and forth a few times. So silly!! He then stayed out for a while and threw some more goodies out to the audience. I don’t believe there was any music during this time – Jump might have been playing or maybe Mariah….honestly, I do not remember!! I do remember him wanting to take the final bow and the entire crew was not there and he kept looking off stage wondering where they were trying to get then all out there. Finally, when they were all back out there, they all held hands in a row and took a final bow and with that The Story of Rain Zepp Tour 2013 came to a close.

Here is some fancam action from the last show….if you notice Rain sees the filming going on as he looks directly at the camera. O.O

[Video  credit: jysm351]

OH!! To be able to have had all of this on film……just this little taste is delicious, though…right?

[Video  credit: jysm351]