Question 5.
What’s a “live house tour” or a "standing live”?
When popular, major-label bands go on tour in Japan, the tours are generally one of two types: “hall tours”, a.k.a. “seated” tours, or “live house tours,” a.k.a. “standing” tours. The key difference lies in the type of venue the band performs in.
At a live house/standing tour, rather than performing at theater-style venues, the band is performing at rock clubs, or “live houses,” as they are called in Japan. Live houses tend to be smaller than concert halls, and generally, they don’t have seats. There will be a wide open floor in front of the stage where fans can stand and watch the show, though this floor may or may not be broken up by metal railings on which you can lean if you get tired of standing for so long. Large live houses like Zepp Tokyo, Zepp GundamCity EpicFail Tokyo, Shinkiba Studio Coast, Roppongi EX Theater, or Akasaka Blitz will also have a balcony, and the balcony will have seats in the front, and more standing room in the back.
If the venue has a balcony with seats, tickets for a live house/standing tour will generally be divided into two or three categories: first floor standing, second floor assigned seating, and (possibly) second floor standing. If the venue has no balcony, obviously, tickets will be first floor standing only. Second floor assigned seating works exactly the same way at a live house as it does at a concert hall. If you have a second floor assigned seat, find your seat, plunk your butt down in it, and enjoy the show. However, if you have a standing ticket, things work a little differently—instead of a seat number, you have a line number, or [整理番号].
So what is a line number, then? Your line number dictates when you get to enter the venue. Fans will be admitted to the venue in order according to the numbers printed on their tickets. The advantages of this system are obvious. In the past, when touring overseas, Japanese bands like Dir en grey have had issues with fans lining up on the street outside the venue more than a day in advance of the concert in order to secure a spot in the front row. But because of the convenient line number system, lucky Japanese fans never have to line up more than an hour or two in advance. The fan holding ticket #1 gets to enter the venue first, followed by the fan holding ticket #2, and so on. When the venue doors open, venue staff will call numbers in order. The doors will generally open half an hour to an hour before the scheduled start of the concert, depending on the size of the venue—larger venues open earlier. Therefore, if you have a ticket with a very low number, it’s wise to arrive at the venue and line up fifteen minutes or so before the door time, if you want to make sure to get into the venue as quickly as possible. However, if you don’t get there in time, no worries—anyone whose number has already been called is free to enter the venue at any time.
When entering the venue, you must present your ticket so the venue staff can verify that your number has already been called. You may also have to let your bag be inspected (cameras and recording devices are generally banned), and you will have to pay a drink ticket fee, which is usually 500 yen, though in some cases it may be as low as 300 or as high as 700. In exchange for paying the drink ticket fee, you will receive a drink ticket, which you can redeem at the bar for one drink any time before, during, or (usually) after the show. Once you’re admitted to the venue, you’re free to do what you want, be it rush up to the front railing and prematurely squee, use your drink ticket immediately to get some beer at the bar, admire the congratulatory bouquets on display in the lobby, wait in a really long line for the women’s bathroom (bonus points on doing this if you’re a dude), or go and bother the PA guy about the specs of the venue’s sound equipment until he tells you to shut up and go away.
Some things to watch out for at standing shows:
Seated vs. Standing tickets - When buying tickets to standing shows through the band’s fan club or a pre-sale lottery, it’s not always possible to specify whether you want a first-floor standing spot or a second-floor seat. If you get a second floor seat but you want to go to the first floor, you’re generally allowed to do that. However, if you get a first floor spot but you want a seat on the second floor, you’re out of luck, unless you can find someone to trade with… and you may well be able to, because a lot of people would prefer to be on the first floor. But if you have a physical handicap or injury of some kind, you’re entitled to sit in the priority seats in the front corner of the balcony. If you have a special circumstance like this, speak to the venue staff in advance. Even if the venue doesn’t have a balcony, there may be something they can do for you. And if you don’t speak Japanese, but you have, say, back problems that would prevent you from standing through a whole show, show up wearing your back brace and look pathetic at them and they’ll probably take pity on you.
Multiple sets of line numbers - If tickets for the show were sold at various outlets, for example, the band’s web site, the venue box office, Lawson Ticket, and Ticket Pia, it’s sometimes the case that each set of tickets will be numbered separately, i.e. the band’s tickets will be numbered 1-200, the venue tickets will be numbered 1-200, the Lawson tickets will be numbered 1-200, and the Pia tickets will be numbered 1-200. This generally only happens for shows at small or medium-sized venues, and in general, the people who bought their tickets directly from the band get to enter the venue first, followed by the people who bought tickets through the venue, followed by the people who bought tickets from Lawson/Pia or elsewhere… but it depends on the situation, so the only thing to do is listen to instructions from the venue staff.
If you can't speak Japanese - If you can’t speak Japanese, can’t understand instructions from the venue staff, and have no idea when they’re calling your number, you can show up early and attempt to explain this (via basic English and/or sign language) to a venue staff member in advance and hope that they’ll help you. You can also show your tickets to fans while the fans are lining up and hope that the fans will help you find your place in line. In the event that fans are rude to you when you do this, don't get too upset, it's their problem, not yours. But if you don’t feel comfortable doing either of these things, or if your ticket number is high to begin with (in the hundreds for small venues, or over 1000 for a larger venue) just wait until most people have already gone into the venue before going in yourself. Once you’re in the venue, your number doesn’t matter at all, and in my experience even if you have a high number it’s usually possible to get pretty close to the front anyway.
Coat checks and coin lockers - Japanese live houses almost never have coat checks (except maybe in Hokkaido, I don't know). Therefore, if you are planning on going and rocking out in the pit, I highly recommend locking your coat/bag/tour crap in a coin locker beforehand. Otherwise at best, it will get in your way (and in everyone else's way!), and at worst, it will be trampled, lost, or stolen. Coin lockers are generally available in train stations near concert venues, outside the venues themselves, and usually also inside the venue. They generally cost between 200 and 500 yen, and generally only accept 100-yen coins (or sometimes, 500-yen coins), with the exception of the coin lockers in train stations, which will also often accept Suica, Pasmo, or other IC cards. There are rarely change machines near coin lockers so be sure to have the change on you before the concert—if all else fails, buy something out of a vending machine and get change that way. If you’re really into planning ahead, look up the locations of the coin lockers in advance on the concert venue website... most venue websites include a floor plan of the venue facilities.
In Tokyo, Zepp Tokyo and Shinkiba Studio Coast both have oodles of coin lockers outside the venue. Akasaka Blitz and EX Theater do, too, but they close half an hour in advance of the door time and don't reopen until after the show is over, so you've been warned. Zepp DiverCity Tokyo is notoriously devoid of coin lockers outside the venue, though there are plenty of coin lockers inside. Tokyo Dome City Hall has the tiniest coin lockers you'll ever see, so don't bring a big bag to a show at this venue. Ditto for Sendai Rensa.
Drink tickets - Whether or not you want a drink, you will be required to purchase a drink ticket; this is one main way the venue makes money. Don't see it as an imposition, see it as an opportunity. Drink prices, drink menus, and drink ticket rules vary widely by venue, but usually you can use your drink ticket to get alcohol if you so desire (and by “usually” I mean “always”). The Japanese drinking age is twenty in theory, but in practice, no one ever checks. However, at some venues the drink ticket menu will be limited, and if you want something off the extended menu you’ll have to pay cash for it, or a drink ticket plus cash. Furthermore, some venues (most notably Takadanobaba Area) will not accept drink tickets after the show is over, so take care.
Zepp DiverCity Tokyo receives the Not Greatest Site award for Not Greatest Venue Ever, i.e. the worst venue ever. When attending a show at Zepp DiverCity Tokyo, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT wait until after the show to get your drink; after the show, the line system is intolerable (see this article for more details.) Get your drink before or during the show, or give up.
Crowding at standing shows - If you’re a veteran concert-goer, you’ll know this already, but at a standing show, the front of the pit can be intense. People may be pushing and shoving you from all sides, and it might get hot, sweaty, hard to breathe and hard to see. If you sweat a lot, you'll probably get very thirsty, so carrying a water bottle on you can be life-saving. Also, it can be especially difficult to breathe/see if you’re not very tall and end up buried in a sea of people who are taller than you are, so if you’re planning on going up front at a popular show but you're a little on the vertically challenged side, do so at your own risk. I'm not saying this to trash on short people, I'm saying this because it's true - tight crowds are a lot harder on shorter people than on taller people. Depending on what you feel comfortable with and what you enjoy, you might have a better concert experience standing a little further back. Even at popular shows, the crowd generally thins out about 10 rows back from the stage. The floor at large venues will also generally be built in a series of tiers. If you are on the short side, I guarantee that you will be able to see better standing on the first tier than you would in the pit. In the pit, you will be closer to the band, but you will be buried in a sea of people and won't be able to see a damn thing. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Touching band members - Lately people have been emailing me a lot about touching band members. Is there any way to ensure you'll be close enough to the front to touch the band? In short, no, there isn't. Even if you are in the center of the front row, there is no guarantee that the band members will come close enough to allow you to touch them. Also, at larger venues, there is a railing that keeps the fans a meter or so away from the edge of the stage. At venues like this, even if the band members touch you, the only part of them you'll be able to touch is their outstretched fingertips (Acchan fangirls, that comment was directed at you!) If you are more than three rows back, there is no chance you will get close enough to touch the band members, and pushing and shoving on the fans in front of you won't accomplish anything except to make them hate you. But, guys... why are you so desperate to touch the band members, anyway? They're musicians, not prostitutes. Give up on this grab-the-band-members'-members thing, and just chill out and enjoy the show.
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