J-Pop Summit 2015: Ft. Mason Center, San Francisco, CA (first day)

I was pleased to have the opportunity to attend the 2015 J-Pop Summit at Ft. Mason Center in San Francisco! I purchased a VIP ticket for a family member and me before we left. Although they were a bit pricey ($100 each), I wanted to avoid the experience I had at Anime Expo so I thought I would splurge a bit. On Friday, 8/7, we traveled from Claremont, CA to Bakersfield by Amtrak bus. Then, we rode from Bakersfield to Emeryville on the San Joaquin Amtrak train. We arrived ~4:30 p.m. We had to take a bridge across the tracks and walk through a parking lot to arrive to our hotel, the Hyatt House.

My travelling companion was quite sick, starting the day before the trip. In fact, there was some question as to whether we should cancel the whole trip. Anyway, we took it kind of easy, not starting too early in the morning, etc., to accommodate for the illness. There is a free bus that goes around Emeryville called the Emery-go-round. We took that to the McArthur BART station on Saturday, 8/8. We took the subway across the bay to S.F. We got on a bus to Ft. Mason, which is on the northern shore of San Francisco. When we got off the bus we had to walk a couple of blocks, including a huge uphill path. It’s funny, because then we had to walk down a stairway that was ~3 flights. It was quite a journey to get to the venue. But, hotels in San Francisco are super expensive, so that’s why we stayed where we did.

Even though we were about second in line, it took us a while to get our badges. They didn’t seem too organized at the VIP check-in table. I’ll mention a few things about the venue, Ft. Mason Center. This was the first year J-Pop Summit was held at Ft. Mason Center. Apparently, they had outgrown the previous site, Japan Town. It was a cozy venue, compared to the LA Convention Center. (See my previous post about Anime Expo.) Ft. Mason Center is like a pavilion that is built out over the water. It is a little old and run-down. It looks like it was built in the ‘40s or ‘50s. However, it was SO nice to be able to look out the window and see the lovely water and shoreline of S.F. You could even see the nearby ships of the Maritime Museum, like the Balclutha, built in 1886. The stage was at the far end of the building, away from the entrance. They were checking badges at the entrance. Beyond the entrance was a decent-sized trade show. They had a lot of Japanese merchandise and booths related to travel to Japan. Outside Ft. Mason Center, they had several food trucks, serving tasty food. There was actually another building called the Firehouse where they held certain events.

After we checked out the trade show, we went up by the stage. The first two feet by the stage was reserved for press. Behind that, there was a 15 ft. long strip that was for VIP pass holders only. Behind the VIP zone, was a big space for general admission people. It was nice to be able to get close to the stage and not have to be so crowded. I wanted to get as close as possible to see Eir Aoi, a famous singer who sings anime themes. A couple of acts before her was a dance contest. They had both solo and group categories, with an award for each. It was pretty entertaining, but I don’t think that any of the contestants is ever going to make the top 20 of “So You Think You Can Dance.” At that point, I was in the second row from the front.

The next act was an all-girl band called Gacharic Spin. They put on a good show. Their bassist and lead guitarist are extremely talented. You can see performances of them on YouTube if you want. I think the set they did in San Francisco is actually available on video on YT. There were about 15 hardcore fans of Gacharic Spin there, in the front row. I think they came all the way from Japan to see them. These idiots were the worst part of J-Pop Summit 2015 for me and my travelling companion. I mean, it is OK to like your group and get excited when they play. But these people were beyond the pale, jumping around, swinging arms and elbows, and generally taking up the space of three people for each person. I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, but I got so upset that I actually tried to stomp on this one idiot’s shopping bag, in an effort to crush the contents. I was pleased that these deranged people left after Gacharic Spin’s set, and I was able to get up to the front row.

When Eir Aoi came on the stage, I was maybe six feet from her. I was able to see really well. Eir Aoi looked really pretty, wearing a blouse, jacket, and cutoff shorts (all white). She sang a number of her hit songs, some of which I was familiar with. I was impressed with her vocal ability. She can really belt out a tune. Some singers sound good on the recording, but they can’t do it live. Not Eir Aoi. The way she sang sounded just like on the studio version. Also, she is a great performer and entertainer, the way she moves on stage. It was captivating. The audience really ate it up, too. Another nice thing is that she seemed to feed off the energy of the audience, when they cheered. From her performance, it was obvious why she has such a large international fan base. She tried to speak in English during the breaks between songs. I’ll give her credit for that, but it was hard to understand her, ha ha. The crowd was so into it that the MC had to ask everyone to take a step back before her last song. Management was concerned that people were putting too much pressure on the barriers. Seeing the Eir Aoi performance was the highlight of the first day of J-Pop Summit for me. I was so close to Eir Aoi, that I saw her spill her tea at one point, ha ha.

Seeing Eir Aoi was the reason I went on a day-long journey from my home to attend J-Pop Summit in San Francisco. I was pleased with her performance on Saturday and I was glad I came. We left after she left the stage and made our way back to our hotel room, skipping the last act. Well, this post is getting kind of long. We attended the second day of J-Pop Summit, too. I’ll save that for my next post. To sum it up, we had a great time on Saturday at the J-Pop Summit! Ei Ei Ru!