AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I can't find the right words to describe the SCANDAL experience!
The impossible really happened. We could not even imagine such thing months ago. SCANDAL really came to Brazil.
They arrived in São Paulo after more than 30 hours of travel, very tired, with fans waiting at the airport to give them gifts and typical Brazilian food. The next day the group was ready to take over Anime Friends. Their first official appearance was the interview, I couldn't enter the crowded hall but I could see them clearly from outside. The interviewer wasn't up to the task, many generic questions (sorry about that, girls), at least the band didn't understand her Portuguese at all.
The band participated in two Meet & Greet sessions, where they got to know how crazy Brazilians are. People were crying, trembling, smiling, screaming, giving homemade gifts, showing tattoos... I think the fans exceeded the group's expectations, Haru laughed about it all and Tomomi was so curious about us. Rina observes all that's going on around them to make sure everything is working well. They are so sweet, kind and beautiful.
I was able to talk a bit with the band, I told them they had broken another record, the longest trip of all time. Haru laughed so hard and Mami was like "that's totally true" lol. Got my KFTD album signed too. Tomomi asked me about the Haruna&Tomomi&Mami&Rina print on my t-shirt, I got closer to actually understand what she was saying, wow, I can still hear her adorable voice in my ear.
The place was packed for SCANDAL. They opened with "Line of sight", and this one sounds heaaaavy live, same for "LOVE SURVIVE". It's amazing how a tiny person becomes so huge on stage, Haruna is such a leader! In a live performance we can see their dynamics better, how they constantly communicate with each other, especially Rina. "Shoujo S" put the build down. The tears came with "HARUKAZE", at that moment I realized SCANDAL was performing right there in front of me.
The groovy "one more time" had me dancing, and a sea of hands following Haru's index finger gesture was a really cool moment, it made her smile. "Shunkan Sentimental" blew up the audience while "A.M.D.K.J." kept the pace, as Tomomi's bass goes straight into your chest. As expected, "Take me out" is a perfect song to perform live, Mami was awesome in this one. "SCANDAL BABY" closed beautifully as always.
The setlist was fire and played almost non-stop. I was pleasantly surprised by Haru's Portuguese repertoire, how cool was that! "E aí galera! Vocês estão bem?", "Finalmente estamos no Brasil!". At the end Tomomi cried, just like us, and wrapped herself in the banner the fans gave them. Haru ended with a "See you soon", I can only hope for that.
This wasn't a common show, people had been waiting for this for 10+ years. Fans came from everywhere (note that Brazil is a big country). Add to that fans from Chile, Colombia, Argentina... I got emotional seeing so many fans gathering together, from the youngest to the oldest, some brought their children, even their grandmothers lol. In a mix of tears and smiles there was a sense of happiness that I have never experienced in my life.
After all the waiting, I believe SCANDAL was moved by the commotion. Since they spent almost 3 days traveling just for that, I bet they wanted it as much as we did. THANK YOU SCANDAL FOR MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE!!! Come back one more time, two more times, three more times girls!