Japanese Popstar Ado stopped her first world tour, Wish, powered by Crunchyroll, in London, at the Troxy. Let’s rewind on this captivating show.
To keep your anonymity when you’re in the music industry is no small task. Especially when you’re at the top of the charts, massively followed and solicited for live performances. Ado’s vocals are well-known. Not her face. And it’s wonderful. But when the singer announced an international tour – the first where she got to perform outside of Japan – a question came to me. How is she going to keep her anonymity throughout? Photo, videos, front rows… it’s not impossible for her face to eventually get on the net, one way or another. And with so many shows, it increases the risk of exposing herself. That’s when two elements come into play: a spotless show direction with no room for error, and the audience’s cooperation.
NO PHOTOS
Her show in London seems to be the first one setting a rule that will apply to all others. No photos, no recordings, no binoculars either. Ado’s staff published the announcement about an hour before the doors open. Troxy is full of the same disclaimer, which is also displayed on the giant stage screen. Security gets the audience to sing it, a pre-recorded announcement is played, and, to make it absolutely clear, one of the tour promoters takes the stage before it begins to remind everyone of the new rule. The main idea here is to protect the show’s magic, though. And to prepare for the Live Blu-ray and DVD expected on the 10th of April.
The audience remains very, very enthusiastic and is cooperating fully – at least, I haven’t seen any phones or cameras around me. To be in the present moment is the watchword and fans are responding well. Hands are rising, lightsticks are on and bright, everybody’s dancing and clapping along, but no photos are taken by the audience. The atmosphere is kind from the very start, and the audience made of anime fans, of course, is rather young and of various backgrounds. I stop some magnificent cosplays around, of Uta (One Piece) and Ado’s avatar.
AN IMPRESSIVE SET
Indeed, the young Japanese singer is mainly known for her performances in the film One Piece Red, where she is the singing voice of the diva singer Uta. Others may know her for opening the most recent season of Spy x Family with Kura Kura. And others might be following her since she started when she was still in high-school. Now aged 21, the singer of international renown has an impressive stage presence… despite staying in a box.
The Ado Box is what’s protecting her entirely. To avoid the photos, the threat is for the box to be deactivated, blocking the visual but not the sound, and therefore cutting in half the show’s experience. Made of LED, the box’s transparency is relative and controlled. The screen at the back of the stage is on and reveals the singer’s silhouette. Her vocals and movements confirm it, she is really here. It’s not a hologram, and it’s not playback.
A UNIQUE VOICE
The power in her vocals on tracks like Shin Jidai, Usseewa and Lucky Bruto, opening the concert, are wonderful proof of it. It’s the kind of slaps that rain through the whole show. In the LED, colours are flashing, exploding, playing with perspectives and highlighting the silhouette’s movements beautifully.
Energetic, Ado doesn’t hesitate to dance, getting on the floor and contortion herself in what seems to be a small space, on more than gripping tracks. Her musicians are as good too. Naoki Kobayashi on bass, Morita Ryunosuke on drums, Sara Wakui on keyboards and Kokei Takafumi on guitar are impressive and of a contagious dynamic, especially Wakui and Takafumi who could get the audience reacting in the blink of an eye. Pitch perfect. Better yet, Ado plays with intentions as much as musical genres, from rap to rock and metal, pop and funk. Gira Gira, Ashura-chan, Kura Kura wear different kinds of pop with some beautiful electro layers and deep spellbinding bass lines.
Rebellion is mad and it doesn’t stop there. I shiver with Tot Musica, absolutely blinding, Ashite Ashite Ashite is vocally completely crazy, and Show, an anticipated triumph, satisfying and epic. Some small breaks come to slow down the rhythm, and the vocals could have been even louder in the balance, but these are small picky details that do not truly impact the fantastic performance given.
A TOTAL TRIUMPH
Ado doesn’t speak much until the end of the show, both in English and Japanese – apologizing that she can’t do more, although she does a lot already – and thanking the audience for their love and kindness. She’s concluding the evening with four tracks: Gyakkou (Backlight), FREEDOM, Senbonzakura (a cover of Kurousa-P), and Odo. Once again, she shows off a humongous amount of energy there, pushing her voice to its limit.
Through my text, I’ve only given a small glimpse of the setlist. The artist does have a dedicated playlist for the tour, though. Here, the tracks are not in the exact same order, but, more importantly, live, they’re on another level. The studio versions of some songs date back a couple of years, and her voice is now more confident, solid and impressive than at the time – which is something. Again, this review is only a glimpse of what to expect when seeing Ado live. Go see her.
Ado’s first world tour is a massive success. I’m expecting this one to be the first of many. Crunchyroll can only hit the jackpot by powering others in the future. It might open a door for other great Japanese bands to tour in Europe and America. What I’m certain of is that Ado is currently hypnotizing and conquering the whole world with her unique voice. Already quite an accomplishment, what’s making it all even more spectacular, unbelievable, is that she’s doing it by keeping her anonymity. A Queen.