While most people were headed to their Thursday afternoon classes or beginning to head home from work, there were long lines gathering around the Shrine Auditorium as fans excitedly waited to see YOASOBI’s first solo concert in the United States outside of festivals such as Coachella and Head in the Clouds.
A Japanese duo consisting of Ayase and Ikura, YOASOBI entered the music scene in 2019 as producer and singer respectively with their single “Yoru ni Kakeru.” This song is an adaptation of the short story “Tanatosu no Yuwaku” (The Temptation of Thanatos) by Maya Hoshino that depicts the love story between a man and a young woman who repeatedly attempts to take her own life, ending in both of them succumbing to death.
Unlike the story however, the song has a bright and upbeat instrumental paired with Ikura’s sweet vocals. This push and pull between darker themes and the light melodies and vocals have grown to become YOASOBI’s signature sound.
Another part of YOASOBI’s distinctive vibe comes from Ayase’s process and his background as a Vocaloid producer. Vocaloid software utilizes a synthesized voicebank with popular artists including names like Hatsune Miku. The duo also experiments with the genre and instrumentation. Ikura’s vocals bring more life and emotion to each performance, allowing the songs to feel both new and familiar every time.
Although YOASOBI has been growing since their start, another big break they had was with their theme song for the anime “Oshi no Ko” (My Favorite Idol) called “IDOL” that blew up online. In addition to “Oshi no Ko,” they have done anime theme songs for other shows such as “Sousou no Frieren” and “Beastars.” As a result, fans at the Los Angeles concert could be found wearing anime T-shirts and even cosplays.
From people from out of state, to USC students, to people who drove up from San Diego, the line for YOASOBI saw a wide range of fans ready to experience the group’s first solo concert. The earliest person in line, Susan, who declined to give their last name for privacy reasons, revealed that she arrived at around 6:40am to wait in line and hopefully snag the best view possible.
“I heard it’s a lot harder to see them overseas. Who knows when they’ll be back,” Susan said In fact many fans had the same idea to come earlier, with around 50 fans already waiting with camping chairs and umbrellas at 1pm.
“Whenever I am feeling down or when I want something like peaceful vibes, happy vibes I just put on YOASOBI and their playlist,” Susan said. “Majority of the songs for me – if you put aside the meanings since a lot of them are very deep – it’s usually like mellow, catchy, instrumentals which I need in my stressful life.”
Fast forward to around 9:15pm, YOASOBI opened their concert with “Seventeen” and the hall erupted with light sticks and cheers. Ikura had streetwear and high pigtails with pink highlights on a raised platform for the first song while Ayase rocked bleached blond hair on keyboard and synthesizer as their live band brought the iconic instrumentals to life.
With very short breaks between each song, the energy stayed high throughout the concert with Ikura saying “Thank you!” after every performance. But in true YOASOBI experimental fashion, not only did they have a set list that highlighted their diverse discography but they leveraged lighting and the backdrop screen graphics to even better immerse the audience in their performance.
About a third of the way into the night, YOASOBI had everyone put on 3D animation glasses for their seventh song “Biri-Biri” and turn off any light sticks or phones. During the song, the backdrop behind YOASOBI jumped out with the 3D effects of a “Minecraft”-style landscape. The beautiful graphics heightened Ikura’s vocals and energy to another level as the audience was truly able to feel the emotions of the song with all their senses.
The last song featuring the 3D animation was “Tsubame” (meaning “swallow”) that is based on the short story “Chiisana Tsubame no Ookina Yume’' about a swallow that shows the negative aspects of humanity and how a swallow brings happiness to people. This song’s graphics displayed a beautiful bird animation forming and flying over Ikura perfectly matching the song.
After the 3D displays, YOASOBI brought out one of their most popular songs, “IDOL.” Unlike other performances where this song is saved for the end of their performance, YOASOBI’s set featured this song close to the beginning of the second half of the concert. More phones and lightsticks rose up in the crowd than ever before, with some fans even doing lightstick choreography in sync with the song.
Without rest, the energy continued on with the audience cheering in unison and singing to YOASOBI’s songs and even rocking to the guitar lines in “Kaibutsu.” Although no one wanted the night to end, the concert began to speedily reach its close as YOASOBI sang “Heart Beat,” stating it was their last song. However, much of the crowd was still waiting for YOASOBI’s most iconic song, “Yoru ni Kakeru,” as the lights dimmed and the band and YOASOBI left the stage.
With everyone in the audience cheering “ENCORE” together, YOASOBI, of course, did not forget their roots. “Yoru ni Kakeru” was the perfect ending to the night as everyone in the audience cheered and jumped to the catchy instrumentals of the song.
When asked what was the best part of the concert after the performance, Grace Park, a USC student who attended, stated she liked the encore the best and that the concert was “So exciting!” From the 3D animation experience to the energy brought by the live band and YOASOBI, fans can only hope for another tour soon. With their ingenuity with melodies, beats, and lyricism, YOASOBI is definitely not stopping anytime soon.