aiko

Seat 18, Row 5 on the ground floor. It's been 5 years since her last performance at this venue in Hamamatsu. I attended every show on her tour during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I was reminiscing about that time while watching the live performance. I remember it being a 2-day event back then. Since cheering was prohibited, some fans in the audience had large sketchbooks, which was fun in its own way, but I still felt a sense of loneliness or heaviness in the air. I'm struck by the thought that it's already been 5 years since then, and also that things have changed so much in just 5 years. As for this stage, it seemed like a lot more money was spent compared to that tour, with a large LED screen in the back, LED kinetic-like lights that moved sideways, and moving lights that moved up and down on vertical trusses. Since it wasn't an album tour, the setlist seemed to cover a wide range of songs, while also including recent tracks. I feel like she's been singing a lot of sparkling, glittery songs lately. Also, she came down to the audience a lot. I wondered if that was influenced by Yuming (Yumi Matsutoya). Personally, I was feeling uneasy for completely different reasons, so I'm thinking of going to see her next performance in Hiroshima. That's how good the overall composition felt.