This past year Japanese girl group, ATARASHII GAKKO!, has been on a busy, rollercoaster journey. From their first performance on NHK’s year end show, Kohaku, to their festival stages at Coachella 2024 and Primavera Sound 2024, the four women have been on a victory lap celebrating their ninth year together. Going on their second world tour—AG! Calling World Tour Part I & II—ATARASHII GAKKO! have launched into stratospheric levels of popularity since their first overseas world tour in 2023. Looking back at the group’s first appearance in the U.S. at 88Rising’s Head in the Clouds 2021, they were first seen as a quirky J-pop group of women in school uniforms, and now they’re known as dissident, nonconforming rockstars.
From playing to small, curious audiences in modest venues, they are now performing to passionate waves of fans at a sold out night at the Hollywood Palladium. Before they came on stage, the music video for “SHIMI”—a collaboration between ATARASHII GAKKO! and Japanese heavy metal band, Maximum the Hormone—riled up fans in the pit to its head banging beat. Although it wasn’t officially performed as part of the setlist, its special arrangement sent the crowd jumping as the women began getting into formation.
At the final stop on their world tour, they gave the Los Angeles crowd a special night filled with LA-based guests: TAIKO PROJECT and the USC Trojan Marching Band. In addition to their power vocals, the band showed off their physical capabilities with intense dance choreography and iconic cheer formations. Starting off with “Toryanse,” the four members bursted on stage with the same patchwork kimono sleeved haori robes from the music video. Dancing to the sampled traditional rhythm and beat of the taiko drums, ATARASHII GAKKO! confidently established their place on the world stage. On their second song, “Omakase,” they touch upon their iconic messaging, telling listeners to “leave it to AG!”
Tossing away their robes, they moved into their groundbreaking song, “Giri Giri.” Mocking gender stereotypes, the song and its execution featured exacerbated movements to lash out against the media portrayal of Japanese school girl uniforms. Next up was the electrifying EDM song, “Pineapple Kryptonite,” in which the four women donned gakuran to lead the crowd’s cheers to a fiery pitch. The world famous ‘Mizyu bike’ move made an appearance as Suzuka held onto Mizyu’s pigtails like handlebars. Kanon joined behind her, mimicking a companion on a motorbike. Hardcore fans raised toy pineapples in the air and swayed to their electrifying transition.
Taking a moment to introduce themselves during their two retro, funk inspired songs, Suzuka led the charge on their individual greetings during “Otona Blue” and “Arigato.” The crowd was so wound up by that point that they were repeating every word Suzuka would yell out, including random yelps. “Welcome to AG the Calling World Tour Part 2,” said Suzuka. She repeated a call and response several times to raise the energy of the crowd as the members said their introductions. “We have a lot of special memories in LA, [it’s] like our second hometown,” smiled Mizyu. “We are happy to be back! We love LA!”
Keeping everyone on their toes, they gave a very long pause before starting the jazzy pop track, “Suki Lie.” Despite the slowed down portion of the set, AG were ready to raise the roof with their halftime solo dance break. Beat by beat, they slipped back into their animated selves. Steadily increasing the BPM from “WOO! GO!” to “Saishuu Jinrui and Koi Geba,” the quartet would turn the concert from a rock show to a full on rave. Armed with light sticks, the crowd would follow each member’s tempo until they ended on their signature triangle formation with Suzuka standing at the top.
Saving the best for the last section of the concert, AG switched the energy up for the horn blaring track, “Change.” Like a call to prepare an army for a charge, the song and the members beckoned the crowd to unleash more energy. Now for the moment everyone had been waiting for, TAIKO PROJECT returned onstage. As if they were preparing for the climax of a bullfight, they also welcomed the Trojan Marching Band to share an encore of their Coachella stage. A fiery eruption of screaming took over the floor as the song came to the end.
Yet, with boundless energy, Suzuka jumped offstage for the final song of their main set: “NAINAINAI.” As part of a show-stopping rockstar performance, she ran around the venue to sing at different places before she finally crowd surfed from the entrance back to the stage. Hoping to make it all the way before the end of the song, Suzuka asked the crowd to continue carrying her through as she continued to scream-sing. Although she didn’t make it before the extended outro, the other members helped her once she got close to the barrier.
“Look at these crazy socks!” exclaimed Suzuka, pointing at her knee-high socks that were now rolled down to her ankles. “Everybody touched up (my leg) with their arms and it became crazy socks, like a donut!” She was referring to how the crowd slowly pulled down her socks as they passed her towards the stage. In the end, she threw her socks into the crowd—which she had done in previous shows—while the other members asked the pit to be “peaceful” as they fought over them. Kanon and Mizyu suggested they cut up Suzuka’s socks to divide them among everyone who wanted it.
For their encore, AG wrapped up with three vocal-focused songs and a special message from each member to conclude their long world tour. Even though they had standing mics to stabilize their voices, they still acted through their usual antics. From playing limbo to generally messing around with each other, they showed their bond as “Forever Sisters.”
“Thank you all for coming to the AG Calling World Tour. Between Europe, Asia, and North America, there were a total of 60,000 audience [members],” shared Mizyu. “We were surprised that there were so many AG fans around the world.”
“You all gave us even more power. It was so fun to meet even more crazy AG fans! Even though this is the last day of the tour, we will be back,” added Rin.
“We really enjoyed our days with you,” commented Kanon, with tears in her eyes. “We feel like a family! We love the unique, funny, kind, and peaceful crew. We love you!”
“It’s been a beautiful experience, but we still have an even bigger future,” closed Suzuka. “Our adventure will continue. AG Revolution!”
Click on the photo below to view our photos from the concert:
Setlist:
- Toryanse (with TAIKOPROJECT)
- Omakase (with TAIKOPROJECT)
- Giri Giri
- Pineapple Kryptonite
- Otona Blue
- Arigato
- Suki Lie
- Dance Break
- WOO! GO!
- Maji Yoroshiku
- Essa Hoisa
- Saishuu Jinrui / Koi Geba
- Change
- Fly High
- Tokyo Calling (with TAIKOPROJECT and USC Trojan Marching Band)
- NAINAINAI
Encore:
- Fantastico
- Forever Sisters
- Que Sera, Sera
