Top charting Japanese artist, Kenshi Yonezu, stunned the Los Angeles crowd at a sold-out YouTube Theater show on his 2025 JUNK world tour. Early birds showed up as early as 4 p.m. to purchase merchandise, as LA was the final stop of the tour. The venue staff quickly found out that 30 minutes between doors opening and show time was not enough time to get all attendees into the venue, resulting in delaying show time until 8:30 p.m. Despite that hiccup, the 6,000-capacity theater perfectly accommodated eager fans.
Like at many other Japanese concerts, the staff enforced a no recording, no light stick rule at the start of the show. Security was diligent in checking for any sneaky rule-breakers, and they were vigilant for the entirety of the concert. The show began with a dramatic blackout and a loud clap of thunder, silencing the crowd. With that, the man of the hour took his place onstage with his band. In front of a red bolt of lightning, Yonezu sang the first notes of “RED OUT” as fans showered him in thunderous applause. His label, Sony Music Entertainment, ensured the same level of quality and production would be brought to the United States and kept consistent across his first world tour. The lighting, sound mixing, and visuals worked in perfect coordination to create an immersive experience.
For the electrifying track, “Kanden,” dancers (TEAM TSUJIMOTO) made their way to center stage to join the singer and further pump up the energy. After his pop-funk genre blender, “MARGHERITA,” the LOST CORNER singer would take a moment to break out of his shell to talk to the LA crowd directly. “Nice to meet you,” he greed in English, before shyly waving. “So happy to be here.” The crowd shouted words of encouragement to him as he reverted back to speaking in Japanese: “This is the first time I’ve had a live concert in Los Angeles, and thank you all for gathering here. Please enjoy the show until the very end.” Switching up the setlist from his previous show in New York, he performed a slightly altered setlist for the LA show singing tracks like “Melancholy Kitchen, “YELLOW GHOST,” and “LENS FLARE.”
Yonezu’s discography includes many ballad songs that show off his range as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The string of the following songs helped to further solidify that, including the calming “Yumeutsutsu.” During that daydream-like track, the live concert version featured a wonderfully jazzy adlib keyboard outro (by Jun Miyakawa) and ended on a sudden mic drop.
Picking back up on “Sayonara, Mata Itsuka,” the song he sang live for the 75th NHK New Year’s Eve TV special (Kouhaku), the singer showed a more playful side of him alongside dancers. He then switched into a more emotional set of songs, from The Boy and the Heron‘s “Spinning Globe” to “Lemon,” to which fans gave their energy and support by clapping to the beat.
Bringing emotions to an all-time high, the singer passionately sang “Umi no Yuurei” as key moments of the animated film Children of the Sea played behind on the screens. The emotional performance left fans speechless, as the crowd silently took in the moment. Not long after, the most anticipated performance of the night came: anime series Chainsaw Man opening track, “Kick Back.” In 2022, the theme song’s inescapable melody permeated pop culture, spreading beyond the anime realm.
The end of the night was quickly approaching after the triumphant back-to-back performance of “Peace Sign” to “Garakuta.” However, there was a recent song that the singer had not yet performed, one that Yonezu and Yuzuru Hanyu fans couldn’t wait to hear. The singer did not disappoint anticipating fans, as he returned to the stage to perform “BOW AND ARROW,” which features the figure skating legend in its music video.
“When I came here for the first time about 15 years ago, I was here with a person I considered my best friend in the whole world at the time,” said Yonezu, referring to his fellow beloved Vocaloid producer, wowaka. Coincidentally, the day before the LA show was the anniversary of the late musician’s passing. Yonezu wanted to dedicate the next two songs to his friend, which brought the audience to tears. Knowing the singer’s heartfelt intentions, the lyrics to “Plazma” and “LOST CORNER” were given new life, and the night ended on an emotional note.
Setlist:
- RED OUT
- Kanden
- Margherita
- Melancholy Kitchen
- LADY
- Azalea
- Daydream
- Sayonara, Mata Itsuka!
- Spinning Globe
- YELLOW GHOST
- M87
- Lemon
- Umi no Yuurei
- Stop Look Both Ways
- LENS FLARE
- Mainichi
- LOSER
- KICK BACK
- Peace Sign
- Donut Hole
- Garakuta
Encore:
- BOW AND ARROW
- Plazma
- LOST CORNER
- Ending Credits Song: Ohayou
