Ado THE FIRST WORLD TOUR "Wish" at Peacock Theater, Los Angeles

On March 29th, Japanese singer and well-known utaite Ado performed to a sold-out crowd at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles for the second-to-last stop of her first world tour, Wish. Fans, donning anime memorabilia of her design, lined up early just to buy shirts, towels, and other Wish tour merchandise.

The mysterious performer rose to fame in 2020 with her groundbreaking debut song Usseewa, and has taken the world by storm after contributing songs to the hit anime movie "One Piece Film: Red". Although some fans may not know of her early beginnings as a cover singer, her LA concert exposed the audience to the full spectrum of her discography.

To maintain her faceless appearance, the stage design included a large metal cube—dubbed the "Ado Box"—inside which Ado would perform. The cage's horizontal bars and heavy backlighting worked together to help keep recognizable details of her face completely anonymous, allowing her to move leisurely without breaking her illusion. Attendees were also made to keep their phones in protected cases in order to make the concert an electronic and recording-free space. Even though she has stepped out of the box in her Japanese performances, she remained dancing and posing inside the Ado Box for the duration of this performance.


Arriving on stage with a parasol shielding her, Ado kicked her set into high gear with the brash aggression she’s become known for. She started off strong with Shin Jidai (New Genesis), one of the hit songs from "One Piece Film: Red". The audience went into a frenzy, frantically waving their blue light sticks to the chart-topping song. Despite the low visibility, the crowd could make out the outline of her figure, which looked similar to her portrayal on the Wish tour poster. The silhouette edges of her long hair, coat, and platforms were accentuated with the help of the background lighting, which gave her the appearance of a Shadow-art model reminiscent of an MMD model.

The high-octane energy of the concert continued through to the next half of the set, with little or no break between each song. Ado’s adrenaline would be returned to her three-fold as the crowd screamed song lyrics at the top of their lungs, elevating the atmosphere to one of roaring madness. The singer’s impressive stamina and skill, which allowed her to keep up with songs mixing together musical styles such as EDM, pop, and heavy metal, was only surpassed by her physical ability to bend backwards and mimic a death drop for several songs. If that wasn’t challenging enough, the singer transitioned into Tot Musica, known as the “Demon King of Songs” in "One Piece". Paying homage to her early days as a Vocaloid cover artist, she then stretched her vocal cords to the max for a performance of Kikuo’s infamous Aishite Aishite Aishite. Of course, her discography isn’t only full of gritty, guttural music. She changed up the mood with the upbeat melodies of songs like Watashi wa Saikyou (I'm invincible) and Ashura-chan, and even a cover of the famous city pop song, Mayonaka no Door / Stay With Me.


Before the last song of the main set, Ado took a moment to speak directly to her fans in English. “Yesterday, I went to Santa Monica beach!” In the face of her momentary struggle to finish her sentence, she yelled in frustration with her signature raspy growl. “I was nervous because it’s my first time performing abroad. But I’m so happy to see you having a good time!” Of course, the crowd screamed back with a burning fervor, encouraging Ado to speak more on her experiences before she moved into the dance hall hit, Show.

For her encore, she couldn’t let her fans leave without experiencing the full range of her operatic snarl in Kurousa’s Senbonzakura and a rock rendition of the EDM bass-heavy hit Odo.

“You might know that I’m a Japanese utaite who covers Vocaloid songs,” said Ado. This is my passion and I hope to share it with as many people as possible. Thank you for being a part of this culture that I love, and for knowing about my country and Japanese music. Please keep enjoying the music we create!”

Set list

01. Shin Jidai (New Genesis)
02. Usseewa
03. Lucky Bruto
04. Readymade
05. Rebellion
06. Fleeting Lullaby
07. Motherland
08. Gira Gira
09. Tot Musica
10. Aishite Aishite Aishite
11. Watashi wa Saikyou (I'm invincible)
12. Ashura-chan
13. Kura Kura
14. Yoru No Pierrot (TeddyLoid Remix)
15. KokoroToluNaNoFukakai
16. Mayonaka no Door / Stay With Me
17. Show

Encore

01. Backlight
02. Freedom
03. Senbonzakura
04. Odo

To celebrate the success of her first world tour, Ado recently shared a special playlist. It highlights songs she performed during the tour and features bonus voice memos where Ado greets listeners in their respective languages, while also sharing memories of every city she visited. You can listen to the playlist here, or using the embedded player below.