Phantom Siita 1ST WORLD TOUR “Moth to a Flame” at Electric Ballroom, London

Ado, the famous yet faceless ‘utaite’ singer, came to attention with her song Usseewa, a tirade against the stultifying conformity of working life in Japan, and quickly found herself the poster girl for Gen Z non-conformity. When she sprang the surprise of forming and producing an idol group, it was to be expected that she’d find her own contrarian way of doing so.

Her retro horror-themed Phantom Siita style themselves as plain moths amongst the beautiful butterflies of their idol industry rivals. They constructed their name by borrowing from the scientific names of the poisonous Monarch butterfly (Parantica sita) and the Swallowtail moth (Epicopeia hainesii). The taxonomic motif extends to their fans, who they call ‘haine’. Appealing to Japan’s fondness for puns and double meanings, it also translates as ‘hate’ in French, and in Phantom Siita's upside-down world, that makes it the perfect name for those that love them.

So far, things have moved fast in their brief career. Whereas most new idol groups would be grinding out weekly performances on the local livehouse circuit, Phantom Siita skipped daintily over that rite of passage, riding Ado's coat-tails all the way to the Nippon Budokan. Then, despite having never headlined a domestic tour, they embarked on a world tour, cramming fourteen dates across three continents into a month that ultimately brought them to London's Electric Ballroom.

Being one of London’s better mid-size venues, pockets of space around the hall indicated the choice may've been a little overambitious. That said, the crowd was packed in tight up at the front, and the assembled 'haine' were an enthusiastic bunch, singing along to the Phantom Siita tracks playing over the PA in the run-up to the show.

Eventually, the atmospheric entrance music began, building the tension like a slasher movie villain creeping up on their victims, then morphed into a perky '80s city-pop tune. Red lights created the impression of a blood-drenched scene as Phantom Siita came on stage to hysterical screams. The merch stand had clearly done a brisk pre-show trade in penlights. Many 'haine' waved them frantically in the darkness.

The five of them quietly formed up. The lights picked out the blood-red highlights on the sleeves and hems of their ‘seifuku’ sailor outfits, looking like they’d just finished disposing of a particularly troublesome body backstage.


The screeching violin intro to Kimi to xxxx shita dake met with more excitable screeching from the crowd as they instantly recognised the group’s best-known number.

This is what Phantom Siita are all about; dark, cute but psychotic, tongue-in-cheek fun. The cute kissy-kissy lyric “chu-chu-chu” contrasts with the bloody “chi, chi, chi”, matched with a chopping axe murder dance move. The vocals are a chip off the Ado block: edgy, melodramatic and full of idiosyncratic touches. They pulled off these demanding vocal gymnastics live with impressive ease.

They reeled off a string of their most upbeat songs to keep the energy going. Devilish Girl’s disco beats, paired with distorted instruments, gave the song a queasy atmosphere. Hanabami darted all over the place, by turns playful, dramatic and manic, the song wrapped its multiple personalities around a straightforward catchy idol-pop chorus. Rounding out the opening was Otome Shinju, a jazzy track with darkly impenetrable lyrics in the style of one of Ado’s biggest influences: Sheena Ringo.

Their choreography combined the graceful and the gruesome. Sharply executed, they threw some awkward shapes amongst their elegant moves, reminiscent of Sadako of "Ringu" fame. The extensive audition process not only unearthed some talented singers and dancers but some expressive actresses too. Their winsome idolish smiles would change in flash, transforming them into snarling harpies, dead-faced zombies or wild-eyed psychos as the mood dictated.


One drawback of Phantom Siita’s rapid rise is their limited discography, amounting to just seven tracks on their debut mini-album Shoujo no hi no omoide. Those 25 minutes of material would be perfect for a ‘taiban’ idol show slot, but for a one-man headline tour, fans will want their money’s worth. Phantom Siita found their solution by leaning into the nostalgic aspect of their retro horror concept: the middle section of the show was devoted to covers, mostly dating back to the late '80s and the waning days of the Showa era.

First up, Suki suki daisuki by Jun Togawa, which actually fit in well with the retro horror theme. The cutesy title belies the song’s weird, creepy stalker vibe, tinged with violent imagery. A series of solo covers followed.

Mona went first with Seiko Matsuda’s Ai sangoshu, delivering a charming performance straight from the classic golden era of idols. Rinka followed up with Meiko Nakuhara’s FANTASY which is pure city-pop.

Miu brought things back to the present with KICK BACK, Kenshi Yonezu’s theme for "Chainsaw Man". The song played to her flair for the dramatic and she let rip with peals of crazed laughter. Hisui’s sweet take on Hikaru Utada’s One Last Kiss restored a semblance of calm. Finally, Moka jumped back in the time machine for an energetic performance of Yashua’s 1981 hit Fly Day Chinatown.

This section of the show proved Ado hasn’t just assembled a collection of soundalikes. Each member has their own distinct voice. Also, it'll be interesting to see if such solo interludes remain a feature of live shows as their discography expands. Whilst fun, the nostalgic element arguably doesn't land quite the same way overseas as it does in Japan. Then again, the loyal ‘haine’ clearly knew the songs well enough to sing along.

Phantom Siita finished strongly, with their debut single Otomodachi. In their dark style, a song entitled ‘Friends’ is all about lies and betrayal. Having dramatically thrown themselves to the floor, leaving only Miu standing, the others picked themselves up and formed a line to say their thank-yous before heading offstage.

Chants for an encore began, and the Electric Ballroom's traditional wooden dance floor rumbled as fans stamped their feet. They were rewarded with a cover of Ado’s Tot Musica, her theme to "One Piece Film: Red". This also happens to be the track they had to sing when auditioning, and they channelled their producer as if possessed in a passionate performance.


A cover of the "Sailor Moon" theme song Moonlight Densetsu went down well, perhaps unsurprisingly with Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: The Super Live playing at Koko just down the road. In fact, it looked like some concertgoers had turned their day into a double header, dashing to the Ballroom after a catching a matinee.

The final MC turned into something of an epic, taking a tearful 15 minutes for each member to share their feelings on the tour's finale. Mona opened proceedings, conveying in English how much she loved her time on stage, joking with the crowd “More than sleep time, more than eating time!” The remaining members spoke mostly in Japanese but even so, they were able to show how much this moment meant to them.

With Miu, you get the sense that her emotions are never very far beneath the surface, and her promise that Phantom Siita would level up and return again set off a chain reaction down the line. Rinka admonished herself “Don’t cry!” but couldn’t quite manage it as she expressed her love for the fans and fellow group members.

Hisui pointed at Rinka, remarking “You said ‘Don’t cry!’” but then her tears came anyway. Odd little sighs punctuated own her MC, as if she was both lost for words and unable to believe what was happening, but the crowd broke out in a chant of “Hisui! Hisui!” to help her along. Moka kept the tears at bay but confessed she was initially daunted at the prospect of a world tour, but in the end, she was delighted to perform for fans around the world.

As much as they didn’t want their big adventure to end, that time had finally come, so they pulled themselves together and finished with the Latin-pop banger Zoku Zoku. They stretched out their final moment just a little more after taking their bow, waving and soaking up the applause before departing.

Check out our photo gallery below.

Set list

01. Kimi to xxxx Shita Dake
02. Devilish Girl
03. Hanabami
04. Otome Shinju
05. Suki Suki Daisuki (Jun Togawa cover)
06. Ai Sangoshu (Seiko Matsuda cover)
07. FANTASY (Meiko Nakahara cover)
08. KICK BACK (Kenshi Yonezu cover)
09. One Last Kiss (Hikaru Utada cover)
10. Fly-Day Chinatown (Yasuha cover)
11. 4:00AM (Taeko Onuki cover)
12. HANAGATAMI
13. Mayaka no Door – Stay With Me (Miki Matsubara cover)
14. Otomodachi

Encore

15. To Musica (Ado cover)
16. Midnight Densetsu (Dali cover)
17. Zoku Zoku