PASSPO☆ Announce Disbandment, Final Flight Will be in September 2018 at Nakano Sunplaza
PASSPO☆ Land at the New Airport! “Mr. Wednesday” Tour Finale at Sold Out Ebisu LIQUIDROOM!
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PASSPO☆ celebrated the release of their re-debut single “Mr. Wednesday” with what might have been the best flight of their 6 year history when they came in for a landing at Ebisu LIQUIDROOM on Wednesday February 24, 2016!
With “passengers” (PASSPO☆ name for fans) packed wall to wall of the sold-out venue and many of their fellow idols such as members of Babyraids JAPAN, lyrical school, STARMARIE, and Kamiyado waiting for their arrival, the air was thick with anticipation. A radio program “Wednesday Radio” counted down with Petit PASSPO☆ ranking in at #9, bringing them on stage to warm things up with a rousing performance of “Go Fight! Fly High!”. At #7 was a suspiciously familiar looking face named Mio of Death (Mio Masui in Marilyn Manson-esque makeup) and #4 was an even more familiar looking “Dean Fujimoto” (Yukimi Fujimoto). Right before the countdown reached #1, the house lights dimmed and the passengers began chanting to their new intro music, waving their penlights to guide PASSPO☆ as they approached the runway of the “new airport” (their new label Nippon Crown).
Strutting across the stage to the heavy groove of “Musical Party” with their hands raised like carhops at a drive-in diner, PASSPO☆ exuded a re-energized fierceness. Anna Tamai (aka Anya) bumped hips with Naomi Anzai (aka Naomin) before breaking away with one of her light-footed spins. The passengers became heated up as the flight continued with the popular “Pretty Lie”, calling out the names of the crew as they sang their lines and shuffled from side to side.
Captain Ai Negishi (aka Aipon) explained that they had been a bit worried about having an Osaka/Nagoya/Tokyo tour with all the dates falling in the middle of the week but, with the Nagoya and Tokyo shows sold out, she was glad that PASSPO☆ did it. Changing the topic to the countdown, they mentioned how Petit PASSPO☆ made them a cake with 7 different colored fruits on it and presented it to them before the live.
Continuing on, they mentioned how there were a few artists that they had never heard of before, which had Mio asking, “You don’t know Mio of Death?”, and Yukimi Fujimoto (aka Yukkii) jumping the gun and blurting out that “Dean Fujimoto” was her American relative, which earned her a swift kick in the backside from Shiori Mori (aka Morishi). Showing off their new penlights after Naomi Anzai and Mio received their “color fusion”, PASSPO☆ performed their first introduction song “7’s up” which features lyrics introducing each other as written by the crew and accompanied by the glow of penlights as each of them took their turn at the front of the cabin.
“HONEY DISH” was next and as usual, a few excited passengers ended up soaring high above Mio during the popcorn part of the song where she is tossed in the air by Natsumi Iwamura (aka Nachu) and Yukkii. Anya’s usual antics escalated as she ran over and spanked Aipon before they eventually hugged it out and she went back to pestering Nachu. Spring came a little early as PASSPO☆ fluttered their fingers like falling cherry blossom petals to “Sakura Komachi”
Making good on the promise made at the end of their 6th Anniversary tour at Shinagawa Stellar Ball, there were unit and solo songs, starting with the always playful duo of Anya and Nachu’s “Kimi Iro no Samba”. Taking sips from each other’s water bottles and dancing with their bodies close together, passengers shouted out as the two confessed their love for another. Nachu embraced Anya from behind and they remained intertwined even as they made their way off the stage.
Mio, Naomin, and Yukki were up next, their guitars and bass slung over their leather jacketed shoulders, banging out a heavy rendition of “Pock Star” as they stared out through their dark sunglasses. For some reason Naomin had on a pair of “Happy Birthday” glasses like one would buy at Village Vanguard, which later ended up falling off her face.
Ebisu LIQUIDROOM became a forest of white penlights as Aipon appeared to sing “Shiny Road” by herself, moving purposefully and thoughtfully around on the stage and reaching her hand out into the darkness.
Morishi was next, changing the mood almost immediately as she began belting out the opening lines to “Mudai”. Having recently powered up even more due to a more intense training regimen, Morishi’s vocals were commanding as she moved about the stage pumping her fist. The rest of the crew returned to the stage and linked arms with her as they headbanged to the ending of the song along with the passengers. Reaching cruising altitude with the rapid pop punk of「I」, PASSPO☆ added an extra level of energy to their already freewheeling performance, grabbing each other’s hands as they reached the bridge of the song before balling them into fists and giving back all the power they had been receiving, ending with a group jump.
Wiping the sweat that glistened from their brows, Aipon took advantage of the situation by showing off their new towels. Pointing to the pinup girl at the back of the stage, she and the rest of the crew debated what her name should be. After everyone suggested their mother’s names, the passengers decided that Aipon’s mother’s name was the best fit. As the crew explained how they had written the lyrics for “7’s up” by using what they knew about each other, Anya got too riled up and ended up tossing her towel into the hands of several passengers. Morishi turned unexpectedly girly when the others praised her “power vocals” but quickly went back to normal when Yukkii playfully poked her arm.
Continuing on with “Material Girl”, Anya made use of her excitement as she went back to pestering Nachu before turning her attention to Yukkii, picking up one of the video cameras at the front of the stage and smashing it into her face for an extreme closeup. Climbing to near space with “Cosmic You”, PASSPO☆ spun and wagged their fingers, Naomin winking and pointing as she finished up her solo lines. During “Kucha Love”, Naomin seemed like she couldn’t contain her love for the other crew members, kissing Mio on the cheek and hugging Morishi tightly.
Anya mentioned that a lot of members of different idol groups were in the house, playfully imploring for the passengers to behave themselves before unleashing her opening lines for “Baby Jump ~ Tengoku he no Toujou-bin~” and activating the afterburners as PASSPO☆ began their final approach. Picking up speed with the “Beast in You”, the beast was finally released as the passengers clawed and bounced along to the razor sharp intro of “WANTED!!”. Despite Morishi’s recent boost in vocal power, she was almost drowned out by the voices calling out her name as she sang. Challenging the passengers to take things up yet another notch, “STEP&GO” followed. In addition to Anya and Nachu’s antics, Naomin and Mio joined in too as they ran around spanking Yukkii’s behind.
Aipon announced that the next song would be the last one, admitting that she had previously held doubts about performing ones that that had a connection to graduated members but, justified it by mentioning how PASSPO☆ had inherited the will of Sako Makita, Makoto Okunaka, and Kaho Sakuma via the color fusion. Raising their arms and their voices, PASSPO☆ came in for the landing with “TRACKS”, Aipon filling in where Makoto’s voice had been a little more than a year prior.
An encore call began as soon as they left the stage, the rhythm speeding up and slowing down until PASSPO☆ returned. Yukkii urged the passengers to sing along with them for their #1 first major label debut song “Shojo Hikou” and they obliged with a rousing chorus of voices. A video flashing back to their autumn 2015 tour final at Shinagawa Stellar Ball appeared on the screen, at the exact moment where Morishi said that she wanted to become famous. It was announced that they would be holding a free live at Yoyogi Park’s outdoor stage on May 10th. Naomin explained that being able to perform on that stage was often seen as an important stepping stone to anyone wanting to perform at the Nippon Budokan. However, she explained that they were aiming higher, wanting to perform in stadiums and arenas as well.
Adding to the good news was the announcement that BAND PASSPO☆ would have their first one-man live at Harajuku Astro Hall, the very place that PASSPO☆ had held their first one-man live so many years ago. Nachu fell down and Anya did a few air splits before noticing that the passengers in front had made a banner with the crew stylized like 8-bit video game characters.
Because it was their special “Mr. Wednesday” tour, the final song of the encore was their re-debut song and it was worth the wait as the passengers were definitely not ready to head to the baggage claim just yet! The already thick air became a little hazy as they called out and clapped their hands to the upbeat “American girls’ rock”. Shaking their hands and shuffling across the stage, if the live ended there, it would have already been PASSPO☆’s more impressive and fun flight in recent memory but, it wasn’t over just yet!
With the house lights still turned down, the passengers began another encore call and PASSPO☆ returned once again, Aipon promising that it really was the final song, their “start song”, their indies debut single “Let it go!!”. Asking the passengers to join hands and bow with them, a reinvigorated PASSPO☆ put the cap on a memorable evening which promises to be the start of many big things to come.
Set List
01 Musical Party
02 Pretty Lie
03 7’s up
04 HONEY DISH
05 Sakura Komachi
06 Kimi Iro no Samba
07 Pock Star
08 Shiny Road
09 Mudai
10 「I」
11 Material Girl
12 Cosmic You
13 Kucha Love
14 Baby Jump ~ Tengoku he no Toujou-bin~
15 Beast in You
16 WANTED!!
17 STEP&GO
18 TRACKS
E1 Shojo Hikou
E2 Mr. Wednesday
W1 Let it go!!
Related Links
PASSPO☆ Official site: http://passpo.jp/
PASSPO☆ Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/passpo_staff
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PASSPO☆
Kai Okudara
Writer, researcher, photographer, foodie, KSDD
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