PASSPO☆, Be Ambitious! Nippon Seinenkan Tour Finale Live Report!

| Idol | Posted by Kai Okudara on Sep.19.2017

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PASSPO☆ arrived at a new destination, the newly renovated Nippon Seinenkan, for the finale of their “Seinen mo, Taishi wo Idake!” tour on on September 9, 2017!

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Petit PASSPO☆ kicked off the evening with a trio of songs to warm up the “passengers” (fans) and reminding them to make plans for their 4th one-man live to be held at Daikanyama UNIT on October 9th.

01 Samurai Girl
02 Yamato Nadeshiko JAPAN
03 Go Fight! Fly High!

Tokio’s “Ambitious Japan” played during the minutes counting down until takeoff, the passengers clapping and singing along. After a short audio skit where it seemed as if the crew (members) of PASSPO☆ wouldn’t make it to the stage, their overture burst forth from the speakers and the passengers rose to their feet, calling out and waving their penlights. Marching out and saluting with shining smiles on their faces, PASSPO☆ fired up the engines and took off into the skies with “HONEY DISH”, Mio Masui (aka Miomio) tossed skyward like a griddle overflowing with popping kernels by Yukimi Fujimoto (aka Yukkii) and Natsumi Iwamura (aka Nachu).

The inflight entertainment began early as PASSPO☆ jumped and fought their way through their newest song “Stand Up Girls! ~Dai-Ichi wa Damedame Kaijuu no Goyojin~”, transformed into a team of superheroes straight from the pages of a comic book. The programming shifted to that of nostalgic summer travel destinations with “Vivi Natsu” as the crew continued to climb into the upper atmosphere.

Up next was “7’s Up”, the great hall of Nippon Seinenkan glowing with the 7 different colors of penlights as PASSPO☆ rocked through their member introduction song. Captain Ai Negishi (aka Aipon) cheerfully proclaimed that the flight had begun, tapping her foot on the new stage and announcing that thanks to everyone’s efforts, the flight (live) was at full capacity. Anna Tamai (aka Anya) revealed that there were CO2 cannons attached to the stage, pointing and exclaiming “CO2 come on!”, causing a pillar of mist to erupt. She joked, “That was just 2,000 yen”. Yukkii’s attempt to replicate the feat resulted in a delayed reaction, leading to all of the cannons to fire at once, Anya commenting, “That was 12,000 yen! Pay up!”.

Taking their places behind their instruments, PASSPO☆ switched to band mode, Naomi Anzai (aka Naomin) picking out the jagged opening riff to “BABY JUMP ~ Tengoku he no Toujou-bin~” as the stage was covered in a thick CO2 mist. Aipon moved to the front of the stage with a keytar slung over her shoulder as the flight climbed into the clouds with “WANTED!!”. The floor shook as the passengers jumped along to the fast punk rock power chords of “Pock☆Star” and more CO2 filled the air. Cruising through “Love Diary”, Shiori Mori (aka Morishi) and Nachu took aim with their finger guns as the passengers clapped along to the marching rhythm. Morishi announced that the next song would be the first band performance of “Party like a Rockstar”, the b-side for their upcoming single “Stand Up Girls! ~Dai-Ichi wa Damedame Kaijuu no Goyojin~”, sharing that Naomin, Miomio, and Aipon had written the lyrics for it. Just as the title promised, it was an energetic party rock tune that had the passengers singing along and waving their hands in the air throughout.

Aipon asked the passengers if they had enjoyed the 5-song Band PASSPO☆ set, receiving a rousing round of applause and cheers in response. Asking if the audience knew why PASSPO☆ hadn’t put down their instruments yet, Anya retorted from behind her drum kit, “Because I like sitting down?”. Aipon continued by announcing that they had prepared another song, becoming slightly emotional as she explained that it was a song expressing their ability to be strong because of everyone’s support, and how they wouldn’t give up on their dreams. As Anya rattled out the opening drum roll of “「I」”, Morishi’s voice cut deeply through the still air, the passengers calling out as the rest of the band kicked in and ripped through the song. Quickly putting down their instruments, PASSPO☆ moved into position to keep the flight airborne, swinging their fists like cheerleaders to “You”, Naomin and Yukkii jumping up on the risers at the front of the stage.

Taking a much-needed break, the crew unveiled another “challenge”. Bringing out 2 signboards, one with an outline of a cow and another with one of a chicken, PASSPO☆ announced that they would leave the following 4 songs up to the passengers to decide with their penlights. Arriving at a deadlock, the passengers evenly split between “beef” (purple) and “chicken” (orange), it was up to PASSPO☆ to provide the tiebreaker, a landslide victory for “chicken”.

After working out the order and cues with the sound engineers and fans, PASSPO☆ began the inflight meal service, starting off with “Mr. Wednesday” in their band formation and continuing with “Candy Room” for the second course. Clearing the table, it was time for the main course with “Pretty Lie”, the passengers calling out loudly as the crew shuffled from side to side on the stage. Serving up dessert with the sweetness of “Kucha Love”, PASSPO☆ returned the tray tables and seat backs to the upright positions as they prepared for landing.

Miomio announced that they would be closing out the flight with a selection of their cool songs, she and the rest of the crew rumbled through the turbulence of “WING”, their arms slicing the air that had become full of CO2 blasts once again. The descent through the clouds continued with “PlayGround”, the crew dancing like an undead mob surrounding Miomio. Standing under a spotlight in the middle of the stage, Morishi’s voice reverberated through the hall as she sang her opening lines to “Mudai” a capella, a rainbow of lights descending upon her and the crew as they banged their heads along with the passengers. PASSPO☆ began their final approach as they roared into “Film”, landing on the tarmac with “Bachelorette wa Owaranai”, an explosion of streamers raining down on the passengers as the flight coasted towards the terminal.

Returning to the stage after a few minutes of encore calls, the crew showed off their new goods, Aipon pointing out that Yukkii had been in charge of customizing the shirts. The encore began with “STEP & GO”, the passengers erupting into a MIX and series of thundering calls. Anya and Nachu wandered off to the side of the stage for their usual assortment of antics while Naomi coasted across the stage on one of the suitcases that included a scooter attachment. Aipon announced that PASSPO☆ would be starting another Utatte Odotte Kanaderu Tour, combining their skills as a band and idol group beginning in November as well as confirmation that they would be performing at the legendary Nakano Sun Plaza on September 22, 2018.

Returning to their band formation, PASSPO☆ was aided by the passengers as they performed “Shojo Hikou”, their voices joining together as they sang the chorus to the crew’s major label debut song. Paper stars fluttered from the rafters of the hall as PASSPO☆ fired their engines one last time to close out the evening with “Music Navigation”. Taking a commemorative picture, PASSPO☆ took their final bow of the tour, the passengers joining hands and mirroring their actions to end the evening.

As they approach the 8th anniversary of their first flight (November 17) PASSPO☆ have continued to evolve and change as a group, developing their skills as a band as well as building on their dance and vocal skills. It should prove exciting to see where they will go from here!

Photos by Nathan Gey

Set List

01 HONEY DISH
02 Stand Up Girls! ~Dai-Ichi wa Damedame Kaijuu no Goyojin~
03 Vivi Natsu
04 7’s Up
05 BABY JUMP ~ Tengoku he no Toujou-bin~
06 WANTED!!
07 Pock☆Star
08 Love Diary
09 Party like a Rockstar
10 「I」
11 You
12 Mr. Wednesday
13 Candy Room
14 Pretty Lie
15 Kucha Love
16 WING
17 PlayGround
18 Mudai
19 Film
20 Bachelorette wa Owaranai