Yoasobi’s First Singapore Concert Delivers As Duo Lead Enthusiastic Crowd With Fan Favourites

There’s no denying the star power of J-pop sensation Yoasobi. Racing into prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan, the duo quickly rose up the rungs of popularity with their breakout hit “Racing into the Night,” which went viral on social media. Their momentum has only been on the rise since, from singing for some of the hottest anime shows, to becoming the first in Japan to exceed 500 million streams in 28 weeks. 

Then, there’s their influence on the international scene. After the pair’s first overseas performance at the 2022 Head in the Clouds Festival in Indonesia and Philippines, megahit song “Idol” – also the opening theme of anime series Oshi no Ko – scored the highest peak by a Japanese act on the Billboard Global 200 at number seven. Yoasobi would later appear as an opening act on two shows of British rock band Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres World Tour in Tokyo, before heading to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Seoul, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Taiwan as part of their first Asia Tour. 

Suffice to say, the initial announcement invited much fanfare and hype – so much so that tickets for the Singapore leg were all snapped up within five minutes. It’s the same kind of energy and excitement that took hold of the Resorts World Sentosa Ballroom premises on the grand concert night on 11 January 2024, with the most fervent of fans queuing to enter and buy merchandise from the morning (standard practice for concert-goers, really).

Taking the brunt of the crowd, however, was the merchandise queue. Snaking from one end to another, it saw attendees standing in line for hours to get their hands on hoodies (S$90), t-shirts ($59), and other exclusive goods. The queue intensity never dwindled once, even between 6.30pm, which was when doors opened, till around 30 minutes before the start of the concert at 8 pm.

Give or take 15 minutes later, Yoasobi entered the stage to enthusiastic clapping, loud cheering. The charged atmosphere, easily felt from the get-go, was cranked up high as the concert started strong with “Racing into the Night”, where attendees bopped their heads, waved their arms or lightsticks, swayed to the beat, and sang heartily. 

This infectious energy spilled over to the next few crowd favourites, including “The Blessing”, “RGB”, and “Seventeen”, with vocalist Ikura stepping in to greet the local crowd after. Speaking in English, the singer-songwriter briefly introduced herself and Ayase, producer and the other half of Yoasobi, and shared her experiences with local delicacies.

“I ate pandan cake and chicken rice; it’s very shiok,” exclaimed the singer-songwriter to the glee of Singaporeans, referring to the Singlish term, or local slang, for describing tasty and delicious food. 

Keeping up the audience interaction, Ayase dedicated a separate, near-one-minute segment to thank fans for their support and gear up for the next set of performances. “Usually, I don’t speak much when we perform,” he opened in English, “But today is a special occasion, and I want to share this with you.” A few more sentences later, the stage was bathed in orange and warm-coloured hues, priming the stage for “Just a Little Step”. 

In fact, each performance came with its own lighting effects and aesthetic language. “Haven’t”, for instance, featured a monochrome presentation, while “Blue”, as its name suggests, washed fans in a blue glow. “Biri-Biri”, sung to commemorate the first anniversary of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, livened up the space with bright, yellow illumination and scenes from its music video featuring rival trainer Nemona from the game. From cascading lasers and pretty background visuals to confetti, there was plenty to like about the production quality.

But nothing could quite compare to the sheer hype during the pair’s expected encore segment, “Idol”. An all-around high-energy piece, it saw vigorous fist-pumping, excited jumping, and a steady flow of ‘hey, hey, hey’s, making it easy to bask in the infectious atmosphere. In a way, it’s a sort-of poetic way to end off the concert, with both “Idol” and opener “Racing into the Night” having an extremely strong presence on social media, TikTok included. 

Here’s the set list performed during the Singapore leg of Yoasobi’s Asia Tour (in chronological order):

• 夜に駆ける (Yoru ni Kakeru / Racing into the Night)
• 祝福 (Shukufuku / The Blessing)
• 三原色 (Sangenshoku / RGB)
• セブンティーン (Seventeen)
• Biri-Biri
• ミスタ (Misuta / Mr.)
• 優しい彗星 (Yasashii Suisei / Comet)
• 勇者 (Yusha / The Brave)
• もう少しだけ (Mō Sukoshi Dake / Just a Little Step)
• ハルカ (Haruka) 
• ハルジオン (Harujion / Halzion)
• たぶん (Tabun / Haven’t)
• あの夢をなぞって (Ano Yume o Nazotte / Tracing that Dream) 
• 怪物 (Kaibutsu / Monster)
• 群青 (Gunjo / Blue)
• アドベンチャ (Adobenchā / Adventure)
• Encore: アイドル (Aidoru / Idol)

Alas, some may find the concert a little too short. The enjoyable affair was over too quickly, clocking in a runtime of around 1.5 hours. While the set list featured a good mix of older tracks and more recent hits, a few of them, such as “Monster”, suffered from a middling sound system. The occasional muddy, muffled vocals aside, its bass-heavy slant can make thumping feel overly aggressive, causing other instrumental details to be drowned out. It should be noted that the Resorts World Sentosa Ballroom isn’t a dedicated concert venue, though, so it’d be remiss to deduct too many points on this front. 

Still, none of that mattered to the general crowd, most of whom were just content to catch Yoasobi in the flesh for the first time on home soil. As the night wound down and the superduo bid fans farewell, the air continued to thrum with high-strung excitement, liveliness, pleasant weariness, and hopefully, the lingering promise of another concert in the future.