Bagels and Cupcakes: Perfume World Tour 3rd in NYC

The following review contains spoilers for everything about Perfume World Tour 3rd in New York City. Everything. If you think something about the concert was a spoiler, it's probably in here. 

Do you ever have a list of things that can never happen ever to you? Going to a Perfume concert was on my list.

And yet here I am. It's been over two weeks, but the memories of Perfume World Tour 3rd concert in New York City feels like it happened last weekend. The songs, the audience, the girls themselves... it was something. I won't waste any time with an intro. This is about my experience at Perfume World Tour 3rd in New York City, and I've split it up into three parts: pre-concert, concert, and post-concert. Pretty self-explanatory, so let's enter the sphere!

Before the Concert

New York City is about a nine-hour drive from where I live. Luckily, I didn't have to drive.

I have an aunt and uncle who live in New Jersey, in a town about forty-five minutes outside of New York City. So the Friday before the concert, I flew up to Jersey with my mom and stayed at their house. That covered lodging, and my aunt and uncle drove me and my cousin into the city. Easy enough. I spent the day of the concert fluctuating between excitement and panic. What if I didn't make it to the concert on time? What if the venue was so packed I couldn't see a thing? What if I lost my tickets? What if I couldn't find Hammerstein Ballroom? When those questions weren't plaguing my thoughts, I was jumping up and down in excitement. I ordered the tickets in late June; to think that the day was finally here was exhilarating. Back in June, I'd ordered the tickets not even being sure I could make it to the concert and here I was! I was so excited leaving the house, I almost forgot my tickets! We left around 6:15. There was no way I could have been one of those fans standing out in the cold for seven hours. Kudos to anyone who did!

I've been to New York City several times, so the crowds and the traffic are no surprise to me. Nor was the cold weather. I will say though, it could have been a lot colder in NYC; when I went up there last March, the temperature was twenty degrees. And that was during the daytime. This time around, it was around thirty-five to forty degrees; I think even at one point it was forty-six degrees. Still cold obviously, but that's the kind of cold weather I can deal with. Hammerstein Ballroom was relatively easy to find since it's so close to Penn Station, and the building was very lit up. Like everything else in New York City at night. I reached Hammerstein Ballroom around 7:15.

And that was when I saw the line.

That first picture? I was around the block. It was crowded. Extremely crowded. I was equal parts overjoyed and surprised that the line was so long. Keep in mind this was around 7:15. The doors opened at 7:00. When I got there, I'm pretty sure I made my way to the back in daze. I was so daze that I thought the line ended earlier, until a very irritated fan directed me further back. So lots of walking. This part is pretty dry. I did finally get to the back, and I made conversation with a few fans. The two guys in front of me had actually been to the LA concert, then traveled to NYC to see Perfume again. They didn't spoil the LA concert for me, but they did say it was pretty amazing. Needless to say, I got more excited.

There were a lot of people from all over the place in the line. A lot of Japanese people. I don't want to say this surprised me, but I couldn't believe so many Japanese fans had flown all the way to NYC just to see Perfume in concert. Maybe tickets are easier to obtain at international concerts, or some Japanese fans are just incredibly supportive. Either way, traveling to a completely different time zone in a foreign country is a level of devotion I'd never be able to reach. There were also many American fans there; two girls behind me in line were actually from Florida! I didn't get to talk to too many people in line, because the line moved fairly quickly. Security had to stop us in front of parking garages then let groups of fans pass through in increments. I was most worried I wouldn't be able to get inside in time to find a good standing area or to see the concert start. Luckily, the line picked up, and I got into the concert hall around 8:10.

Let me tell you right now, Hammerstein Ballroom is gorgeous. Very much like a classic New York theater. As you can see in the picture, there were two balcony floors, then below was the floor area. I had floor seats, which meant I had to stand the whole time, but I was cool with that. I'm young and healthy. I will admit though, I was a little envious of fans sitting in balcony sets on the sides. Those looked like the ideal seats. By the time I got into Hammerstein Ballroom, the floor was about half filled. I knew there was no way I'd be able to make it to the front, not without losing my cousin along the way, so I went to the right side of the audience. It took a bit of wrangling and pushing, but I was able to find a pretty good spot in the crowd. I wasn't quite as close as I'd have liked to be, but I have good eyesight and tallness working to my advantage. If I were a short person, the concert would have been a much more uncomfortable experience.

To any short people who were in the floor section at the concert: I am so so sorry. I was probably one of the many tall people blocking your vision. If there was a girl in a gray hat in front of you, she was definitely not me.

As I got settled, the crowd continued filling in, to the point where the floor was pretty full, probably the balcony too. There were a lot of Japanese people around me, so I couldn't really talk to anyone. Besides, I think I was too excited for the concert to start. There was some cool background music before the concert; I don't know if Nakata produced it or not, but it set the mood. Then an announcer came on and told us the concert was starting soon, and that's when everyone went crazy.

The projections I'd seen on Youtube videos came up on the screen. A countdown started. And then...

The Concert

I'm pretty sure I died.

I came back to the land of the living when the concert ended. But for those two and half hours, my soul probably left my body and ascended to a dimension of technopop where Perfume was just a few yards away from me. I cannot accurately put into words my feelings when Perfume came onto the stage. It was equal parts elating and equal parts surreal. Were these really the girls I'd watched on Youtube videos since I was eleven years old? The girls I'd spent years writing about on a blog, critiquing their songs and music videos? How did I know they weren't just impersonators!? In this wave of disbelief was elation. These three girls from Hiroshima, who started out performing in bowling alleys were here. In America. And me, this eleven-year old girl who thought she'd never see them in concert was there watching them. I know it's silly to form connections with people you'd never met, but these girls were my role models. And they were right here. For the first couple minutes they performed, I just stood there with my jaw dropped open and my eyes bugging out of my head. I think I may have cheered once, but those first couple minutes were me reassuring myself that this was really happening.

Then I drifted back down and started cheering with the crowd. The first song Perfume performed was very appropriately Enter the Sphere, and that song is fun in concert. Enter the Sphere was made for concert performances; fans go crazy when the instrumental drops. They went even crazier when Perfume came out and started singing. I will admit, I didn't dance quite as much as I thought I would; I did more bouncing and swaying. I can barely dance when I'm actually trying to. I didn't hold much hope for dancing at the concert. Besides, the people around me were fairly restrained. They cheered obviously, but compared to some of the other fans a bit farther away, the fans I was around were fairly calm. I think that pressured me to be respectful of their space and try not to go too crazy.

I'm about to go more in-depth into the setlist. Needless to say, everything from here is extremely spoiler-y. If you ignored the italicized caption at the beginning of this post, again, proceed with caution if you are prone to spoilers.

Right before they came on the stage (it was a magical experience).

This was the entire setlist:

1. Enter the Sphere
2. Spring of Life (Album-mix)
3. Cling Cling
4. One Room Disco
> M.C.
5. Nee
6. Seventh Heaven
7. Hold Your Hand
8. Spending all my time (DV&LM Remix) - Interlude
9. GAME
10. Dream Fighter
11. Party Maker
12. Glitter
> PTA Corner
13. Chocolate Disco (LTW-mix)
14. Polyrhythm

Encore
15. Fake It
16. My Color

Overall, I think this was a pretty good setlist. There are a few songs performed exclusively at other venues on the tour that I wish had been performed in NYC, but for the most part, I was happy. I would have been happy with just about any of their songs; just seeing any of them being performed live would be a transcendent experience. And it was. It really was.

As I said, the first song Perfume performed was Enter the Sphere. It's kind of a perfect song to start the concert with and really got the crowd pumped up. I think everyone had been waiting so long for Perfume to come out, that them appearing disintegrated all that high-strung anticipation, including my own. The beginning of Enter the Sphere was extremely cool thanks to the projections on the curtain. Very intricate and eye-catching. Then Perfume themselves came out, clad in pink outfits that looked plastic-y, but honestly, that didn't even matter because it was Perfume. They could have showed up wearing Walmart grocery bags, and I would have been just as excited. No one tells you how your judgment disappears altogether at concerts. Looking back, I can think, "Oh yeah, those outfits are kind of formulaic," but at the time, that wasn't even a blip on my radar.

Enter the Sphere lead right into Spring of Life (Album-mix). In hindsight, I'm kind of bummed they didn't do anything with light-up dresses or projection mapping onto their clothes. I can see why they didn't for practicality purposes. And like I said, that didn't matter while I was standing the crowd singing along to Spring of Life (Album-mix). Yep, I sang. Very softly and I'm pretty sure no one heard me, but I knew the lyrics to Spring of Life (Album-mix) and I damn well was going to sing them. Spring of Life (Album-mix) was a great lead-in after Enter the Sphere. It's a joyful song when I'm playing it on my iPod. In concert, the song is practically jubilant. The breakdown in the instrumental break was even more amazing in real life.

Cling Cling was pure fun. The dance for that song is so bouncy! I wasn't sure how I felt about Cling Cling since I reviewed the single, but now, I think I can firmly say I love the song. I will say though, it sounds even more high-pitched in concert. Actually, all there songs sound higher-pitched in concert. I don't if that's how their songs always sound and I was just more aware of it or if there really is a difference hearing their songs live over speakers from a computer. I loved the changed in lighting when Cling Cling came on. There were these boxes suspended over the stage, and they changed colors when the girls performed Cling Cling. They'd do more of that in later songs, but that first time was my favorite.

After Cling Cling, the girls did a quick costume change- and I mean quick, it couldn't have lasted for more than a minute or two. Then they came back out in costumes that looked a little like the outfits from Level3: you know, dresses the the triangle pattern. Then they got into that iconic One Room Disco formation, and the crowd went wild for the fourth time. Before One Room Disco, a few people had been doing some of the dance moves, but when One Room Disco came on, everyone's fingers shot up. I remember when I tried learning the dance when I was thirteen; the only part I could get was the beginning, and five years later, I still remember that opening choreography. I unashamedly did the hand motions with everyone else. It was so much fun! Dancing along with hundreds is a much more lively experience than dancing alone in my room. One Room Disco's grown on me so much since it first came out, and hearing the song live makes me love it even more.

Four songs into the concert came the M.C. portion. Seeing the girls dance with such precision and skill, then they come back out on stage totally relaxed is very weird. But also very endearing! For the M.C. the girls did speak to the crowd in English. And they spoke quite a lot of English; I don't know if they just memorized what to say or went over it with a translator, but either way, they worked very hard to communicate with the audience. Their English was all right; they tried their best, and communicating in another language is extremely difficult. The girls were all so sweet about it too, and the audience was completely understanding. The fact that they took the time to learn English for an American audience instead of just using a translator the whole time is extremely considerate. Especially since America isn't even their target demographic. They did speak Japanese at certain parts, which was obviously a lot more comfortable for them; during those parts, they got someone in the audience to translate what they were saying. So for the most part, communication was simple and sweet.

When they did talk in English, the girls talked about a variety of things. Mainly though, they talked about how cold it was in New York City (a sentiment I agree with wholeheartedly), body temperature (a little strange but oh well), and bagels and cupcakes. They loved New York bagels. However, they thought the cupcakes were too sweet. I've never actually had a New York bagel or a cupcake so I'll just have to take their word for it. Off subject, I have had a New York macaroon; I highly recommend trying one should you ever get the chance. A-chan divided the audience up into two groups: the left side was bagels, the right side was cupcakes. So I was a cupcake! She'd call out "Bagels!" and the left side cheer, then "Cupcakes!" and the right side would cheer. It was kind of silly, but really fun. And the girls were so nice, especially A-chan. She's just as enthusiastic in person as she is onscreen! Nocchi's also pretty funny, and Kashiyuka talked about O.K. Go! Going off her other artists she likes, I get the feeling Kashiyuka's a huge music hipster in secret...

The M.C. ended, then the girls went right into Nee! The audience sang along a lot to this one, probably because it's one of the easier Perfume songs to sing along to. I was so excited to see Nee live, mainly for the foot dance. That's one of my favorite bits of Perfume choreography. Alas, while I may be a tall person, I was not tall enough to see Perfume's feet. I could see from their knees up, but I'd have to jump up and down fifty times to see the foot dance in its entirety. I was able to see Nocchi perform the foot dance during the last part of the song, but even then, I wish I could have seen the foot dance more clearly. It's a small complaint, and not seeing one part of a dance didn't put much of a damper on the concert. The rest of Nee was fun and visible. That really is a great dance; I didn't appreciate it quite as much until I saw it performed live.

And then came one of the most surprising songs performed at the concert: Seventh Heaven! They don't perform that song quite as much as some of their other songs, which is really a shame because Seventh Heaven is one of my favorite Perfume songs! Like seriously, it's in my top three. So seeing one of my favorite Perfume songs ever live? Yes please! Especially since it was the only one of those top three they performed. Seventh Heaven's one of their older songs, but it sounds beautiful live. When the piano started up, my heart soared. And the background used for Seventh Heaven (pictured above) looked really pretty live. Lots of sparkles. Nia approves of the sparkles. Seventh Heaven was definitely one of my favorite songs performed during the concert, more for sentimental reasons than anything technical. I got all nostalgic seeing the dance and hearing that pretty piano.

After the heavenly Seventh Heaven, Hold Your Hand brought me back down to earth. If there was one song from that concert that I would have switched with another (like Electro World or Take me Take me), I'd pick Hold Your Hand. The performance was fine, very cute and the hand-holding choreography was sweet. They displayed the English lyrics on the screen behind perform. But... it's Hold Your Hand. I think that's a song that would be better at a really small venue. Like a bowling alley. I don't know, Hold Your Hand hasn't grown on me much since I reviewed Cling Cling. Other than that, there's not much to say about this song. The girls performed fine, and I had a good time.

The girls went offstage after Hold Your Hand, and an interlude started playing. I wasn't sure if this was intermission or how this worked, but no one was leaving, so I stayed where I was. Then the girls came back on in new costumes, and Spending all my time (DL&LM remix) started playing. And do you know what I've learned most from this concert? Every mix of Spending all my time is better than the original. I actually didn't have much of an impression of Spending all my time (DL&LM remix) before the concert, but seeing it live was amazing. This was when the concert starting making use of more visual effects like strobe lights and varying background images. And the dance. Seeing Spending all my time's choreography live is amazing. Everything about the concert is just different levels of amazing, but that choreography with the costumes and the lights was at least at Level 8. Or Level3 if I wanted to make a pun. Perfume's more visual performances like Spending all my time (DL&LM remix) are a spectacle to see live. Again, projection mapping would have been nice, but even without that, this was still one of my favorite performances.

Just when I thought I couldn't get any more excited, the instrumental to GAME came on.

For me, the highlight of the concert was GAME. It's always been one of my favorite Perfume songs, and their live performance at Tokyo Dome is one of my favorite live performances of theirs. With the bass pumping into the audience combined with the badass choreography, GAME was awesome. And that was before they came out with the lightsabers. That's right, they performed GAME with lightsabers. The Star Wars fan in me and the Perfume fan in me, came together that night. Like with Spending all my time (DV&LM remix), GAME was one of Perfume's more visual performances, with the lightsabers being a great focal point at the end of the song. GAME got the audience really excited... or maybe it just got me really excited and I assumed everyone else felt the same way. When GAME ended, it was like coming off of a roller coaster ride. I knew GAME was an awesome song, but GAME performed live with lightsabers is somehow even more awesome.

For Dream Fighter, the screen displayed English subtitles. That was a really nice touch; Dream Fighter's one of Perfume's best songs lyrically. I do wonder why they did it for just the one song. I guess for other visuals with the other songs. Dream Fighter's another one of those nostalgia-stirring songs to see live. I think the crowd was emotionally moved by the song too. A lot of fans were singing along to this song; I hummed parts of it, but I couldn't remember all the lyrics. Dream Fighter's kind of a classic Perfume song, and seeing it live felt unreal. And think about it: that song is six years old. It's aged quite well.

As much as I love Dream Fighter, I feel like the placement was kind of weird. Because the next two songs are very visual and dance-based, while Dream Fighter... isn't. Regardless, Perfume changed costumes then came back out for Party Maker. After the inspirational Dream Fighter, the crowd got pumped right back up for Party Maker. I can't believe this song is seven minutes; it didn't feel like seven minutes when I saw the song live. Party Maker flew by faster than a night flight. I feel like I watched most of Party Maker in a daze. I think I was reaching another point where I was thinking, "This really is happening, right? Not a dream? You sure, brain? Okay." Even before the concert I knew this, but Party Maker is a great song live. Everyone was dancing to it, some more enthusiastically than others. My little surrounding crowd was restrained as usual, but I still had fun jamming out to Party Maker.

Then came Glitter, the original version. And man, when that opening instrumental started, the crowd went nuts. I went nuts too, because I love that song. The opening was really cool; the lights were dim, and the girls looked like they were glowing. The strobe lights went out into the audience, and it was mesmerizing to watch. The dance for Glitter is one of those dances that looks even more incredible live. I think the crowd responses helped. Right before the chorus, there was a crowd cheer we'd do, and it was so much fun! I like crowd responses, especially when there's an actual crowd to do them with. Glitter is such an uplifting song, and that really shows live. I loved these last outfits they performed in too; they were very soft and girlish compared to the more plastic-textured outfits they'd worn during the first half of the concert. The lights were the coolest part about Glitter, and this was another one of my favorite parts of the concert.

I keep saying I have favorite parts of the concert, but really everything from Enter the Sphere to My Color was my favorite part. I just have favorite favorite parts.

Perfume took a break from performing (which is good because they were all sweating by now) to do the PTA Corner. Having never experienced the PTA Corner before, it was... kind of strange. Still really fun, but a little odd. A lot of it was call-and-response stuff, like A-chan would yell out certain genders or countries (or bagels or cupcakes) and the crowd would cheer in response. A really cute part was when the girl brought up Let It Go from Frozen, then the song started playing. They re-enacted a few words of dialogue; Kashiyuka was Anna, and A-chan was Elsa. Then they asked Nocchi who she was, and she said she was Olaf! I didn't really get into Frozen, but it was still a cute moment. The girls in general were adorable during the M.C. and PTA Corner. They're all so sweet, and they all seemed to happy to be there, especially A-chan. I think she's definitely the most passionate about performing. Just the way she interacts so much with the audience and really gets into performing with the crowd and not just for the crowd shows just how much she loves Perfume. I'm not saying Nocchi and Kashiyuka don't; A-chan's just more expressive about it.

After the PTA Corner, the girls went into Chocolate Disco (LTW-mix). And for someone who was getting tired of Chocolate Disco... I loved this performance. I never got why they always performed Chocolate Disco so much at concerts, but now I see why. Chocolate Disco is a great crowd song. The lyrics are easy, so everyone can sing along to them, the song is bouncy enough to jump around to, and the simplicity of the vocals allows the girls to really reach out into the audience. We participated in a lot of hand motions which I did enthusiastically. We'd raise our hands up every time the girls sang "disco" which naturally was a lot considering this is Chocolate freaking Disco. A-chan yelled "Disco!" like she does in every performance of Chocolate Disco, and we yelled right along with her. Chocolate Disco (LTW-mix) is one of their simpler performances, but the sheer fun of singing along with it makes it a really awesome concert song. Somehow by hearing Chocolate Disco one more time, I magically got a lot less tired of hearing it.

Same goes for Polyrhythm. Like with Chocolate Disco, I thought Polyrhythm was overplayed at Perfume's concert, but seeing it live, now I see why. I know part of Polyrhythm's appeal lies in the nostalgia factor. Polyrhythm was Perfume's first real hit, and the point where they really started to pick up attention. They've been performing it for years now, and I think seeing them come so far from that little recycling commercial to this... Somehow it makes Polyrhythm's live performance endearing. That and the dance during the polyrhythmic bridge is even more fantastic live. I was dying to see that part, and the girls totally delivered. The lights changed colors constantly during that part too, which only added to the fun. Polyrhythm was the perfect way to close the concert...

...until the encore of course.

At this point, A-chan was getting teary-eyed, so the concert was obviously close to the end. The girls thanked the audience and made their way off stage. However, the lights didn't change, and the announcer didn't come back on. So everyone stayed put. Shortly after the girls came back out for the encore, and the crowd cheered.

After fourteen songs, we were all pretty tired but happy. Then that gift from the heavens known as Fake It starting playing and all that exhaustion evaporated away. The girls starting cheering "Jump! Jump!" and the crowd started doing what anyone who's told to jump would do. Everyone was jumping up and down, me included, and with Fake It blasting into the crowd, the energy was bursting through the venue. It was awesome. I was really hoping Perfume would perform Fake It, and it's definitely an amazing crowd song. I'd always wondered why the dance for Fake It was relatively simple compared to their other stuff, and it's because of how much the girls get the crowd involved. Fake It's a great song to get the crowd's energy back up. Also, the instrumental to Fake It sounds even better in concert. This was another one of my favorite crowd-involved performances. Fake It's a great song on its own; the live version makes it fifty times better!

The final song of the evening was My Color, and like with Chocolate Disco and Polyrhythm, I hadn't realized how fun of a concert song it was until actually going to a Perfume concert. During PTA Corner, A-chan taught us the hand motions for My Color. Naturally, I completely forgot about them by the time they brought them into the actual performance. I picked up on them pretty quickly though, and soon enough, I was doing the hand motions with everyone else in the audience. Crowd stuff like that is so much fun, and in this weird way, I think it brings the audience together. Sure, we're all strangers, but we're all there for Perfume. My Color's one of Perfume's lighter and simpler songs, but it's such a sweet song live. I think My Color grew on me just a little bit more after the concert.

And then... it was over.

Perfume said goodbye for real this time, and the crowd cheered them farewell. At this point, A-chan was crying. I really can't emphasize enough how sweet and down-to-earth A-chan, Nocchi, and Kashiyuka are. Even with the language barrier, I could hear in their voices how genuine they were. And seeing them go, I wasn't filled with the sadness but contentment. I'd done it. I'd seen Perfume in concert. And it was everything I hoped it would be. Although I was sad the concert was over, I left with a smile on my face.

After the Concert

My first priority was to get to the merch table before it became a madhouse. Of course, when hundreds of other people have the same idea I do, the merch line was a madhouse anyway. To be fair, the space was very small, and I was relatively close to the front; I was at least able to get back to the lobby. I felt kind of bad ditching the ballroom so quickly, because a group of fans had planned to sing Dream Land after the concert. I kind of wanted to join in, but I only had so much time to spare. Besides, I wanted to get merch before all the goods sold out. I did hear A-chan say something as people were filling out, but I'm not sure if she came back out on stage or not. I do know that the merch line was a clusterfuck. There was no line, just people crowded against each other, slowly wriggling to the front of a very understaffed merch table. After the concert, the Hammerstein staff only had one person manning the merch table. Thankfully, they got a few more people later, but progress was still very slow.

The Hammerstein Ballroom staff were also... very Northern. I don't think they expected as many people to show up for some random girl group from Japan. Staff was very impatient with fans, and they weren't very good at controlling the crowd. They mostly just yelled at people to step back but when you have someone literally pressed against your body, backing up is impossible. The merch... cluster moved slowly, but I was patient. I knew beforehand what I was going to buy, and had the cash to get it. I felt bad for people who didn't know the merch table was cash only. I more-or-less shoved my way to the front, and I got two t-shirts and a cup! I wanted to buy the Cling Cling EP, but sadly, there weren't any CDs left. I also wanted to buy everything, but my money supply is not infinite.

The merch I picked up. I know. It's very expansive.

Clutching my little merch package, I walked out of Hammerstein Ballroom and back into the cold, polluted city that is New York. I honestly didn't notice the cold, because I was too busy smiling about the concert. And that was how I spent much of the drive back to my aunt and uncle's house. And the flight home. And the drive back to campus. And pretty much the rest of the weekend.

Overall, the Perfume concert was a dream come to life. Looking back, I don't think I approached the concert as a reviewer but more as a fan who really loves Perfume. So I don't have much criticism, if any at all for the concert. I'm sure if thought hard, I could think of things that could have been done better. But I don't want to do that. I wanted to enjoy this concert, as a fan. As a fan experience, this is everything I hoped to get out of a Perfume concert. The choreography, the M.C., the visual effects, the warm crowd, everything. Except I was there. I wasn't looking at it from a screen. And to see that there were so many other fans from all over who felt the same way I do about Perfume is overjoying to me. Blogging about Perfume is fun, but it is rather lonely. Being in the crowd, surrounded by people who loved this strange little technopop group from Japan was strangely comforting.

The crowd was one of my favorite things about the Perfume concert. I thought that going in, the fans would be crazy and out-of-control, but the people around me were very polite. Maybe a little restrained, but still polite. And everyone got pumped up on the crowd songs like Chocolate Disco and Glitter. The best was My Color, when we all did the hand motions with A-chan. All of us doing the same little set of hand motions was a very uniting experience. The last concert I went to was very wild and crazy. The Perfume concert was fun, but I never felt uncomfortable or violated. All the fans around me were very respectful, while still displaying enthusiasm for Perfume. My only regret is that I didn't get to meet as many fans as I would have liked; that was probably my fault. I'm always a little reserved when it comes to reaching out to strangers. And I think I was so nervous to see Perfume, I kind of forgot about talking or breathing or functioning as a human being. Generally speaking, the Perfume fans at the concert were great, and they helped make my experience even better. Maybe if another opportunity arises, I can talk with Perfume fans more closely!

Overall, going to the Perfume concert was fulfilling beyond words. I'd always wanted to see Perfume in concert, but by the time they announced the 2nd World Tour, I'd pretty much given up on them ever coming to America. That they did come to America, and that I got to see them was wonderful. It was like... being a little kid and meeting Santa Claus. Half of me couldn't believe what I was seeing, and the other half wanted to dance for joy. I've heard some fans say they don't feel as enthusiastic about a group they follow after seeing them in concert. I feel the exact opposite way. With college and my life in general changing so much, I'd sort of put Perfume to the side, along with the concert. Seeing Perfume in concert rekindled how happy this group has made me and how much I love their music. Songs like Chocolate Disco and Polyrhythm, which had grown old to me, suddenly gained new life. And the spark that got me into Perfume in the first place came back in full glow.

I haven't been to many concerts, but Perfume World Tour 3rd in NYC was one of my favorites. I loved the setlist overall, even the regular staples, the visual effects were mesmerizing, the girls were charming, and the general feel in the audience was relaxed and happy. I don't know if I'd go see Perfume again if they came back; if they went somewhere like Atlanta, I might go see them again. If they just go to NYC or LA again, I'll probably stay back in North Carolina. To everyone else who was at the concert: I hope you all had as much of an amazing time as I did. And to everyone who wanted to go to the concert but couldn't: I hope Perfume comes back so you guys can go see them! It really was a worthwhile experience.

I think I'm gonna go listen to Seventh Heaven now.