On March 28, 2015, Lantis, the world’s largest label for anisong artists, presented ‘ANISONG World Tour Lantis Festival’ in Singapore for the first time. The festival was held in The Star Theatre, with goods booth opened at 1 pm. Redemption counters for Cat 1 and Cat 2 premium ticket holders also opened at 1pm for the concert goers to collect their goodie bags and pamphlets. The doors to the live hall themselves opened at 5pm, and the concert started shortly after 6pm.

Before the concert started, videos of the performances by the Lantis artists were shown on the large screen at the back of the stage, getting the crowd excited. Soon, it was time for the concert to start, but before the concert began, a one-minute moment of silence was taken, to pay respects to the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, once a Singaporean Prime Minister and an important public figure even until now.

First up was Choucho! ChouCho opened the festival with happy song, “Dream Riser”, from the 2012 anime “GIRLS Und PANZER”, complete with a montage from the anime shown on screen. Her powerful vocals, together with the lively song beat, created excitement in the audience, as they waved their multi-coloured penlights to the music. The next song was “優しさの理由(The meaning of this gentleness)” from the anime, “Hyouka”. It too came with its own anime montage, which sparked a new wave of excitement in the audience. In between songs, she greeted the audience in English.

“Hello everyone, I am ChouCho. This is my first time in Singapore, and I am very glad to meet you! Today, let’s enjoy Lantis Festival together!” She went on to do a cover of the song, “Snow halation”, from the anime, “Love live!” to the delight of many fans in the audience. Her last number was “Starlog”. ChouCho’s performance included mostly of light-hearted numbers, with happy and forward-looking melodies that were easy on the ear, making a great start to Lantis Festival.

Next up was Azusa Tadokoro! Being cute and bubbly, Azusa had fans predominantly from the male audience, who erupted with cheers when she was announced as the next artist. She began her segment full of energy, shouting, “welcome to Lantis Festival!” The crowd followed by cheers of “hey, hey, hey!” according to the beat of the song. The first number was “Hello my revolution”, from her debut album, “Beyond Myself”. Screams of “Azusa!” were heard from the enthusiastic male fans in the audience.

After the first song, she went on to greet the audience. “Hello everyone, I’m Azusa Tadokoro! Are you excited? Welcome to Lantis Festival! I am a voice actress in Japan, and I voice many TV anime characters like Aoi Kiriya In Aikatsu and Mogane Shizuka in Idolm@ster Million Live. Do you know the characters? (Cheers of “YESS!” came from the audience) Thank you! I’m so happy! This is my third time in Singapore, and I’m so happy! I am studying English now. How is my English? (“GOOD!” replied the audience) Really? Really? Thank you! I will work harder! Anyway, let’s move on. The next song is a cover song. Do you know the anime Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu? This is “Lost my music!” The audience reacted with loud cheers, as it was a song from the popular anime. Azusa Tadokoro did justice to this great song as well. She continued the concert by singing “DREAM LINE”, from her new album.

Next up, to the delight of the female fans in the audience, was Kensho Ono! The band started playing first, and Ono skipped out from backstage, starting an upbeat rock number,  “TOUCH”, his latest single. He shouted “Hey! Hey! Hey!” to get the crowd moving. The audience, influenced by his energy, and started waving their blue-coloured penlights to the song. He dived right into the next song, “NEEDLESS TO SAY” without so much of a breather. This song had more of a dance feel, and got the fans clapping to the beat.

The band came to a pause, so that Kensho Ono could stop to greet the audience. Screams of  “Kensho!” filled the theatre. “Thank you! Hello!! I’m Kensho Ono! It’s so fantastic! Ono Kensho desu! I am a singer and actor! Do you know “Kuroko no basuke”? Do you know “Tetsuya Kuroko”? The next number will be one of his songs, “フーチャーライン(Future Line)”. As he said these words, fans of “Kuroko no Basuke” were screaming with delight. This character song was not supported by the live band, but by a back track instead, as it had a disco beat. The next song was the last song for Kensho Ono, but he said that although his section was coming to an end, he had a lot of fun. He continued with the song, “FANTASTIC TUNE”, the ending song of “Kuroko no Basuke”. The band started playing immediately, and Ono started his entrance one section early, showing his cute side.

All in all, the songs that were performed showcased his vocals and youthful spirit, and that was great gift to his fans.

Next up was Kenichi Suzumura, who entered the stage saying “YEAH!”

He began with “INTENTION”, from his 2009 album, “Becoming”. With his strong vocals as well as overflowing exuberance, he was a great entertainer. Full of energy, he constantly tried to get the audience’s spirits high by waving his hands, or jumping up and down. He introduced himself by saying two lines, “My name is Kenichi Suzumura. My weak point is English,” which made the audience roar with laughter. He continued, “So… 日本ごでしゃべります (I will speak in Japanese)!” He continued in Japanese, “It’s my first time to Singapore! Thank you! I love hot weather, and I really love summer. Since Singapore is really hot, it’s awesome! You guys are really passionate as well! Please get high with me! Now, for the next song!”

After singing the two of his anime songs, あすなろ（Asu Narou), from the anime “Kamisama no Memochou”, and シロイカラス(shiroi karasu), the ending song of the anime, “CODE:BREAKER”, he started to chat with the audience again, telling them about his experiences in Singapore that morning. “I just reached Singapore this morning, and I went to see the Merlion.” He made the “Zaaa” sound to represent the Merlion. “Nice merlion, it was awesome! Singapore’s great! The food was very very nice! Chicken rice, very very nice! Very good taste! Can you stick with me for one more song? As not many people may know my songs, I will do a little explanation. Please remember these two melodies. “Wohwoh, wohwohwoh” and “Wohh, Wohh” Don’t worry! The rest will fall into place.” After making sure the audience has grasped what the two melodies were, he began with the song, “SHIPS”, an uplifting and hopeful song. During the song, he guided the audience as to when to come in with the two phrases, so that everyone could participate in the song as well. The last number, “あいうえおんがく”, was another lively number. Throughout the performances, screams of “Suzuken!” filled the hall. The audience, following Suzumura’s lead, waved their blue-coloured penlights in the air to the beat. It was all in all an interactive and enjoyable performance from Kenichi Suzumura.

The fun is to be continued to part II!

Official pictures.

Reporting by Elenaril