ラストフライト☆9月22日2018

Follow the pink runway...

And here we are - the final 3 hours of PASSPO☆ week. I'm interested to see what I think of this concert 12 months later...

We open with a flight announcement and the usual silliness; Orange is sleeping like always, while Yellow and Aqua are fighting over the bathroom. This is followed by a special video package showing PASSPO☆ through the years. The music is totally new. There are people in the crowd crying already. It's totally not me...

They open with the first PASSPO☆ single - Let It Go!! Holy shit, Yellow just did jumping splits? Now they rock the 少女飛行 and this is a great time for Yellow and Purple to do some choreography using luggage as props. I'm all for it. There is also clearly a lot of emotion in their voices tonight. Things get a bit heavier with WING and I find I miss the Ground Crew for this. But Purple makes up for it by absolutely belting it out to my surprise.

Time for the final introductions and White messes up the venue name. They're wearing the Cinema Trip classic-style blue flight attendant outfits complete with custom-coloured sashes. Hold up - Aqua's colour is actually Mint Green? WTF?? Since when?!?

7's Up is always fun and this time Purple uses her solo moment to harass a cameraman. Bah gawd she's the best.

Pretty Lie starts and HOLY SHIT the crowd are losing it! I know it's a great song, but I did not realise just how much the fans love it. Then they rock くちゃLOVE and Orange actually sounds really good in this. But then she has her one moment to do a fun trick with a smoke machine and totally fucks it up by going to her left instead of her right. It probably makes it funnier.

Band PASSPO☆ time!
I was skeptical of them doing BABY JUMP〜天国への搭乗便〜 last time, but I now I totally get it as the perfect Band PASSPO☆ song. During キャンディー・ルーム, Orange and Yellow go out into the crowd. Orange has a fake lollipop and sticks near the front, but Yellow just completely disappears and is not seen for the rest of the song. Orange makes it back for マテリアル Girl, but Yellow is still nowhere to be seen. Oh wait, a cameraman has finally tracked her down near the back of the hall - so she runs away to other side of the hall. And I do mean runs.

After that, Purple asks Yellow to warn her next time she's going to do that so she can remember to wear her glasses. Then Yellow gives a quick word about how much she loves to sing and that she wants to continue to sing together with White. Spoiler alert: they did one gig together a couple of months later, but haven't done anything since. I'm not happy about it. Then Band PASSPO☆ attempt 向日葵 - I admire the ambition.

Now it's time for lucky dip song choice!
They have a box with songs written on balls and each girl picks one out.
Orange picks Go On a Highway.
Aqua Mint picks ViVi夏
Blue picks LA LA LOVE TRAIN〜恋の片道切符〜 and the crowd erupts. And this is why I would never think I like the same songs as the fanbase.
Purple picks BREAKOUT!!
White picks じゃあね.

Huh - it's all songs from the first 2 albums. Purple wants to do BREAKOUT!! as Band PASSPO☆. It's actually really fun watching and listening to them work out how to transition between each song. Especially how they sound out the music while they work.

This Band PASSPO☆ version of BREAKOUT!! is awesome and should be the standard. I can barely hear LA LA LOVE TRAIN over the Otaku and their chanting. I'm not sure I'm too upset about that.

Yellow starts 無題 accapella again and it's pretty awesome. The whole performance is actually quite powerful. 「I」and You are next and they are both very emotional performances, before they finish off the main concert portion with Tracks - which is incredibly fitting. I really like the way they've shared out Yellow-Green's parts. No lie, this was the song that got me the most tonight.

Encore time! And more Band PASSPO☆!
Aqua Mint talks about how hard they had to work to make Band PASSPO☆ a reality. She gives a shout out to Blue for learning guitar after Yellow-Green left. Then they smash out Party Like a Rockstar! and it is a lot of fun.

Now it's time for the madness that is STEP&GO; Blue still can't ride the luggage scooter and tries to kamikaze into Aqua again - luckily, Yellow makes the save. And then they finish things off with Music Navigation and pose for photos at the front of the stage. But not before White has to wake up Orange.

But we aren't done yet - 2nd encore time!
Purple discusses how hard they've worked and all the challenges they've faced and how they had to work to overcome them. Then she says she'd like to do one last Band PASSPO☆ song, so they rock 少女飛行 one more time and even lead the crowd in a big sing-along. And then the final song - of their career, I guess - is バチェロレッテは終わらない. When Aqua Mint screams one more time and the explosion happens, I get the feels every time. And the final chorus where the girls sit in a circle and sing together feels like a really special moment. I remember on the night being so shocked they hadn't performed it and then feeling so much joy that they ended with it. It's a special song and the perfect ending.

Then we fade to black and credits roll, featuring pictures of their journey throughout the last 9 years. And then finally, each girl has a message of thanks to all the passengers.

Ninjas be chopping onions on my couch, I tell ya...

Was this a perfect concert? No.
But it was a magical sendoff that celebrated the coolest band ever and the emotion was real.
Would I watch it again?
You bet your ass, I will!

Highlights:
Tracks, STEP&GO, バチェロレッテは終わらない being the surprise perfect ending

Lowlights:
No more PASSPO☆. It's obvious, but honestly a year later I still want them back


6 / 7 Glowsticks

JEJEJEJET!!

♪Wanna be on top?♪

Today we open with a quick flight announcement in Ignition. This is a great fast-paced instrumental opener that sets up the vibe quite nicely. These are improving with each album. And then it's straight into the ROCK with BABY JUMP〜天国への搭乗便〜 which kicks aaaaaasss. I love their quick, strong delivery of the vocals and the "We will rock!/Baboo" break. PASSPO☆ really know how to open albums the right way. And continue them; BEAST IN YOU is another dark, heavy, awesome song.

サクラ小町 continues the vibe but includes another killer guitar hook. This song is like Yellow's coming out party - in WING, she was doing some cool big parts, but here she's really belting out the cool parts with power. The rockin' out doesn't stop, as next we get おねがい which is way more in the vein of the classic PASSPO☆ sound. Though 4 albums in now and I don't even know what that "classic PASSPO☆ sound" could possibly be, because there's all sorts of stuff going on these albums. But whatever, because STEP&GO is kinda on that similar vibe. But not really.

気分はサイコー!サイコー!サイコー! is a song I did not like at first. Now I consider it a highlight of the album and I have to stop myself from giving it a 5 star rating when I know it really isn't a 5 star song but then I realise that it doesn't matter so I give it 5 stars. Because it makes me want to party. This is the はっちゃけ隊 song #1; はっちゃけ隊 are the PASSPO☆ side group. It involves Yellow, Red, Orange and Blue drinking beer and being ridiculous. They're so bad it's amazing and it makes me happy this group seems to be continuing to perform. Especially because then songs like this won't die.

妄想のハワイ is kinda fun. Shang Shang シャンデリア seems to be incorporating some classic Asian sounds into the Idol musicverse. I'm not sure I get this song. But I certainly get キャンディー・ルーム. Super fun pop-punk to the rescue! That chorus is WAY too catchy! And Yellow doing all the silly cute voices just tops it off. くちゃLOVE is actually exactly the sort of song I consider signature PASSPO☆; pop-punk sensibilities with an almost power ballad vibe, without being a slow song at all. Do I make sense? No. PASSPO☆ break all genres and power of correct thinking.

Truly is one of those songs that starts off kinda 'meh' but then slowly builds into something more interesting than you were initially expecting. But then it's back to rockin' in your face with MASK. Wish on a Star has a great hook but also doesn't really go where you expect. Or want. Growing Up（Album ver.）, like 気分はサイコー!サイコー!サイコー!, was not something that grabbed me at first. Now it's probably my 2nd favourite song on the album. It's really groovy, but also a soulful musing of how life moves forward. The single version isn't quite as awesome as the album version - there is a chord change in the chorus that's missing in the single version. Amazing how one chord can make a large swing like that.

Growing Up is the 1 of the 1-2 punch to end the album. The 2 being 「I」. I recall a review of PASSPO☆'s final concert where they wrote 「I」could have been written for the event and they're not wrong at all; the lyrics are about chasing your dreams and staying together no matter what. The last line is especially fitting: "No one can take your place/It's my faith!" It's a fast-paced punk anthem with all the feels. This album ends with a raised fist in the air and DAAM it feels good!

This is the longest album in the PASSPO☆ library with 16 songs at 62 minutes. If you took out a couple of the lesser awesome songs like 妄想のハワイ and Shang Shang シャンデリア it would be near perfect. But as it stands, it's still a mighty fine album - I think it even has the most 5 star songs of all their albums! My first few listens didn't really grab me a whole lot, but it was possibly on my last flight to Osaka where I listened to it and finally realised I was wrong and there are too many great songs to ignore.

Highlights:

サクラ小町, キャンディー・ルーム, くちゃLOVE, Growing Up (Album ver.) , 「Ｉ」

Lowlights:

PASSPO☆ not staying together like they promised in 「Ｉ」

5.5 / 7 Glowsticks