I felt very out of place for half an hour, sitting at the back of the hall with a bunch of kids, but when the band came on, I forgot about that. They started with ‘sayonara no hi,’ goodbye day, a song bouncing with percussion that brought the audience to their feet – figuratively. There was enough energy coursing through the crowd to start a riot in Australia, but the Japanese sat obediently in the seats, which wouldn’t have been provided if they wanted people to stand up, right? At least that was the logic I assumed they used.
The performance was perfect. They stopped twice to show just how perfect it was. On the first occasion, Ganahami-chan played a wrong note – not that I could pick it – and stopped to bow humble apologies before starting the song again.