Perfume at Hammerstein Ballroom, New York
My experience and review (sorta) of Perfume 4th World Tour FUTURE POP at Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY, USA
Having gone to their previous shows in NY I knew I couldn’t miss out but this time I changed things up and purchased seated tickets on the balcony. The show started at 8PM and ended around 9:50PM.
We headed down to the Hammerstein Ballroom around 5PM and the end of the line had already reached the parking lot. The line grew quickly so it was a good idea arriving at least 2-3hrs before the show. After talking to people around us most of them had floor tickets in hopes of getting as close to the stage as possible. There are a couple restaurants across the street in case you get hungry and a CVS down the road.
I had a seated ticket on the second balcony without assigned seats so I was worried how far back I would be and really wanted to nab a first row seat. The previous concerts I went to at the Hammerstein I bought GA floor tickets and realized that I can’t see anything because of how short I am! I’m 4 feet 9 inches tall and could barely see the artist(s) faces on stage unless they were high up on a stairway/prop. I could try to get to the venue earlier and be close to the front of the stage but that never works out. So I told myself to never get floor tickets and try the balcony next time.
Right before walking into the entrance some guy passing by the line yelled out “This place has RATS!” Without hesitation a fan behind me yelled, “and PERFUME!” Those who heard him in line laughed back and cheered on. He was probably looking for a reaction, but NY is known to have rats everywhere so this wasn’t alarming news. The passerby repeated his statement and then kept it moving.
Once inside we were allowed to bring in shopping bags as long as they were checked, as well as bags, and book bags. We all had to walk through metal detectors and were asked to show digital tickets this time with the barcode. Once you walk through the detectors and grab your bag you could either get in line for merch or head to your seat. The line for merch wasn’t bad so if you do have an assigned seat or you already have a friend reserving your chair go for the merch first because after the show the lines are way too long and not as monitored or controlled. After finding a seat and having a friend hold it for me I went back down to buy merch. Finding the line was a hassle but the staff had started to devise a plan to have the line for merch wrap around a stairway going down a level. The only problem was that the stairs were located in the main floor level. Someone could easily leave the line and pass into GA but the staff was ready and had several people heavily monitoring the line. You had to show your ticket again going back into GA or the balcony, so they were ready to turn people back around if they did not have tickets on them so don’t forget your phone!
Merchandise for the Future Pop tour was lacking. Nothing caught my eye and was disappointed with the t-shirt designs. Out of all the t-shirts only the white one had tour dates for the 4th World Tour, but the font size was microscopic on the back of the shirt. The front image on the white shirt was nice with all three members in a stylish pose printed in black and white ink. I would have liked the other shirts to have dates, but I went for the simple FP logo shirt with the 7th tour dates on the back. I liked the shade of blue for the katakana t-shirt. There was also a $50 t-shirt with the word Perfume on the front and an invitation to the fan club but I passed because of the dark blue t-shirt color. Tote was not as sturdy looking as the comic explorer tote, but fit the $15 price tag. The towel had an interesting design covering most of the surface and the words Future Pop on the center-right corner. What I was looking forward to the most was the pin blind bags! They were only $5 and you had a chance of getting 1 of 67 pin types. Here’s a link with all the items you can get during the tour. https://www.perfume-web.jp/eng/news/individual.php?id=172
The stairway to go up to the balcony was to the left, but before walking up you had to show your e-ticket to the staff member. After walking what seemed like an endless stairway, I finally made it to the second balcony and I was early enough to get front row seats. Not in the middle of the balcony, more to the left side but the view was great. The seats are cramped together, but I’ve experienced worse so it wasn’t as stuffy for me. I was also front row so I had room to stretch my feet and room in front of my chair and underneath to place my bags. The seats on the first row are elevated significantly from the floor so be careful getting off and on, hold on to the chair so you don’t fall down. I saw people lose their balance stumbling off their chairs a couple times so be aware of the dip.
As time passed the seats were filling up faster. One thing to look out for is beams when picking a seat. There are seats positioned right in front of beams and block your view completely. So get there early and avoid those seats. There was a couple looking for seats right before the show began and found two empty seats behind us on the second row, but one seat was facing a beam. They took it anyways since it was close up and it looked like all the seats were taken up in the back.
Having a seat was great and the view was amazing but standing up was going to be an issue. I didn’t want to block anyone’s view behind me so I stayed seated. Of course I struggled to not jump up during Fake It but I stayed down and waved my hands back and forth instead, awkwardly. Suppressing my excitement around others who weren’t as hyped was a huge downer when sitting on the balcony. There’s space in front of the seats, a wide walkway, between the ledge and first row, but staff was sending back anyone who stood behind the railing, even children. This was going on during the beginning first two songs but people got the message and no one else on my side tried to stand behind the railing. HOWEVER, there was a women who sat right behind the railing in front of us for the entire show, she was just the right size and was able to peer over the bar. Because she was sitting I guess none of the staff bothered her or didn’t see her at all. She didn’t stand up not once and was pretty chill scrolling through her phone while PERFUME was preforming live in front of her. o__o
The 1st balcony seemed to have assigned seating but I have no idea how people even got seats down there. When I purchased tickets, only GA floor and BALC2 was available. I was probably too late when purchasing tickets. Side balcony was where it was at! Each one had about 12 seats but most of the people in it were standing up. I’ll probably aim for side balcony seats next time.
Start-Up: Used the entire stage space to project what seemed to be a screen in thin air, counting down their previous performances leading up to their 4th World Tour and setting the mood for what was to come next, Future Pop!
Future Pop: the crowd was full of energy seeing Perfume back in NY and you could feel it during this song.
Electro World: First throwback song and a perfect follow up to Future Pop. Everybody’s hands were in the air clapping along for this one. A-chan was clapping along as well. Seeing this live was such a treat!
FUSION: The choreo and silhouette effects were mesmerizing. Hearing this song gets me so amped up but the crowd wasn’t crazy for it. Loved it!
Butterfly: Not gonna lie, I lost it for bit hearing this song at first. Didn’t expect this song at all and loved every minute of it. I also appreciated the subs for the lyrics typed out on the back screen. Now everyone can sing along!
Secret Secret: There was no need for subs since the crowd had no problem signing back. Its was nice hearing the crowd sing in unison. This was another song I needed to control myself and not jump out of my seat. Didn’t focus much on what was going on behind on the screen but the audio was off a bit.
Not sure what to title the following track. It was a medley of a couple songs with a trap like beat and the trio rapping the lyrics to what sounded like Tokyo Girl. I didn’t move at all but just watched the chaos of glitched distorted visuals flicker on the screens trying to make sense of what was about to happen next. I liked it. More please.
FAKE IT: Died and was revived back to life. No jumping for me this time around. The pit looked out of control!
Polyrhythm: Ahh, Polyrhythm. This is Perfumes anthem. Somehow this song just brings us and Perfume closer together during the performance and feels like we’re all up there on stage with them. But then we’re slowly brought back to reality. Always brings tears to my face seeing this song performed.
Encore - Magic of Love and Mugenmirai: didn’t take long for them to come back on stage. Not a fan of Mugenmirai in the encore but Magic of love left a lasting impression.
PTA Corner / MC / talk: Introductions! A-chan left for a few minutes and passed it over to Nocchi and then Kashiyuka. Nocchi calling out Kashiyuka while she was brushing her hair was funny. A-chan came back with what looked to be a cold ice pack wrapped around her neck, I hope she didn’t pull something. Pamela representing Dominican Republic did a great job translating (so lucky). Story time! Perfume points out that pizza slices in the USA are bigger than they expected and surprised that just one slice of pizza is larger than thier face! Then asking the crowd how many slices fans usually eat, 1 slice or 2 slices? I spotted someone holding up 4, 5 fingers. Perfume saw it too and couldn’t help but smile. They also shared their visit to the new Hudson Yards, questioning why there was a train leading somewhere to Hudson Yards? And while they were taking a photo at the weird stair case building, looking upwards, rain droplets were coming down and A-chan exposed the smiles in that photo were fake. The crowd was then split in groups. Right side CRISPY! Left side Pizza~! A-chan also taught us a catchy tune about brushing your teeth with dance moves using your hands to brush the lower teeth, upper teeth, back and front teeth. Less crowd interaction during the talking segments than the last shows I’ve been to. Lots of thank yous at the end. Now we wait for Perfumes comeback!
Recording was strictly prohibited and was not encouraged at all during the show. I get it, they use WiFi to control certain lights and devices on stage, but I should be allowed to use my phones camera to record while on airplane mode. That way I’m not interfering with the stages WiFi connection. This tour is all about the future and technology and the possibilities we have with them and being told not to use it doesn’t make sense.
Merchandise was not appealing to me and could use a few more variations of color and the addition of dates of the 4th World Tour in larger font. I’m grateful for what we got but I know they can do better. Maybe bringing back a gallery exhibition like the one during Cosmic Explorer tour can allow fans to purchase merch earlier and have more options in t-shirts, dvds, cds, and other items.
This one is more personal, on our way to the train station we stopped at a pizza restaurant to grab a quick bite before our train arrived. You could see who else just came from the concert. Some held their merchandise for all to see, Perfume cosplayers, or wore a Perfume concert t-shirt. Unfortunately we bumped into the wrong group of people who also came from the concert that said some pretty unnecessary and hurtful comments about someone in our group. All we did was ask if they were in line, got weird glances in response and the comments started. I don’t want to go into detail about what they said, just that it was wrong and that night proved Perfume fans are a group of some of the most diverse, creative and dedicated individuals. No one has the right to say who can like what and I hope they realize that soon cause Perfume is going to continue to inspire and attract all kinds of people from different walks of life, so deal with it.
So how was your FUTURE POP Tour experience? Did you get a blind bag, and which one did you get? Did anything strange or different happen at the show you attended?
