Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave]. Creatively unmatched.

Perfume performing “Polygon Wave” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] gig. The group is surrounded by Elevenplay (a dance troupe), who are all housed in large geometric shapes.

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] was an emotional show for Perfume. Well. They are always emotional for a-chan. She cries at everything. But it marked a return to the stage during a period of uncertainty as a result of the 2020 pandemic, which caused Perfume to do the responsible thing and cut their last tour short. Unlike Kumi Kovid, who decided to proceed with her superspreader tour, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.

2020 was a year where quite a few things were supposed to materialise for Perfume which didn’t - as was the case for many of us. The original Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony which included Perfume was dropped. Festival shows and televised performances got postponed. And the Perfume Live [Polygon Wave] tour was quietly being worked on, the whole time nobody knowing if it would ever see the light of day. But see the light of day it did. And it would have been easy for the show to have been a lament at what 2020 took, especially given that it took from Perfume. But it was instead a celebration of what 2021 could bring, and the future of Perfume.

Okay. a-chan’s crying here was very warranted. Because my cold bitch-ass actually got choked up at that.

2021 was still a horrendously shit year, but it at least granted us more of an opportunity to move forward than 2020 had done. Even if it was only making plans. Even if those moves forward were the smallest of steps. 2021 was a year where we collectively realised that life as we know it had changed, and we all had to figure out this new normal and how to navigate it. And for Perfume, this new short tour was them figuring that out and moving forward. How to put on a show in the midst of a pandemic. What a show during such a time would look like. How it would feel. What it would mean for everything which would come after. But aside from all of this, there was the responsibility that Perfume’s team took on to entertain everybody, and for the weight of 2020 and life after it to not hang over the show, even though they were the reason for the show being what it became.

Perfume Live [Polygon Wave] was a reminder that Perfume are so much more than just 3 girls who wear ugly dresses and dance these awkwardly amazing routines to insane visuals. It was a reminder that not only have Perfume long been built for this, but they are tenacious. That they are still as committed to performing as they were when they were just school girls try’na make it. They’re just happy to be able to do what they do.

Perfume performing “Fushizen na Girl” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. Perfume are in low light, in a formation.

Something that I think many of us tend to forget is just how long Perfume have been performing for. Perfume’s career started long before Game. Before there was a record deal in place. Before there was even a proper team in place. Before they even had their own songs. Before the hairstyles were settled on. Perfume were out in those streets, those malls and those parking lots in quincinera dresses waving arms to Lil’ Kim’s “How Many Licks” and giving people a fucking performance. Perfume were seasoned performers very early on, which says a lot about why Perfume perform at the level at which they do now, why they know what it takes to put on an actual show, and why a lot of these other groups out here could never.

With Perfume having performed together now for over 20 years, they are more than just seasoned and professional. They are fearless. No matter the setup, no matter how many routines, no matter how ridiculously impractical some of the outfits are; Perfume step out and do the damn thing. It blows my mind how they manage to do what they do amidst the spectacle and the logistics, whilst having to retain so many routines and cues.

Perfume’s music has the fandom split and fighting. But the one thing I think everybody within it can agree on, is that Perfume are consummate performers. Sure, we may like some shows and gigs more than others. But Perfume always give 100%. Even if the setlist is garbage, and the staging isn’t the best; Perfume will walk out into that un-air-conditioned arena in 4 layers of dresses and give you a damn show.

But Perfume have reached an impasse in their careers, where it’s becoming increasingly difficult to hide the shortcomings of their music. Perfume have nothing more to prove as performers. And Perfume’s creative team continues to show that they are a force to be reckoned with, and that they are truly unmatched. Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] delivers spectacle, and marks an emotional return to the stage for Perfume after having to cut their last tour short due to the pandemic. But it’s an unfortunate display of growth and failure to grow in equal measure. Perfume’s live performances and their music aren’t growing in parallel, and it’s officially a problem for me now.

Perfume performing “Polygon Wave” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. Perfume all walking away from the centre of the stage as laser lights cuts across it.

We’ll circle back to the music issue and delve into why it is letting down Perfume’s shows as time goes on. But let’s get into everything else. Because whilst music is an important part of any show, it’s one of several components of a Perfume show. And unless you are a fussy bitch like me, you will probably come away from this particular Perfume show wowed, by what you see. I mean, shit. I was wowed. Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] is nothing short of a spectacle, and an example of you put on a show.

Perfume performing “Polygon Wave” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. The stage is viewed in long shot, showing the scale of the stage and the lights surrounding it.

Perfume aren’t the type of group where you can just suggest them to somebody with a song recommendation. You have to suggest a performance. And whilst Perfume have no shortage of stand out shows and performances to put forward for suggestions, I would say that Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] is probably at the top of the list. Purely because, whilst other Perfume tours display great staging and creativity, it’s usually in bursts here and there. Where-as with Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave], it’s just off-the-charts creativity and visual splendour from start to finish. And whilst Perfume have been known for having some interesting and elaborate stage setups for some of their tours, Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] is probably one of Perfume’s simplest, yet effective setups.

The staging theme with a Perfume tour always seems to be about making the stages service three things:

A central point where Perfume are together and will spend most of the show.
An elevated stage setup.
And three mini stages which go out from the main stage where Perfume separates.

This is usually the foundation of their staging, although the three mini stages situation comes and goes, and sometimes folds into the elevated stage setup; as was the case with 3:5:6:9, which saw the members swinging unstable platforms which looked like some shit in a self-scrolling Super Mario game.

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] took the standard modus operandi when it came to Perfume’s staging, but simplified it massively. Perfume were elevated at a couple of points, but not as high or in the manner in which they usually are. And there were moments when Perfume were separated across the stage, but this was only during entrances. For the most part, Perfume were together on the main stage, the entirety of which was a screen display.

Perfume during the “System Reboot” intro for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. All 3 members are stood at the 3 points of the triangle displayed on the stage floor.

Visually, the stage was impressive in sheer scale alone. You often forget how big it is until the camera pulls all the way out and you see that Perfume are mere specs on it. But the staging was an absolute marvel to see in action with all of the visuals. It was like seeing Beyoncé’s giant monolith screen for the Formation World Tour for the first time. Or Kanye’s floating stage for his Saint Pablo Tour. It’s an absolute spectacle. I don’t think there’s been a Perfume tour where the staging off the bat has elicited such a strong reaction from me; which is why I would recommend this tour to those wanting to be introduced to Perfume. Because from the staging alone, there’s no way you could not be impressed. And that’s before you even see Perfume move or some of the insane visuals.

Visuals playing during the intermission of Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. All 3 members can be seen looking at the stage with a magnifying glass, as a member of Elevenplay stands on the stage, looking up.

Perfume’s arena shows always feature cool visuals, but this was the first time where they were so prominent from start to finish. They had to be. Because the stage was the screen. That shit had to be showing SOMETHING. But the ways in which the visuals tied into to Perfume’s choreography and their positions on the stage was nothing short of genius.

The staging setup wasn’t just one of creative genius, but considered genius. Not only was the stage setup completely practical in maintaining social distancing at a time when COVID was still having the time of its life, but it created a setup which gave everybody in the arena a good view, no matter where they were seated. Perfume’s P Cubed tour did really cool things with the staging, which involved Perfume hopping up on platforms which took them right the way out into the show floor and moved them around. But the issue with this setup was that whilst it gave audiences in the back some of the action, those up in the front got shafted. Because as soon as “Party Maker” started and Perfume got hoisted up onto those cubes, they were wheeled right to the back of the floor. This meant that the only way people at the front could see anything was to watch the screens, and that’s if they weren’t just showing coloured triangles and the words ‘Party Maker’. P Cubed thought it was fixing a problem, but just made it worse. Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] remedied this by ensuring that everybody has a good vantage point. And it just makes sense. So much damn sense, that I wonder where Perfume’s team will go from here with the staging. because Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave]’s worked so fucking well.

Perfume during the “System Reboot” intro for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show.

But the most ingenious thing with the staging setup was something I hadn’t considered when I saw photos of it initially, and that is lighting. Because the stage is a display, it will not pick up light in the ways a standard stage floor and wall would; so the lighting and visuals team had to cheat with the lighting. There were moments when we got spotlights, and lighting situations involving shadows which weren’t actually spotlights and real-time shadows at all, but visuals displayed on the floor. It was so clever, and is something that few would even notice unless they were really watching and paying attention. But there was a moment during the performance of “Macaroni” where the visual team playfully lifted the lid on the trickery; having a-chan, Nocchi and Kashiyuka all skip away from their marks, leaving their shadows to dance in their places.

This shadow moment also highlighted that for all of the crazy spectacle that Perfume’s team can deliver (and are known for delivering), they can still create something so creative and amazing with so little. Perfume’s visual team don’t need to do the most for great spectacle or stand-out moments. Sure, the visuals for “Saisei”, “Fake It” and “Mawaru Kagami” were fantastic and did the absolute most. But Perfume’s creative team don’t need to rely on that for every single song, and there is a confidence in the fact that Perfume and their team don’t always feel the need to go big.

The performance of “Macaroni” was actually my favourite moment of the entire show, along with “Mugen Mirai”, which featured simple, but beautifully effective visuals which fully captured the energy and the ethereality of the song in a way that the music video didn’t, and no other performance of “Mugen Mirai” managed to. It was a nice reminder that Perfume are able to captivate with very little. Most of Perfume’s performances actually aren’t in these bespoke setups. It’s usually just on some standard stage in a studio. But Perfume approach their performances how they always have since the beginning - as long as there is a stage and there is sound, they will turn that bitch out. Great lighting setups and LED screens is a bonus, but none of it is a requirement. Perfume can still hold it down with the least to give the most.

Perfume during the “System Reboot” intro for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. All 3 members of Perfume are stood wearing sheer red capes, watching Elevenplay, as they all dance and contort.

Something new we get with Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] is also the inclusion of dancers. To non Perfume fans, they’re just backup dancers. To those in the fandom, we know who they are. Elevenplay. A dance troupe led by Perfume’s choreographer Mikiko, who perform to cool technological creations and installations developed by Rhizomatiks.

The Rhizomatiks are who handle all of the cool tech that Perfume use for their shows, such as the light tracking for their Reframe performance of “Mugen Mirai”, the motor dresses used for the projection mapping performances of “Spending All My Time” and the light-up dresses for “Spring of Life”. Elevenplay also act as a stand-ins for Perfume to block for their music videos, their tours, and also support teaching them their routines. So not only are Elevenplay a part of the Perfume team, but they are well versed in Perfume’s style of dancing, and all of the crazy logistics that go into putting on a Perfume show.

Elevenplay somehow manage to feel very present, yet at the same time invisible. Like in “Fushizen Na Girl”, the dancers are everywhere and constantly interacting with Perfume. Yet they managed to feel simultaneously present, yet invisible. It’s bizarre. And it’s the same with “Polygon Wave”. You realise that there are dancers inside the giant geometric shapes which are moving around on the stage, and yet you still forget they are inside of them. It’s bonkers. But the way in which the dancers are utilised and how they are part of the performances is again, genius. In “Fushizen na Girl”, they pretty much play the roles that the bob and bespectacled girls played in the music video. And in “Time Warp”, they play the roles that the guys played in that music video. So as a fan, the inclusion of Elevenplay doesn’t feel like something that’s brand new or changing the performances, because there is an instant familiarity to their presence because of the references. But in “Polygon Wave”, Elevenplay are worked into the performances in such a cool way that most wouldn’t consider. I’m not even going to talk through how they were used for it. You just have to watch it for yourself.

EVERYTHING about the “Polygon Wave” performance is impeccable, expect for that raggedy lighting during the Original Mix shift, which was due to it being an eleventh hour change to the performance, as a result of Perfume’s music producer saying ‘Hey, I made a new version of “Polygon Wave”’.

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave]. Creatively unmatched. | Random J Pop

The staging, choreography and creativity on display for Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] was incredible. I can’t fault any piece of it for a second. But the music? This is where the show lost me a little.

Perfume during the “System Reboot” intro for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. All 3 members of Perfume are stood wearing sheer red capes, as technicolour shadows are displayed on the stage.

As time has gone on and Perfume’s sound began to really branch out and fracture from JPN onward, Perfume’s tours have suffered from wonky setlists. Take the LEVEL3 tour for example. It suffered because LEVEL3 featured songs so different in vibe from what Perfume had put out before, that no consideration was really taken as to how to sit them alongside their older material in the setlist. But the LEVEL3 tour was ultimately saved because it opened strong, it ended strong, and it had a jaw dropping performance in the middle which defined the entire thing. But the Cosmic Explorer and Future Pop tours suffered because the albums were just bad, and no amount of cool staging setups and visuals could downplay that.

Perfume’s best tours tend to be their non album tours (P Cubed being the exception), because they’re free from the constraints of having to be album heavy. So Perfume can just do the hits and the fan favourite deep cuts. But even this has been thrown into a form of jeopardy for me now, because Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] was the one non album tour where I thought ‘This can’t work any more’. Because of the conflation of a questionable setlist, a questionable running order, the quality of Perfume’s music being so inconsistent, and that PERFUME HAVE BEEN PERFORMING THE SAME VERSIONS OF SOME OF THESE SONGS FOR 13 YEARS.

Wonky setlists are such a trend for Perfume, that I went into Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] expecting a shitty setlist, and that is exactly what I got.

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] went from “System Reboot”, a slow oontz-oontz intro, into something bright and fun like “Fushizen na Girl”, into the dark and oontz oontz-ey “Pick Me Up”. The shift in energy and tone between these three songs gave me whiplash like Kashiyuber just tailspun and crashed the Tesla. I was in a neck brace by “Saisei”.

Nobody in Perfume’s team seems to care about the order of songs. But we know this, because the exact same problem is present in Perfume’s albums. Even if you’re performing to a bunch of fans who like each song and will eat them up; there still needs to be a consideration and management of tone and how the show should flow. And what’s even more confusing, is that there was a part in the show where somebody DID care. Either that, or it was a happy coincidence.

So, here’s the setlist.

System Reboot
Fushizen na Girl
Pick Me Up
Saisei
Future Pop
Tokyo Girl
I Still Love U
Macaroni
Polygon Wave (Original Mix)
Mugenmirai
Glitter
Fake It
Polyrhythm
Time Warp
Miracle Worker
My Color
Mawaru Kagami

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] was pretty much broken into three parts. Parts 1 and 3 were a mess, but Part 2 was great, because the setlist for it was great, and everything flowed in a way that made sense.

I completely understand that the logistics of the stage setup had to be factored into the setlist. Perfume weren’t able to have things coming up from the stage and a typical off-stage setup, where handlers and tech teams could move things on and off the stage. And because Perfume’s team had to be creative to kill the illusion of these moving parts, it meant the setlist had to account for being able to bring things in that might be needed for certain performances. But even so, they could have built the setlist around this. All they had to do was shuffle the songs around like so…

System Reboot
Fake It
Pick Me Up
Future Pop
Tokyo Girl
Mugenmirai
Miracle Worker
I Still Love U
Macaroni
Polygon Wave (Original Mix)
Polyrhythm
Fushizen na Girl
Saisei
Time Warp
Glitter
My Color
Mawaru Kagami

Perfume always seem to fall back on and perform the same set of songs, and it’s getting really tired. There has long been a reluctance to perform cuts from Game and Triangle which aren’t “Polyrhythm” or “Edge”, and I don’t get why. Well…I do kinda know why. It’s probably a-chan’s doing. She knows Nocchi’s pussy activates when she performs Game and Triangle material, and leaves her and Kashiyuka in the dust. But the lack of Game and Triangle material feels especially strange to me now, given that Nakata has now thrown their sound back to those albums with Plasma. So it’s going to be interesting to see what the Plasma tour setlist ends up looking like.

Perfume’s team not really knowing how to sit the OG material with the newer material was clear with the inclusion of both “Polygon Wave” AND “Polyrhythm”. Both songs are so alike, that I don’t see why we needed to have them both. But given that we ended up with the two of them, why was there no “Polygonrhythm” mashup or a transition between the two? It seems like such an obvious thing to do given both songs share the exact same bassline.

I’d be more forgiving of Perfume performing the same set of songs, if we at least got different versions of them. Perfume cannot keep running their songs off of a Discman plugged into an aux cable. They need to start revising some of these songs. We need remixes, alternate versions, updated vocals, live instrumentation, transitions. We need some freshness injected into these songs. And I don’t mean just adding a few wooshes and an extra synth for 3 seconds of a song how Nakata did v1.1 of “Time Warp”. Because the fact that Perfume has been performing the same versions of these songs for 13 years is beyond ridiculous.

If Nakata refuses to rework some of these songs, then Kashiyuka needs to remind him who is paying whom. He needs to move his fried bang to the side, open up those Ableton projects and start changing some shit. Or hand the stems off to somebody who has the time to actually do it.

I’ve gone on before about what Perfume needs to switch up when it comes to their live versions of songs, and how they need to consider working with other producers, so I won’t repeat all of that here. But Perfume’s team really do need to start considering switching up the music, because it’s very clearly now the weakest link of their shows. Yes. Even more so than the horrendous stage outfits with the boots that never seem to match.

Perfume performing “Mawaru Kagami” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. All 3 members of Perfume are wearing silver, reflective dresses, as they stand with their arms stretched into the air.

The entire show ends with what was then an untitled song, which we now know is “Mawaru Kagami”. And it’s absolutely crazy that this song did not manage to leak prior to the Amazon Prime Video release of the gig a whole 4 months later. But it goes to show that either Perfume audiences are super obedient in not filming or sound recording, or that Perfume’s fandom isn’t big enough. Because you can rest assured that if Hikaru Utada played a gig and that bitch performed a never heard before song, it would hit the internet IMMEDIATELY. I will never forget how videos of their Laughter in the Dark tour and their new rap for the song “Too Proud” were running rampant on Twitter and Instagram on the night they performed it.

“Mawaru Kagami” is nice. It featured lyrics which seem to be about Perfume’s fans and likening their presence to a mirror ball, which is cute; especially with this show being Perfume’s first in a while. The song isn’t great, and it’s another Game throwback as per “Polygon Wave”. But it’s decent, and it’d make for a solid encore going forward, because Perfume need to retire “My Color” and save it for Pride month. I actually liked “My Color” when JPN first came out, and now I can’t stand the damn thing. I’ve been to two Perfume gigs, and both times they performed it. And both times this was me.

Perfume performing “Mugen Mirai” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. Perfume are in the middle of the choreo, as out of focus images of them play on the screen behind them.

I’m not going to speak too much on Perfume’s outfits. There were a couple of ugly ensembles. But on the whole, by Perfume’s usual standards, the looks weren’t terrible. I don’t know why Perfume’s team continually insist on putting Perfume in ugly, clumpy black boots instead of matching the colour of them to their outfits. Perfume wore all red outfits, with black boots. All white outfits, with black boots. Silver outfits, with black boots. So much attention to detail was given to everything else visual on this tour, and I’m sure the outfits are made with great attention to detail too; featuring breathable fabrics, stretch fabrics and fastenings to allow for quick changes. But then they go and refuse to match the boots. Why!?

Perfume at the end of their performance of “Mawaru Kagami” for their Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] show. All 3 members of Perfume are stood on stage, as visuals displaying what looks like doors closing plays behind them.

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] was a solid gig. I can’t say enough good things about the staging and the visuals. It’s probably my favourite staging setup for a Perfume gig since Perfume Live @ Tokyo Dome “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11”. Perfume’s creative team is unmatched. And Mikiko did amazing things with the inclusion of Elevenplay, in making them feel very present, yet also invisible. But that setlist. A mess. It really let the side down for me. And given that Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] followed a Best album tour where they did all the usual suspect hits, Perfume could have dipped a little more into the deep cuts. We could have gotten far better picks in the setlist than “Miracle Worker”, “Pick Me Up” and “My Color”. And I really like “Miracle Worker”. It’s my favourite song from Cosmic Explorer. But I would have taken “The Best Thing”, “575” or “Clockwork” over it.

Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] showed that Perfume are the consummate performers that they’ve always been, and that they aren’t in competition with anybody but themselves. But if they really want to push things further and realise their potential at the scale that I think they deserve, then they need to step up the music. Shows such Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] are already on a whole other level to everything everybody else is doing creatively. But if Perfume really manages to deliver a solid setlist, with some switched up versions of their songs, AND insanely creative staging and visuals; then Perfume’s live shows would be fully untouchable. But for now, we can appreciate that Perfume’s shows are creatively unmatched, and that Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave] creatively sets a bar.

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Perfume Live 2021 [Polygon Wave]. Creatively unmatched.

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