Contemporary Folk Crushes (Ichiko Aoba, Owen Pallett @ Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts)

Show Lineup: Ichiko Aoba

Genre(s): singer-songwriter, contemporary folk, chamber folk, ambient

Venue: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts

Date: April 29, 2025

Description:

I recently had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cover Ichiko Aoba at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and to say my life has changed for the better following the show wouldn’t be hyperbole. From the moment our World and Jazz Music Director Crista contacted me about covering the show, I was excited beyond belief. I went up to Phoenix for the show on a Tuesday afternoon with my friend Trey Carti, the biggest Ichiko Aoba fan I know of (maybe biggest in existence). We ate some great tacos with his partner and actually ran into Ichiko outside of the show before it began! (We didn’t want to make it awkward and they were obviously busy taking pictures so we just waved :p but it was still very surreal). After waiting in line for merch (and signing up for their mailing list for a very cute Ichiko Aoba sticker), we headed inside the theater and sat down in separate areas, Trey in the bottom few rows, close to Ichiko while I was high up in the press deck. I had never been inside a concert venue this nice. Forget the DIY bathrooms and pit covered in vitreous fluid I was used to, this venue had nice seats, ushers, and a respectful crowd with a mix of older, usual theater patrons along with well dressed young people obsessed with Aoba’s music. The opener was multi-instrumentalist Owen Pallett, an artist I knew from their work with Arcade Fire on the soundtrack for “Her”, my favorite movie soundtrack of all time. I spent many a night in my freshman year dorm silently crying to that score, but this set included none of it, and would consist solely of Pallett’s solo work.

Owen Pallett preforming

I wasn’t super familiar with a lot of the material they played, but I really loved what I heard. I was stunned by Pallett’s tender voice, emotionally tense lyrics and incredible use of loop pedals for their guitar, violin, and voice. In fact, I regretted sitting so high up because I wished I could have seen how they pulled off some of their musical compositions. It looked incredibly complicated, but the music that came out was so tender I couldn’t imagine Pallett didn’t have at least some help managing the loops behind the scenes. The set included “Song Song Song” from Pallett’s album He Poos Clouds, which I was familiar with before the show. I liked the rendition here, the violin loop adding an extra element of percussion with stunning plucked strings. I got to talk to Pallett afterwards about their work at the merch table, and they were very kind. I told them I liked their cover of “Game of Pricks” by Guided by Voices (linked here: https://youtu.be/w47Spz3ybmc?si=POfFqUcYXvedAvRL) and they told me the story about basically covering it on the fly, which I wouldn’t expect from the video. It seemed so premeditated, so I was kinda shocked to hear that! It was just nice to talk to somebody so talented, especially someone who has been playing shows with Aoba for years. After Pallett finished, the audience got up for the intermission while I fiddled with my camera to try and get the best possible angle for Ichiko Aoba’s set. Aoba was a solo artist, but the stage setup actually filled out much more of the stage than I would have expected. Besides an intricate carpet, there was a wooden desk with some cute decorations and a wooden globe that would light up from time to time. Ichiko sat on a simple wooden chair, but the whole setup was so quaint and cute that it definitely added a lot to the otherwise simple production value.

Beginning of Ichiko Aoba's set

Finally, Aoba took the stage to cheers from the audience. Quietly, she just began the first song with no introduction. And for the first two songs (Hitsuji no Anthony/Terifuri Ame), she was mostly quiet, saying only a few words besides “Thank You” and introducing the third song, “Sagu Palm's Song”, one of my favorites from her 2020 album Windswept Adan. The songs were delicate, beautifully and intensely quiet. In fact, they were so quiet I felt as though the click of my camera’s button was so loud that I sparsely took photographs, because I didn’t want to affect the experience of the concertgoers around me. Aoba played more songs from Windswept Adan, then a few from the album she was touring, this year’s fantastic Luminescent Creatures. I liked the songs on the record, but hearing them here in a live context provided a whole new framing to the songs. I especially liked the quiet parts. At one point during “Terifuri Ame” from QP I was so completely overcome with emotion from her vocals that I began quietly crying, in amazement that I got to experience this show. After “Asleep Among Endives”, another highlight of the set, Aoba switched to play the piano for a cover of “Soto wa Senjou da yo” by Cornelius, this version entirely in French.

Ichiko playing the piano

In fact, Aoba spoke four different languages on stage, addressing the audience in Spanish, English, French, and Japanese! She actually seemed to be very familiar with Spanish, which was super impressive to me. I can’t imagine being that talented at singing and guitar playing and also casually knowing four different languages. A few more, then Aoba closed out the main set with her epic “Kikaijikake no Uchuu” from her album 0. This was my favorite song of the set, a stunning 10 minute ballad that brought the audience to their feet when she stopped playing. Finally, after leaving for a bit to roars of cheers, Aoba took the stage again to play two more songs for an encore. She did a little bit of banter, talking about how much she loved the cacti here in Arizona, even giving a little impression of one by sticking both her arms out like an old saguaro (I unfortunately did not get a picture of this). She played “Sayonara Penguin”, doing a really sweet high pitched voice at the end (I believe impersonating a penguin?). She closed out with bouquet, one of her more popular tracks. This was an excellent closer, and I could tell the audience was loving it. Again, a standing ovation for Ichiko. All in all, this was a show I don’t think I’ll forget for the rest of my life. I definitely thought Aoba was talented before, but wow, this show really impressed me. I am eternally grateful to everyone who made this happen, and the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts for being such a lovely venue. If you have the opportunity to see a show there or see Ichiko Aoba as she rounds out the last tour dates of this tour (or any in the future), I would highly recommend it. Get out and see a show!

Reviewer Name: Micah Dalton

Date of Review: May 5th