On May 15, The Met welcomed Japanese Breakfast for the first of two nights at the Philadelphia venue. The show represented not only a stellar night of music, but a homecoming for the band.
The entire evening felt like an invitation into another world. Opener Ginger Root put on an absolute fever dream of a set, with the three-piece band joined onstage by a cameraman whose live footage was projected onto screens at both sides of the stage. Frontman Cameron Lew sang into a bright red telephone receiver while drummer Matt Carney and bassist Dylan Hovis dutifully played on. I was left shellshocked, with a smile on my face.
As Japanese Breakfast took the stage, the audience was again invited to step out of real life for a moment. This time, we entered the ethereal, Aphrodite-esque heavenscape of the band’s set. Frontwoman Michelle Zauner sat at the edge of the giant clamshell centerpiece, swinging her feet, with orange light glowing around her; the image of elegance.
Throughout the evening, Japanese Breakfast curated a range of onstage environments. From the warm glow of the clamshell to intense red lights to radiant neon, the backdrop moved with the setlist, easily transitioning between songs spanning the band’s discography. The set opened with “Here is Someone,” “Orlando in Love,” and “Honey Water,” all off of the band’s most recent album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women). The band went on to play the majority of that record, as well as a substantial amount of older hits like “The Woman That Loves You,” “The Body Is a Blade,” and “Kokomo, IN.”
The show at The Met was uniquely special, as it represented a return to the city where Japanese Breakfast began; the band formed in Philadelphia in 2013. “It feels so wrong to play a venue that doesn’t even have a coat check named after you,” Zauner joked, referencing the Michelle Zauner Coat Check at Philly venue Union Transfer, where Zauner once worked. The hometown energy was palpable, bringing artist and audience together in a shared pride of place.
Interestingly, the encore consisted of three songs, all from the band’s back catalog. Spotlights swept over the dancing crowd as Japanese Breakfast performed “Paprika,” with Zauner occasionally hitting a massive gong. The night wrapped up with “Be Sweet,” the band’s most well-known song, followed by “Diving Woman.”
The set, while tender at times, was mostly exuberant. A triumph for Zauner in particular, though the whole band dazzled. Despite how many people were onstage, the performance was seamless. And at the center of it all, Zauner, the embodiment of power and grace.
