Over ten years since his debut with vocaloid songs, Kenshi Yonezu has become a household name in Japan. With his sights now set on the global stage, Kenshi’s first world tour and the last leg of his affectionately subtitled “Junk” tour, has just wrapped up.

We had the wonderful opportunity to see Kenshi Yonezu live in New York City, at the lovely Radio City Music Hall via record label Sony Music. Being a longtime fan of Kenshi, I was curious how much of his music performed as himself and how much vocaloid music (performed as Hachi) we would experience.

To recap – Kenshi Yonezu got his big break in 2009 with his popular vocaloid songs, which used the also increasingly popular Hatsune Miku. A few years later in 2012 Kenshi released his first non-vocaloid album, Diorama, which further catapulted his career.

Kenshi’s only live performance in New York City was a sold out show and the energy was palpable. Not only was his merchandise sold out nearly instantly there was a good mix of Japanese fans and westerners, both excited for his music and performance.

From the beginning of Kenshi’s set was the brooding yet forceful “RED OUT” which rolled right into the exhilarating “Kanden.” Every song performed by Kenshi and the band was full of energy, with the maestro himself at the top of his game sounding just as good as the record.

Kenshi’s music varies from straight up electronic tunes to full-fledged rock ballads, and the energy never ceased. Fans of Kenshi’s music were in for a treat as the majority of his biggest hits and fan-favorites were all there and all sounded fantastic. For nearly two hours Kenshi performed and rarely took breaks.

It’s worth pointing out that all of the songs performed by Kenshi were set to the backdrop of endless visual fantasies, ranging from pure stimuli to full-fledged anime productions. A talented group of live dancers, male and female, frequently highlighted Kenshi’s songs as well.

It’s hard to understate how popular Chainsaw Man is and how popular Kenshi’s theme for the anime, “KICK BACK”, is in comparison. When they started playing that song, the entire music hall exploded in screams and hair flying everywhere as weebs began headbanging in all directions.

It was during Kenshi performing KICK BACK that I saw my first “face cam” in a live concert. Kenshi was handed a small hand camera and pointed it at his face while belting out lyrics from the song. He pointed it at the crowd while running around and fans screamed louder. It was a completely insane and fun moment that I’ve never seen before in a live performance.

It’s very difficult to pick a favorite song from Kenshi’s repertoire let alone from his setlist in that live performance. All of his songs are excellent and unique, and all of their performances were top notch. This is an artist that deeply cares about his work, and how his work is presented.

One of Kenshi’s most famous songs from his Hachi vocaloid half, “Donut Hole”, was even included in his gig. This performance, with a non-vocaloid cover by Kenshi himself, once again had the entire hall erupt in cheers and screams. If there’s one word for Kenshi’s live show it’s “fanservice.”

Though it’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite I probably enjoyed Kenshi’s “Chikyuugi” (Spinning Globe) the most. The combination of the instrumentals and the bits with just Kenshi singing, all set to a gorgeous animated sequence, got me choked up. Also, I’m a sucker for bagpipes.

Kenshi’s performance of “Umi no Yuurei”, the theme song from the anime film “Kaijuu no Kodomo”, was also fantastic and definitely feels like one of the highlights from his career. The combination of dazzling visuals and otherworldly, harmonized vocals completely washed over the entire music hall.

During one of Kenshi’s brief pauses where he addressed and thanked his fans, the Japanese superstar revealed it was his first time in the USA after many years. It’s been so long, in fact, that his last trip stateside was before his musical career took off and wasn’t for business at all.

Many of Kenshi’s fans still refer to him as Hachi, the stage name he uses for his vocaloid music, and it’s staggering to see his meteoric rise in the music scene. A bit over a decade ago he was posting vocaloid songs online, now he’s making commercials for Sony’s popular PlayStation console.

A bunch of the songs from Kenshi’s live performance were naturally from his latest album, Lost Corner, of which he also performed the title track for his final encore song. It’s a bit overwhelming to see how popular Kenshi’s songs are through the years leading up to his full album release.

No matter how absolutely insane the audience got with energy, Kenshi remained dedicated yet humble throughout his performance. Every pause where he chatted with the audience or his bandmates had him thanking his fans, his band, and his staff.

Kenshi Yonezu’s “Junk Tour” is quite literally a tour de force of his extremely eclectic musical taste and style. Every song could exist in a vacuum with such difference sounds and yet they are all so very distinctly “Kenshi Yonezu.” In the avalanche of the streaming music era, there is only one Kenshi Yonezu.

While this was Kenshi’s first tour outside of his native Japan, the mind-boggling response to his first world tour had him teasing their return to New York City – and the rest of the west. Here’s hoping fans don’t have to wait long for Hachi to make his way westward, again.