Japanese Breakfast Ate It Up At The Observatory North Park

The last time I saw Japanese Breakfast live felt like a life time ago. She was performing at a church that doubled as a venue for indie acts and she was opening up for (Sandy) Alex G. It was my first time seeing her back then and I was instantly a fan of her music. I wouldn’t have imagined 2021 be the year that she would blow up and become big as she is now. Between releasing her memoir Crying in H Mart and dropping the critically acclaimed album Jubilee, 2021 is Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast’s lead singer’s) year. Speaking of 2021, I got to see her live and it was one of the best shows i’ve been to this year.

This highly anticipated event began with the opening act, Luna Li. The artist hails from the great north (aka Canada) and is known for her indie pop tunes but mainly for shredding on her guitar. I talked to a few people in the crowd and everyone was excited for her set. Some people even wanted to see Luna Li more than Japanese Breakfast. If you were wondering if it’s worth seeing her then the answer is 100% yes. Li’s amazing voice, effortlessly smooth vocal harmonies between her and her backup vocalists, and entrancing guitar solos made her one of the best opening acts i’ve seen for a show. Highlights of Luna Li’s set was hearing her song “Star Stuff” live (I wish it was on Spotify) and her busting out her butterfly guitar.

After Luna Li brought down the house after opening act, Japanese Breakfast had some big shoes to fill. Well there’s a reason why they were the headliner. Japanese Breakfast’s performance was straight up spectacular. Right off the bat, they played the first song off Jubilee called “Paprika”. Immediately you can tell that Michelle Zauner was like a lightning bolt of energy on stage, similarly to the weather outside the venue. She really knew how to captivate the crowd by roaming around the stage, jumping up and down, and even a good amount of interacting with the crowd.

After the beautiful first song, they immediately busted out the crowd favorite off Jubilee, “Be Sweet”. This super danceable, banger of a song lit up the crowd and got everyone in a funky mood. The first few songs were mainly all off Jubilee sprinkled in with some songs from their 2016 album, Psychopomp. The band started their set hot and she had the audience on the edge of their toes anticipating what song they’ll play next.

Michelle halfway through the set started talking about how surreal it was to play at the venue headlining. The last time they performed there was when they were opening up for Belle and Sebastian back in 2018. Japanese Breakfast brought their A game and showed why they upgraded from being an opening act to a headliner. They even had a violinist and saxophone player on stage to make their performance feel for immersive for the fans. The band really did their best to make the songs live sound similar to the studio version with the brass and strings but in my opinion, it sounded even better. You could tell their years of experience of playing together really helped make their sound feel like it was on another level.

After seeing their set, Japanese Breakfast solidified themselves as one of late 2021’s must see artists you have to see live. Massive props to Luna Li as well for holding her own on stage and being fantastic live. this being the first show I got to see live at The Observatory North Park, post pandemic, is a memory that I’ll cherish forever. I’m sure Japanese Breakfast’s run of shows this year will be engrained in the memories of everyone that went and see them as one of the best shows they’ve ever seen.

Setlist:

Paprika
Be Sweet
In Heaven
The Woman That Loves You
Kokomo, IN
Tactics
Savage Good Boy
Road Head
Boyish
The Body Is a Blade
In Hell
Till Death
Glider
Posing in Bondage
Slide Tackle
Everybody Wants to Love You