Ichiko Aoba holds solo concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, sparking a standing ovation
Ichiko Aoba held a solo concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England, on March 31.
The Royal Albert Hall is a multi-purpose concert hall opened by Queen Victoria in 1871. A beautiful Victorian-style building decorated with red brick and terracotta, it is a designated Grade I listed building. Aoba visited the Royal Albert Hall as part of her "Across the Oceans Tour," which spans Asia, Europe, and North America. She performed with a special 10-person ensemble including Taro Umebayashi and the string ensemble 12 Ensemble, entertaining an audience of approximately 3,200 people.
At the scheduled time, singer-songwriter Liana Flores appeared as the support act. Delivering a relaxed ensemble as a quartet, she warmed up the atmosphere of the venue before passing the baton for the main performance.
After a set change, the stage lit up and Aoba appeared alone to thunderous applause and cheers. She opened the show with her debut song, "Kokoro no Sekai." After greeting the crowd with "Thank you for coming tonight. Please enjoy. I'm so happy to be here!", Aoba began playing the intro to "Space Orphans" on the keyboard as the band members appeared on stage. Switching to guitar, she sang "HORO" a cappella before transitioning into "Sagu Palm’s Song," with the members joining in freely to carry the lingering melody.
The performance continued with a focus on tracks from Aoba’s seventh album, "Windswept Adan," and her latest work, "Luminescent Creatures." She delivered songs like "mazamun"—which she charmingly explained by saying, "'mazamun' is like a little demon that lives on the southernmost island"—and "pirsomnia," a duo performance featuring Aoba on keyboard and Umebayashi on synthesizer that carefully brought the contours of the sound to the surface. The audience responded with loud applause.
As the concert approached its conclusion, Aoba looked out at the audience and expressed her joy, saying, "Beautiful view!" For the final song of the main set, "Luciférine," lighting resembling falling grains of light was projected against the backdrop of the pipe organ at the rear of the stage, painting the entire hall in a fantastical atmosphere. When the song ended, a standing ovation erupted from the audience, and all the performers stood to express their gratitude.
In response to the relentless applause for an encore, Aoba ran back onto the stage with a skip in her step. Cheers in Japanese, such as "Thank you!" and "I love you!", could be heard from the audience. Aoba and her band then carefully performed "Endive to Nemutte" and "Kaitei no Eden" before taking a final, deep bow. Amidst another standing ovation, the London performance concluded, leaving a profound impression.
Setlist
Ichiko Aoba "Across the Oceans Tour" March 31, 2026, at Royal Albert Hall
01. Kokoro no Sekai
02. Space Orphans
03. HORO
04. Sagu Palm’s Song
05. Porcelain
06. Parfum d’étoiles
07. Easter Lily
08. Kirinarishima
09. Chi no Kaze
10. Hagupit
11. Dawn in the Adan
12. COLORATURA
13. mazamun
14. tower
15. FLAG
16. pirsomnia
17. SONAR
18. Wakusei no Namida
19. Luciférine
<Encore>
20. Endive to Nemutte
21. Kaitei no Eden
Performers
Ichiko Aoba
Taro Umebayashi
12 Ensemble
Eloisa-Fleur Thom(Violin 1)/ Asia Jiménez Antón de Vez(Violin 2)/ Miguel Sobrinho(Viola)/ Max Ruisi(Cello)/ Toby Hughes(B)/ Renate Sokolovska(Flute)/ Olivia Jageurs(Harp)/ Sam Wilson(Perc)
Support Artist:Liana Flores
Source: Music Natalie
*This content has been translated from Japanese into English using machine translation. We apologize for any mistakes in the current version, and will update accordingly.