A Night Out With Rina Sawayama

Rina Sawayama and Hana at The Warfield.

I will preface with this fun fact: I bought these tickets 2 years ago right before COVID hit and we were sent home. The question is: was the 2-year wait worth it? Absolutely. Come on. Of course it was!

Rina and Hana have just kickstarted their tour in the US last week to an almost completely sold out tour run. A sold out show at the Fonda followed by two sold out shows at the Warfield are a blatant reminder that even COVID wasn’t enough to stop the most adamant and devoted “pixels.” Now, I am not one to attend shows that have a degree of choreography and production. I saw Drain Gang jumping sporadically across a stage and thought that was peak performance quality. However, Rina and Hana brought a degree of stardom and class that explained why most “pixels” decided to keep their tickets for 2 years!

Opening up for any artist is a task, let alone for Rina Sawayama. You’re responsible for giving a taste of what’s to come, reminding and fortifying people’s desire to attend your show. In all honesty: Hana killed it. Mixing up shoegaze-esque guitar ballads with deep, melodic techno trance music, Hana set out to prove why she would be the perfect opener for Rina’s return back to the stage. Wearing a studded and bedazzled purple dress, rocking equally purple hair, Hana literally had me and my two friends, Dorothy and Caitlin exclaim: “bro is she like a mermaid?” The opener was right in the middle of both chill and energetic, producing moments of club-like dancing with the occasional contemplative sway.

Now we were standing directly next to the left speaker as Rina came out and let me tell you: the bass had me almost throwing up. Y’all ever been to a concert and the bass is literally shaking your brain? Yeah, that was as accurate as a description I could provide. It was insane. As Rina came out in this Rick Owens inspired shoulder pad look, wearing all red you could see that she was ready. Two years of consistent rescheduling had finally caught up and it was time to put on a show.

And she did just that.

Four costume changes. Background dancers and matching choreography. An acoustic performance of Chosen Family. And on top of that, I think she may have legitimately memorized the song order because the production team could not find a set list on stage after the show ended. As she ran through the classics like Comme Des Garçons, STFU, and Lucid, the crowd matched her energy perfectly, reciting each song to a surprised, yet grateful Rina. She also previewed snippets from her new album, which she announced was “very soon”; I’m going to bet we’re getting a date announcement by the end of the tour next month. All this, two years in the making and it was just the first show of her San Francisco stop

Now if you’re debating on seeing Rina. Dude go. On the way to the concert, we discussed how Rina perfectly embodies the vibe and aura of artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. She’s sensual, provocative, and makes amazing, timeless music. There’s no horseplay or moshing, nothing that will drive you out of the general admission pit, and there’s a production factor that makes the value of your ticket that much more worth it! We’re giving this show a solid 4.5 Joshes out of 5 Joshes.