A new year, and a new SixTONES tour! Still with last year’s vibes, where you can read the tour reports in English and Spanish, SixTONES starts a new tour which promises to be one of the group’s best to date!
A show where “No one will be left behind”. This is SixTONES’ motto that they always keep in mind, and this time even more so, in their new tour called “YOUNG OLD”, which started at Tokyo Dome from January 24 to 27.
Dumpling Box had the privilege of attending the last Tokyo Dome show and will tell you all the details of this fantastic show so that you feel like you are living it as you read it!
“YOUNG OLD” is the name of the group’s first 5-dome tour in Japan. The word “YOUNG OLD” includes the word “GOLD” from the title of their latest album, which was released on January 15th, and represents the members’ wish to make this a “GOLD (shining, the best, gold medal level, etc.)” concert for men and women of all ages (YOUNG OLD).
The Tokyo Dome concert drew 220,000 people. From now on, the tour will run through Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka, Kyocera Dome Osaka, Daiwa House Premist Dome (Sapporo Dome), and Vantelin Dome Nagoya (Nagoya Dome), drawing a total of 615,000 people for 13 performances at five locations nationwide until April 14. The Daiwa House Premist Dome concert will be the first time for SixTONES to hold such a concert, and it will be the largest turnout ever for a SixTONES tour in Japan.
Tokyo Dome show started when a white curtain fell and a golden castle, called “GOLD殿” appeared. The kanji 殿 is pronounced “den” in Japanese and it means a large and magnificent building, making it a play of words with the album’s opening track, “Golden”. SixTONES proves once again how much they enjoy making puns!
The audience’s cheers erupted, and sparks flew as the six members appeared on stage leaning on a giant snake chair. The members were dressed in flamboyant fur jackets that accentuated their style. It was certainly an outfit that showed the power that SixTONES had.
The six members sang “Golden” (included in 5th album called GOLD) while seated on the snake chair. Special effects such as gunpowder, fireballs, sparklers, and smoke were in full force. It was a gorgeous opening to the show with six members whose presence was as strong as that of the audience. The fact that this was such an impressive opening made you curious to know what else SixTONES had up its sleeves.
In the next song, “PUNK STAR”, the members got up from the snake chair and started walking down the stairs of the castle, causing the audience to erupt.
Not letting the excitement drop for a moment, they continued with “Waves Crash”, which they sang on the main stage, where they started with an impressive amount of fire, making the dome heat up in an unusual way, and where the heat would reach you even if you were far away.
Without slowing down, they continued with “DON-DON-DON,” a song that does not leave the fans indifferent. On last year’s tour, this song was very popular with the audience. On the main stage, there were giant screens that showed the lyrics of the song with a font according to the performance. Undoubtedly a unique scenography that will surprise you.
SixTONES walked along the catwalk to go to the middle stage, and where at the end of the song the middle stage began to rise and some disco lights came out, to give way to a disco song: “Dance all night”. The spotlights illuminated with their representing member’s color, and the fans were very excited to hear the intro of the song, as it was a song that the group had not sung for 2 years.
When the catwalks started moving the audience erupted in cheers. One of the goals of the lives is to surprise the audience, and SixTONES certainly achieved it. The catwalks went from the 3-point type shape to a triangle, and finally to a hexagon.
There was a moment when you could see the hexagon illuminated on each side with one of the six members’ colors, making it a sight the audience would never forget—especially the audience at the highest point of the Dome. With this tour, SixTONES achieved that even the farthest person could have a magnificent view that a person in the front row could not appreciate the same.
The hexagon is also reminiscent of a diamond, which means a lot to the group’s fans. SixTONES, pronounced as STONES, refers to “diamond in the rough“, where the group’s potential emerges as its members continually polish and refine their skills. The name also refers to the six members, each with a distinctive tone, personality, and sound.
With the catwalks still in the shape of a hexagon, they sang “Kokkara”, a very special song for the group and the fans because of its meaningful lyrics, which contained a strong determination and passion, and says, “No matter how much things go wrong, no matter if you are not a genius or not, let’s start from here!”.
In the chorus of the song, three members were placed on each side of the hexagon and the spotlights were focused on them while they danced the very complicated dance presented in the song. It was without a doubt a part that will leave you speechless and you won’t forget it.
With “Kokkara”‘s melody in the background, the members introduced themselves. Jesse asked the audience who came from Suidobashi Station, Korakuen Station, on foot or came by car. At the end he asked who came to see SixTONES, where all the screams from the audience joined in.
Taiga Kyomoto played with the fans as he wanted to take off his sunglasses but didn’t, and in the end he takes them off and makes a cute face that made the fans scream a lot. Hokuto Matsumura greeted with his typical “Irasshaimase!” (Welcome!) greeting. Shintaro Morimoto asked how the audience’s throats were doing, and did some vocal exercises with them. Yugo Kochi asked the audience if they missed SixTONES. Juri Tanaka provoked the audience by saying that if they couldn’t shout some more.
After introducing themselves, they ended up singing the final part of “Kokkara“ on the main stage.
After, the doors of the castle opened, revealing the live band that is accompanying the group to this fantastic live and which shows SixTONES‘ passion for music. The live band are people familiar to team SixTONES (the name of what SixTONES fans call themselves) as they performed on last year’s tour.
The live continued with Hokuto and Shintaro‘s unit song “Don’t Know Why”, which was accompanied by a groovy sound, and the two sang with a hint of sex appeal, sometimes in a relaxed way. The dome was dyed green and white.
After the duet, SixTONES‘ continued to impress, and the live band started playing the beginning of “Underline”, a song provided by Kroi. On the screens behind the golden castle, there was a Chinese city style with neon signs with words related to SixTONES such as GOLD, SixTONES, YOUNG OLD, Underline.
In “Strawberry Breakfast -CITY ver.-“, members strolled on catwalks still in the shape of a hexagon. In Juri‘s rap, the hexagon lit up with the colors of the six members, making the excitement go on.
The familiar songs continued with “BORDERLESS,” which was used as the new commercial song for Sony Bank.
“Cat Call”‘s performance was a funny moment as the members did the cat pose and the audience burst out saying “cute”.
“MIDAS”, which is a relaxed and dreamy song, was performed in the middle stage. The performance ended with smoke at the end, showing that SixTONES paid attention to every detail of the scenography.
The last song before the MC was “Koi no Battalion”, provided by Ryo-kun (MAXIMUM THE HORMONE). Ryo-kun came to know SixTONES through his older sister, Nawo. Ryo-kun himself calls the song “an exquisite entertainment song,” and he is quite confident in his work, saying, “When I put ‘love’ in the title of a song, that’s what I mean.” As is typical of MAXIMUM THE HORMONE, it is a very solid song, and it seems to be even more boisterous. The excitement of the fans at the live performance is at the highest level. Undoubtedly a unique experience that can only be achieved in a SixTONES live show!
The MC lasted more than half an hour. The fact that the MCs last so long is typical of the group, which has had past experiences of staff having to turn off the lights because they wouldn’t stop talking. In addition to performing a comedy act and talking about manga, the members also promoted their individual and group works.
After the MC they sang “Curtain Call,” “Koko ni Kaette Kite,” and “ONE by ONE,” ballads that are a part of SixTONES’ character, in a bewitching and sexy manner.
In the silhouette performance of “Kikanai,” they created the stage only with their singing voices, movements, and aura, captivating the audience with a worldview unique to the six members with their high expressive power. The song gives the members such freedom to see how they perform in the middle of the song when the tune changes.
The melody gives way to “You are the only one” which is an impressive ballad with falsetto from Jesse and Taiga, who are SixTONES’ main vocalists. They sang beautifully and elongated their voices against the backdrop of a screen that twinkled with countless star-like lights. The dome was dyed pink and red, perfectly matching the ballad.
After the applause from the audience, “SPICY -GOLD ver.-“, which is Mercedes-Benz commercial song in Japan, started. It is a familiar pop song that will make you want to sing along.
The live continued with “THE BALLERS“, which has emotional phrases such as “We are the strongest”.
In the middle of “GONG”, the group introduced the live band, which consisted of Kyohei Ariga (G), Ken Higeshiro (Dr) ,Rock Sakurai(B), Yuki Kishida(Key) and Hidehisa Sasaki (G).
Yugo Kochi and Juri Tanaka sang hip-hop style “PARTY ANIMAL” at a high tempo, making the fans dance to their hearts’ content.
The live band started playing while there was a fire show on the main stage, giving way to the song “ABARERO -Dark Electro Rock Remix-“, where the members came out on a giant float that looked like a pirate ship with a snake decorated on the outside. SixTONES is known for singing party songs on their tours in some form of transportation, such as a Jeep in 2023 and a decorated truck in 2024. This year they went all out with a taller structure that allowed them to reach more fans.
On the pirate ship, they continued to sing lively songs such as “Special Order”, and “Bang Bang Bangin’”.
After the party songs, the live show reached its climax with “SHOCK ME”, which featured an overall explosion of special effects on the main stage, such as sparks, fireballs, and gunpowder.
After the excitement of all the special effects, the group ended the main part of the concert on the main stage with “WE ARE ONE”, a song provided by Linkin Park‘s new drummer, Colin Brittain. An ending that foreshadows the journey ahead. They made the audience sing the song, creating a special bond between them.
Thanks to the audience’s response, the group returned for the encore with “Fiesta,” a song supplied by Shōnan no Kaze, which combined the towel-waving sound with the lively and charming side of SixTONES, and along with the following song “Good Luck!” the stage was filled with euphoria and all the fans were dancing the simple but fun choreography. “Fiesta” has some Spanish words in the lyrics, so as a Spanish fan, I was very proud and enjoyed it to the fullest!
The encore continued with “Neiro”, a very special song for the group and the fans, as it was released on the ninth anniversary of the group’s formation. The audience sang the part which originally the members sang acapella in the recorded version, making it one of the most emotional parts of the song, and a moment to remember for a lifetime.
The whole concert ended in a typical SixTONES way, with a club song, “WHIP THAT”, which transformed the Tokyo Dome into a club, and where the audience’s penlights moved to levels not usually seen. SixTONES is known among STARTO ENTERTAINMENT’s fans, as the group that their fans move the penlight to the top.
The group ended the concert by saying goodbye to their fans. The leader of the year 2025, Shintaro, said a few words: “From here onwards, SixTONES will continue to aim higher and higher! We’re going to go through the five major dome tour from here onwards. Your cheers today have given us strength. We’re going to keep going forward without any injuries from here onwards.”, with a big smile on his face, he left the fans and closed the concert.
Without a doubt it was a 2 hours and a half that SixTONES makes you forget about everyday life and makes you enjoy that moment to the fullest, making you want to make an effort again from tomorrow.
Every year you think that year’s tour is great, that they’ve set the bar so high and they can’t beat it. However, another year comes along, and thanks to the individual and group work of the previous year, they have gained a unique experience that makes the next tour even better! In short, SixTONES never ceases to amaze, and never will.
SixTONES answered some comments to the press, which you can see translated below.
Q: Thoughts on the start of the Tokyo show and the upcoming “YOUNG OLD” tour
Jesse: I would like to thank all the fans for giving us the opportunity to perform live while stepping up to the next level with the four major dome tours last year and the five major dome tours this year.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the formation of SixTONES and the 5th anniversary of our CD debut, so we have been preparing to make the stage set and content even more spectacular.
Many people sang along with us during the live, and we got excited ourselves, and we are careful not to get too excited! (laugh). SixTONES has a wide range of tastes in their songs, and I think, because after the shotouts, we sing a ballad song and sing it quietly, it’s the kind of live performance that makes you think “What? Are they the same people as before?”
Moreover, we will continue to do our best so that team SixTONES will think “I can do my best tomorrow with this, SixTONES is my energy!”
Shintaro Morimoto: I am thankful that this is the first time for SixTONES to go on a 5 major dome tour. We have already been to Hokkaido for the arena tour, but we are happy to be able to go back to the dome scale this time and share the SixTONES live performance with more people.
I was told by one of the audience that “the power of team SixTONES is amazing” and I think it’s great that the audience could feel what we were really feeling when we were performing.
We had a lot of time to feel the power of team SixTONES, so we want to do our best to deliver the show at 120%, and we will continue to enjoy the 5 major dome tour with team SixTONES!
Q: What are the highlights of the set and production of this live performance?
Hokuto Matsumura: The last tour was the first time for SixTONES to have a live band, a 360-degree stage that was closer to the audience and the composition of the show was to fully emphasize the invisible “live” temperature. However, this year’s show was the opposite in a good sense, as it was more of an “all-around art show” with more attention paid to the set, moving catwalks, pirate ship, and other visible outer mechanisms.
The set is hidden until the show starts in order to create more moments of surprise for the audience, and the band appears through the shoji screens in the “golden castle” in the middle of the show. I think it is an entertaining live performance.
Yugo Kochi: Of course the cheers when the white curtain fell and we were seen were great, but the cheers when they saw the “golden castle” on the set were even more exciting.
We put everything we wanted to do down to the smallest detail, from the trolley to the huge pirate ship to the LEDs, so I hope the audience enjoys the show as if it were a theme park.
The moving catwalks changed from three points to triangle to hexagon, and we were happy to hear many people who saw the show say, “I’ve never seen anything like this before!”. I am also happy to hear the cheers of the audience every time the catwalks move, and I think it is the best part of the entertainment.
Q: what to expect from the musical side of “YOUNG OLD”?
Taiga Kyomoto: For this new album “GOLD,” we have received four songs from artists, and I think the songs have made our live performances more moving and more spectacular, expanding the possibilities and range of expression that SixTONES alone could not have brought out. This time, as in last year’s tour, we have a live band, and I think this has created an atmosphere that can only come from SixTONES‘s love of music. Last year’s tour “VVS” was very well received, so we were under pressure to see if we could surpass it this year, but now that the show has started, we are confident that we can do it again this year, and I am looking forward to enjoying the tour.
Juri Tanaka: The real appeal of a live concert is that the music is created not only by our own voices and performances, but also by the cheers, temperature, and passion of the audience, which makes the music different from what you hear on CDs. Imagining this, I worked with the members over and over on the set list and prepared arrangements that could only be done at a live concert.
Each song in the series of songs makes up one live “YOUNG OLD,” so it is not a question of which song is better or worse at any given moment, but rather our songs and performances change with each performance, so I hope you enjoy the live show while feeling the fun and thrill of it all.
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Concert photography © STARTO ENTERTAINMENT.