Yokohama Arena feels special on this chilly Tuesday night in early March. It's here that Radwimps — a rock outfit from Kanagawa Prefecture whose members could bike to this very venue when they were teens — are playing the first of two sold-out shows.
The group — featuring vocalist-guitarist Yojiro Noda, guitarist Akira Kuwahara, bassist Yusuke Takeda and drummer Satoshi Yamaguchi (though he has been on hiatus since 2015 due to a neurological disorder) — reminisces frequently during the show on their youth and watching gigs at this venue in the early 2000s. They play songs from across their career, touching on everything from pop-punk to experiments in electronica.
Yet the arena responds loudest to songs from "Your Name.," the animated film about body-swapping teenagers for which Radwimps provided the soundtrack. When it comes time for "Zenzenzense," the track most associated with the anime, excitement boils over.