The crowd at the sold-out Liquidroom show furiously pumps glowsticks shaped like green onions in time with the beat coming out of the venue's sound system. They scream when three young women appear, and the energy only grows as the first song of the night gets rolling. It gets especially loud when they reach the part where they spell out their group's name: "N! E! G! I! CC! O!"
This scene — a mostly male crowd whipped into a frenzy by young women performing choreographed dance moves — resembles a lot of contemporary J-pop idol concerts. Negicco, the trio in the spotlight, isn't your typical modern-day girl group however. The Niigata Prefecture unit was formed to promote local produce, but has lasted for more than a decade and, whereas newer idols stick to a specific sound, Negicco likes to experiment. Recently released second album "Rice & Snow" highlights everything that makes the unit unique in today's mainstream landscape, including heavy contributions from Shibuya-kei-era performers.
The current lineup features Nao, Megu and Kaede (they won't reveal their last names), but they began in 2003 as a four-piece while still in elementary school. The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Assosications (Zen-Noh) created Negicco to promote the yawahada negi, a variety of green onion from Niigata. Accordingly, the group would hold and toss said vegetable while performing at shows across the prefecture. This led to a lot of teasing from fans.