It’s hard enough for any performer to hold the attention of an arena crowd for 2½ hours. Imagine doing that without ever showing your face.

J-pop artist Ado pulled off this feat at her second live show ever, held on Aug. 11 at the Saitama Super Arena. The 19-year-old performer has yet to reveal her real identity to the world, using an anime-style avatar in all of her videos and promotional materials. Staying true to this in-the-dark approach, she spent the entire performance in shadow, keeping her face obscured as she moved around the stage.

This arena performance felt significant even before the lights dimmed and the official Ado light sticks distributed throughout the crowd emitted a violet glow. The scale of the concert served as a reminder that, yep, the live music industry is back. It also worked as a coronation of sorts for Ado, who blitzed into mainstream pop culture in late 2020 with the viral hit “Usseewa.” Now, her debut album released earlier this year is one of 2022’s bestsellers, and her recent singing contributions to the latest “One Piece” movie have been gaining popularity (including in France, where she tops streaming viral charts and soundtracks audience freak-outs at cinemas).