COVER Corporation's First Overseas Concert!Looking Back on the “hololive English 1st Concert” in Los Angeles – An Interview with the Live Management Department
Hello to our note readers!
This is Kuwae, HR and Recruitment PR representative of COVER Corporation.
"hololive English 1st Concert -Connect the World-", one of the biggest events ever for hololive production, was held on July 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Before the event, an article was posted on our official notebook page with a message from our CEO, Mr. Tanigo.
I believe that hololive production's first concert in the U.S. was an impressive event for VTuber fans both in Japan and around the world!
On behalf of the team that helped make this performance possible, we interviewed Mr. M of the Live Management Department on a variety of topics, including: preparing for the event; differences and similarities between performances in Japan; a personal retrospect of the event; and a few other surprising tidbits!
We hope today's message can convey even a sliver of the overwhelming enthusiasm of our fans abroad.
■ First Overseas Live Performance
As many of you may already know, hololive production is home to many overseas talents:hololive Indonesia and hololive English. One of the strengths of our company is that our members are fluent in languages other than Japanese and English!
* "hololive English -Advent-", one of our latest units, made its debut on July 30.
With our talents being able to stream in different languages, we have garnered fans both domestically and internationally, and the interaction and communication with our fans abroad has become an important bridge between Japan and the world.
However, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, we have unfortunately been unable to hold live shows abroad or regional live shows featuring our overseas talents.
Mr. M: “hololive is very popular in other countries, and there have been many requests from overseas fans for live performances in their regions. It has been equally frustrating for us that we have been unable to meet these expectations due to the effects of the global pandemic.”
“Now that the situation has somewhat calmed, albeit slightly from a public perspective, we made the decision to hold an English-language live event. Naturally, such an endeavor would not have been possible without the cooperation of my own department, the Live Management department, the Overseas PR / event / sales teams, the management and managers of hololive English, and all of our talents.”
“Of course, it goes without saying that it was still unclear as to how popular the event would be in terms of actual attendance numbers. Nevertheless, based on previous guest appearances in Japan and the overall fan response to the overseas events, we truly believed that the potential to host related events was indeed present. In addition, we wanted to create an environment that would attract even more attention from talents abroad.”
The passion of the members involved in this project is certainly undeniable.
■ YouTube Theater
YouTube Theater in Los Angeles can accommodate approximately 6,000 people, with various events held both in the day and at night.
Even after the United States was chosen as where hololive production will have its first overseas concert, it took over a year before an actual venue was selected…! Were there any difficulties in preparing for the event that were unique to it behind held abroad?
M: “With this having been our first concert abroad, we were somewhat prepared for the challenges that lay ahead.
“Thanks to the many skilled English speakers and non-Japanese employees in our company, the language barrier was not as daunting as I had initially assumed.”
“However, compared to a domestic event, there was much more preparation required, such as selecting the venue location, recruiting venue staff, and setting up equipment. And with the current economic situation, local equipment costs can sometimes turn out to be more expensive...!”
“Speaking of costs, there were also many other expenditures unique to an overseas venture, such as travel, lodging, and visa acquisition for the staff. Can’t get anything done if no one can get to the venue. (laughs).”
“I heard that there were various difficulties that would not have been present in Japan, but the Live Management Department and the hololive English team handled every problem thrown at them, and I personally believe that is why they were able to make this first overseas concert such a success. Thanks to their efforts, tickets sold out almost immediately.
Even before the show began, it felt like expectations were already sky high!
Incidentally, a mere silhouette of the concert’s key visual was released on February 11 via Twitter – our ever-intuitive fans immediately deciphered the riddle
This particular concert was officially announced alongside the 4th fes. event, yet it was apparent that fans abroad had already held high hopes long beforehand.
■ “hololive English 1st Concert -Connect the World-"
Taking place on July 2 in Los Angeles, far from the COVER cCorporation headquarters in Japan, "hololive English 1st Concert -Connect the World-" was an electrifying experience.
Being able to attend a live event in person allowed for fans abroad to experience hololive up close and personal. I thought it was wonderful that, despite any differences in language and culture, the passion and zeal towards hololive production content was as strong as ever.
For more information on the set list and the intensity of the day in question, please check out the live report posted on the official website by our very own Friend A!
Mr. M, who also participated in the coordination of the event, had this to say about what he witnessed.
Mr. M: "First of all, I was positively thrilled to see so much hype radiating from our fans. As I watched them wave around their hololive Blades to and fro, I realized that COVER Corporation has created content that has truly had an impact around the world."
"What also surprised me personally was how incredibly similar the audience's energy was to that in Japan. As you may have read in my report on the event, I was quite relieved to see that the "call and response" practice that is a standard occurrence at live events in Japan, as well as other similar customs that can be seen in Japanese concert culture, were adopted by a foreign audience."
I suppose that the passion towards so-called 'fan favorites', and the ways in which people enjoy content, may easily transcend differences in language and culture.!
■ Closing Remarks
I believe it is safe to say that "hololive English 1st Concert -Connect the World-" was a resounding success.
What significance did this particular performance have for the future of hololive production?
Mr. M: “First of all, I feel that being the very first VTuber talent production to perform live at YouTube Theater made this an extremely memorable event for us.
Seeing the passion of our overseas fans, something which I typically cannot experience first-hand. was such a rewarding experience for me, and I hope to be involved in future live performances and related events so we can help spread the name of hololive to more and more countries throughout the world.
I will continue to post more on the Live Operation Department and the activities of the Overseas Business Team. If any of the information here seems like an interesting career opportunity, please feel free to apply online! We look forward to your application!