Anime Expo has announced the Love Live juggernaut once more. The members of Aquors will grace Los Angeles live on TWO days this July.
That's right, two days. Aquors will perform on both Friday the 5th and Saturday the 6th. Friday will be an evening performance starting at 7PM (doors at 5PM VIP, 530PM general) and Saturday a matinee at 1PM (doors at 11AM VIP, 1130AM general). The performances are titled "Brand New Wave" following the water-themed precedent of Aquors' many other performances like last year's "Beyond the Pacific." This marks the fourth year Aquors will be at Anime Expo and the third they perform. I've been there for all of them and I don't plan on breaking my streak.
I was a little puzzled as to why they chose The Novo for this performance. It's a much, much smaller venue than Microsoft Theater and they will have less space to perform their dances. Eight is a lot of people to cram onto the Novo's stage and "eight" is unfortunately not a typo. Arisa Komiya (seiyuu of Dia Kurosawa) has suffered a medical emergency and will be sidelined for much of the immediate future. Hopefully she'll be okay but she'll have missed out on all the practices that the girls are currently putting in for their upcoming performances in June which proceeds July's showings.
There is one benefit to being at The Novo: this will be one of the most intimate Love Live concerts to date. I saw them in the massive Tokyo Dome back in November and they'll be at the Saitama MetLife Dome in June. These are venues that hold tens of thousands of people. The Novo, in comparison, is rated at a mere 2400 people and is set up as a traditional concert venue with an open floor plan on the lower level and seating on the balcony. It won't be a lie to say that you can be spitting distance from Aquors. Expect tickets to sell extremely fast; 4800 tickets is not a lot to go around and it is likely that people will be buying tickets for both days. I don't know how many premier badges Anime Expo has sold but it may be entirely possible to sell out before general even opens.
The concerts take place on July 5 at 7PM (doors 5PM VIP 530PM GA) and July 6 at 1PM (doors 11AM VIP 1130AM GA)
Tickets go on sale for premiere on May 28th (Tuesday) at 6PM. General goes on sale on the 30th (Thursday) at 6PM.
VIP Pit is $150 and balcony VIP $100. GA floor is $85 and balcony GA $65. VIP gets you a VIP badge, priority entry to the concert, and a special goodbye with the artists after the concert.
The Novo is located at 800 W Olympic Blvd a335, Los Angeles, CA 90015 at LA Live.
For more information please view http://www.anime-expo.org/2019/05/16/aqours-returns-anime-expo-2019-two-days-performance
With today's announcements of Love Live for Anime Expo in July and Roselia and Raise a Suilen (BanG Dream) for CharaExpo in December it's looking like southern California is going to be very busy for idol fans.