What can be said about Phantom Siita?  I had initially thought that the name was Phantom Theater but no, it is instead based upon the words "phantom,"  the scientific name of the Chestnut Tiger butterfly "Parantica sita," and the scientific name of the moth "Epicopeia hainesii," which has a very close resemblance to a butterfly.  Are they idols?  Or are they something else, pretending to be idols?

NOTE: This report does include the setlist, so be forewarned if you do not like knowing what songs are ahead.

I first learned of Phantom Siita when they opened for Ado's "Profile of Mona Lisa" Japan tour last summer.  After learning I had won the right to purchase tickets for both of her LalaPort Tokyo Bay concerts, I jumped on a flight to Tokyo thirteen hours later.  Unbeknownst to me, they prefaced the main event.  The group itself is more or less handpicked by Ado from over four thousand applicants and is produced by her.

The group's theme is "retro horror," and they do a great job of portraying that.  From a glance, even at a distance, I immediately got the horror vibe from them.  As Ado's shows are no camera and no magnification affairs, being able to give off that feeling of dread even from hundreds of feet away is no small feat.  That foreboding is what I wanted to feature throughout my photos; there are enough of the "normal" idol shots floating around.  I wanted that raw emotion that they have put so much effort into.

A few months later, Phantom Siita's first solo live took place at the Nippon Budokan.  Most groups hope to become big enough to reach Budokan; these idols started their journey there.  They proceeded to announce an eight-country, fourteen-date tour, ready to take the world by swarm.  

The San Francisco Bay Area had the honor of hosting their first-ever US performance.  The venue in question, the San Jose Civic Auditorium, was first built in the 1930s and has played host to many acts over the years.  The halls are lined with concert photos from names both big and small, and Phantom Siita can now make their mark.  The San Jose Civic is run by the City of San Jose and promoted by Nederlander Concerts.  It's a venue I've been to almost every year for the past dozen or so years, as it is also used by one of California's largest anime conventions, FanimeCon.

Phantom Siita is composed of five girls, aged 17 through 21.  The eldest is Hisui at 21, and she also has the most experience as an idol.  The youngest are Rinka and Mona at 17, with Miu and Moka in the middle at 20 and 18, respectively.  If you didn't know any better, they look like a perfectly normal group of girls.  Well, until you get to the music.

The group opened with the song "Kimi to XXXX Shitai dake."  Even if you can't understand the words, I think the psychotic faces and chopping motions get the point across, with the dual nature of the song being between "chuu" (kiss) and "chi" (blood).  And if you can understand the words, the back-and-forth between "I want to kiss you" and "I want to see your blood" is a little unnerving.

The second song, "Devilish Girl," is a lot more laid back on the surface.  It is what I would consider thematically more along the lines of what idol songs are usually about, love and romance and whatnot, and with a much less aggressive sound.  But, just like the song that came before it, it is the dark side where a positive thing like love becomes an obsessive negative.

This was followed by the singles "Hanabami" and "Conflicting." Each song shows the strength of Phantom Siita's members, that is to say, their performance and acting abilities. One of the things I liked the most is their movements and facial expressions: one moment you might see a peaceful expression and at another, a fearsome visage. Overexaggerated, sometimes inhuman movements channel the internal chaos that makes up the dichotomy that makes up Phantom Siita. Are they butterflies, or are they moths? Are they something darker?

As a fairly young group, Phantom Siita does not have a very large repertoire of their own.  To bolster this, they performed a number of cover songs, many of which were decades old, with the first being Jun Togawa's "Suki Suki Daisuki."  The way Phantom Siita executes this song does it justice, and thematically it is a great choice for them, both lyrically and chronologically (Sagawa herself being popular in the 80s and 90s).  Of note, every time the girls sing "suki suki daisuki" (roughly, "I love, love, LOVE you") the crowd would respond with, "Ore mo!" ("I love you too!").

The cover section also included solo performances for each of the girls, with each performing a song onstage by herself. Mona covered Seiko Matsuda's "Aoi Sangoshou" and Rinka covered Meiko Nakahara's "FANTASY," both popular songs from the 80s. But they would not be limited just to the past, with Miu covering Kenshi Yonezu's "KICK BACK," and Hisui covering Hikaru Utada's "One Last Kiss." The final solo was Moka covering Yasuha's "Fly-Day Chinatown."

The girls then regrouped onstage for a few more songs, both covers and originals.  I think everyone should be familiar with "Mayonaka no Door (Stay With Me)" by Miki Matsubara (first released back in 1979), which found a resurgence in popularity a few years ago. The final song of the set was Phantom Siita's first single, "Otomodachi." This was one of the songs they performed opening for Ado, and as the name might suggest, is about friends, but of course with a darker twist.

After a short break, they came out for an encore, with the first song being Ado's "Tot Musica." This can be considered Phantom Siita's unofficial first song as it was used as part of the audition process.  First created in conjunction with One Piece Film: Red in 2022, it is one of my favorite Ado songs, and therefore one of my favorite Phantom Siita songs.  Following this was "Moonlight Densetsu," the opening to Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon.  Now, you have to be in a certain age range to have this jingle cemented into your brain: either you heard it on its original run in the late 80s or you saw it as part of the nascent American anime scene in the mid-90s (or early 90s for you KTEH watchers).  The very last song of the night was the group's most recent single, "Zoku Zoku." From start to finish it is a beautiful song, from the opening harmonics to the choreography to the use of a sitar as the backbone of the song. The only way it could be better is if they had the costumes from the music video.

It's amazing how fast 90 minutes can fly by. Phantom Siita is the kind of thing that sticks in the back of your mind long after they've departed. It creeps into your subconscious, infiltrating bit by bit, breaking down all resistance. Will you too fall victim to their graces?

The group will play their next show later tonight on February 2nd in Dallas, Texas at The Factory.  They will then proceed to Austin, Texas on the 4th at the White Oak Music Hall, where they will also be filming a live music video.  

They will continue their way east to Chicago, New York, and a quick jaunt upwards to Toronto.  After that, it's off to Europe where they will play in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and for the final date of the tour, the United Kingdom.  Much like they opened for Ado in Japan, consider this tour a precursor to Ado's own tour coming up later this year.

Tickets are still available for the rest of the tour. Check out https://phantomsiita-special.jp/mothtoaflame/ for more details and links.

Moth to a flame World Tour dates and locations:

1/16/25 Taipei, TW - Legacy Taipei
1/18/25 Manila, PH - Samsung Hall SM Aura
1/21/25 Singapore, SG - Singtel Waterfront Theatre

1/28/25 San Jose, CA - San Jose Civic
1/30/25 Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
2/2/25 Dallas, TX - The Factory in Deep Ellum
2/4/25 Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (rescheduled)
2/6/25 Chicago, IL - The Vic
2/8/25 New York, NY - Palladium Times Square
2/10/25 Toronto, ON (CA) - Rebel

2/13/25 Utrecht, NL -Tivoli
2/15/25 Paris, FR - Bataclan
2/17/25 Berlin, DE - Metropol
2/19/25 London, UK - Electric Ballroom

Full setlist:

Kimi to XXXX Shitai Dake
Devilish Girl
Hanabami
Conflicting
Suki Suki Daisuki (Jun Togawa)
Aoi Sangoshou (Seiko Matsuda)
FANTASY (Meiko Nakahara)
KICK BACK (Kenshi Yonezu)
One Last Kiss (Hikaru Utada)
Fly-Day Chinatown (Yasuha)
4:00AM (Taeko Onuki)
HANAGATAMI
Mayonaka no Door/Stay With Me
Otomodachi

Encore:

Tot Music (Ado)
Moonlight Densetsu (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon)
Zoku Zoku