Hatsune Miku needs no introduction. She's played a few times in the United States as part of MIKU EXPO and Anime Expo's Mikunopolis and now she's back for her biggest tour yet. I skipped the previous tour in 2014 as it was in Los Angeles. This time San Francisco is included among the ten cities and fifteen shows that consist of the North America leg of MIKU EXPO.

The electronic diva will appear live in San Francisco on April 30 at The Warfield. It's a Saturday double-header with one show in the afternoon and another in the evening giving fans a great opportunity to see her. The concert is not the only attraction and San Francisco, or more accurately the San Francisco Bay Area, will also play host to a variety of other Miku related events.

The first tie-in events are called "MIKU EXPO Digital Stars" and will feature a variety of DJs and producers as well as special goods only available at each event. They serve as precursors to the main MIKU EXPO concerts for Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. San Francisco's Codeword will host the event on April 29th on the night before the concert.

Bookstore Barnes and Noble teams up with Crypton in presenting the "MIKU EXPO Let's Draw!" workshops. The event will include a Miku drawing workshop, an art exhibition, and free giveaways. There will be one in Emeryville on April 28th and one in San Jose on May 2nd. The reason for not holding an event in San Francisco proper is that there are unfortunately no more Barnes and Nobles in the city.

Also of note is the "MIKU EXPO Tour Sticker Hunt!" Most of these stickers will only be available at the "Let's Draw!" events and a few others will be at places like Kinokuniya bookstores. They're actually pretty cool and I wish I had the time and money to collect them all. The stickers feature Miku and the gang in various location-related motifs like Luka posing as a Starbucks mermaid for Seattle and an astronaut Miku for Houston. The two San Francisco ones include Rin with 70s-style ribbon art and an image titled "Crossroads" where all things come together under Miku. The whole list can be seen below.

A batch of short films will be available for viewing in San Francisco, Toronto, and Mexico City. Music videos, the Mikumentary, and something called "#UltraMiku Special Edition!" are counted among the clips. The total run time is 70 minutes and tickets will run you USD$10, CAD$20, or MXN$90. The San Francisco showings are all on Sunday, May 1st at Japantown's New People Cinema.

Here's your San Francisco cheat sheet:

4/28 (Th) - Emeryville, Barnes and Noble - MIKU EXPO "Let's Draw!"
4/29 (F) - San Francisco, Codeword - MIKU EXPO Digital Stars
4/30 (Sa) - San Francisco, The Warfield - MIKU EXPO concerts!
5/1 (Su) - San Francisco, New People Cinema - MIKU EXPO Short Film Festival
5/2 (M) - San Jose, Barnes and Noble - MIKU EXPO "Let's Draw!"

A solid five days of Hatsune Miku.

There's also a boatload of goods including t-shirts, hats, bags, and more. Check them out:

As is my custom I will be walking out with at least a t-shirt. I'm also looking forward to the special concert posters that are exclusive to each event.

Tickets are still available for San Francisco through Goldenvoice/AXS. They range in price from $50 for balcony to $80 for general admission floor and $150 for VIP. Each attendee will receive a free glowstick and the VIP package gets you early access, some special merch, and a VIP lanyard.

We'll be back after the dust settles for full coverage of the events! Have fun and hope to see you there!

MIKU EXPO Concert Series

4/23 Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater
4/30 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield (day and night shows)
5/6 Los Angeles, CA - Microsoft Theater
5/14 Dallas, TX - The Bomb Factory
5/17 Houston, TX - NRG Arena
5/20 Toronto, ON (CA) - Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
5/25 Chicago, IL - The Chicago Theater
5/28 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom (day and night shows)
6/1 Monterrey, MX - Auditorio Banamex
6/4 Mexico City, MX - El Plaza Condesa (day and night shows)
6/5 Mexico City, MX - El Plaza Condesa (day and night shows)

MIKU EXPO Digital Stars

4/22 Seattle, WA - FRED Wildlife Refuge feat. Mark Redito, Pete Ellison, Meishi Smile, Boaconstructor, Hojo
4/29 San Francisco, CA - Codeword feat. Qrion, Airynore, Grimecraft, Seimei
5/5 Los Angeles, CA - The Lash feat. Mark Redito, Meishi Smile, Φrkestrate, 2ToneDisco, TDoyle, DZZ, B&L All Stars
5/27 New York, NY - Littlefield feat. Hachiojo P and others

MIKU EXPO Let's Draw!

4/24 Seattle, WA - Northgate Mall
4/26 Portland, OR - Clackamas Town Center
4/28 Emeryville, CA - Emeryville
5/2 San Jose, CA - Stevens Creek Boulevard
5/4 Los Angeles, CA - Huntington Beach
5/8 San Diego, CA - Mira Mesa
5/10 Austin, TX - Arboretum
5/12 Dallas, TX - Lincoln Park
5/15 Houston, TX - River Oaks Shopping Center
5/23 Chicago, IL - Old Orchard, Skokie (with Hachioji P)
5/27 New York, NY - Tribeca (with Hachioji P)

MIKU EXPO Short Film Festival

5/1 San Francisco, CA
5/21 Toronto, ON (CA)
6/3 Mexico City, MX