ANONYMOUS COLLECTIVE

We went to see Japanese pop collective AKB48 at the Lincoln Theater the other night. Their performance was the ceremonial closing of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in DC.

How to explain AKB48...

Well, first off, there are actually more than 48 of them, when you count the “trainee” members.

While they are literally big anywhere they go, they are figuratively huge in Japan. Their bubbly J-pop dominates the charts, and they are as ubiquitous in the country as sashimi and Shiba Inus.

In a more churlish mood, I'd be inclined to point out the identikit nature of their aggressively chirpy songs. I might also have a thing or two to say about their whole sapphic schoolgirl vibe...

But my critical impulses were dulled considerably by a few glances down the aisle at Lana, who was pumping glow-stick studded fists, singing along, and screaming herself hoarse for a solid hour.

It was, she reported later, the “most exciting night of my life!”

And how on earth could I argue with that?