Perfume perform “Cosmic Treat” in one of their ugliest stage outfits of 2024

With an album out, the end of the year abound and a tour on the way, Perfume are still blasting off to the funky beat on TV shows to perform their YMO sounding-ass “Cosmic Treat” – performing the song on NTV Best Artist and the first night of Fuji TV’s end of year special, FNS Kayousai.

In an alternate reality Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi would still be alive and in good health, Perfume and YMO would perform “Cosmic Treat” together and my wig would be shot into hyperspace. [Sighs]
It really is something that Perfume is still going strong, 20+ years into their career, still performing on national television and still doing large scale national tours. There are very few acts in Japanese music who can say the same. And the fact that Perfume still choose to do televised performances is a big deal. Because a whole bunch of acts who came up in the early 2000s and are still active now, simply do not bother with them anymore. Ayumi Hamasaki and Koda Kumi are very selective with their television appearances. And Hikaru Utada is only stepping out for TV if it’s for a show which is airing on cable or pay-per-view, that shit will be pre-recorded and the performance sets are bespoke as fuck. So we fans really should be grateful that Perfume are still out here doing televised performances as frequently as they do. It’s the one thing about them I could never knock. They be out here still performing at every opportunity, just as they did in their earlier years when they were still trying to make it. Perfume’s hustle is serious. In fact, it’s what their next Perfume Closet fragrance should be called. Hustle.

So let’s get into these “Cosmic Treat” performances.

This performance was held in the Hachitama Spherical Observation Room of the Fuji Broadcasting Center in Odaiba, Tokyo. And I had absolutely no idea that performances were held in the Spherical Observation Room. Then again, why wouldn’t they be? It’s a part of the Fuji Broadcasting Center and there’s more than enough space. It’s just a huge observation deck. And if Perfume can perform “Tokyo Girl” on the top of a building and “Flash” at a running stadium for televised performances, then of course they can perform in the observation deck of the Fuji Broadcasting Center. The view provided an amazing backdrop with the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower clearly visible.

The crazy thing is, I was in Odaiba on the day when Perfume held this performance. But I had no idea it was happening, otherwise I woulda swung back around there at night.

Perfume performing “Cosmic Treat” in front of the life size Unicorn Gundam which is a stone’s throw from the Fuji Broadcasting Center woulda been a real showstopper.

HENNYWAY.

Perfume gave another performance of “Cosmic Treat” in some Future Pop looking-ass variant of their Nebula Romance: Part 1 outfits.

The dresses were ugly. And the design of the set and the lighting did not help. If the set was white and gold, I think the dresses would have worked better. They still woulda been ugly. But less ugly. I cannot wait to see the Nebula Romance: Episode 1 Tour version of the Nebula Romance: Part 1 dresses. I just know they’re going to be hideous.

In the case of both performances, I do wonder if it was a relatively last minute decision for Perfume to wear outfits other than the green Nebula Romance: Part 1 dresses. Because the lighting in both performances was green and purple, which makes creative sense given the “Cosmic Treat” video and that these lighting colours compliment the mint dresses they wear in it. But green and purple lighting on dusty pink and brown coloured fabric? It just doesn’t work. For the sake of synergy and consistency, they really shoulda just worn the Nebula Romance: Part 1 dresses or variations of them in the same colour.

“Cosmic Treat” is still doing it for me. I have been playing it (my version of it) non-stop for the past couple of months. It is such a good song and I’m glad that it’s the hero song of Nebula Romance: Part 1, which makes me really excited to see how they realise it for the Nebula Romance: Episode 1 Tour. Even if they just recreate the performance from the music video, it’d be awesome, because that was a great setup and it’s always a nice change to see Perfume perform with a band, because they so rarely do.

I am also warming to the “Cosmic Treat” choreography. It’s still a bit too static for me, but I guess that’s the magic and the genius of it, because it makes a lot of the poses memorable. After watching Perfume perform “Cosmic Treat” for the first time, the pose during ‘mu juuryoku de’ (‘zero gravity’) immediately stuck. And this seems to be the whole idea of the “Cosmic Treat” choreo — poses and clear shapes, both of which could get a little lost if the routine was one of constant movement. “Ima Ima Ima” struck a great balance of featuring a lot of movement and one very clear pose, but the song has two punctuated moments which pretty much demand a pose, where-as “Cosmic Treat” doesn’t have such moments in the music. So, whilst I’m still not a huge fan of the “Cosmic Treat” choreography, I do understand why Mikiko went the direction she did with it. It might be a grower. I watched a performance of “The Light” the other day and I actually quite like the choreo for that now.

Much like “Polygon Wave”, “Cosmic Treat” is a pretty simple routine by Perfume standards and easy to follow, which is why it’s a shame it took Perfume so long to make a TikTok challenge out of it. And I’m also surprised at the lack of “Cosmic Treat” dance covers, which is unfortunate. But maybe everybody is still trying to sew their Nebula Romance: Part 1 dresses and learn “Ima Ima Ima”.