If you needed an act that comes in like a cool ocean breeze on a hot afternoon, Summer Eye was serving up what you were looking for with their Orange Echo performance on Friday. True summer beach blanket vibes, complete with parasols and….. a ladder?

Today was just Tomoyuki Masume on his own. No band, just a backing track and a dude. To be more specific, a dude who spent a grand total of 10 seconds on stage pushing play to start his track before heading straight to where he fits best, the middle of the crowd. Who needs a stage when you can stand on a ladder in the pit? And who needs a mic stand when there’ll probably be someone who will just hold it for you? It sure takes charisma to completely eschew a stage, especially one so brand spanking new. It also takes courage to leap backwards off the top rung of a ladder and expect people to catch you. But catch him they did!

The tunes were bright and sparkly, just a hair too fast to just vibe to, but not fast enough to make you strain yourself dancing. Perfect midsummer tempo. Toyokuki’s vocals were similarly laid back, occasionally edging into rap territory but never in a way that would stress his chill vibe.

Not even a smattering of rain during the set could harsh the buzz, which remained chilled and vibing throughout.

Summer Eye has stepped up their game since their Naeba Shokudo performance last year. Already looking forward to what next summer will bring.

(Final note: for anybody else out there who’s set closer is titled Mango, you really should have a bunch of mangoes to throw out to the crowd. Summer Eye has set the precedent, it should be followed)