U.S. IdolFes 2025 Review
14 November 2025 Convention Review Review
This past month, I made the pilgrimage to Redondo Beach for U.S. IdolFes: a full weekend of wotagei, glowsticks, and pure unfiltered idol chaos. And I mean that in the best way possible.
WARNING: If you hate fun, do not attend IdolFes. It’s infectious. From the moment you step in, you’re swept up in a wave of energy that doesn’t let go. The crowd moves as one: part dance floor, part scream-chanting monks, part cardio workout. I saw exactly two people eat food the entire day, and one of them was a panelist. How does everyone stay upright? I have no idea. Maybe they chew on their penlights.
The community vibe is unreal. Everyone either knows everyone else or just decides to become best friends five minutes in. Artists hang out in lines, chat with attendees, and even cheer for each other’s sets. It’s the total opposite of cons where guests just vanish backstage in between handlers. Here, performers are not just idols, but people. And that feels genuinely special.
Mint Fantôme kicked things off for me with an honest-to-goodness live set. Her calls hit hard, the banter was sharp, and the crowd matched her energy every step of the way. There was even a little joke at the end when she didn’t get to do an encore. Everyone started chanting “she hates us!” in jest. And the fact that people felt comfortable leaving their bags on chairs while they danced? That’s how you know a space feels safe.
Then came Pastel Roulette, performing on the community stage with their song roulette gimmick: a literal spinning wheel that decides the next track. Almost every seat in the room was taken, leaving standing room only for myself and others. Their “bitter/sweet” gimmick and lyrical flow were surprisingly tight. Easily one of the most fun smaller-stage acts of the day.
Non Sweet delivered a clean, well-produced set. Nothing revolutionary, but rock-solid crowd work, and the ending brought serious hype. They formed a giant crowd circle and jumped down from the stage to bounce around with everybody. IdolFes cardio, once again.
I ducked into “Wotagei 102”, a panel hosted by our twice-graduated idol VTuber friend Ashes, that dove deep into call and mix culture – basically the rhythmic chants and moves idol fans coordinate with songs. Despite not being the 101 panel, It was surprisingly educational: we got a brief history of how it started in hard rock shows, current trends in MIX, and some unwritten rules. For example, no calls during sad, ballad songs, or making an “X” sign with your arms to signal “let’s chill and respect the performer singing.”
There was even a spontaneous cheer when Ashes got her DoorDash order delivered. This community celebrates everything.
Then came VFleet with special guests, a group performance anchored by Josie-62, Skye Senfort, and Mayhem. Skye’s vocals especially shined, three songs of pure confidence, and Mayhem’s Laufey cover had the crowd literally ballroom dancing. Like, couples forming out of nowhere, twirling between with their penlights. That’s when it hit me: Wotagei is the improv jazz of dancing. But even better because it’s so communal.
There was a brief technical freeze during the climax of the set, but the crowd just laughed it off, started chanting, and somehow turned it into an impromptu karaoke session. Shoutout to the Dodgers fan who orchestrated us into Bohemian Rhapsody!
Phoebe might be the most complete idol I’ve seen perform live. Charismatic, funny, and with this clever 2D/3D interaction where she banters with her virtual self mid-set. She even brought back the first song she ever performed live. By the finale, “Start Again”, she literally ran through the crowd, mic in hand, everyone following her movements like a Pied Piper of pure hype.
Then came the duo Strawberry Sunday, who won “Most Energetic Act and Crowd” by a landslide. A brief mosh pit? Check. Coordinated headbanging? Check. A side-to-side shuffle that had the whole room sliding like a funky line dance? Absolutely. Controlled chaos at its finest.
Finally, Virtual Stardust wrapped things up in true 2.5D fashion. Roseychuu fought through a lost voice and still delivered a great performance, especially on her original song. Pengy went all-in with some sweet custom video edits, and Odessa’s quintuple fakeout ending had everyone howling. And they even closed with Dragostea din Tei. Brilliant.
Leaving IdolFes, I realized this: idol culture isn’t just alive in the U.S. – it’s thriving because of the people around it. The performers, the fans, the ones handing out ibuprofen to each other or cheering DoorDash deliveries, all part of one giant feedback loop of joy.
So yeah. If you hate fun, do not attend IdolFes. But if you want to see what community-driven music culture looks like when it runs on anime, penlights, and pure love? I’ll see you at the next one.
– Chris Torrey / Marmar Tha Midboss of KUCI’s LAG Radio