Ado concert experience

Yesterday (22 July 2025) I saw Ado live in Ft. Worth. Holy fucking shit, I’m never gonna forget it no matter what happens, even if I get Alzheimer’s and don’t remember my name or anything I’ll remember that concert. I’ve always loved her voice, the passion and the aggression that she conveys in all her records. But LIVE is a completely different feeling. I’m getting chills just thinking about it… anywho, here’s what I’ve got to say.

Ticketing…

This was the only low point of the whole experience, and unfortunately it’s one you have to navigate if you want to buy concert tickets in the US of A these days. Ticketmaster has an absolutely shit service…

Buying tickets actually wasn’t that bad. Then again I bought them over 6 months before the concert… but I digress. What really sucks about Ticketmaster is actually accessing your tickets. Nowadays, you can’t really get physical tickets for concerts, only digital… which sucks enough, since that comes basically with the stipulation of needing a smartphone to even get in the door. I do happen to have one though, so let’s continue.

You can access your ticket one of two ways: one, downloading the Ticketmaster app, which is only available through things like the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, or importing the tickets into a digital wallet like Google Wallet. Already you can see the problem, as both avenues require the usage of these spyware platforms. I first tried the first option, but the app didn’t even let me sign in! It seems they blocked my phone’s UID since I connected first with a VPN, and even turning off the VPN and switching networks didn’t help. So begrudgingly I used the second option. This was fine enough, but I’m still salty about the fact I had to use it. Fuck u Ticketmaster

The venue + traffic

This concert was held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. I’ve been there a few times before, and honestly the facility is really nice. All the restrooms and facilities are in tip-top shape and the seats are pretty nice. What I will say is that the 2nd floor of seats has a really high rake, and it felt kinda precarious getting to my seat. It would have been especially tough if there was someone else sitting in the row. Luckily I got in my seat about an hour and a half before she started (lmao) so there wasn’t any issue there. Besides, my experience is that most stadiums are like that anyway.

Traffic was understandably pretty heavy into and out of the venue. Additionally, the parking lot was a way’s away from the exit, so be prepared to walk for a while. Obviously, seeing as it’s peak summer in Texas at the moment, it was really hot when I was queuing for merchandise and for the ticketing check. The AC inside the venue on the other hand felt really cold to me, so be prepared with a jacket or something if you ever happen to go. I happened to be cosplaying her for the concert (her og outfit, with the black overcoat white shirt and the blue rose tie) so there weren’t any issues. Got several compliments for it, heh heh heh hehe hheheheh

Since it’s an Ado concert, no recording (audio or video) or photography was allowed at any point. I think this is perfectly reasonable as she wants to remain anonymous, which ensures that we all focus on her artistry for itself. I think it’s a really good mindset and if I were in her shoes I would want to do that too. Her connection with the crowd and the experience overall didn’t feel any worse for it, and she was really engaged with us the whole time. I’ll go over that more later.

Merch

There were several places to get merch at the venue, and at all of them the staff were quick and efficient. The lines weren’t that long, even after the concert when everyone is rushing to snatch whatever’s left. I can chalk this up to the employees at Dickies Arena’s diligence and hard work. I ended up getting quite a lot of stuff:

The black short-sleeve tee
The long-sleeve tee
The poster
Mystery acrylic keychain
Mystery photocard
Tote bag

Everything was very prominently “Ado” and was of great quality. The printing on the shirts as well as the bag was vibrant and is the type that almost certainly isn’t going to fade no matter how many wash-dry cycles it goes through. They were also pretty reasonably priced in comparison to the other artists I’ve bought merch from. In total I ended up spending roughly ~150 USD on all of it. It’s all worth it, she literally saved my life so…

I’ll be cherishing these and using these heavily for decades to come. Definitely gonna buy more next time though.

The concert itself

Fucking epic. I’ve always said that Ado is a death metal vocalist in an opera singer’s body, and holy shit, hearing her live is transcendental. You can feel the angst and the anger in your soul. It’s so more intense than her recordings, not that her recordings aren’t also incredible.

Besides her absolutely FUCKING INSANE singing the visuals were amazing. Sad that I wasn’t seated on the floor, us up top couldn’t really do anything without risking falling and dying.

She spoke at length after Odo and after the encore. Obviously, her English was faltering (if learning Japanese is so hard for English speakers then naturally it’s the same the other way) but it felt pretty endearing. She talked about her motivations for singing, loneliness, and the horrific climate here. relatable

If and when she returns to Texas, I’ll have to see her. I can’t really describe it well in words. It’s as if she’s five voices in one, all insanely talented, all bursting to be heard, and all of them working in harmony with all the others. You can hear this for yourself listening to her records and even more live. Please please please, if you like her, attend her concerts. Beautiful beautiful beautiful x10128381018248 times, my voice is completely gone and my eyes hurt from crying.

Closing thoughts

i love u ado plz come back to dfw soon :>