Sonic the Hedgehog Celebrates 35 Years with a Rocking Musical Odyssey Only in Japan

Event Report
Sonic Live! A Musical Odyssey of Sonic the Hedgehog
Official Website: https://www.promax.co.jp/sonic-live/
Date: Sunday, June 28, 2026
Location: Showa Women’s University Memorial Hall, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan
TL;DR: Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates his 35th birthday in style with a rocking concert Sonic Live! A Musical Odyssey of Sonic the Hedgehog only in Japan!

Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his 35th anniversary this year in style and the Sonic Live! A Musical Odyssey of Sonic the Hedgehog, a special one time only concert held exclusively in Japan, rocked fans on Sunday, June 28, 2026. I was fortunate to get a ticket thanks to my Sonic-loving friends and wanted to pay it forward writing about the show and experience for those who couldn’t make it.

The Merch

The exclusive merch that came with the S-tier tickets included a special knapsack with Sonic, a towel with Sonic and Shadow, and one of three different colored rubber bracelets that represented Sonic, Shadow, and the Sonic Live colors respectively. They were all nicely made and great for last minute concert prep since fans could easily wear them all as soon as they picked them up at the doors.

There were also three concert exclusive items on sale that unsurprisingly sold out in a matter of hours from when the merch line officially opened. They included a Sonic Live t-shirt with Sonic‘s artwork for the concert, a tote bag featuring the full artwork including Shadow, and the same artwork on a keychain. While the tote bag looked really cool with the contrasting colors and including the full artwork I only really wanted to nab the keychain. By the time I got there all three exclusives were long gone but my wonderful friend nabbed me a keychain earlier to my pleasant surprise.

Some events especially concerts will start merch sales long before doors open. In the case of Sonic Live it was announced on their official socials that the merch booth would open from noon. Be sure to always keep an eye on official posts leading up if you have your eye on certain merch because it can sell out quickly! Also there are times when the merch booth is open to the general public even without tickets so more reason to stay up to date on information.

The Experience

When I arrived at the venue I knew I was headed to a university campus but it still threw me off as generally university entrances in Japan always have a security booth right up front which can make it a bit nerve wrecking to enter campus when you aren’t a student. There was a Japanese sign explaining that concertgoers could enter and seeing as they opened the merch booth to the public I’m sure the staff had seen fans coming and going all day. Speaking of the fans oh my goodness did everyone really show up in their best Sonic and Friends themed fits! Next time I will get up the energy and courage to chat people up to get pics of their outfits and fan merch. This was only my second Sonic concert ever; the first being the Sonic Music Experience performance held back on March 15 this year. That was an standing room only show so people didn’t really go as all out compared to Sonic Live which was a seated performance so it was really great getting to see not just t-shirts but full on outfits, ita bags fandom bags, and more. I managed to bring my Sonic and Shadow Cooro plushies squeezed into a Pokeball ita bag with my little Chao charm.

As the time came to line up for doors opening you could just feel the buzz of excitement in the air. We were also blessed with the sudden appearance of one of the game designers showing up to mingle with fans. I imagine quite a few of the OG staff members who could make it did since this was a special one time only performance. As we slowly shuffled through the doors to get our tickets checked that was where S-tier ticket holders were given their special merch bags. That was where the fun began as everyone stepped to the side and checked which bracelet design they got. Within moments of confirmation everyone was off to try to trade for the designs that they wanted and from what I gathered everyone in my friend group was successful in their efforts and made some friends along the way.

When in a situation where it is okay to trade random merch at an event be sure to do it respectfully by making sure you aren’t interrupting fans if they’re busy or blocking others. Also if the staff makes a request for you to stop trading or move please follow their instructions.

After everyone was done getting their desired rubber bracelets and finished buying any remaining merch booth items it was time to get seated. I was fortunate to have an aisle seat which I am very grateful for not just because of the mostly unrestricted view but also for the extra foot space it gave me later. The concert hall had two floors but the first floor was a lot bigger than the second. By the time the concert was ready to begin it was clear that this was almost a sold out show and everyone was ready to enjoy the music.

Now here is where I make my slightly embarrassing disclaimer that while this is now my second Sonic music concert I have not played all the games in the franchise and also am not terribly familiar with all of the music. In typical millennial gamer fashion Sonic 1-3 and Sonic Battle Adventure 1 and 2 are the games I played and remember the most. However I will add that these concerts have only made me want to experience more of the series and I’m definitely planning to play Sonic Frontiers and Sonic x Shadow Generations in the near future since they have been calling to me from my game backlog.

Source: © SEGA / Sonic Team

The concert opened up with the a special 35th anniversary trailer video that set the mood of the show right off the bat and gave us all a peek at the visuals that were to come. When the music started the first notes were familiar to basically anyone who has ever experienced Sonic the Hedgehog before and that was “Green Hill Zone” the first area background music from the very first game. This continued into a medley of other first stage songs from other games. I absolutely got excited when I heard “Escape from the City” accompanied by the band and orchestra. Admittedly the songs after are a bit of a blur only because I was swept up in enjoying the music especially the orchestra. The Sonic Music Experience I attended previously was a DJ set and then the band performing without a vocalist. Getting to hear classic game music performed live with new arrangements for different combinations of orchestra and band accompaniment is always a treat. I remember that for “Windy Hill,” “Seaside Hill,” and “Rooftop Run” the solo violinist Ayasa was added into the arrangements and her energy was top notch. Also another familiar and favorite of mine “That’s The Way I Like It… for Metal Harbor” was performed as well. Please see the setlist below for all the song titles properly.

The whole mood the concert changed as Nathan Sharp aka NateWantstoBattle took to the stage to pump up the crowd and signaled the start of a full rock concert transition with “Open Your Heart.” I wasn’t expecting to hear another Sonic Adventure song so soon let alone the opening theme so I was really excited when it played. This also marked the start of a block of Sonic game opening theme songs. “Sonic Heroes” was a fun and easy song for the audience to sing along to. I realized very quickly how much of this concert was going to turn into a sing along experience and I was here for it even if I wasn’t familiar with all the songs. A lot of the videos had videos from the games and also lyrics to help everyone follow along. “Sonic Boom” felt like a pretty surprising song to come next since it was from Sonic CD, which of course I learned while writing this report, so it was probably a new experience for lots like me and a great addition for diehard/longtime fans. The next song “His World” brought back the orchestra which was a really great combination and true to the original version of the song. Likewise when they performed “I’m Here” next while it is heavily a rock song for most of it the orchestral parts being played with a live orchestra really enhanced the experience. Also this was around when I started wondering how long before my singing voice would give out because we were having so many banger songs back to back. The opening theme block rounded off with “Knight of the Wind” from Sonic and the Black Knight which I honestly forgot was a real game I sort of remember it as a fever dream even if I never played it myself. The visuals to the song brought my back to the reality that it very much is real and was such a wild but cool concept.

Just when I thought surely there couldn’t be any more songs that went hard I was sorely unprepared for another Sonic Frontiers song that would blow us all away when “Undefeatable” played. I swore this was supposed to be more of an orchestral concert and this was the song that really locked in the true perspective of this music odyssey. This was a full rock concert experience now between the headbanging, penlight swinging, and shouting the chorus back as loud as we could. This also marked the end of the back to back opening theme songs. We had back to back Sonic Colors songs next and you can bet the fans who brought penlights understood the assignment. It was so cool seeing all the different colors wherever you looked while we all sang along to “Reach for the Stars” and “Speak With Your Heart.” Everyone was more than nicely warmed up and we all got to unwind a bit with these fun songs. While I never got to play this game either I had heard the songs in the previous Sonic concert I went to so it was nice to break up the heavy rock with more poppy numbers.

Next up was a block of music dedicated to Shadow the Hedgehog that got a lot of fans excited. Just when I thought I might not have the energy this brought that second wind into the crowd to rock more to everyone’s favorite broody anti-hero hedgehog. They of course started it off with “I Am… All of Me” the opening theme to the Shadow the Hedgehog game. It was time to rock out and headbang all over again like much of this set block was most likely set up for. The next song “What I’m Made Of…” may be considered more of a Metal Sonic theme song but it fit right in to the Shadow segment especially with the battle video looping along showing off Shadow kicking butt and taking names in Sonic Forces and Sonic X Shadow Generations. The Shadow block concluded with “All Hail Shadow” the ending theme to his title at least that’s what we thought. Just when we thought the Shadow block was about to end they hit us with some surprise emotional damage when they played “Without You” complete with Shadow and Maria heartbreak and footage of Casey Lee Williams singing. It was a beautiful way to round out the Shadow segment even if quite a few fans were most likely left in tears. I loved seeing the fans also change their penlight colors for Maria too. In fact Jun Senoue revealed afterward that he was performing on a Maria colored guitar as well.

After the heavy mood from the closing out of the Shadow block with so many feelings the crowd needed a bit of a mood shift and the band delivered with another segment of fan favorite opening themes. First up was one of the most recent games “Sonic Racing – Cross the Worlds” which already has a full official lyric video online so it was fun to get to follow along again when I got home. The one prepared for the concert was different footage which was a fun surprise. Next up was “Fist Bump” which felt appropriate since we had gotten a surprise Sonic Forces song earlier. The upbeat rock song got us all pumping our fists in the air and was a great segue into “Endless Possibility.”

We could sense that the show was getting close to wrapping up if for no other reasons than the fact we were all riding the high but our voices and feet were starting to really feel it. So what better way to knock us all into the last spurt? Why of course digging right into the popular and nostalgic catalogue of Sonic Adventure 2. “Escape from the City” had us all jumping and screaming and singing along at the top of our lungs to the energetic song from yesteryear. This was such an anthem of my childhood I can’t tell you how many times I replayed it in game to sing along with my friends. After being treated to this gem I was absolutely not expecting to be hit again right after with “Live & Learn” but they really did want to maximize the anniversary experience for us all. As I tried to hold back my own emotions bubbling up with each lyric I was really grateful to get to see this performance decades after my Sonic adventures began. Following one Sonic game’s ending theme it was only fitting to close things out with one more as “One Way Dream” from Sonic Frontiers played.

After the traditional encore cheer runaround it was time to truly close out the show. Sonic the Hedgehog himself took the stage to join us and the crowd went absolutely wild. The final song was definitely the most fitting way to end the concert considering it was just released four days earlier and was the first time it was performed live in Japan. Sonic Live! A Musical Odyssey of Sonic the Hedgehog ended with none other than the official Sonic 35th anniversary music video song “Speed is My Life.”

The staff got everyone gathered to take a group photo after the concert had officially ended. This was when those towels came in handy to pose with and those who brought plushies and penlights got to shine. After the official photos were done and the rest of the orchestra and band took their bows and left the stage. We were treated to one last surprise…

Sonic and Jun Senoue remained on stage so we could all take pictures. It was an amazing photo op and very cute seeing the two interact as they made their way across the stage so everyone could get a good picture.

Once Sonic finally exited the stage that was a wrap! We were all still riding that high and some of us had ears ringing but it was an amazing show and I can’t wait to check out another one. Happy 35th birthday Sonic the Hedgehog and congratulations to all of the performers and staff for an amazing 35 years and many more to come!

The Setlist

Useful Links
Sonic Channel Event Report: https://sonic.sega.jp/SonicChannel/special/staffcolumn/soundcolumn/senoue/20260703_009339/
SEGA Sound Team Official X Account: https://x.com/SEGASoundTeam
Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/SonictheHedgehog