Strawberry, kinako kuromitsu, karintō, at Japanese Ice Ouca in Ebisu]]>
MIM's artwork mostly involves intriguing characters drawn in his characteristic style, and many of their eyes. I liked that he used gold color in a few pieces. Some pieces on cardboard and some lantern-like ones hanging from the ceiling were low-priced for anyone who wants to take something home, while larger pieces on wood make the best of the show.
After a while we had been there, the artist went to add to an ongoing piece in the corner.
The exhibition goes on until February 27. From March 6 to 20 will be an exhibition by SKEM (also RDK). We were also told that ESOW will be exhibiting again also at Bar SiSi around May.
By the way, Bar SiSi has a master who definitely cares about quality. We had some of the best french fries ever, and my cappuccino was top class stuff. Plus everything is priced at ¥420 (hmm)!
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Being a "one man show" (only one band playing), they played a full 2 hour show, probably their longest ever!! That's over 20 songs! The band was accompanied most of the time by guitarist Wakky (of Plus-Tech Squeeze Box) and Hase Yasuhiro (of unit Yume to Cosme, previously called Solange et Delphine).
Before going into details, here's the full set list which I got to glimpse at once the show was over.
1st set: Drive My Carpet / Wow! / Back To The Future Music / Play'N Loud / kirameki Moon Diver / ginga tetsudō 999 (Galaxy Express 999) / toki o kakeru shōjo / New Yma Sumac / P.S. Boy Meets Girl / Shine×Shine×Shine×Shine
2nd set: Stainless Girl / Cosmo '80 / LOVE sarigenaku / Metropolitan Museum / Net Surf Music / Time After Time / Santos dōri de koi o shiyō / kaede New Town
1st encore: boku uchū / Pan·da
2nd encore: Astro
The first set was full of songs from the latest album, and also anime covers from the limited edition bonus CD. For "Back To The Future Music" they were joined by special guest Marino who raps on the song, and later by Chee of Spaghetti Vabune for chorus on "Shine×Shine×Shine×Shine". I had actually managed to remember all of the 1st set, but my memory wouldn't last much longer...
During the break there was an announcement that "Cosmo '80" was coming, the song where the audience gets to use their flashing LED sticks, and that those were being sold at the booth. I had brought my old one as I always do for their shows, although this time it had been a while since I had heard this song played live.
The 2nd set started with "Stainless Girl" with another special guest, a laptop computer showed an animated Hatsune Miku (Wikipedia) who was held to a microphone to sing her parts. :) Later for "LOVE sarigenaku" (Creamy Mami ending theme song cover), singer Iguchi Miho seemed to transform into an 80's techno kayō idol. It had also been a long time since I heard "Metropolitan Museum" (a great cover of Ōnuki Taeko)... This is about when I was blown away and forgot everything about the set list.
For the first encore, Imai Kentarō showed up alone with a strange instrument called Omnichord, which he described as an electronic harp. It had a built-in cheap beatbox, and he used it alone to perform "boku uchū" just as heard on the album. Then he was joined by all members and guests (Miku included) plus the giant Gloomy panda, of course for the song "Pan·da"! The song was made longer to fit parts for each of the guests.
They were called back on stage again, and they performed what Imai-kun said was the first song he wrote, "Astro", this one again making me feel very nostalgic!
So yes, we got to hear all of the latest album plus the limited edition bonus CD!! And also many favorites from their previous albums.
I was sad to hear the news that it was the last time my friend Hase-san was playing with them on stage. Imai-kun referred to him as "aka-pen sensei" ("red pen teacher") as when he sends him the chords for a new song, they're often sent back to him with corrections :) and he said that he'll keep asking for his help even if they don't perform together.
Sincere thanks to The Aprils for their great generosity holding this truly awesome show for free!
Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr
The Aprils' latest video, "Shine×Shine×Shine×Shine"
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Full Swing is actually formed of two, Yamaguchi Yukinori on Hammond organ and Yamamachi Kazumi on electric bass, although they seem to usually play accompanied with drums and guitar. Well this time we were treated to a full band of 9 members(!)!
The guest musicians were: Sugata Noriyuki (drums), Kōno Haiji (guitar), Nakamoto Kōichirō (sax., of Bonjour), Tanaka Yūji (sax., of La Turbo), Hattori Yasuhiko (tromb., of Your Song Is Good), Matsuyama Suzuko (tromb., of suzumiki), and Ukawa Tomohiro (pedal steel, of Frisco).
The band's main feature is the Hammond organ that leads all the songs. While many sound like they must be classics from the 60's, just so groovy and catchy, what they played was mostly originals from their 3 albums. Lots of great music! Towards the end of the 2-hour show, they played their arrangement of Disney's "Some Day My Prince Will Come" from the "Mosh Pit On Disney" compilation (2004).
One band that came to mind hearing Full Swing is Wack Wack Rhythm Band, although where Wack Wack is mainly brass, Full Swing is fully organ-powered! At this show I was also really happy to see pedal steel guitar played live, maybe for the first time, a really nice instrument that always intrigued me (ever since hearing Leo LeBlanc on Beck's "Stereopathetic Soul Manure"). Here it had nothing to do with country music though.
Check out this live clip from a show last year, song "Express Train". There's more over at their MySpace.
The band can next be seen for free next Sunday (January 31) at the 5th floor of Shibuya's Tower Records, starting at 15:00. Those who buy album "Our Song" at Tower Shibuya can get a free eco-bag (while supplies last).
They also announced other upcoming shows, including one where they'll be accompanied with vibraphone. I'll keep my eyes open for more from this cool band!
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We bought a painting showing ESOW's main character standing over Asakusa with his finger on the top of the upcoming world's tallest tower Tokyo Sky Tree. It can be seen on the Tri Gallery site. This has to be one of the first appearance of the Sky Tree in art? :) ESOW's crew seems heavily focused around the Asakusa area.
As soon as we said we wanted to buy the artwork, he pulled out blank stickers and started drawing. We were very happy to leave with these great gifts:
ESOW's solo exhibition ends this Sunday January 24. Tri Gallery is open from 12:00 to 19:00.
Soon will follow exhibitions by other members of the RDK crew (緑道會 = Ryokudoukai) he's part of. MIM exhibits from February 13 to 27, and SKEM from March 6 to 20, both at Bar SiSi in Tsukiji, from 12:00 to 23:00.
See more photos of ESOW's works in my Flickr gallery.
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