Japanese Music in SF
I went to see a Japanese music show in SF last night. There were a bunch of bands from Tokyo there, although they are more accurately from Chiba (The Daly City of Tokyo). I missed some of the opening bands, but I managed to catch the last 3 (out of 5).
The first band was the Stance Punks (http://stancepunks.com/htdocs), who are actually somewhat famous since they wrote the theme song to Naruto (a famous anime). They were the spitting image of a punk show, and it was great. Enormous spiked hair, lead singer with a suit and skinny tie, and tons of energy. I don't think I've ever seen as much sweat fly off a person as when the singer shook his head. It looked like a waterfall, but going up instead of down. Simply amazing. They put on an awesome show, although I felt bad that we didn't greet them with a mosh-pit worthy of a good punk band. There were so many different kinds of bands in the show that I don't think there were enough people there interested in moshing. Oh well. I hope they didn't think too badly of us.
The next band was Pez (http://www.worldapart.co.jp/pez/eng), which was a 5 piece jazz group. They were a lot of fun, and their keyboardist was really getting into it with his dark glasses at night look.
The headliners, and the real reason everyone came to the show, was Tsushimamire (http://www.gakki.ne.jp/~mamire), a bouncy girl rock metal band. I'd actually seem them before, around the time last year when my friend Tomo came out and did a live painting in SF, and they are great. They are very happy and sincere Japanese girls, and they come out in their little dresses and look very very Japanese. And then they begin to rock. They have so much energy and they put on a great show. The crowds love them.
They play a mix of happy bounce rock, combined with the occasional death metal cookie monster vocals, with a smattering of ska thrown in for good measure. There are some mp3's on their site if you're interested in actually understanding what I'm talking about, instead of just nodding and pretending that you understood because it's easier than asking me to describe it better.
Since this was the second time I've heard them, I was finally able to understand some of the lyrics. Especially the ones with English parts! I still can't understand any Japanese hip-hop, though. I tried translating some Gagle, but it turned out to be super hard and full of weird words, kind of like the Beastie Boys, except more samurai.
Tsushimamire has some interesting lyrics, including a song about pickled plums, and one about a homeless man who listened to their first concert on the street. My favorite, though, is ochassuka, or Tea Time Ska, which alternates fluffy japanese with ska and the aforementioned cookie monster death metal growls. You really have to listen to appreciate it.
If you ever get a chance to see Tsushimamire, I highly highly recommend that you go. It's an experience not to be missed, along with such notorious San Francisco acts as Captured by Robots (android jazzercise s/m metal) and ArnoCorps (Schwarzenegger themed band - www.myspace.com/arnocorps). You won't be dissapointed!
The first band was the Stance Punks (http://stancepunks.com/htdocs), who are actually somewhat famous since they wrote the theme song to Naruto (a famous anime). They were the spitting image of a punk show, and it was great. Enormous spiked hair, lead singer with a suit and skinny tie, and tons of energy. I don't think I've ever seen as much sweat fly off a person as when the singer shook his head. It looked like a waterfall, but going up instead of down. Simply amazing. They put on an awesome show, although I felt bad that we didn't greet them with a mosh-pit worthy of a good punk band. There were so many different kinds of bands in the show that I don't think there were enough people there interested in moshing. Oh well. I hope they didn't think too badly of us.
The next band was Pez (http://www.worldapart.co.jp/pez/eng), which was a 5 piece jazz group. They were a lot of fun, and their keyboardist was really getting into it with his dark glasses at night look.
The headliners, and the real reason everyone came to the show, was Tsushimamire (http://www.gakki.ne.jp/~mamire), a bouncy girl rock metal band. I'd actually seem them before, around the time last year when my friend Tomo came out and did a live painting in SF, and they are great. They are very happy and sincere Japanese girls, and they come out in their little dresses and look very very Japanese. And then they begin to rock. They have so much energy and they put on a great show. The crowds love them.
They play a mix of happy bounce rock, combined with the occasional death metal cookie monster vocals, with a smattering of ska thrown in for good measure. There are some mp3's on their site if you're interested in actually understanding what I'm talking about, instead of just nodding and pretending that you understood because it's easier than asking me to describe it better.
Since this was the second time I've heard them, I was finally able to understand some of the lyrics. Especially the ones with English parts! I still can't understand any Japanese hip-hop, though. I tried translating some Gagle, but it turned out to be super hard and full of weird words, kind of like the Beastie Boys, except more samurai.
Tsushimamire has some interesting lyrics, including a song about pickled plums, and one about a homeless man who listened to their first concert on the street. My favorite, though, is ochassuka, or Tea Time Ska, which alternates fluffy japanese with ska and the aforementioned cookie monster death metal growls. You really have to listen to appreciate it.
If you ever get a chance to see Tsushimamire, I highly highly recommend that you go. It's an experience not to be missed, along with such notorious San Francisco acts as Captured by Robots (android jazzercise s/m metal) and ArnoCorps (Schwarzenegger themed band - www.myspace.com/arnocorps). You won't be dissapointed!
posted by Don at 10:31 PM
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