It’s been a while since my last blog update.
There’s been a lot going on, like the earthquake.
I hadn’t felt like updating for a while, so I took a break.
From May 3rd to 5th, I participated in Japan JAM 2011.
Originally, I was planning to go to Arabaki Rock Fest, which was scheduled for April 29th and 30th, but it got postponed, so I decided to go to JAM at the last minute.
The theme was “Chill Out Style.”
I went with the intention of listening from the back, like background music, rather than aggressively pushing to the front.
What left an impression on me was:
May 3rd, Dohatsuten × George Yamamoto
Aniki’s Aniki (George Yamamoto) came out in a glittering, kusabi-katabira-like costume and belted out three songs. He forgot the lyrics to “Ue wo Mite Arukou” halfway through but powered through with ad-libs.
Perhaps he wasn’t used to the “call and response” with the audience at a festival, which is different from enka.
May 4th, the telephones
To put it very simply, they’re an artist who just shouts “disco disco,” but the intensity of the mosh pit near the front is distinctive. I got wild again after a long time.
May 4th, Sambomaster
I listened from the 5th row, in the front area, right at the very front.
What a luxury!
It was amazing to hear them up close.
Motoharu Sano and JAM’s “Someday.” The best!
May 5th, Elephant Kashimashi × Shigeru Izumiya
During a song, there was a mishap where Miyamoto mistakenly introduced Shigeru Izumiya as the lead guitarist, confusing him with someone else.
Perhaps because it was a mistake regarding a respected senior artist, Miyamoto got flustered afterwards and things got messy.
Well, that’s live music for you.
In a way, it left an impression.
<Artist List>
■May 3rd
・Dragon Ash × Hiroji Miyamoto, TAKUMA
・Shikao Suga × Takashi Hamazaki
・FACT
・10-FEET × Akihiro Namba, Kj
・OVERGROUND ACOUSTIC UNDERGROUND × Yu Takahashi
・Dohatsuten × George Yamamoto, Kazu Tanaka, Shinobu Fukushima, Ken Taura, Chikau Iijima, Junichiro Sato
・Toru Hidaka × Kazuyoshi Nakamura, MONOBRIGHT
■May 4th
・BIGMAMA × Kosuke Saito, Nobu, masasucks
・TOTALFAT × Northern19
・B-DASH × Mikio Shirai, ROCK DOGG
・SOIL&”PIMP”SESSIONS × Dengeki Network
・the telephones × FRONTIER BACKYARD, Takeji “CHABE” Matsuda, Masato Kanai
・THE BAWDIES × Tortoise Matsumoto, NARGO, Masahiko Kitahara, GAMO, Atsushi Yanaka
・Sambomaster × Motoharu Sano, Keitaimo
■May 5th
・Tamio Okuda × HiGE
・TRICERATOPS × Fumiya Fujii
・THE BACK HORN × Nobuo Ohki, Shinichi Ubukata
・Magokoro Brothers × Takako Matsu
・Reiichi Nakaido BAND × Char
・ZAZEN BOYS × Akira Sakata, Toshinori Kondo, Tabito Nanao
・Elephant Kashimashi × “CHABO” Reiichi Nakaido, Shigeru Izumiya
I feel incredibly happy that events like this have finally resumed after the Great East Japan Earthquake.
While the Tohoku region still has a long way to go for recovery and reconstruction, I believe it’s best for us in Tokyo to not self-restrain too much but rather to live as normal a life as possible and engage in economic activities.
It seems that Rock In Japan Fes 2011 (RIJF2011), scheduled for summer, has been officially decided to be held after discussions between Hitachinaka City and Rock On Co., Ltd.
That’s good news.
Many messages related to the earthquake were written on the message board.
