Septembers are unexpectedly hot in Japan,though the sky seems higher and the light crisper.I made the mistake of walking back home from the dojo(martial arts training hall) at The University of Tsukuba, after having been thrown to the floor a few times too many during jujitsu practice.The pounding of the blows, combined with the pounding of the merciless sun left me in need of a little rest, before our big gig, at which we planned to introduce our new song Clear Skies.My condition, left poor Jon, Mickey and Hase G to load the truck and set up short-handed.
I had no time for a nap, so I tried to regain my energy while packing my gear, reading the New york Times online and checking the Yankee score. When I arrived at Corkheads there was already a tangible buzz of anticipation in the air.Jon looked great in his silk Chinese shirt and mickey was with Ki, his bride to be.Tanaka was in good spirits,and was shmoozing with some musician friends Hase G was chomping at the bit and ready to. We just had to wait for Kenya to get in from Funabashi, with his trusty trombone.
We started out with a bang. Face to Face. Its thrilling to have the audience remember the chorus and chant out the catch phrase.I cant remember the whole set right now, but we did play Inertia and a version of Gershwins Summertime of which Hase G complained of my coming in too soon(guilty as charged!). It was truly a special night being that it was Jasnas Birthday. We sang our original birthday song for her and everyone joined in offering their best wishes.
We ended up playing 4 sets.Or was it 5.
Things got to a peak in the 3rd set as Jon brought the crowd to a frenzy with his hard driving renditions of some classic rock songs. As usual,our originalspanish and celtic dance numbers had everyone salsa-ing and river dancing. A highlight of the evening was my coming in too early during the guitar solo in Infatuation, earning myself angry glares from Jon and Hase G, not to mention Tanaka. As usual Kenya had the girls screaming. His charisma and on- stage antics are priceless.
I had no time for a nap, so I tried to regain my energy while packing my gear, reading the New york Times online and checking the Yankee score. When I arrived at Corkheads there was already a tangible buzz of anticipation in the air.Jon looked great in his silk Chinese shirt and mickey was with Ki, his bride to be.Tanaka was in good spirits,and was shmoozing with some musician friends Hase G was chomping at the bit and ready to. We just had to wait for Kenya to get in from Funabashi, with his trusty trombone.
We started out with a bang. Face to Face. Its thrilling to have the audience remember the chorus and chant out the catch phrase.I cant remember the whole set right now, but we did play Inertia and a version of Gershwins Summertime of which Hase G complained of my coming in too soon(guilty as charged!). It was truly a special night being that it was Jasnas Birthday. We sang our original birthday song for her and everyone joined in offering their best wishes.
We ended up playing 4 sets.Or was it 5.
Things got to a peak in the 3rd set as Jon brought the crowd to a frenzy with his hard driving renditions of some classic rock songs. As usual,our originalspanish and celtic dance numbers had everyone salsa-ing and river dancing. A highlight of the evening was my coming in too early during the guitar solo in Infatuation, earning myself angry glares from Jon and Hase G, not to mention Tanaka. As usual Kenya had the girls screaming. His charisma and on- stage antics are priceless.
We kept going till the wee hours and finally realized that We hadnt 
played our new song! When we finally did go into it we quickly regretted having done so, since WE seemed to have forgotten the song! Fortunately, the audience was kindly understanding and gave us polite applause.
played our new song! When we finally did go into it we quickly regretted having done so, since WE seemed to have forgotten the song! Fortunately, the audience was kindly understanding and gave us polite applause.I'll write a little more about our newest songs and my harrowing experience carrying the omikoshi at a festival in tokyo the next morning in my next posting.
Avi Landau
Avi Landau
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