Heating things up at Hot STUFF!

It's already the end of September but its still steamy,even at night! Even more so when the TenGooz are firing it up! Everyone at Hot Stuff worked up a good shvitz dancing till midnight as our proposed one hour show went into overtime!
Thanks to all who were there for making it real fun. We will be doing regular gigs at HS, so we hope you can catch us there some time soon! We hope that by next month the humdity will have dropped a few percentage points. Michael is off for a couple of days hiking to destinations unknown and I will be off to NY for a couple of weeks but hase G and i will be working on new material tomorrow night.

Keep in the groove

Avi

Mayhem in Ishioka!

Whenever I mention going to the Ishioka Festival to friends in Tsukuba, they strongly warn me off with-its too dangerous-you had better be careful- etc...
As you might expect I pay no attention, as the 3-day festival is my favorite in all of Japan. Yes, there are fights and drunken brawls, and it certainly seems a tad precarious for all of the kids, not to mention the infants who have to be snapped up suddenly out of the paths of oncoming floats with its stampeding frenzy of revelers.
The festival is a reflection of of Japans volcanic and highly seismic nature. Throughout the year Ishioka is a sleepy backwater, rusting away as its glory days slip further into the past. The people are as reserved and polite as any Kanto Japanese and surely would not usually show much passion.
When the middle of September rolls around all the primeval energies erupt,especially on the second day of the 3-day bacchanalian bonanza.
Ive been there for the first 2 days and plan to be back tomorrow. Ive been doing the lion dance and am starting to get the hang of it, though pracing rythmically with a very heavy wooden shi-shi mask still leaves me out of breath. I have always tried to put the same kind of passion into gigs, that i find at this festival.
I think that TenGooz saxman michael Frei has also been inspired(though he certainly needs no inspiration!). Hopefully we can put up some more pics soon!

Avi Landau

Firing it up at Spitfire, then at Aren

Well, we sure have been busy! Last Saturday night, September 1st, we did a gig at Spitfire, playing our new set of songs, including one of Michaels band`s songs Craving Bones.

The audience grew from intimate and friendly to abundant and boisterous as the hours passed and it was good to see lots of beautiful dancers on the floor-Rachel,Yuriko and Ikuko setting the pace.

All in all I must say it was great fun ! I'd also like to introduce Seiichiro Ukyo who has been playing keyboards with us at practices. Hopefully, he will join us at our next gig, adding even more flavor to the TenGooz savory sound.

Last night,Saturday the 8th, we finished a two hour rehearsal at 9pm and then crossed to street to do a gig at Aren. There was a huge party there that night and DJ A.B had the music turned up full. We played 2 sets, leaving out our slow songs and ballads,as they did seem appropriate for the occassion!

Thanks to Jimmy and AB for their kindness and for having us at that raucus event. Ill try to let everyone know about our upcoming gigs a little earlier next time, and REMEMBER- stat grounded in GROOVE!

Avi Landau