Blog - kayōkyoku bangaichi: live report

kayōkyoku bangaichi: live report

Last night was event "kayōkyoku bangaichi" organized by publisher Hotwax to celebrate the release of a book. It was held at Mona Records, a small record shop/café in Shimokitazawa.

I went there on my own, although I expected to see some people I knew. Indeed I found friends Kanae and Zonies Matsu. But my first big surprise was when I was going up the stairs that lead to the café, and I heard people talking behind me "What was his name again? konban wa!" I looked back and found Shindō Mitsuo (C.T.P.P) and his designer who recognized me from when we met back in April! :) Shindō-san was of course there to DJ for the event.

I was a little bit late and caught the last two songs of Tabuchi Jun, a young guy with a great voice. Then there was some DJing at the back, and I noticed a bit late that it was Sally Kubota (Sally Soul Stew). There were some sound problems that he later described as avant-garde. :)

The next act was Flower Meg, a sexy actress and singer from the 70's. She was accompanied by a pianist who seemed to be a famous musician of a certain age. She sang several songs, starting with a Japanese cover of "Aux Champs Élysés", between which she talked about her career. For a song called "I Love You", she chose people from the front of the crowd, asking them where they're from and whether they're in love with someone, and then having them sing the chorus with her. That was fun but I was happy to be at the back. :) There was also a VJ who showed photos of her back in the day. She had a very nice voice and still looked great to this day, she even wore a dress from when she was 19.

Next was more DJing by Hotwax' editor and then a super rare set by Shindō Mitsuo. He started by playing a lot of techno-kayō type of stuff that I enjoyed very much! He ended his set by two versions of "Tokyo Disco Night", first Koizumi Kyōko's cover and then the original by The Scooters (his own unit). I was truly happy to hear this song spinned by the man himself! He sometimes used a Kaossilator to add live beeps and blips over the music.

Last up was arcorhyme, accompanied by Sally Kubota on bass. The three performed over a prepared backtrack, and did a special kayō and neo-GS set which included a cover of Phantom Gift's "Heart ni OK!" (Sally's old neo-GS band), and closed with their own song that features Sally on the album. K-tarō's solos rocked!

Set list: Matsuo Gena's senaka o misenai de / Candies' shochū omimai mōshiagemasu / The Phantom Gift's Heart ni OK! / Hippy Hippy Shakes' hen na onna no ko / arcorhyme's koi no jigoku

That was a short but fun little set with a techno-pop and neo-GS taste!

After the show had ended I noticed a white guy across the room, and I was a bit surprised that I wasn't the only one (like it's often the case). A few minutes later he came to talk to me, his name was Nemo, he came from Australia and is visiting for about 10 days.

Kanae-chan and Matsuno-san had said they were off to DJ at City Country City, a nearby café and record shop owned by Sokabe Keiichi and where friend Mizue works. I headed there with Nemo, and we had a fun time chatting with everyone while enjoying some quiet soft-rock BGM.

Larger sizes and more photos at Flickr

Posted on July 26, 2008 at 13:51 | Tweet |

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