Blog - Weekly revue: 2018 week #34 (August 18 to 24)

Weekly revue: 2018 week #34 (August 18 to 24)

Food: - Vegetable 65, mutton curry, garden rice and blueberry ice cream at Cochin Nivas
- Ice cream at La Ruche, Jiyūgaoka
- "Tochō Fry Tower" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Buidling's restaurant

Music events: - I went to the release party event for synthesizer quartet Hello, Wendy!'s album "No.9". It was held at SuperDeluxe, and also featured Metalchicks and Tachibana Hajime & Low Powers. The event was presented by Buffalo Daughter, as all of the bands feature either Ohno Yumiko or Yoshinaga suGar.

First on stage was Tachibana Hajime & Low Powers, a band formed in 1997 featuring singer eri (14 years old back then) and Ohno Yumiko, and this was their 2nd show since they just came back this month after 21 years. Tachibana Hajime played three different guitars, singer eri also played an acoustic guitar, Yumiko played mostly bass, and young drummer Hina was great too! The show consisted of songs from their "Low Powers" album.

Next was Metalchicks, the unit of suGar (on guitar) and drummer Yoshimura Yuka (ex-DMBQ & OOIOO). The two played a great energetic set and they seemed to be having a lot of fun! They had remained inactive for many years, but now it seems they're preparing a new album! They played two new songs including one titled "Ladder". They also did a cover of Madonna's "Music", and finished the show with "We Are The Warriors".

There was a big set change for "Hello, Wendy!", and synthesizers were brought one after the other, as well as an electronic drum kit which was to be played by guest Asa-chang.

Hello, Wendy! set list: No.9 (Beethoven) / Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 - 3. Allegro (Bach) / Revolution / Violet's Green Eyes / Moment of Eternity / Escalator Step (Ohno Yumiko) / Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two) (Harry Dacre) / Let 'Em In (Paul McCartney)
w/ Asa-chang: shinroku / Self Portrait Sakamoto Ryūichi) / Pop Muzik (M) / Star Cycle (feat. Yoshinaga suGar) (Jan Hammer)
Encore: Lavender (A cappella) (Dolinda Morgan)

- Hung out at Shibuya no Natsu-matsuri 2018 organized by Mixi Group, and got to catch a live performance by Tajima Takao (Original Love) who had also played last year. He gave a great soulful and rocking show. The bon-odori event that followed had Shibuya theme song "You Make Shibuya" (sung by Nomiya Maki with music written by Kaji Hideki) played several times. A fun and peaceful event.

- Dropped by a karaoke contest held by Mitsui Building in Shinjuku. Held every year, this was the 44th time! The contest features only participants who work at companies of that office building. The stage and crowd are huge, and the performances aren't only about singing well but also feature a good dose of entertainment with costumes, dancers and props, etc. The event is held over three evenings, the first two have all participants perform their song up to the first verse, and if selected as finalists (total of 20) they get to sing the whole song on the 3rd night. During all three days, co-workers of the performers come close to the stage to cheer, and a popular way of cheering is to use recycled shredded paper as confetti and throw lots of it to the stage. It was so fun that we went twice, on the first night and then on the last to see the final.