JUNE IN TOKYO

[東京公演.日本語PAGE] I will play a show in Tokyo on the 14th of June. Joining the gig is my regular collaborator Hayakawa Takeharu on bass and the amazing Kido Natsuki on guitar. This is going to be fun. Please come if you can!

Last time I played in Tokyo was October 2006 during the Tokyo International Film Festival [here]. That show was a blast. The Shibuya venue [Koen-dori Classics] was great, the sound was amazing, and the audience was… well, incredible.

In the crowd on that day was Kido Natsuki – he plays for a variety of legendary bands and is one of the greatest guitarists in Japan today. I met Kido some years ago but we’ve never had a chance to really get to know each other. So it came as a wonderful surprise when he suggested after the show that we should play together next time I am in Japan. Needless to say, it was a massive compliment and a vastly exciting prospect…

Since then, it has also become apparent that I will need to put together a new touring band for forthcoming gigs in Korea and Europe. For reasons of tour economics, the band must not only rock when the full line-up is playing, but it must be able to be stripped down into a 2 or 3 piece and still be organic and thrilling. This means that band members must be great creative musicians in their own right. It also means that the June gig in Tokyo would be a wonderful opportunity not only to work with Kido for the first time but also test out a few ideas I have for getting a touring band like that together. So I wrote to Kido about the gig when the June date was confirmed. He quickly agreed to join it.

Naturally, my friend and regular collaborator Hayakawa Takeharu will be a part of this. Not only is he one of the most amazing bassists in the world, he is also armed with a stunning professional attitude. For instance, he broke his ankle whilst cycling 6 weeks ago. The injury was very bad and required a major surgical operation and hospitalisation for an entire month. Mere mortals would take time to properly heal after an accident as serious as this, but Hayakawa played a rock gig the day after he was released from hospital. He did it on a stool with his injured leg in heavy braces. That’s what I call commitment.

Still, I am looking forward to this gig. We’ll be playing 2 sets of about 45 minutes each. I can’t tell you how exactly we will sound at this moment because we will only rehearse a couple of days before the gig itself. I’m sure that it will be cool though. Hell, they’ll sound amazing even if I don’t. Chuckle.

See you there!

GIG DETAILS:

Venue: Koen-dori Classics, Shibuya
Time: 7.30pm
Date: 14th June 2007
Admissions: 3500 Yen [at the door] 3000 Yen [advance booking]
Directions: MAP
Online Enquiries: Email [English, Chinese & Japanese]
Telephone Enquiries: 080-3244-0188 [Japanese Only]

[日本語PAGE / Japanese Page]