Although I have seen the pillows live in concert many times, I have never been to a concert of Sawao Yamanaka's solo band.
He started touring solo without the pillows again in 2020 after a seven year hiatus, though his planned "Elpis tour" was canceled due to covid-19. Through the end of 2020 into early 2021, he would successfully hold his "Nonocular violet tour", although under strict COVID restrictions. I couldn't make it.
However...
In March of 2022, Sawao Yamanaka would release his latest album "Muddy comedy", and would start touring in May. My chance would finally arrive.
The tour would start on May 6th at "duo Music Exchange" in Shibuya, about a ten minute walk from the famous Hachiko statue outside Shibuya Station. I would get to the venue about one hour before the doors opened and meet up with my friend.
I was a bit taken aback at first, because there were only a few other people in front of the venue. A small merchandise area was set up, but there was no line at all, so I thought they hadn't started selling goods yet. My friend assured me that they had already started though, so I just walked up and bought a couple t-shirts. This time, they were only selling t-shirts and CDs. The two band managers themselves were running the booth.
More and more fans would show up as the opening time grew closer. As 6:15PM came around, one of the staff members started calling the ticket numbers and we gradually started to fill the venue. COVID measures were still in affect, so everyone's temperatures were checked before entering and masks were mandatory.
duo Music Exchange is a pretty small venue with a capacity of around 300 people, I'd guess. A bar is located on the opposite side of the stage in the back part of the venue. Near the center, there are three large pillars that might pose a problem with obstructing view if your position isn't good. This show wasn't sold out though, so there was plenty of space. I drew ticket number A156 from the fanclub ticket lottery, which wasn't a particularly good number, so I opted to stay in the back near the bar.
Near the left part of the venue, they brought the small merchandise table inside to sell more goods just before the show. Right next to it, two small tables were set up with staff members to give out a special present.
Several days before the start of the Muddy comedy tour, Sawao Yamanaka would upload a new song which could be downloaded by fanclub members. He wrote the lyrics while tearfully reminiscing about the 30th anniversary concert at Yokohama Arena and COVID restriction concerts. This song was a thank you to the fans titled "I just like you".
Although the song would (as of this writing) only be released in digital form, as a special bonus, Sawao created a CD case with a vinyl record-like sticker inside in place of an actual CD. This was the special present that you would receive by showing the staff a special screen via the fanclub site.
Music by the band Eels (more specifically the "Souljacker" album) played on the speakers while the venue filled up more. After a while, the band would take the stage as the instrumental track "Melt water in Greenland" from Sawao's previous album Nonocular Violet played. Sawao had his signature black & white Cyclone (I half expected him to use his recently acquired Powercaster).
His band this evening was Yusuke Kimura on guitar (from ArtTheaterGuild), Takumaru Anzai on bass (ex. Fukurouzu), and Shinya Kusube on drums (Radio Caroline, Casablanca). He'll alternate between this lineup and a team where Shiori Sekine (Base Ball Bear) and Chiba O'Reilly (The Bohemians) will takeover for bass and drum duty. Kimura was using a Les Paul.
After opening the show, Sawao would address the audience with his signature "hisashiburi janaika" ("long time no see"). He asked us to lower our masks for just a second so that he could see our faces, before joking, "ah yes, you're humans".
They put on an excellent show and you could tell that they were all happy to be on tour again. Prior to this, I had seen Yusuke Kimura perform with ArtTheaterGuild when they were the opening act for the pillows in Shimokitazawa in 2017. But on this night, I could feel his growth and he gave off the aura of a true rock star.
The other two were excellent as well, and Sawao, as usual, proved himself to be an amazing performer. You could tell he was having a great time, especially near the middle of the concert when he performed back-to-back songs while holding the microphone and traveling the stage.
For the end of the concert, Sawao came out alone and performed the classic track from the pillows, "Please Mr. Lostman". He performed it in his self-accompaniment style, singing while playing guitar.
Muddy comedy is available to listen to on Spotify worldwide, so I highly recommend checking it out.
Sawao Yamanaka
Muddy comedy tour @ duo MUSIC EXCHANGE (Shibuya) 2022/05/06
- Tumbleweed Story
- Peacock blue (is calling me)
- The Devil's Pub
- Kabe no Ana to shounen
- Alternative romantist
- Slide in tomorrow!
- POPUP RUNAWAYS
- Ai no paradise
- Desert me
- Irritations
- Muddy comedy (hand mic)
- Buttons up! (hand mic)
- Absurd song
- Benjamin no asa
- Isabelle no asa
- Sono sekai wa Kimi no mono da
- Hillbilly wa kaku katariki
- Mallory
- Regal Rubbish
- (Encore) Sanatorium no nagai gogo
- (Encore) Einsatz
- (Encore 2) Buzzy Roars
- (Encore 3) Please Mr. Lostman (Sawao alone, self-accompaniment)
If you want to see me ramble about the pillows on a daily basis, be sure to join my pillows Discord server.
Comments
Post a Comment