First Gig

Miyazaki's newest rock sensations [!], The Dead Flowers, had their first official gig this past Sunday evening at The Bar. As the opening act we took to the stage somewhat early, so there weren't yet quite as many people as we would have liked. There were enough to rock, though, and their apparent enjoyment of what we were doing was all we needed for inspiration. Like all new bands, a couple of the intros and endings were a bit tentative, but all in all we were quite pleased with the job we did. We played with spirit and had no "breakdowns" at all (which, frankly, is more than I can say for the "headliners"). [What, me snarky? Never! After all, rock n' roll is a vicious game!]

Personally, it feels a bit weird to get back into this game after so many years away from it. It depends on how serious it gets, of course, but I can foresee possible conflicts with family obligations, etc. But hey, in the meantime there's nothing wrong with having some fun, making some music, and being chatted up by nice-looking women! [Huh? What? OUCH! No, no, dear, I was talking about the bass player. He's single, you know...]

The Dead Flowers

I've made a few references in the last few weeks to the fact that I play drums on Sunday nights. Well, things have been formalized a bit and I'm now a proud member of the rock 'n' roll outfit The Dead Flowers. We do our first official gig this Sunday opening for a bunch of Japanese rock/reggae/etc. bands. This gig will, of course, be happening at The Bar (I've posted before). At this point we're still exclusively a cover band, but we're confident that will change fairly soon. Probable song list for our set:

The Beatles-Come Together
Smithereens-Behind a Wall of Sleep
Rolling Stones-Beast of Burden
Georgia Satellites-Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Neil Young-Helpless
Rolling Stones-Just My Imagination (of course via The Temps)
Jimi-Hey Joe
Neil Young-Rockin' in the Free World

If you're in Miyazaki (or if you're filthy stinking rich and have your own private jet), then The Bar is the place to be this Sunday.

Mine

There was another action-packed Sunday jam at The Bar last night. This included, of course, the usual noodling by me and the usual suspects. Also on hand were some cool Japanese cats who were seriously into "oldies" rock 'n' roll. I'm talkin' Del Shannon, The Diamonds, stuff like that. It was a lot of fun (and educational!) backing these guys up. One of them, Takahiro, has a bar here in Miyazaki called Holly's. I'll be over for a drink one of these nights, Takahiro!

Special guests last night were a local band called Mine. I don't want to pigeon-hole them style-wise, because I've only heard the three tunes they played last night. Clearly, though, Mine is a rock band, with a sound that ranges (sometimes in the same song!) between punk, emo, and metal (with some proggy flourishes). They're good and they're loud! Good job, boys!



Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic (again this week!). Oh yeah, Mine sounds something like this:

Mine-Things We Need

Freaks

Sunday nights are "jam night" at The Bar, Miyazaki's default ex-pat hangout. There are a lot of very good musicians in Miyazaki, and this past Sunday three of them dropped by The Bar to lay some cool music on us.

Freaks are a three-piece band with a somewhat unusual line-up: drums, sax, and didgeridoo. I was mildly surprised at the heavy "bottom" the didgeridoo gave to Freaks' jammy style of jazz-funk. Good job, boys!



Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic!