2011/11/06＊Takuro
「Kushiro show→ in commute to Obihiro」
Finishing our show at Kushiro, we’re now in the middle of our commute. The rain halved in the evening. The moon is running side-by-side with our bus. Thanks to its light, the bus is a pretty yellow color.
Kushiro club green, the venue for today’s show is usually a club just like the name implies, and because of that, it seems they didn’t have the equipment a rock band would need to do a show. So, as to how we were able to play then, it was thanks to the initiative of Mr. Wataru who’s managing a studio in Kushiro. Lots of rock-loving youngsters gathered up the necessary equipment, built a stage on the stage-less floor and let us perform on said stage.
Knowing all that… if we hadn’t been able to make it into a hot show, we wouldn’t be real men!! HORMONE relentlessly whipped the audience into a frenzy tonight as well. We were watching them from the dressing room and the side of the stage. The level of humidity was gradually getting higher and higher, and by the time HORMONE got off stage and it was our turn, it’d already reached 100% ages ago. Water was trickling down the backstage walls. The guitars and drum set were colored pure white from the steam. But none of that mattered during the show: hands and feet slipping from the sweat and humidity and stuff like that happening is nothing out of the ordinary. It was a great, enthusiastic show!! Kushiro’s excitement was amazing. People weren’t just being riotous: I could tell everyone was listening carefully to the more intricate songs, too. The show ended with the venue being completely soaked. We had a great time.
I was watching the stage-builders deconstruct it afterwards, and they were really working hard. I think they enjoyed themselves just the same as the other audience members. Like the other two venues, I feel like I want to come back here. Thanks to everyone for coming. Let’s meet again! Stay healthy until then.
Now then, the bus should be arriving at Obihiro shortly. Tomorrow’s the fourth show! Looking forward to our second show at MEGA STONE. With that, later!
2011/11/05＊Takuro
「Kitami → Kushiro」
We’ve just arrived at the club in Kushiro. It’s noisy everywhere as people are preparing our stage settings which are getting rave reviews. It looks like the speakers are a bit loose and shaky today, so you need to go crazy today and push back so they don’t fall. club green has three stories, but I’m feeling worried that there might not be any left after HORMONE’s done… what do we do if they just crash on top of each other like “DON! DON!“… that’d be quite legendary… yeah. Well, 10-FEET played a rocking show here as well, so it should be fine. We’ll play to our hearts’ content!!
To get back to our Kitami show. Watching the footage from it with everyone yesterday, I noticed I said in an MC that “Obihiro’s the only city on the tour I haven’t been to“, but it’s the opposite. I have been to Obihiro. (laughs)
Onion Hall is a venue with an extremely heavy atmosphere… “you’ll be completely beat when you play here!” is what HORMONE told us, and we started preparing for the worst. But once we started playing, the atmosphere felt really pleasant (…is what I say now, but all the cool air immediately changed to hot steam because of the heat, and drops of water were dripping from my head aaall the way through (laughs)). Thus, we narrowly escaped Onion Hall with our lives.
The venue, with adults and children jumbled together, was full of good vibrations. Wakkanai was like that, too, but everyone was so into it, you wouldn’t believe it was our first time there! Thank you to everyone who came to see us. We’ll definitely come again. The backstage was like a bar as well, so after the show we unconsciously started partying. We all got completely wasted and thus didn’t get to exchange final greetings with the staff there, so I’m taking this chance to say thank you. Seeing the parking lot having gotten all three-dimensional afterwards… that was another thing that surprised me.
Now then. As the tour goes on, the shows will be different as well. I’m looking forward to tonight as well. See you again soon!
※ Pictures:
– 9mm vocalist, bathing in onion soup (the drops of water that came down at the venue)
– The scenery I captured while on our way from Kitami to Kushiro
– Yesterday’s lunch, mashuubuta katsudon (it was delicious!)
2011/11/02＊Takuro
「Wakkanai → Kitami」
Our first show in Wakkanai yesterday was really intense!! The building was shaking! The snack bar next door to the backstage was still in operation, including their karaoke… they must’ve been afraid… There might not be many Tokyo bands coming here, but we’ll definitely return so wait for us. Stay healthy until then. It’d be nice if we met somewhere before then, in concert. Not limited to just Hokkaido, I mean. To everyone who came to see us, thank you.
Today it’s a commute day. After getting together in the morning and then going to Souya Cape… there’s something I thought about when seeing the picture posted in the previous staff blog. No, it’s not about the hair. That was just the wind. It was strong, man.
First, look at the picture once more. Do you see it? Look carefully. Reading this on your phone? I’m of course talking about the group picture with us, 9mm Parabellum Bullet, and MAXIMUM THE HORMONE. However, it’s like…
First, these three…
Secondly, these five. It looks like it’s two bands. Their names would probably be “The Northern” and “most Point in Japan”… judging from the picture, anyway.
So don’t be surprised if those are the formations you’ll see on stage tomorrow! (laughs) We definitely won’t do that though! Nuh-uh, not a chance! Geez!
With that, see you tomorrow. We’ll meet at Onion Hall!
2011/11/01＊Takuro
「We’re currently in soundcheck」
I woke up early in the morning and became a seagull. Looks like the day in Wakkanai is already starting to draw to its close. The show is near!!
2011/10/31＊Takuro
「The night before the extra edition of the tour begins/A deer encounter」
The bonus shows of the tour start tomorrow! Playing with us is MAXIMUM THE HORMONE! We arrived at Hokkaido together and were holding a party up until just now. From tomorrow, we’ll be staying in Hokkaido for a while which is a first for us, so I’m looking forward to that as well as the shows.
We arrived at Wakkanai at about noon and since we had some time to spare, I headed out for a walk by myself. I realized that it was too late to go to Souya Cape as it’d already be dark. So, I instead started heading for the tower I saw on our way from the airport. I was thinking that by the time I got there, it’d be that nice time of the evening where I could have a good view of the streets of Wakkanai.
But, to skip right to the conclusion, the tower was closed and thus my plan to admire the evening would take a setback. It was closed all along, it’s just that I didn’t know about it before I got there. I didn’t look into it or anything. I was walking ahead, looking at all the shrines and memorial stones on the way, thinking “it’s further away than I remembered…” (I was walking by myself). When I was finally starting to get close, I sensed a presence. There were deer. Four deer, the mother and its three offspring. I don’t think the male was there.
For how long I know not, but I think that after the tower’s closing, it’d become their territory. They were observing me closely, but since I kept my distance, they didn’t really do anything. I was surprised, too, and took several pictures. Stepping inside their territory a bit, I thought I’d just descend the mountain — I’d seen Wakkanai well enough even without climbing the tower. But as I was about to, this time a lot more deer appeared. There must’ve been around 12 of them. They were a pack. There was a male amongst them, too, with really elegant horns. I’m uploading a picture of that moment. I released the shutter from far away.
Deer are peaceful animals. There were offspring that were still tiny, hopping about. Occasionally they’d make sounds like “hyurururu” or “kyurururu“. Deer make sounds, too. The 12 of them, living in the wild.
It’s silly, but I’ll take that to be a good omen. The tour will definitely be good. Now then, tomorrow is the first day! Why don’t we put off the arrival of winter just a little bit by the hot air generated at the show! With it kinda being a weird climate everywhere, no one would be surprised by something like that. With that, later! See you soon.
2011/10/26＊Takuro
「The guitar’s dooone!」
The guitar is now on sale! It’s a guitar ESP made for me called Bricoleur. If asked how you pronounce it, I say “burikoruuru“. It’s a shape you feel you’ve seen before somewhere, but it actually hadn’t been made before this model. ESP and EDWARDS had already started producing it before, but this time the grandchild — or rather, the plum of the plum tree (laughs) — company called “grass roots” has added it to their product line as well.
Seeing as the date’s already changed… it went on sale on the 26th. 26th is also when I heard about it going on sale in the first place. (laughs) How exciting. It’s definitely a reasonable price if you ask me. However, I also know the kids want something good. I know this. I recommend this guitar, both for the kids and the former kids. Those of you who are interested, go visit a music store and try it out! If you do get one and play it, that’d make me (and T from ESP) very happy.
P.S. We’re still busy checking the score. All the guitar kids & bigger kids among you gentlemen, please wait a bit more.
2011/10/25＊Takuro
「9mm current status digest」
Since our show with SHERBETS, we’ve had some time to relax even though we’re diligently practicing for the extra shows on our tour. Is Hokkaido going to be freezing!? Well, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be super cold so that’s a relief.
Other things we’ve been doing this month is checking November’s contents for the trigger disc and fixing up the score for Movement which we plan on releasing. I wonder if we’ve already entered autumn or not as the days in Tokyo are still often warm. The world sure seems to be shaking everywhere in 2011, or rather, the 21st century… that’s just how it is these days, I guess. As for me, I’m spending this fine autumn by replenishing my nutrition through listening to loads of CD’s.
As our performances keep getting better and better with the 2 day finale at Zepp Tokyo, Taiwan and Shimokita, we’re getting ready to face the other bands we’re going to play with on tour. With that, later. I hope everyone has a good autumn.
2011/10/10＊Takuro
「Back in Japan」
We’re back. Thank you to everyone in Taiwan. I’ll talk about all the various things that happened on our trip later, but next month’s download for the trigger disc is a travel diary sort of thing in the form of pictures, so let’s not forget about Kamome e.p. just yet.
Also, something I always tend to forget each year: today October 10th’s marks the anniversary of EMI releasing our debut CD. Congratulations to everyone from 9mm. (lol) With that, later.
2011/10/07＊Takuro
「Finale/October/Taiwan」
It’s already been a week since the ZEPP tour finale. Was a wonderful tour, that one. I’m still basking in the afterglow. Thanks to everyone who came. We have one domestic show in October that we’re doing with SHERBETS at SHELTER so I’m really excited about that. After that we have the tours with other bands and the end of-the-year festivals, so look forward to those!
And then we also have a show abroad. We’ll be going to Taiwan after this. On the 8th, we’ll be playing at this mysterious festival whose website we don’t understand at all and who aren’t really answering our mails either. (lol) On the 9th, we’ll be playing at a Taiwanese live house (I heard it has a capacity of around 1000, so I guess I should call it a huge live house) with te’, mudy on the sakuban and Taiwanese bands. Yanaka from Tokyo Sky Paradise told me that rather than a “live house“, it’d be more appropriate to call it a “venue” (actually, it seems Japan is the only place where they’re called “live houses“) but I wonder how it is in Taiwan. I await our departure with hopes of our trip resulting in awesome blog reports. With that, see you again! Or would “saiken!¹” be better…
¹ “再見”, can be translated as “seeing (something) again“
2011/09/16＊Takuro
「Our two shows in Nagoya are done」
It was a hot show tonight, too. It feels like the past two days went by in the blink of an eye. Thanks to our long tour, 9mm’s performances are kind of starting to enter a new domain — we have one leg in the door, sometimes taking it out only to put it back in there again — though that “kind of” part is still kinda looming there a bit… I lost my train of thought there, but what I’m trying to say is that we’re playing some really good shows lately. That’s how it is.
Amidst all that I received my new guitar, the second edition of the ESP Bricoleur. The body color’s GT with a gold top. This guy will guarantee the second half of the ZEPP tour having punch, too. I already used it on both the Nagoya shows and it’s got quite the sound! Next up we’re playing at the electric city of Sapporo, so I’m going to tear apart the night of the northern provinces with my guitar sound. Looking forward to it. Well then, later.
Here’s the rookie just before the first show in Nagoya, all glittering and full of promise.
