One more performance for HAPPYFUNSMILE at Forbidden City. Full lineup with Brian, Rodrigo, Kaori, Glenn, Rob, Ryan, Wynn, and special guest Michael on percussion. We start playing at 8:30pm and will go for three sets. Hope to see you there!
Some pictures from the performance:
Another strange gig comes our way. Seven of us from Soh Daiko will be performing a short piece at the opening of the first-ever American Anime Awards hosted by the New York Comic Con. Believe me, I’ll be bringing my camera.
Here’s a link to the performance. Most of the voice actors were non-Japanese, so this ceremony represented the dubbed American version of anime shows. Now, I’m not a big fan of anime, but most of the dubbed versions I’ve seen have been pretty painful. But I guess that’s just me. The show was fun, the staff was friendly (even though they messed up their lighting cues for us), and we were in and out of the performance in very little time. Awesome.
Korn’s Unplugged show for MTV will air online on February 23rd and will appear on television on March 2, 2007 at 11:30pm. Six of us from Soh Daiko rehearsed with them the week before and performed at the MTV Studios on December 9, 2006. The two songs are “No One’s There” and “Throw Me Away,” and by the way, we’re wearing black Zorro masks. Not to be confused with the guys wearing cool animal masks. Check out the trailer at MTV or youtube.
The CD/DVD, to be released sometime in March 2007, already has a wikipedia entry.
We had our first rehearsal of 2007, with some brand-new tunes including Shiawase Ondo, Gekitei Ondo, and some new-ish songs like Hana, Shinobi Ai, and Auld Lang Syne. All the singers sound great and I’m looking forward to our performance on Wednesday, February 7 at Forbidden City. We’re hoping to make this bar our home-sweet-home, so I’m crossing my fingers for a good crowd. The only thing is the weather: it’s freaking freezing.
In other news, I’m trying to book a gig or two for Kenny Endo’s spring tour. Unfortunately I couldn’t juggle the schedule with KIOKU, so I’ll probably try to get another artist for the double-bill. Plus, I’m hoping to bring KIOKU out to California in late-July and early-August, so I cold-emailed a ton of venues in San Jose, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Let me just say that booking is not my favorite thing to do. Not at all.
