So Shonen Knife played my (almost) town yesterday and I found out just hours before. And it looks like I’m doing live write ups. And I need a new camera or something. I took several shots that all came out little too “artsy” for a Shonen Knife show. I used to able to get good shots without a flash, guess I’m out of practice. But check out Ritsuko’s Johnny Ramone stance. Perfection.

They played the encore as the “Osaka Ramones”, complete with wardrobe change and a Good, the Bad & the Ugly-themed entrance. The rest was a regular set. They don’t have any new songs since last time I saw them, so the only real difference was Emi on drums. Etsuko was a good drummer, but she had a different style. She had more of a loose energy than Atsuko did and worked the toms more. But Emi is more of a pro showman, and she sings. They’ve even got some 3-part harmony going at some points which I don’t think they’ve pulled off live that well before. (It’s all over some of the better produced records, but studio that’s a different story.) Emi and Ritsuko just singing backups sounded really good. Not just singing together but a real harmony going. Nothing drastic, but it was good. They’re not know for pitch perfection is all I’m saying. You’ve got to be a pro at this point. Etsuko was a ball of energy, where ever she came from, but I think she was wearing out after 5 years. (No one ever asks about old members in interviews, ever notice? I don’t know.) Emi and Ritsuko come from other bands and this is their relatively big break. So they can deal with non-stop tours if they can make a living, pretty much the only way a band can make it now. It’s not so bad, but I can see how it’d wear you down like any job.

This was an unusual gig. This was in a 200-seat school auditorium in the back of campus. 50 maybe 75 people show up, mostly filling the first two rows of seats. The front row is about 20 feet from the stage. The band is greeted with a standing O and cheers. For the next 5 songs, everyone sits.

But, BANDS…check this out: they come out and do their thing. Same as any show ever. Smiling, synchronized guitar moves, head banging, hair flying, punctuated with silly banter. At some point a few of the crowd get up in front of the stage and start dancing, then everybody is in front of the stage dancing. (I was mostly trying to get my camera working, but it was still fun.) The show continued exactly the same way. Emi ran around her drums still hitting cymbals during the breakdown of Antonio Baka Guy. That was new. But the point is, they never told the audience to do this. They didn’t phone it in and then blame us. People said, “let’s dance” and Naoko said, “yes it’s ok to dance”. They would have been fine with every sitting. They brought it, so the audience brought it. These were mostly anime nerds (no disrespect)…someone joked about starting a mosh pit, I don’t think they knew how. I was apologized to several times for minor physical contact. But these people got down. It was some real stuff.

The only criticism you could make is that any of the post-original trio lineups, 2/3rds of the band are playing the generic “Shonen Knife character”, which is not a terrible thing in my book, but it’s the same as playing generic Ramones characters. I only saw the original lineup once, but I really liked Michie cause when she was on it was always genuine, but sometimes she’s have this look on her face like, “I don’t know about this whole thing.” So relateable. But that became the more permanent feeling for her so she just does whatever now. I keep coming back to the Knife. And that…has made all the difference.

(-_-)

Astuko was working the merch table and was mostly unrecognized. It was a little awkward that some people were getting CDs with the old lineup(s) autographed by Emi and Ritsuko especially when Atsuko is right there. I got a poster signed which I never do, but I wanted an excuse to hang out and absorb some positive vibes for a bit like a goddamn vampire. I’ve found trying to talk to bands you are really a fan of doesn’t work out. You can never say everything you want to or you feel stupid saying it. So I just said “thanks”.

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