皆さんこんにちは、last Thursday I had the opportunity to rock the stage in Japan once more. A bandmate of my friend Joe was hosting a small music festival at SpaceWith, a live house in Iidabashi, two stops away from Akihabara. Since all public transportation lines shut down at or around midnight, concerts tend to start much earlier than they would in the States. They are also much more organized; no waiting for a half hour until the final act comes out to do their set. There’s always a consistent flow of music and other various performances. After classes I rushed over to the station and hopped on the train to meet up with Joe.
When we got there, Joe introduced me to his bandmates and we all did quick sound checks before the show started. Once it hit 6:30PM, people gradually started to pour into SpaceWith. I’m meeting other performers and attendees and before I know it, an hour passed in a matter of minutes. It was now 7:40 and the host was calling me up to do my set.
In the days leading up to the concert I was kind of weary as to how my music would be received by the audience. The word “Rock” in the concert’s name “KT Rock Festival” stood out to me, and came to bother me even more as the day approached. I make what “musicheads” would classify as Hip-Hop. Based on concerts I’ve been to back at home, multiple genres tend to not be played together in the same show. If I want to hear rock, I’ll go to the live house on the day their having a rock show. Same for Hip Hop, Electro, R&B, etc. Therefore, I made attempts to tweak and modify my sound so that it might be more appealing to the people that were coming to the concert. At the last minute I decided that my best performance would be one in which I didn’t compromise my original sound. がんばった！(I went for it!)
The mic is sometimes associated with power; the ability to control masses with the sound of your amplified voice. For me, I associate it with liberation. I feel so free whenever I have a mic in my hand. Since my songs are for the most part in English, I made an effort to project the liberation I was feeling onto the audience. Surprisingly people really liked my performance! Energy they gave me boosted my confidence. Before I knew it my set had ended.
“皆さん、どもうありがとうございました (Everyone, thank you so much)” I said to the crowd before I exited the stage. The rest of the night was all great after that. Come to find out, a variety of different performers were in the house that night, not just rockers. After my set a few pop singers came up to perform. And after them, a comedic duo. As it neared midnight, I made my last good-byes and headed on the train home. Five more weeks until I’m really home!
