Japan Day 2008, NYC
I think Hinano does the event justice, so just go read her blog entry. And while it would have been great to meet up with Hinano et. al. I had to catch a train so I can eat some grilled, fresh Atlantic striped bass and black sea bass steaks.
Hmm, that didn’t look even a fraction as delicious as it tasted. Seriously, it was really, really good.
What I do have is some blurry pictures of Halcali and Shota Shimizu. The concert itself took place in the afternoon. We just barely made it and got to the stage near the end of the first act. No opinions about Gaijin a Go Go…
The second act was Happyfunsmile, and I liked the fusion of Japanese traditional pop mixed ….up yet again. I guess I’m weeaboo enough to have heard of most of the original songs their acts referred to? Anyways. They are an interesting outfit and while you may not dig their music, they are decent entertainers. Plus they’ve been playing a lot this year, and other blogs cover them better than I.
Halcali, well, they went all out at Acen a few weeks ago. Coverage was a little spotty but it’s there. I knew ahead of the time the set was going to be short, but we still got a good half dozen songs, probably to the dismay of many Shimizu fangirls.
After Halcali’s act ended, a lot of people left and I was able to push up. Last Friday’s radio show at Kinokuniya revealed that there may be some kind of collaborative effort between the two groups, so I stayed till the end (too bad it didn’t quite happen). And it was pretty obvious none of the Japanese fangirls were leaving, so there must be something worth staying for.
And yes, there was. Shota Shimizu, 19yo. I don’t think he is really a pretty-face, but it gets girls of all ages wild, so power to him. He did a couple songs which are covers of English songs and two Japanese songs, one being a new single yet to be released. Supposedly he hasn’t even gotten enough material out there for an album (actually, just 1 single? His officially debut was just this past February.) but he’s already got a fairly impressive set of creds, like being the youngest Japanese to perform at the Apollo Theater. What’s definitely there is his vocal talents, at least from what anyone could tell at the concert. Too bad it didn’t do much for me.
After the concert Alex and I (we came with a small group of people) turned into ninja groupies and headed backstage. We were hardly alone as a bunch of Japanese fans did likewise, and we got sweeped in to a few camera shots for Shimizu’s production team. Oh well. Alex was pretty bent on trying to get a photo with Halcali, but I didn’t think they were really prepared to do that. We spent like 45 minutes just waiting around to see what would happen next. It was still amusing to see what happens right after a show with all the VIPs going around…
Oh, the guy with the stars is the DJ for Halcali.
And a group pix from the end of the show:
It was a nice day for an outdoor show as long as you had sunblock. A little bit dehydrated afterwards though.
What songs did Halcali play? Besides Giri Giri Surfrida, Twinkle Star, Tip Tap Tip… I forgot sorry… but I’m pretty sure it’s just 2-3 more songs from their Chicago set. If you keep an eye out on youtube maybe you can get lucky?
Lastly, Halcali blogs, too, so check that out.
HAha after the Shimizu performance I walked immediately back into the shade. My arms were baking as it is -_-;
The Halcali fanblog updated the Japan Day post with a setlist:
Twinkle Star
Tip Taps Tip
Sister Ship
Giri Giri Surfrider
Halcali no Michi
I figured it would be kind of short, but it was still a pretty good show. Really cool to hear Twinkle Star live, and Surfrider of course was a good time. It doesn’t completely make up for having to miss ACen, but it’s a start. Too bad I couldn’t get a pic or chat with them after the show, but oh well.
Courtesy of Alex:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cTP2×7zUJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZXoXTsVH1U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkEVQB3og70
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_bb8r20fPU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wOgwKSoDVs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-98mIYEyMQ0