First off an apology
I wanted to do a more formal article on Japan Nite’s stop a Hollywood, but with everything that has been thrown at me in April, it kept getting pushed back further and further. Now here we are May 1st and the damn thing still hasn’t been written – wha, wait a second MAY 11th?! (Sigh). Let’s get this started before it’s June… of ’09…
SCANDAL
The first band took the stage about half an hour after it was scheduled to begin. The group was dressed in the traditional High School uniforms. Although they appeared to be very “cute”, they had a bit more than their looks going for them. With a solid foundation of musicianship, their sound had an aggressive bite to it, but it also flowed very smoothly. If I did have to criticize their act, I’d have to say that they were stretching their crash course in Japanese a bit too long.
PETTY BOOKA
I really wasn’t expecting to hear Blue Grass next, and when they played Alan Jackson’s “Don’t Rock the Jukebox on their ukulele, it seemed like I wasn’t the only one surprised. Still the bottom line was there wasn’t any mocking from the crowd and the small bursts of laughing quickly subsided. The group wasn’t bashful in showing their skills as the played several solos throughout their songs.
KETCHUP MANIA
Although I was familiar with ketchup mania’s way of playing, I really wasn’t ready for how intense they planned to be that night. It really began while the group was setting up. The drummer named Wani walked in with his sticks and had a seat. At this point I was thinking “Okay, he’s warming up. This should be cool.” He did not hold back one bit! The energy from his warm up flowed through the room and woke everyone up. When they opened up with their own song “Girl’s Mind”, the ground began to shake. And then there was the small mosh pit that emanated only five feet away from me.
DETROIT 7
For a band straight from Japan, detroit 7 sure picked the right name to call themselves. Picking up where ketchup marina left off, the group played Garage Metal with such an intensity that they might as well have been from Motor City. The best part was about halfway through their number when their lead guitar, Tomomi Nabana, began to play the Star Spangled Banner out of nowhere.
Looking back, I think the best part of that night was how relaxed all the groups were in front of the audience. Usually when I go to large conventions there is invisible wall that a separates the band from the audience. In this case the groups tried to approach the people who came to watch them play as much as they could. There were even times with the last two groups where the lead guitarist would lean over and wail just above the crowd.
-Pedro Rodriguez