On May 16th, 1997 - I journeyed from Los Angeles down to San Diego to catch the Shonen Knife show at the Casbah. I arrived in plenty of time - even though the traffic was rather intense much of the way. Their tour bus was parked at the front of the club, and no sooner had I parked in the convenient parking garage across the street and walked over - they came out of the tour bus, to prepare for their sound check. We exchanged greetings and they went about the business of getting ready for the show. Since I was *starving*, I determined to look for something to eat in the area. Nothing near the club, but about (5) blocks down the street, I found "The Mona Lisa" Italian Restaurant. Perfect! Singing "Brown Mushrooms" to myself, I entered and was seated at my table. Good service - the waitress saw my Shonen Knife shirt, and was amazed to learn that Shonen Knife were to perform down the street from them - and said her boyfriend was crazy about them. I told her, perhaps they would come to "The Mona Lisa" for dinner? I told their Manager, Mr. Shibata about the restaurant, and after the sound check, they all walked down there for dinner. Naoko made a nice comment during the show about the restaurant. The Casbah itself, is in a pretty good location for a rock music club - not much of a residential area nearby. Large aircraft come in very low over the buildings, making their approach for landing at nearby San Diego Airport. Shonen Knife enjoyed watching them come in so low ("Ohh! Big Airplanes!") because it looked like the wheels would scrape the top of the building across the street! They took pictures, hoping to "catch a really big one" on film!
Opening bands for the night were Cockeyed Ghost and Pluto. As show time approached, the club was filling, and by the time the bands got rolling - it was packed! Shonen Knife really do enjoy playing the smaller, intimate clubs - because they like their fans as much as their fans like them! Naoko once told me that she likes a tiny club in Osaka called "Bears" - it's very small and they enjoy seeing "many famed bands there". They were very relaxed and friendly, and many fans in the San Diego area who were at the show - were able to take photos, and talk personally with the band. They played a powerful set - their sound was clean and totally together. A SET LIST for this show was sent to SKLA by Andy Blanchard from San Diego. (Andy-san, domo arigato!) The girls wore the same *pink sparkle* outfits (designed by Atsuko) that they featured at the Poptopia show in L.A. on February 8th, 1997. Tour T-shirts were on sale, (Purple, and Orange) as well as the beautiful folding fans that Shonen Knife Drummer, Atsuko Yamano also designed for this tour. Other CDs and items from Pluto and Cockeyed Ghost were also available.
Cockeyed Ghost from Reseda, California - gave a great, hi-energy performance, and were very well received by the crowd! Pluto worked hard, but the crowd didn't seem to favor them, as much. When Shonen Knife came on.... everyone packed to the front of the stage... and I had to help make some room for the Video crew from "We Got Power" films who were taping the show. The crowd was packed in front of the stage like the proverbial sardines in a can - and a very friendly crowd it was: there was no "moshing" or "crowd-surfing" at this show, and that really helped everyone enjoy this up-close and personal night of great rock n roll with the amazing Shonen Knife. Naoko and Michie were bouncing about the stage with great joy during their performance, and the crowd was right with them! Naoko bonked her head slightly on a ceiling speaker, when she leaped up on the monitor speaker on stage! The girls were joking with the fans and had a great time with that, in between songs from "Brand New Knife" and other crowd-pleasers (the clubgoers seemed to know them all!) and many requests from the crowd for SK Favorites paced the night and brought about some very funny comments from the band! At this show, it was just great to be able to see Atsuko playing the drums up close! At many of the larger venues, she is on the drum riser in the back, and it is difficult to see her as clearly. At the Casbah, she was right there! The video crew from "We Got Power" films was videotaping the entire show, and also did interviews with fans outside the club as well. This is for possible inclusion in their 1997 Tour Video. After the main show ended, the chant I've heard so often at Shonen Knife shows was very strong: "Sho-nen KNIFE! Sho-nen KNIFE! Sho-nen KNIFE!". They came back for (2) rousing encores, ending the night with a foot-stomping "One Week"!
After the show, Shonen Knife visited with fans outside in the cool San Diego evening air.... "hanging out" with the kids, as it were (everyone enjoyed that!) while the equipment was loaded and then, all aboard the Big Silver/Blue Bus to get some rest, and head on up the Interstate toward L.A. I left about the same time, and cruised with the bus for a short while... rolling north at a respectable 65 miles an hour. But, being the "designated driver" for my trip home, I "put the pedal to the metal" and headed on up to L.A. to get a little sleep, before the final events in Hollywood later that day. Very good show in San Diego... and Shonen Knife clearly enjoyed the friendly, rockin' atmosphere at the Casbah! San Diego Fans - you're great!
- Back to: North American Tour - 1997!