KAPPA EXpress Report!

Subject: live report!

I have been to the Shonen Knife show at Shibuya On Air West! They were there before in March, 1995, & I helped as their T-shirt sale staff then.

The show begins from 19:00 & the hall opened from 18:00. I arrived there around 18:30. The entrance is on the second floor. I waited under the stairs, and soon Shonen Knife came after awhile.

I spoke with Mana then, with the question that George Ojisan had for her: to ask if she was the drummer for the "Droop" CD, called "Punish Pungent World" (Sister/Benten). She replied, "no", but that she had participated with Benten recordings from the next Droop album after that one. Atsuko and I told her "George Ojisan's story". We promised to talk more after the concert, and I got my "guest pass".

At the show, I was always checking the audience! I saw many men of about 30 years age group, who are coming from before at Shonen Knife shows. They seem to come when Shonen Knife only are featured. When SK are in a show where other performers are featured, they are seldom seen. I have seen them seven - eight years before. So they are regular fans of Shonen Knife!

The new song "Golden Years Of Rock 'n' Roll" was the best! The intro which it starts with the drums slowly, and a guitar goes little by little seems new to them. "What Ever" is written by Atsuko, and I like the dialogue of the vocal with Atsuko and Naoko, and Mana's cool drums. When the audience shouted, "Mana-cha, cute!" - Atsuko made a joke, "Naoko... loves to be called COOL - it is more pleasing than cute!"

All together, 6 songs were performed from "Heavy songs"! It is better to perform all of those songs in a show - I think the "Live Show" is better than CD!

In talking to the crowd, it became about their tennis! Naoko said, "I want to challenge the senior section of Wimbledon and to play a match against Martina Navritalova!" After the show, they came out to the exit, in order to see their fans. If a fan asked Mana, who goes to the exit, "May I have one of your drum sticks?" She replies, "OK. Of course!" They were handshaking and signing the autographs for the fans about 40 minutes. We the guests were waiting in the hall there.

When they returned, Mana went to get a drum stick immediately for me. Hurray! Her stick was tattered! I had it autographed. It was the drumstick made by "Rikiya Higashihara", although the printing was disappearing. I said, "I have the same stick, so is this the Rikiya model??" Mana said, "No!No! my model!" ~ she erased it and wrote it as the "Mana model" personally. It is precious!

Naoko and Atsuko had many guests, but Mana was one person, so I talked a lot to Mana about 30 minutes. It was great chatting. She had said, "I was mistaken often in my drum playing today. My tension always went up, and it becomes difficult to "settle down".

I said, "You know that I am an enthusiastic professional baseball fan?" Mana is also a baseball fan since about last year. She lived in Osaka but was of Hiroshima birth, & a fan of the "Hiroshima Carp" and the "Hanshin (Osaka) Tigers" - (the same as me...) so she is the same regarding me as to her liking - a fan of these teams surely! I told her that I brought a radio with me, in order to hear the relay broadcast of baseball. She asked me soon "Which team won?". However, I was not able to listen to radio in the hall! I often buy weekly baseball magazines, & she said that she buys the sport newspaper almost every day.

Mana is a very professional drummer, and works often with seven bands concurrently, so she is very busy. She wrote these seven band names for me, on the set list paper:

*Shonen Knife
*Jesus Fever
*Music start against young assault
*Rashinban
*TEEM
*Partie
*CELL

She is working by the name of "China" in bands other than Shonen Knife. She will do (4) consecutive shows in Tokyo in September. Here is her schedule:

Sep21: Music start against young assault
Sep22: Jesus Fever
Sep23: TEEM/ at Shinjyuku live Space MARZ
Sep24: Shonen Knife (Warner Indies Presents 2002)/Shibuya On-Air West, Tokyo

Mana said that "TEEM" was her recommendation of the other bands, and she thinks that I will like them if I go to see them. She asked me, "What do you like Shonen Knife?" I was surprised - she knows well I am a long-time fan. She said that it was over two years and a half before, that she met with Shonen Knife, (after Michie retired.) I answered, "I like their simplicity and their melody." She had also said that Shonen Knife's melody is good!

Naoko, Atsuko and I talked about Universal Studios and Disney Sea (Japan) for a while. Their show this night was wonderful, and my conversation with them remains with me as happy impressions.

Here is the Set List from their performance! (90 min.)
Opening Theme - Mango Juice
1. Konnichiwa
2. Wild Life
3. Flying Jelly Attack
4. E.S.P.
5. Banana Chips
6. Orange Sun
7. Herbs
8. Boys (Vocal=Atsuko)
9. A Map Master
10. A.A.A.
11. Golden Years Of Rock 'n' Roll
12. Rubber Band
13. Mushroom Cut
14. What Ever
15. Heavy Song (karaoke)
16. Nya Nya
17. Brown Mushrooms
18. Bear Up Bison
19. Lazybone
20. Twist Barbie
21. Buttercup (I'm a super girl!)
22. Riding On The Rocket
23. Cobra Versus Mongoose

They did (3) encore songs!:
24. Sushi Bar Song
25. Daydream Believer
26. Antonio Baka Guy

KAPPA EXPRESS Report by:
PLKC Mamiko Nakagawa