Foothill Show!

Made it through the Foothill show. Except for a couple hiccups here and there, I think we did a splendid job. And my Dad made it! He drove all the way up from LA and was there in time to watch the show! Here are some pics:

This is us at the beginning of Matsuri. I love this shot. Aren't we a sexy quartet?
And this is me, busting my gut during my Matsuri solo. In the future, I think busting a gut should look a little more genki, and a little less like I want to bust the drum.

And then there was Kai to Ryu, the bane of my existence. It's a really complicated song that makes no sense musically. You can't practice it with a metronome because the song doesn't fall into the right places. I don't know how to describe it. It's really difficult. You have to just clear your mind and play the song and if someone messes up, you have to completely ignore them and hope that they can lock into you sometime later. I really blew it for the Aiko show with Emeryville. I phased a line that shouldn't have been phased, and that just threw everyone off into trainwreck. I will never live that down. But we've been practicing it since last summer, and we finally pulled it off, in performance. Maybe there is redemption. I developed an annoying trick of singing the crazy Kai to Ryu song out loud. At the last rehearsal (where we played on covered drums) Bean was like, Do you always say it aloud like that? Yes, why yes I do. I found that I can completely clear my mind of all the little things that can completely distract you if I just say it aloud (believe me, any little thought about anything can completely ruin the song). Anyhow. Here we are:And this is us performing Elegua, which is a Cuban song with singing, bell, chekere and taiko. The only time that I've ever said that I wouldn't do something for taiko is when Janet asked if I would sing Elegua. No freakin way! I come from a long line of really horrible singers and I just see no reason to flaunt this genetic flaw on stage. That's what that Idol show is for, and I'm pretty sure I'd make it on the best-of-the-worst show if I started singing. I know my limitations, yo. This song leads into Three Rivers--which was the triple percussion thing I was stressing about. It went fine. Me and Carolyn were groovin' on our percussion. And the best part of the whole performance--audience participation. I pointed out my Dad in the audience to Bean before the show and I was like: can you get that old guy with the beard to come up for the drum roll? He was a great sport. Check out his kata. We could make a great Odaiko player out of him.
I think we did a great job. It was really nice to get a repertoire together, work on it, and work towards a goal. Our next goals are some shows in June and July that will help celebrate the grand opening of the new space. Until then, I'd really like to work on kata and technique. Lots of work, always.