First Friday Early Returns
Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 5:07AM So last night post-gig, Mr Jason, Ms Ryoko and I went off to Sorobol to debrief each other on what had turned out to be a most wondrous collective performance at HISAM. Everyone in attendance went home happy, having experienced the mutual exchange of energy between band and audience that kept accumulating throughout the evening. Ms Ryoko debuted her new synth, complete with a "shehnai" sound that brought our rendition of Uncle Marty's "Cobra" into deepest Swami World with equally deep timbral satisfaction. On several occasions, her clever soloing brought spontaneous bursts of appreciative applause, much to her apparent surprise, but not to ours. She is, truly, our Secret Weapon.
We could not find adequate words to describe how the unique singing of Ms Starr has refreshed the show. She is a natural commander of attention just by stepping on a stage, whatever the context. And then she sings. Man, does she ever sing. Zing! Case in point -- our pal Gary, who has followed the meanderings of the band for almost a decade now, declares that Starr now officially owns "Bamboozled." And her Annie-Rossian, laconic take on one of my favorite numbers, the wistful whimsical ballad written by Nelson Hiu entitled "Sweet and Sour," was the personal highlight of my evening. Thoughout, Jason, Jon and Lopaka all jumped in with unflagging energy, and of course, Alaana and Capella danced delightfully alluringly. Can you imagine how lucky-to-live-Hawaii I feel at this moment?
Oh yeh, Sorobol. I joined Jason and Ryoko mid-nosh at the sushi bar, Jason already having made fast friends with knife-wielding Kevin-from-Korea at tend. We talked, we joshed, we ate, we drank. On the stroke of midnight, the elated trio we made collectively stumbled out into the warm Kee'aumoku pomaika'i, Kevin's judicious choices of fish parts, deft sushi assembly, and sad tale of estranged wife and son echoing in our tummies and ears. Indeed, bubbling their inexorable ascents up our esophagi were the very tastiest of hamachi-wasabi-and-sake burpage, erupting in our mouths in a most satisfying and a-propos encore to the post-gig munch.
Mahalo to all and aloha. I love you and am humbled.
Ovah an' out
Perry
Reader Comments (2)
Jason, it just occurred to me that "Kevin" (did Koreans of 35 years ago actually name their sons "Kevin"?), doing that sudden dark turn, showed the same emotion-flip rhythm that happen in the Korean soaps roughly once every 3 minutes or so. Would that we had Hai Jung with us to confirm my suspicion. Sigh.
It was sooooo much fun gig @ First Friday Show!! I really enjoyed playing my new toy "Motif XS6". Everybody sounded so great!!! I can't wait for the next Don Tiki gig. (Sorobol was interesting too.....)
ARIGATO!! (Thank you in Japanese)