"We are UZUHI! We play Music! We want to make you Happy!"
I am so glad that Amy Linthicum and I were able to say sayonara to NYC-based Japanese rock band Uzuhi ("oo-zoo-hee," the name means "sun" in Japanese)on their "United We Smile" Farewell US Tour, which stopped at Baltimore's Charm City Art Space (1731 Maryland Avenue) last night. The tour marks the end of Uzuhi's 10-year run playing music stateside with various lineups since forming in the Big Apple in the fall of 2004.
Uzuhi always take a picture of the audience at their shows; here's a shot showing the large turnout (pretty good for a Wednesday night!) at last night's gig, where they headlined a 4-band lineup that also included Dead End Lane, Clockbreaker, and The Street Parade:
Uzuhi singer Gosha took this photo of the audience at Charm City Art Space after their final Baltimore appearance on January 28, 2014
Singer Gosha (Takeyoshi Gosha Oba, a Curly Howard of Three Stooges clone) and keyboard-playing wife Tsubasa (Tsubasa Matsuda, who joined in 2007) had a baby and are returning to Tokyo on the "Island of Sushi" to carry on. Here's wishing them a great life back in Tokyo, where Tsubasa promises to keep making music while new dad Gosha will bring home the bacon (or sashimi) as a Salaryman.
Baby Uzuhi
As a musical concept, Uzuhi mixes punk-pop energy with unabashed sentimentality, a formula that successfully engages diverse and disparate people with its simple message: Smile, dance and be happy. It works - even the slam dancers last night were a respectful & happy lot. Uzuhi also believe that music has no borders, being able to transcend cultural and geographic differences to unite all people - especially young people who have not yet grown old and cynical (celebrated in songs like "This Is Our Generation" and "The Braves") - the world over with life's simple pleasures, which include love, dancing, eating, kids, and so on. Lyrically, their songs are not deep, but then a band that hopes for global appeal, regardless of language and beyond borders, must keep its message simple (as in their tune "S.O.S. - Simplicity of Satisfaction"). In a nutshell, that zeitgeist is "just do it," "go for it," "live your dream." As Gosha confided to the Charm City Art Space audience, he initially disappointed his father when he told him he wanted to come to the US and be a "rock star." But, he added, he got to live his dream, playing countless American cities and meeting and connecting "with all you out there, and making you smile."
At their best, Uzuhi channel the anthemic punk energy of Japan's Blue Hearts and the J-Pop cuteness of a Puffy or Shonen Knife. Keyboardist Tsubasa Matsuda is the glue that holds together the band's sound (which they call "Positive Pop Punk" and "Japanese Energetic Punk Rock for This Generation"), one hand playing the melody while another works the bass lines that anchor the pop-punk beat. Not that the other players - drummer Yukiyoshi Kurata and blue-haired guitar shredder A-Key (Takaaki Ando, who also plays guitar in Shinsei and bass in Harlots Vice)- aren't aces on their respective instruments. The original drummer (Shu) and guitar player have long since departed (the drummer returned to his native Miyagi Prefecture in Japan following the Fukajima earthquake-tsunami disaster of 2011), with Tsubasa and Gosha remaining the core (and spirit) of the band.
Uzuhi keyboardist Tsubasa bonds with Amy Linthicum at Charm City Art Space
Gosha's voice will never be compared to Freddie Mercury's, but like the Queen frontman, he is a charismatic stage presence, one whose humor and joie de vivre
cannot be denied. He's a fun and energetic guy, one who will suddenly
jump off stage to dance with the crowd and grab fans to come
onstage and sing with the band. As I said before, physically he reminds
me of Curly Howard of Three Stooges fame (especially since he shaved off all his hair), frenetically scooting across
the stage with whoops and hollers and always willing to play the clown. Resistance to Gosha's energy is futile. He's a force of positive vibes to be reckoned with!
Send in the Clowns: Me, Gosha & Chris Schatz @ Ottobar, September 2010
Tsubasa, Gosha & official mascot Peach Matsuda @ Sakura Matsuri festival
Amy loves what she calls Uzuhi's "broken but heartfelt English," as
evidenced in song titles like "Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smile" and "Dear
My Honki Friends." And new songs like "Kids Are the Future" from newbie
parents Gosha and Tsubasa are almost embarrassingly innocent and
wholesome for a band inspired by the Sex Pistols and punk rock - but
then that's what makes these guys and gal so appealing. They are
unabashedly positive and friendly in a jaded age of cynicism and irony.
Or, as (half-Asian) Amy says, "It's a Japanese thing to be kinda corny
about that sort of thing." (No wonder Japan is the land of kawaii, or
saccharine-sweet "cuteness.")
Amy and I first discovered Uzuhi when they played the April 10, 2010 Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Festival) in Washington, D.C.and have been fans ever since. We liked them so much, we caught them when they came to Baltimore for the first time (a great show with Peelander-Z) at the Ottobar in September 2010, as well as their return appearance at DC's 2011 Sakura Matsuri (alas, we missed them there in 2014 thanks to a bathroom malfunction!).
We will miss seeing Uzuhi, who leave behind two CDs worth checking out, 2008's self-titled Uzuhi (containing their best - and most complex - composition, "The Braves") and 2009's Ongaku (it means "music" in Japanese). Most of the set performed at Charm City Art Space came from Ongaku (theme song "Uzuhi," "This Is Our Generation," "S.O.S. - Simplicity of Satisfaction," "Pura Vida!," "Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smile").
51st Annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival Washington, D.C. - April 9, 2011 (11 am - 6 pm)
Welcome to pix and video from the 51st Annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival (aka the "Cherry Blossom Festival") in Washington, D.C. from April 9, 2011. As presented by the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. (www.sakuramatsuri.org), this year's theme - in the wake of Japan's tragic March 11, 2011 earthquake(s) and tsunami - was topically entitled "Stand With Japan." As the festival program guide stated, given that backdrop, "This year's Sakura Matsuri...is unlike any other because of the tragedy that befell Japan one month ago...We want the Japanese people to know that we stand with them at this time of great need. We hope you will support the efforts that are being made at Sakura Matsuri today to assist the relief and recovery effort in Japan."
One of those efforts was charging a first-ever $5 admittance fee to the festival, which it was a pleasure to pay (and a small pitance to pay considering all the good cheer and entertainment value on display between 9th and 14th Streets on Pennsylvania Avenue that day). There were also volunteers conducting fund-raising on the streets for the American Red Cross Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund, while the Bezos Family Foundation pledged to donate $2 for every origami paper crane made that day at the festival's Children's Corner tent.
That said, my girlfriend Amy and I eagerly returned to the Federal Triangle for our fourth consecutive Sakura Matsuri festival, joined this year by defacto Japan-America Society of Cockeysville chairman David Cawley - making his Cherry Blossom Festival bow in the nation's capital. It was the coldest Japanese Street Festival we've ever attended, and a shivering David Cawley later remarked that in hindsight he probably should have dressed warmer than just a polo short and his thin-cotton Ben Sherman jacket - but, in his words, "I always choose fashion over comfort!"
Dave "Fashionista" Cawley: "I don't care if I'm suffering from hypothermia and my lips are frozen - I look good, dammit!" (He wants you to notice his Ben Sherman jacket. So, please, do.)
He truly suffered for his sartorial splendor on this day, his head only mildly protected from the cold chill by a thin plastic (albeit officially licensed) Astro Boy (aka Tetsewan Atom) children's mask. He even had to forgo his usual iced coffee due to Mother Nature.
"I've had warmer earmuffs," Dave muses, his lobes protected by a paper-thin plastic kiddie mask
But before we got there, there was a slight hiccup at the New Carrollton Metro Station. Yes, it took all three of us - scratching our heads in utter confusion, frustration, and irritation (the traveler's trifecta) - and, finally, a very patient Metro Station Master taking pity on our special ed commuter skills before we got our tickets to board the train into D.C. and the street festival. Boy, if the SATs had a logic question asking how can three people with $20 dollars buy three round-trip tickets from New Carrollton Station to the Federal Triangle, we would have never passed and made it into college. Wait - we three all graduated from college and still couldn't figure it out (so much for a liberal arts education)! (Can you tell we weren't business or math majors? Can you tell Dave and I graduated from the esteemed suburban institute of higher yearning, Towson State?)
"Isn't riding the Metro romantic?" coos Amy
As we exited the Metro station and entered the Federal Triangle, Amy immediately was drawn to a festival merchandise booth ("Ooooo, t-shirts!") while Dave became entranced by the sight of an Asian woman singing along to a bossa nova beat on the concert stage opposite us.
Bossa Nova Band at the Japanese Street Festival
Upon closer inspection, we saw that the woman had a Chinese name, but Dave insisted she was singing in a Japanese accent. A Brazilian musical genre interpreted by a Chinese chanteusse with a Nipponese twist? Whatever...it worked! The music was quite enjoyable!
The Girl from Ipanema: Shanghaied and Turning Japanese
But this was mere foreplay for the true fest, which takes place on Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 14th Street:
Walking in the festival proper, Dave was right in his element as the first site he espied was none other than his beloved green-skinned kaiju eiga, Gojira, guarding the festival. And not just one Godzilla, but two!
The King of Monsters and his doppleganger
Godzilla takes pity on Japan's recent woes and settles for teething on an airplane (which he later donated to Southwestern Airlines)
"Whatever you do," Amy pleaded as we passed kiosks hawking Japanese-styled clothing and women's accessories, "Don't let me look at bags! Keep me away from them because I'll be too tempted!"
Needless to say, Amy bought a new bag. I blame myself: I helped pick it out. But it was way cool and the vendor, Chikako Mukai of Chikako Designs, is way nice. (Ladies, be sure to check out her Facebook page as well.) This lovely and talented designer from Boston always has the coolest bags on display at the festival; Chikako's hand-sewn bags demonstrate the Japanese art of temari - an ornamental, embroidered ball of wrapped thread. (Not to be confused with Temari - a supporting character in the anime/manga series Naruto!)
New Bag To Amy: "Resistance Is Futile!"
Amy also got a new hat, but I take total blame for that - because I bought it for her! I figured, if you gotta go gray, you better go gray with style!
Amy's "Hello Mousey" hat capped off her sartorial splendor
For his part, Dave also picked up a hat, as he eventually wound up wearing his Astro Boy mask as a backward-styled cap, much to the amusement of passersby.
"Oh, it's you": Punk rock chick was disappointed when Astro Boy turned around
Apparently, the backward mask was the prevailing style of the day.
This man re-purposed his traditional Japanese mask as a yamulke
Amy made sure she stopped by the International Shinto Foundation's tent so she could pass through the shrine gate, ring the wishing bell and say a prayer for Japan, ancestral home of her mother: "Kyushu Kimi" Davis.
Amy says her prayers...
...and give thanks
Amy takes these rites rather seriously, and not as just a touristy photo op. In fact, she was so emotional, she got all vaclempt and teared up afterwards. Did I mention she's a Cancer? Very emo! (But that's why I adore her; she's a sincere, caring, self-effacing woman.)
For the record, this is how one prays at a Shinto Shrine:
We walked past the lots of visually arresting costumed fans and street festival participants...
Orange you glad you came?
Speaking of orange, we spotted Carrot Top in cosplay gear
Personally, I thought the girl in the yellow rain slicker had the coolest costume!
This brave hottie wore a miniskirt!
...and even ran into Dave Cawley's lifelong pal (and ertswhile "quit hogging the bedspread!" *roommate*) Andy Dolan.
Andy and Dave
Dave used to play in a pop-punk band called Berserk, whose records and CDs featured cover art by Andy, an award-winning graphic designer.
Andy had a very astute observation about all the colorful costumes on display on Pennsylvania Avenue that day: "Have you noticed that these anime/manga fans are like the new Dragons & Dungeons Set?" Spot on, sir!
We finally wended our way down to the J-Pop stage, where - after first enduring the painfully lame audience repartee and charmless wit of two dorky Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. emcees - we encountered Reni Mimura, the Cosplay cutie who also performed here last year.
The J-Pop Stage presents: Reni Mimura
Reni Mimura on J-Pop Stage
The New York City-based Reni Mimura specializes in Moe-style performance, a genre that emphasizes the cute look of Japanese pop culture and the hip appeal of Japanese animation/manga series like Sailor Moon and Evangelion. “Moe” (pronounced like Mo-eh), which started in Akihabara, Tokyo, is the term Otaku fanboys and girls use to express the happy feeling they experience when they see a cute anime/manga girl or pop idol. (Unfortunately, I learned that it has absolutely nothing to do with Moe Howard, the "cute" Alpha Stooge of Les Stooges Trois.) Otaku boys get especially "e-Moe" when they see their fictional girl idols wearing maid uniforms. (Well, I got news for the Otaku boys - it doesn't get any cuter than Sexy French Maid outfits in real life either!) Good thing Reni Mimura and her hoofer gal pals wore compression shorts under those high-rise maid skirts on Saturday - it was a bone-chilling day!
Reni Mimura shows off her athletic legs (me likey!)
Reni heads off to sign autographs
Reni signing autographs
The J-Pop Stage presents: Uzuhi
Uzuhi on J-Pop Stage
Like their fellow Big Apple compatriot Reni Mimura, NYC-based Japanese pop-punkers Uzuhi were so popular when they debuted at the 2010 Sakura Matsuri J-Pop Stage, they were invited back for a repeat performance today! This year was much chillier temperature-wise, but the audience and Uzuhi warmed each other up. It's fitting, because "Uzuhi" translates into English roughly as "light" or "sunshine" (in fact, I now always sing "I got uzuhi on a rainy day" whenever I hear The Temptations song "My Girl").
These guys (and gal) are so cheerful and uplifting! As we passed by the J-Pop Stage before they went on, keyboard player Tsubasa and singer Gosha recognized us - they remembered us from their Ottobar show in Baltimore last year - and gave us a hug. Tsubasa remembered Amy in particular because after Amy ordered a t-shirt from the band's web site (my Valentine's present!), Tsubasa sent her a Valentine's Day card, candy, and this sticker:
Amy is a big fan of what she calls Uzuhi's "broken but heartfelt English," as evidenced in song titles like "Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smile" and "Dear My Honki Friends." In fact, after their DC appearance, Uzuhi sent out a typical thank you on their Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Uzuhi/22872071530): "Dear our New Friends from Sakura Matsuri and Sakura Sunday! Arigato very much for all of your Sweet Lovely Chocolate Smiles :)"
Uzuhi always take a picture of the audience at their concerts. Here's the one from Sakura Matsuri 2011. Can you spot me, Amy, and Dave Cawley in the teeming minions? (Hint: I'm wearing a hat!)
Uzuhi say: "You are the music, we're just the band!"
I think this was a new song. Oh, by the way, they had a stand-in drummer this time, because regular Uzuhi drummer Shu was stuck back home in Japan...no wonder singer Gosha took time out to talk about how the recent tragic events in Japan (earthquake, tsunami, meltdown, etc.) were an opportunity to bond together globally...as human beings in this thing together!
The song performed above is "This Is Our Generation" from Uzuhi's 2009 CD Ongaku ("Music"). To which Amy adds: "This band is fierce! I was put on an emotional roller coaster as singer Gosha went from delivering a heartfelt message about the tragedy in Japan to totally rocking out on "This is Our Generation." About 5:20 into the clip you can see me grooving along." (And also at the 7:38 mark, Amy groove-spotters!)
This was their opening number, their theme song "Uzuhi," which perfectly illustrates their hybrid of hard rock and cutesy fun elements. It's from their 2009 Ongaku ("Music") CD. It's followed by two more songs from Ongaku: "Boy" and "Pura Vida!".
More Uzuhi concert pix:
Gosha sez: "Who called me Curly?"
Katsuragi chording
Shy Tsubasa hides behind her bunny pal, Peaches
"I repeat: Who called me Curly???"
"All of me, why not take all of me?" Gosha sings
***
After watching Uzuhi, we reconnoitered at the Children's Corner tent with Dave's pal Andy, who was now joined by his wife Kathy and their talented young daughter, Caroline.
Dave, Andy, Caroline, and Kathy
We set off for food and found it at the booth where Satoko, the wife of Amy's cousin Richard Best, was dispensing udon noodles. Warmed up by the soup, we headed back to the J-Pop Stage to catch the tail end of a performance by Pink - a group of girls who love Japanese fashion and "para para" (line) dancing.
Pink sez: "We got the beat!"
Pink sends out a wink
Then we watched a "kendo" (Japanese fencing) demonstration by the Northern Virginia Budokai Kendo Club. Kendo is a physical, philosophical, and psychological discipline that's supposed to "strengthen and enoble" its practitioners. Amy and I liked they way the kendo kids gave out these loud shouts and bellows whenever they struck each other; it reminded me of The Three Stooges.
"Aiiiiiiiieeeee!"
"Aaaaaccckkkkk!"
"Hiiiii- yaaaaah!"
While Dave - who once trained with the Cockeysville Fencing Club (where he attained a "Gay Blade" ranking), looked on...
"I can do that," huffed an unimpressed Dave Cawley
...I made sure I was nice to Kathy, because she told me her uncle was a kendo master swordsman back in Japan.
Then we returned to the Children's Corner tent, where whiz kid Caroline made origami gifts for all of us.
When I mentioned how the "Director's Cut" ending of Ridley Scott's cult movie Bladerunner featured a very significant unicorn origami, Caroline took up the challenge and presented us with a yellow unicorn.
Either that's a unicorn - or Caroline's giving us the finger!
Dave wanted her to make him origami earmuffs, but contented himself with his Astro Boy mask.
Now besides knowing Japanese and how to make origami, Caroline was also a wunderkid when it came to playing the Asian game of Go. The game is played with black and white stone pieces that look like Mentos mints. Caroline challenged Dave to a match and, while Dave trash-talked the child about how he was going to "annihilate" her, we watched instead as a giggling Caroline humiliated "The Old Master" in game after game - as easily as child's play!.
"You lose again!" giggled Caroline
"This time I'll concentrate - and annihilate her!" vows Dave
"Hee-hee-hee," taunts Caroline. "You lose again!"
In fact, only the festival's 6 o'clock closing time prevented Caroline from racheting up double digits in the win column and inflicting more humiliation on Dave! Even Reni Mimura's backup singers stopped by to laugh at the lopsided battle of wits between this cunning child and her unarmed adult opponent.
"He's really bad, isn't he?" Reni Mimura's backup singers agree, as they watch Dave lose yet another game of Go to a small child
Game over, it truly was time to *Go* and we made our exit to head back to Baltimore. And so went another Japanese Street Festival. See you next year, Cherry Blossoms - hopefully under better conditions for your ancestral home, Japan!
