Sakura and Shamisens: A Weekend Update
Saturday: Went to Tenri, near the Nara area for "Religion in Japan" class about Tenrikyo. It was very interesting learning about it. The student association had a small festival too, so that was fun. The sakura were in bloom there, so I took photos. To get to the main Tenrikyo headquarters, you go through Tenri's biggest shopping arcade. There were so many shamisens, kotos, and so many souveiners. Sadly, most of it is food, so it wouldn't be able to last until June when I go back home.
I will have photos up later once I catch my breath. @_@ And yes, for all you Reborn fans, I sang "Sakura Addiction" semi out loud as I took photos. XD
Sunday: YOSHIDA BROTHERS CONCERT!!!!!!
The concert was part of a national tour in honor of their 10th Anniversary going mainstream, and was set in the Shiga prefecture. Took more than hour to get there from Kyoto, but it was well worth it. We honestly thought we weren't gonna make it, yet we got there an hour early. O_O
My friends and I originally had balconey tickets, but the concert apparently shoved everyone on the first floor. So we sat in the middle row to the right side. One of my friends is in a wheelchair, so she got to sit FRONT ROW. We were probably the only young and foreign people there. No really, most of the audience was middle-age to elderly. XD
Words cannot express how beautiful that concert was. They had a guitar, bass, keyboard, a shakuhachi (bamboo flute), drums, AND FOUR backup shamisen players! I recognized many of the songs they played. Everything was perfect from the lightining to the sound. The live version of "Rising" and "Koudou" was breath taking. For "Tsugaru Jyongara Bushi", it was just the two brothers, but their solos were fucking awesome. The way their hands move is just incredible to see it in person. Everyone was clapping constantly as they played.
There were some people who left early, but man did they miss out. They played an extra FOUR songs. One was "Fuujin (Wind God)", and the others were rock and funk based songs. If we weren't sitting so close to the security guards, I would've snuck in an audio recording of it.
Also got the other CD they released this year along with their "Prism" album. It's all their collaborations with other artists. If anyone wants either album, tell me so I can upload them on mediafire.
So we get back to Kyoto at around 10pm, and quickly eat at the station. Yay for Italian food. I came back to the Seminar House half an hour ago, and I freaked because I didn't have my keys on me. The gates closed an hour before I arrived, so I had to call my roommate to let me. ^^;;
I will have photos up later once I catch my breath. @_@ And yes, for all you Reborn fans, I sang "Sakura Addiction" semi out loud as I took photos. XD
Sunday: YOSHIDA BROTHERS CONCERT!!!!!!
The concert was part of a national tour in honor of their 10th Anniversary going mainstream, and was set in the Shiga prefecture. Took more than hour to get there from Kyoto, but it was well worth it. We honestly thought we weren't gonna make it, yet we got there an hour early. O_O
My friends and I originally had balconey tickets, but the concert apparently shoved everyone on the first floor. So we sat in the middle row to the right side. One of my friends is in a wheelchair, so she got to sit FRONT ROW. We were probably the only young and foreign people there. No really, most of the audience was middle-age to elderly. XD
Words cannot express how beautiful that concert was. They had a guitar, bass, keyboard, a shakuhachi (bamboo flute), drums, AND FOUR backup shamisen players! I recognized many of the songs they played. Everything was perfect from the lightining to the sound. The live version of "Rising" and "Koudou" was breath taking. For "Tsugaru Jyongara Bushi", it was just the two brothers, but their solos were fucking awesome. The way their hands move is just incredible to see it in person. Everyone was clapping constantly as they played.
There were some people who left early, but man did they miss out. They played an extra FOUR songs. One was "Fuujin (Wind God)", and the others were rock and funk based songs. If we weren't sitting so close to the security guards, I would've snuck in an audio recording of it.
Also got the other CD they released this year along with their "Prism" album. It's all their collaborations with other artists. If anyone wants either album, tell me so I can upload them on mediafire.
So we get back to Kyoto at around 10pm, and quickly eat at the station. Yay for Italian food. I came back to the Seminar House half an hour ago, and I freaked because I didn't have my keys on me. The gates closed an hour before I arrived, so I had to call my roommate to let me. ^^;;