I spent the first three hours of Sundays festivities unaccompanied & unhindered by companions, so I was able to view several groups that others may not have enjoyed.
I bumped into this young singer later in the day and when I complimented her on her voice, she almost doubled over in surprise and embarrassment.
I sat for an hour in this spot behind the Blues bands and observed several groups, and I must have heard Sweet Home Chicago about 5 times throughout the weekend.
Being strung along, was a very cool Bluegrass quintet.
Every time I walked by this particular corner, there was a different group of younguns playing strings. Everything from Bluegrass to Rockabilly to C&W. I never stuck around for long, but was always impressed.
Some saxy girls in kimono!
The ever-adorable Michiko joined me in time to witness... 
...Frustration starring a completely different Michiko, a former co-worker at Seiwa.
I also saw her last year in a smaller venue. She has this deep sultry Joplin-esque voice and should definitely cut a cd. (I offered to set her up with our sound guy, she wasn't interested. Go figure.)
We wandered up and down Jozenji Dori again eyeballing the arty-farty booths, only this time I picked up some goodies.
I got a couple of bizarre postcards that maybe I'll send to someone someday.
I treated some aspiring artist to a 100 yen when I picked up their self-published manga. A little amateurish, but it has potential.
I won this cd in a draw. It is pure pop-trash, but it is unique because it is sung by a Rakuten Eagles player. The cd is called, "スライダー" (Slider) and it has quickly slid to the bottom of my playlist.
I saw a couple of cute mutts and their dogs.
This unfortunate canine and its sibling are all the rage in Sendai. Their old fart owner enjoys dressing them up in humiliating outfits and parading them around these festivals for onlookers to scream "カワイイ" and take pictures. I personally loathe the guy and the way he treats his dogs as living dolls. Though I loathe the people who find their antics cute even more.
Cute & Coy. (Michiko, not me!)
We head back to the Blues venue in time to see Soul Addiction (I think??), whom we also saw last year and I also saw long ago.
Their show would not be complete without Smoke on the Water.
After that, Michiko & I went to Mediatheque to see another friend, Eri of Spiral. I've seen her several times before and may see her at an upcoming event as well.
Best legs of the weekend.
She started off with Sade's Kiss of Life, moved on to Mon Cherie d'Amour, a Bossa Nova version of Stairway to Heaven, a Japanese standard called, はなみずき, a far superior version of Smoke on the Water and ended with My Favourite Things. Somehow we hooked up with Dave & Miwa and grabbed a beer at Shaft. They had a pretty good DJ playing and a fairly lousy live band. We decided to cut out and head to Karaoke.
Michiko & Miwa trying not to cringe at Dave's rendition of Bowie.
Dave & Miwa singing a duet. It's always touching to see them so close.
My final song of the evening, Stray Cat Strut, before I strut off to catch the last bus.An excellent weekend all around! Thanks to all those who entertained me and to those of my friends whom I pretended to entertain!
No comments:
Post a Comment