Asakusa Natsu no Yomatsuri

Last night we went to Asakusa to see Tomovsky play a free outdoor live show as part of the Asakusa Summer Night Festival series.

Asakusa is a part of Tokyo that I hadn't been to yet, so we had to get in a little sightseeing before the show. Here is Akiko in front of the Kaminarimon, the "Thunder Gate" entrance to the Sensoji temple (the largest temple in Tokyo).

The concert was right on the banks of the Sumida river, across from the famous Asahi building designed to look like a glass of beer, and the even more famous Asahi building with the golden turd on top. There was a big O-bon festival happening on the other side of the river, which caused a few gripes from the performers about having to compete against the noise level, but I thought it added a touch of flavor to hear the Japanese folk music off in the distance between songs.

It was a decent sized crowd (maybe 150 people by the end of the night), mostly young people, but with a few families and seniors as well. The show started out with two adorable elementary school girls doing an overly sexualized hip-hop dance number. I can't remember their name of their act, but I'm pretty sure it was Japanese for Sparkle Motion.

Next up was Matsuzaki Nao, a singer-songwriter I wasn't familiar with. She played piano and guitar, with the standard rock accompaniment of guitar, bass, and drums. Solid melodies, a lovely voice, and a charming stage presence. I couldn't help but smile every time she finished a song and turned to bow to her drummer, or raised her arms in the air with a little Power Rangers-inspired flourish. She won me over enough that I shelled out the 3,000 yen for a signed copy of her new album, even though I've been doing my best to curb my CD buying impulses and stick to the libraries and CD rental stores.

And finally, the main event. I was excited to see Tomovsky (aka Ohki Tomoyuki) play live - I've been a fan since back in '98 when my friend Mitch first turned me on to him. His music has a very Beatles-inspired indie pop sensibility, full of catchy hooks and playfully immature lyrics. He used to be signed to Epic/Sony, and even released a single in the US back in '99, but now he puts out most of his stuff on his own Famires label. I've never quite understood why he hasn't achieved bigger commercial success.

Tomovsky was scheduled to start at 8:15, and he actually took the stage a little early. You could tell he was a bit drunk, and he admitted that he had enjoyed a few glasses of "Denki Buran" (electrified brandy) at the Kamiya bar (the oldest Western style bar in Tokyo, and one of the event sponsors) before the show. He wore a bandage on one side of his face, apparently covering a mysteriously swollen cheek muscle (he said he'd been to four different doctors and no one could tell him what was wrong). He played a solo set - just him and his guitar, with a mic taped to the floor of the stage that he would step on for a low-budget kick drum effect. For a few songs he relied on a mini-disc player for the backing music, and he jokingly apologized for the karaoke-like nature of the performance.

There was no need for apologies, though. It was an amazing show, with an energetic vibe, funny stage banter, and a clearly enthusiastic audience. He played lots of older material, and a few new songs from his more recent albums that I haven't been able to track down yet. After last night, I'm even more excited to get back out there and start looking.