Tokyo Round Two - The Big Finale

First off, apologies. We clearly are no longer writing this from Japan. I had planned to write this a few days after getting back, but since we actually still had to do Kyoto and Yamaguchi's posts and I've recently started work, it's not quite happened. But our second time in Tokyo is definitely worth mentioning, and then some!

The first day in Tokyo was gig day, and the venue was ERA in Shimokitazawa. Whilst it may seem odd that both of our Tokyo gigs were in Shimokitazawa district (the first being at Three), Shimokitazawa is the live music district in Tokyo, and hence it was great to play there twice. As usual, gig day was dominated solely by musical endeavours. In this instance, the time was taken up by a practice in ERA's practice rooms with Fumi to finalise our collaboration with her on our song 'Imprint'. Fumi had been hard at work on her parts since Yamaguchi, even falling asleep at her laptop one evening and had come up with some fantastic stuff. The practice was therefore mainly spent sorting out technical issues, and once we got to playing, everything fell into place.

Fumi's hard work pays off in soundcheck

Mellow melodies from Sur

We then carted our gear up two floors in the cramped lift to our soundcheck, and then went for lunch - Italian! We'd made it so close to home without resorting to proper Western food... but it was glorious. The pasta was delicious! After this we wandered back in time for the first band, called Sur. Sur's music mixed jazz and folktronica with a pop aesthetic to keep the songs honest and structured, and the result was a really nice, chilled vibe. The musicians had previously played together in a rock band, illustrating their versatility as musicians. In fact their last gig at ERA had been a number of years ago in this band, which the singer said meant that a few members of the audience got very confused when they started playing in a totally different genre!

His Wednesday actually practice on Wednesdays

Sur were followed by His Wednesday, who had some post rock influences but more accurately recalled alternative/indie bands like Death From Above 1979, plus the occasional use of some Daft Punk-esque vocoder/talkbox effects. Finally, Anrietta provided a fitting segway into our set, providing a formula that sounds on paper identical to ours (guitar-based post rock with female vocals) but proving different enough for us to complement each other well. The band's dynamic range extended into their stage presence as well, as they built from introverted shoegazing to all out rocking.

Blue Fumi

Red Fumi

Anrietta

As for our set, it was probably our best performance of the tour. We opened with our collab with Fumi, for which a video should appear soon, before playing Number 3 and Phineas Gage (thereby fulfilling our promise at our first Tokyo gig that we would play a completely different set - and probably our darkest set as well). Over half of the audience, it transpired, were actually there to see us - a very humbling experience and one that made us feel like the tour had definitely been a success.

Mike and Anrietta at the ERA afterparty

After we finished, there was the requisite afterparty, with the usual rounds of 'kanpai!'s. We were also really happy to see that 3/4s of our friends Sgt. had come to the gig, who as usual dominated the party, shouting what we could only assume was light abuse at ERA's manager and seemingly scaring Anrietta's unassuming singer. We then drove back to the hostel with Yuka's friend Shintaro before heading out again for a meal and more beer - finally finding somewhere in the early hours of the morning.

Decisions, decisions...

The morning after we groggily drove back to Yuka's house from the hostel to drop off the band gear. Then we (minus Mike, who had a stomach bug... poor Mike) took the train into Tokyo, back to ERA, for another gig! TIMNS are musical maniacs after all... this time we weren't playing, but had come to see Fumi's boyfriend's band, Chiina. The few objectives of the day (get home, unpack van, figure out our way into Tokyo, etc) had all taken longer than expected and so we had to grab some snacks for dinner from a nearby Lawson and smuggle them into the venue in order to make sure we were there in time to see Chiina, who were on first. This was undeserved - the musicianship of the band was superb, and their energy and obvious happiness on stage was uplifting. Adam described Chiina's music as 'pop music by classically-trained musicians', and this was accurate - most of the members of the band (composed of vocals/keys, double bass, violin, drums and bass/guitar) were teachers of their respective instruments.

The night's lineup was a special label-specific night, but despite this, the three bands on all sounded very different. After Chiina were a fairly standard but nevertheless fun punky rock band, whose primary purpose seemed to be to rock out as much as possible (and why not?) After this came the headliners, who sadly will not be named for two reasons: firstly, I've forgotten their name, and secondly they were... well... a bit rubbish. Lacking both musicianship and energy, both of their support bands completely outclassed them; although we did have fun trying to guess the percentage of the frontman's waking life was/is spent on hair maintenance. We therefore decided to call it a night halfway through their set, and so we said goodbye to Fumi and headed back home to try and get a good night's sleep before our final day in Tokyo as a band.

The following day saw us make the long slog through town to return the van. With that done, with no penalties for scratches or any other damage despite a thorough search by the rental guys (far more thorough than their initial tour round the vehicle when they gave it to us, we might add... strange, that), we headed into the centre and spent the day browsing the music shops of Ochanomizu. Whilst we were all very tempted to make a final big blow to our already crippled bank balances by grabbing yummy second hand instrument deals, we managed to resist and instead treated ourselves to a coffee and cake.

Weird and wonderful instruments in Ochanomizu

Heading for the fireworks festival

We then headed back towards Chiba for a fireworks show of epic proportions. The streets were lined with people all rushing to get to the banks of the river whilst the fireworks exploded overhead. It was particularly hard for the big eaters of the group (naming no names) to avoid the plethora of food vendors tempting us with their culinary smells on our way, but the sights were worth it:

After the display we wandered back and filled our stomachs with food and beer. A couple of octopi's worth of takoyaki was consumed. The following photos were taken at some point during the evening although where I'm not quite sure:

Our tour had finally come to an end, and it was with teary eyes we said good-bye to Fumi for the last time. Well, hopefully not for good! And she gave us all presents! I love presents. Thanks for a great tour Fumi!

The following morning Mike, Dave and Non headed for the airport for their (thankfully uneventful) flights home, and the TIMNS touring machine split and went its separate ways. We'd like to thank everyone we met on the road, everyone who came to see us play, and all the other people we met. Forgive the clichés, but the tour wouldn't have been the same without you! Obviously. There would have been nobody there if those two people groups were taken out...

TIMNS will be back with new material/new gigs back home shortly. Sadly I (Dave) am leaving the band to start work in London, and hence if you are a drummer (or know of a drummer) who is interested in filling the space, please get in touch with the band! It's great fun I can tell you :-)

Thanks for reading about our adventures!

Much TIMNS love,

Dave & TIMNS

Work and Play in Kyoto

Cultural sightseeing in Kyoto(!)

Finding parking in Kyoto was a manic experience to say the least - the venue, Whoopee's, was right on a main street and in stark contrast to the almost-invisible-from-the-outside Organ's Melody. Whoopee's was also massive inside, but with a very bizarre layout with a triangular stage facing 45 degrees away from the main standing area of the venue. The lineup for the evening was good - mainly math-rock bands, but with sounds not a million miles away from our own. Sadly though, the size of the venue meant that a good atmosphere never really arose - a big shame after such a warm, intimate vibe from Yamaguchi the night before. Nevertheless, we felt that our performance was one of our best on the tour so far. Special mention should go to Sow, a young band from Osaka who had only been playing together for 6 months, but whose tight and energetic performance suggested a far more established act.

The (slightly odd) stairway down to Whoopee's

Fumi rocking the house

We were lucky to have Yoshi, a friend of Adam's, offer us a place to stay for our next few nights in Kyoto, so we made tracks to his house right after the gig. Yoshi's newly-renovated house was sparklingly clean, and a brilliant mix of traditional Japanese styles - tatami flooring and the like - and modern Japan, including remote controls for everything, including the oven and even the bath (allowing one to set the temperature of the water whilst still upstairs)!

The steps up to Kiyomizu-Dera

Kiyomizu-Dera

Ceremonial washing at Kiyomizu-Dera

We spent the next two days sightseeing around Kyoto, utilising the extensive bus system. The buses was a welcome break for drivers Dave and Mike, although at times they seemed to crawl along at a snail's pace. The first day we visited Kiyomizu-Dera, a wooden temple/shrine with beautiful views over the city. The site was an odd mix of serene altars and shrine buildings, and touristy stalls selling good luck charms for traffic safety and curing relationship woes.

Nutritious snacks

Also available: 'Deepen Relationship' for 1,000 yen. An indication that finding love is easier than keeping it?!

After wandering around the place we hopped on the bus again to the Philosopher's path, a scenic walk beside a small canal, lined with tea shops and cicada-filled trees, and ending with the entrance to a beautiful palace called Ginkaku-ji. This so-called silver palace was originally the house of Yoshimasa Ashikaga, and boasts perfectly sculpted lawns of sand, and a network of ponds and streams amongst manicured trees and bushes. Like the rest of the shrines and palaces we visited in Kyoto, visitors are not allowed inside the buildings themselves, but the visual experience of the gardens easily makes up for this.

The entrance to the Philosopher's Path

Sand garden in Ginkaku-ji

View overlooking Ginkaku-ji

The following day, we visited the 'modest' (Mike's words) golden palace 'Kinkaku-ji' - the pad (Adam's words) of Yoshimitsu Ashikaga. Overlooking a large pond, this dazzling structure and its grounds were apparently where Yoshimitsu would attempt to gain peace - seemingly whilst an army of workers tended the trees and shrubs that appeared even more extremely manicured than that of Ginkaku-ji. We then hopped on a bus to Arashiyama, a lovely district divided by a wide, lazy river, for yet another green tea ice cream cone and some lunch. It wasn't Adam's day as he managed to spill his cone down his t-shirt and then have an episode (best described with the video re-enactment below) with an unnecessarily powerful water fountain when cleaning himself up.

At the Golden Palace

Yoshimitsu was a fan of treehouses

Yuka by the river at Arashiyama

Watching the boats from the bridge

Fun with the water fountain - well done to Non for not taking the bait!

After lunch we got in the van and headed out on our last long journey of the tour back to Tokyo, arriving in the late evening to check in to our hostel. For once, absolutely nothing of note happened during the journey - it seems that after three weeks on the road, we have finally tamed our unreliable satnav (earlier named Miho, apparently a common name for prostitutes in Japan, for her constant disobedience)!

Yamaguchi

After looking round the Peace Museum in Hiroshima we headed straight for Yamaguchi for a dinner date with Little Phrase, the headline band we played with the following night. Taka(guitars/keys/vocals) and Tatsuya (drums) took us to a tiny restaurant that was more like someone's flat, up a fire escape off the main streets of town. One benefit of touring is definitely being invited out of the tourist traps! The restaurant specialised in organic food and beer, and it became clear why Little Phrase were regulars - the walls were lined with rows and rows of CDs (including Little Phrase's own album on display on the counter) and the owner happily played us recommendations throughout the night. Broken conversations about the universal nature of music, of Little Phrase's influences in Western bands (and hence their decision to sing in English themselves) were the theme of the evening.

The following day we met up with Taka and Tatsuya again at Yamaguchi University, who had managed to blag us a slot in their practice rooms. This was the first of our collaboration attempts with Fumi, a reworking of our song 'Imprint'. The session was sadly dogged by technological issues, but was nevertheless fruitful helping us clarify the sound we were aiming for, and the steps needed to get there. We then rushed to lunch and then to soundcheck.

The intimate Organ's Melody in Yamaguchi

The venue itself, Organ's Melody, was the smallest venue we played at on the tour; according to Taka, it is also the only music venue in Yamaguchi. What it lacked in size, it made up for in character - lanterns hanging from the ceiling and carpets lining the walls. Even by the time the first band came on the place was fairly full, and by the time we came on the place was packed. We took to the stage after a rather confusing (but enjoyable) act which involved dancing, spoken word passages, a drum machine, and a man wearing a lampshade on his head.

Would you like to see more lampshade wearing at TIMNS shows? Please send all comments/suggestions to normal.state.band@gmail.com

Despite worries that our music might have been 'too large' for the venue(!) we had a good response, and then eagerly awaited Little Phrase's set. Their music, a combination of post-rock/ambient elements with an indie rock attitude, translated well live. The indie side was provided by Taka, looking like he was born on the stage, and Tatsuya, thrashing the drums with gusto. This was contrasted by Taka's brother Tosh (guitar/vocals) and bassist Fumitaka's more laid back presence; they provided beautifulswirling guitar drones and imaginative basslines to complete the sound.

Tosh and Fumitaka of Little Phrase

Action Shot

After the gig we headed to a nearby restaurant for another round of shared plates of food similar to our experience after the Kokura gig, as well as beers for the majority and calpis (a freshing, milky soft drink) for the designated drivers. Sadly, we had to leave early - an 8 hour slog to Kyoto in order to arrive for our soundcheck at 2pm awaited us the next morning.