We brought in Iwami no Kaze to perform at the Sac Taiko anniversary concert and dragged them along with to perform at SFTD’s 39th annual ITF at the Yerba Buena center the following day.
That was a bit of crazy fun.
We also took them to see Muir Woods and we had a picnic lunch on Muir Beach on our way to a workshop for Sonoma County Taiko.
After the workshop we ended up at a brewpub so they could have the *Burger & Fries* experience, and then we got them back to SFO the following morning so they could all go back and on to their next gigs.
It was a real treat having them perform Ebisu-Mai, and it was also quite magnificent to have Kimura Shunsuke here playing Shinobue and Tsugaru shamisen.
Sac’s 18th was a rockin’ good show. One of our best in a good long while. Sadly we didn’t quite break even, despite a reasonable amount of coverage in the local press (we were up against two huge local Asian American-centric fundraisers), but even still, not sure how we could have gotten more folks to see this particular show without a huge PR outlay, which we can ill afford.
The saddest part was, even though in some ways it was a big audience for the performers (Iwami no Kaze is often used to performing for much smaller audiences and even once had a show with only one audience member), more people didn’t see them perform. It was magnificent. Stunning, even.
Granted the economy isn’t in the greatest shape, but our advance sale ticket price was equivalent to a movie, popcorn and a soda. This is great on the one hand because it’s *affordable* but it also means we don’t attract the type of audience that is more used to paying $40-60 or even $80+ (which is the level of artistry Iwami no Kaze certainly brought to the stage…and honestly, Sac Taiko was in rare form that evening, too…it was a great show).
Part of the equation is how consistent we are as an organization and ensemble in what we are actively doing in the community. Another part is an overall glut of Taiko groups, especially in California, but this is especially true in Japan.
The great thing was the overall attitude of the guest artists. To them the important thing was coming together and creating a heartfelt and powerful expression of spirit, music, rhythm, culture, and creativity (that’s summed up from an uchiage conversation). The important thing to them was we had gotten together as artists and created something wonderful and magnificent. They live quite simply and frugally and they travel all over in pursuit of doing great performances. They often make huge sacrifices in their personal lives to follow this artistic path.
Isn’t that more important than financial success…even though we all have to eat and we all have bills to pay…or is it that we all just need better management!?
Thing is, Imafuku-san is satisfied with his life as it is. The artists who perform with him don’t have a rigid and formal group structure. They are with him because they want to perform with him because they believe in who he is and what he’s doing and they want to be a part of what he is creating.
The very cool thing for me is that he believes in me enough to commit himself and them to coming here.
I’m feeling pretty good about that.
Up and coming…a possible gig for JODAIKO at the Fright Night events at the PNE. I was having a hard time thinking what would be good for us thematically to wear, because the costuming is supposed to be in keeping with the event, and a good friend suggested to me that Oni might be a good idea.
Duh. That one never crossed my mind…and maybe because it’s part of the sacred for me and it just doesn’t go with my halloween brain.
That beats having to come up with a skeleton or mummy type of thing, though.