Jorge and I are not really keen on the idea

 Jorge and I are not really keen on the idea of talking between songs. For us the idea would to to do pretty much as the Ramones used to do: Joey would go “Good evening, we’re the Ramones”, and then Deedee would jump in and shout “One, two, three, four!”, and then it would be nonstop music for the rest of the show. But that’s just what Jorge and I think, and we’re not the Ramones, and nobody knows who we are, and if we don’t talk a little bit it’s going to be just plain weird. This is what NakaZ has to tells us, and he’s the man in the know, so we just accept it. Míchel doesn’t mind talking a bit, and he’s the only one who can speak decent Japanese besides NakaZ, so we kindly leave that to him. 

It’s Thursday, June 29th, 2023. Today we have our last rehearsal before our first concert, and the plan is to go through the whole set list twice and nail it. I’m still surprised by the thoroughness NakaZ showed during the previous rehearsal. It is not just that he wants to know in between which songs we were going to talk, who’s going to talk and what we’re going to say, but also because he wants to know exactly which songs we’re going to end with a final rock and roll ending and which not. He puts it all down in notes in his copy of the set list. He also insists that we can’t play two songs that start with the drums in a row. It feels good to be with someone so professional, and since this is going to be our first concert, it’s great to know that at least one of us has been playing over one hundred concerts a year for decades. 

We are trying to be as dedicated and as thorough as we can. For this last rehearsal I play facing the wall, with the band at my back, just like it’s going to be during the concert. To my surprise, it doesn’t feel too strange. You have to sense the drums instead of seeing your drummer. It’s a new piece of learning, and I welcome it. We time our first round at the ten songs. Everything seems fine by me. Then we play the same ten songs for the second time and by the end I’m starting to feel a little confident that we can do something decent on Saturday. NakaZ san puts it as if it was a sort of combat. “We’re definitely not loosing,” he says. There’s three bands. We’re not going to be the worst one. While packing after the rehearsal I tell Jorge that I like how we sounded and he looks at me with a funny face. “It didn’t quite do it for me,” he says. 

Come Saturday and we Jorge, Míchel and I meet at JR Taisho Station and get on a bus from there to the end of the world, which is about where Tanakaya Saketen lies. It’s far from everywhere, but it’s the one place where you can still play for free, and since Jorge and I still have a lot of trouble accepting the idea that, in this day and age, bands have to pay to play and not the other way around, this place has ended up being the only way for us to start with what is later going to become so sweetly addictive. NakaZ san will meet us there. 

We get off the bus and find the place. The surroundings are bleak. There’s some old factories, a few houses here and there, and massive bridges, cranes and ships in the background. It’s hard to believe that anybody could ever show up to listen to some music here. But once you get to Tanakaya Saketen you can see that this place is all about live music. Its walls are completely covered by posters and pictures of the thousands of bands that have played here. There’s a narrow stage at the end of a narrow space next to a narrow bar. 

We meet the old couple who run the venue and they’re super friendly. They show us where we can leave our instruments, which is in a sort of exterior cabin next to the exterior toilet. There’s no locks and nobody’s there. This is Japan. There’s no other country where I could feel safe leaving my instrument unattended like that. 

We meet then the musicians from the other band. The guys from Maitresse, who we know nothing about, are sitting in a circle in a bunch of low stools. They seem to smoke more than they breathe. The guys from Jimmy MetaboliX, with a big X at the end, are unloading their own amplifiers from a van with a trolley. I’m wondering why anyone would ever choose to go through that much trouble when there’s perfectly usable amplifiers at the venue, but then when they start playing for their soundcheck I start to understand. 

Jimmy MetaboliX are a Jimmy Hendrix copy band. They are not called “tribute bands” here, it’s “copy band”, which seems to me more accurate and honest. These guys will tell us later that they have been covering Hendrix’s songs for 17 years. They use the original gear: their instruments, amps and pedals are all just as close as possible to the ones that were used in the late sixties and early seventies. These people are really serious about properly replicating the sound they’re replicating. When they start their soundcheck Jorge and I experience for the first time that same feeling we’ve now shared some many times whenever we see the bands we are about to share a stage with do their soundcheck. And that feeling is the urge to go home and let the real musicians play. 

“Let’s go.” 

“Let’s get out of here. It’s not too late.” 

Míchel doesn’t see it that way and tries to convince Jorge and me that we’re good after all, but then the Metabolix get into Fire and into Have You Ever Been To Electric Ladyland and there’s just nothing poor Míchel can do for us. Now it’s not just a feeling, but the certainty that we can’t get even close to what these guys are doing. 

Luckily NakaZ san arrives and you can see that he does feel absolutely confident. He’s carrying a leather drumstick case like a quiver on his shoulder and a music stand in his hand. I’m wondering why in the world he would have to carry that stand with him in the bus rather than borrow one from the venue, but I just guess he knows his reasons since he must have played here a million times after all. He’s at home, completely at ease, and that is reassuring. 

We do our soundcheck. Same as at the studio: Míchel gets the Roland Jazz Chorus amp and I get the Marshall, which is bigger. But it just happens that Míchel’s amp is against the side wall and pointing right at me. Since everybody seems to not see a problem with that I just go along and assume they have their reasons and hope for the best. 

Notes while watching

The bass is too low. NakaZ san keeps asking as to put it louder. 

We decided that Míchel would do the talking after the first song. He said that the next song was “Time of Your Life” and then we told him that that was not the title, it was called “Time Management”. 

When I play the lead in Time Management I check with Jose whether he can the solo parts can are loud enough. At the time we didn’t play the bit with Jorge’s solo. 

My head is disproportioned, just like Greenland in a Mercator Projection. Jorge is about twice as big as Míchel. 

It’s in the Water 

The voice is completely out of tune. My sixth string too. But then come the chorus and NakaZ’s drumming eats the whole thing up and comes to our rescue. That hi hat is pure magic. At the end of the song Jorge comes to tell me that the sixth string is completely out of tune. NakaZ san and Míchel don’t know I’m tuning and start with the next song. Míchel keeps on playing the same chord wondering what the fuck is going on. 

Desgraciados 

It’s nice to hear somebody finally singing in tune. We’re all as static as fuck! I’m actually happy with the harmonies on the first chorus. 

NakaZ san no hanashi 

He asks where they think we’re from and somebody says “Jamaica” and then “Cambodia”. Then I find out I was vegan at the time. 

Onegai

It’s pretty cool too!!!! 

Abril 

Here the harmonies don’t work as well as in Desgraciados. I look at my guitar a lot when soloing. 

The Shot

My word, the voice is completely gone! 

Pipes 

The voice is mostly very decent, up until the verse after the bridge, when it’s completely off. 

Then towards the end of the song in comes the smoke and we’re looking at each other saying “check that shit out!” with our eyes. 

After that Míchel has to get his electric guitar. Then I talk to the Americans at the back and tell them they’re making “my” day, not “our” day. There is a long wait. 

Grace

Sounds terrible!! 

I can’t seem to remember the lyrics. My eyes are glued to the guitar. 

Encore

I ask Míchel to play that one with the electric guitar and it turns down we have to change guitars again. Finally you can hear the bass! 

I do the massai a lot at the end