Ok this week was a pretty fun one. After working my way through the week it was eventually Thursday and me and Callie had tickets to an Asian Dub Foundation gig at Club Quattro. For those that don’t know, ADF are a British punk/drum n bass/bhangra/hip hop/reggae/dub band and when I found out they would be playing Nagoya a couple of months ago I immediately bought some tickets.
Having looking forwarded (surely that’s terrible grammar for an English teacher?) to this gig for a while, I was well excited and when I arrived at the venue at 7 there was lots of energy in the air. Incidentally Club Quattro is on the 8th floor of the Parco designer shopping mall, and is where most of the big acts play in Nagoya. I don’t know how many 8th floor gig venues there are in Britain but I cant think of any. Anyway its not huge but not too small, pretty much the perfect size for a good gig.
After a short wait Callie met me there and we went in to get some drinks and watch the support act. They were a Hokkaido based hip hop group called “Tha Blue Herb” which I like to think is a Resident Evil reference but Im not really sure. They consisted of a DJ and a MC and w
ere actually really good, playing a more experimental brand of hip hop and with lots of energy. They played an hours set and then the floor swapped Blue Herb fans for Asian Dub Foundation fans, and we managed to get near to the front.
A few minutes later and ADF took to the stage. Whilst the lineup for the band has changed over the years, on this occasion they had a DJ, a Bassist, a Guitarist, a Dhol/bongo drummer, and 2 MCs/singers. They opened with “Rise to the Challenge”, and the place went nuts with mosh pits left right and center, and everyone jumping.
Throughout the night they played loads of stuff off Punkara, their most recent album including “Burning Fence”, “S.O.C.A”, “Awake/Asleep” and “Target Practice”, as well as older tracks like “Oil” and “Flyover”. For an encore they did the classic “Buzzin” and finished with “Fortress Europe” which had an insane amount of energy, and was probably the highlight of the gig. After that they came back for one more track, which was the Iggy Pop collaboration/cover “No Fun” again from their most
recent album.
After the gig I was sweating buckets, but was proper happy. On the way out I saw Chandrasonic, the lead guitarist and had a bit of a chat with him which was awesome, and also managed to get my picture taken with him. He was a really safe guy and after talking to me for a few minutes went outside to meet some of the fans who were outside the venue.
We got a lift down and then went home, and I got in around 1130. Absolutely knackered, of course.
On Saturday after work me and Ayae went to Irago to visit her parents. Since I had been there last time Yusuke, her brother, had graduated from the Tokyo sushi academy and was looking for guinea pigs to practice on. Obviously I was a willing participant.
When we arrived, Yusuke had prepared a huge array of sushi for the family (who had been eating sushi pretty much every day since he graduated) and of course me.
There were also some crabs and some miso soup. The sushi featured loads of different fish, including turbot, tuna, shrimp, and loads that I couldn’t name. There was also a bowl of sliced bonito sashimi with leek which is apparently ludicrously expensive and I was told that pretty much all of the fish had been alive up until a few hours ago meaning the freshness could not be beaten.
The crabs were well good and I was taught how to eat Kani-miso (crab brains). This is done by cracking the shell around its head (its skull?), and sucking the green squidgy stuff out. In Japan this is a delicacy which people pay a lot of money for, but personally it didn’t really float my boat.
After eating loads, Yusuke brought out some Anago (eel) which is my personal favorite sushi, which was awesome. In addition to that there was also some okonomiyaki which Ayaes mum had made, and for dessert there
was some melon. Anyway I ate too much as expected and fell asleep in front of the TV.
The next day it was really sunny so I sunbathed in the garden and read a book for a bit, before me and Ayae went for a walk on the beach. All of this was proper lush until I realised later on that Id got myself sunburned, which sucked.
Having looking forwarded (surely that’s terrible grammar for an English teacher?) to this gig for a while, I was well excited and when I arrived at the venue at 7 there was lots of energy in the air. Incidentally Club Quattro is on the 8th floor of the Parco designer shopping mall, and is where most of the big acts play in Nagoya. I don’t know how many 8th floor gig venues there are in Britain but I cant think of any. Anyway its not huge but not too small, pretty much the perfect size for a good gig.
After a short wait Callie met me there and we went in to get some drinks and watch the support act. They were a Hokkaido based hip hop group called “Tha Blue Herb” which I like to think is a Resident Evil reference but Im not really sure. They consisted of a DJ and a MC and w
ere actually really good, playing a more experimental brand of hip hop and with lots of energy. They played an hours set and then the floor swapped Blue Herb fans for Asian Dub Foundation fans, and we managed to get near to the front.A few minutes later and ADF took to the stage. Whilst the lineup for the band has changed over the years, on this occasion they had a DJ, a Bassist, a Guitarist, a Dhol/bongo drummer, and 2 MCs/singers. They opened with “Rise to the Challenge”, and the place went nuts with mosh pits left right and center, and everyone jumping.
Throughout the night they played loads of stuff off Punkara, their most recent album including “Burning Fence”, “S.O.C.A”, “Awake/Asleep” and “Target Practice”, as well as older tracks like “Oil” and “Flyover”. For an encore they did the classic “Buzzin” and finished with “Fortress Europe” which had an insane amount of energy, and was probably the highlight of the gig. After that they came back for one more track, which was the Iggy Pop collaboration/cover “No Fun” again from their most
recent album.After the gig I was sweating buckets, but was proper happy. On the way out I saw Chandrasonic, the lead guitarist and had a bit of a chat with him which was awesome, and also managed to get my picture taken with him. He was a really safe guy and after talking to me for a few minutes went outside to meet some of the fans who were outside the venue.
We got a lift down and then went home, and I got in around 1130. Absolutely knackered, of course.
On Saturday after work me and Ayae went to Irago to visit her parents. Since I had been there last time Yusuke, her brother, had graduated from the Tokyo sushi academy and was looking for guinea pigs to practice on. Obviously I was a willing participant.
When we arrived, Yusuke had prepared a huge array of sushi for the family (who had been eating sushi pretty much every day since he graduated) and of course me.
There were also some crabs and some miso soup. The sushi featured loads of different fish, including turbot, tuna, shrimp, and loads that I couldn’t name. There was also a bowl of sliced bonito sashimi with leek which is apparently ludicrously expensive and I was told that pretty much all of the fish had been alive up until a few hours ago meaning the freshness could not be beaten.The crabs were well good and I was taught how to eat Kani-miso (crab brains). This is done by cracking the shell around its head (its skull?), and sucking the green squidgy stuff out. In Japan this is a delicacy which people pay a lot of money for, but personally it didn’t really float my boat.
After eating loads, Yusuke brought out some Anago (eel) which is my personal favorite sushi, which was awesome. In addition to that there was also some okonomiyaki which Ayaes mum had made, and for dessert there
was some melon. Anyway I ate too much as expected and fell asleep in front of the TV.The next day it was really sunny so I sunbathed in the garden and read a book for a bit, before me and Ayae went for a walk on the beach. All of this was proper lush until I realised later on that Id got myself sunburned, which sucked.
The following morning we went back to Nagoya, and it was back to business as usual.
Ok that’s about it for this week, I know it’s a bit short but I figure after the last few blogs we all deserve a break. Maybe next week will be immense. Who knows?
Peace out yo!
Jack
Peace out yo!
Jack
P.S This is a video I took at the ADF gig of them performing "Free Satpal Ram". Its a bit shaky due to the jumping, but still it shows how awesome it was. Enjoy (if u can make it out!).
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