Let's Knife! · 10:41pm Sep 12th, 2019
Hello out there, readers, writers, and editors of FiMFiction! I bet you are wondering what I've been up to the past couple weeks? Well, the answer is something like everything and nothing.
I have actually been writing a bit. This has more so been on my ships log project, tentatively entitled Heart of Oak after the Royal Navy's song. I have what could either be a prologue of what I hope will develop into a larger tale. Or, I suppose, a separate 1500 word epistolary depending on what I decide to do with it. I'll admit I've been getting a little obsessive about it, especially the historical & ect research behind the project. Did you know horses don't get scurvy? Or that sailors didn't get paid till they completed their voyages?
See, that kind of Circuitous Scholarship's... probably not a good thing in terms of getting out the door. I am also a bit concerned about developing it into a multi chapter epistolary as I feel it may be biting off more than I can chew. I intend to try and diagram out the further planned story installments in Scrivener, and then make decisions from there.
Fear not, though, I am also nearing the completion of the first installment of Wondercolt Weekends. It should be published soon, I am waiting on some final edits before kicking it our the door. I'm halfway done with the second installment of that particular story and hope to have that out soon too.
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So, what's up with the title of my blog this week? Well, OGM and I recently had the opportunity to attend a live concert of our favorite Japanese pop punk girl group Shonen Knife. They're an interesting group, having their origins in 1981 in Osaka, where the two original members of the group, sisters Naoko and Atsuko Yamano formed it with Michie Nakatani. Imagine, if you will, the Ramones... only if they were Japanese girls singing in both English and Japanese about chocolate, ice cream, capybaras, and lemon trees. Dressed like 1960s Mods. You may begin to see the appeal of the quirky band, and why there good vibes punk music resonated with so many fans in the 1990s. Their big hit in the English speaking world (because it was all sung in English!) was the studio album Let's Knife released in 1992 . Because dad and I are weirdos, and also because Shonen Knife is the rare punk group you can listen to in polite company, I grew up listening to them. Apparently, they were also a favorite of Kurt Kilbane and have preformed with some Ramones members as well. Now, several decades, a baby, and a few exploding drummers later they tour the world with the two original sisters and new member drummer Risa Kuwano.
Now, Shonen Knife have toured North America before, and I've followed them for years on the dreaded Facebook. Imagine my elation, then, when one day on vacation in Michigan, a week or two before BronyCon when a event popped up on my feed. "Was I interested?" it asked, "Shonen Knife is on tour in America again, and they will play at the Grog Shop in Cleveland." . Damn straight, I was interested! In a matter of minuets, thanks to the dark magics of social media and the internet both my father and I had tickets. This would be the first time I'd ever seen a live band I actually listen to in concert. For some reason, despite being the self proclaimed "City of Rock", the city gets skipped over by band tours.
So, this Tuesday we went off to see them at the Grog Shop, a small college bar in the neighborhood of Coventry, known for being avant grade. Well, that and one of the sites of the ever expanding campus of the Cleveland Clinic. After finding a spot in a parking garage we walked over to the bar. It actually recalls the suburb I live in, our downtown aspires to be Coventry in miniature... thus a Daves Cosmic Subs, "The Exchange" record & nerd store, and a plethora of restaurants and bars in close proximity isn't unusual but rather homey. I felt in my element, somewhat. Anyways after getting carded and showing our tickets (I'm going to be 25 in less than a week! Yet, I swear, I'll be carded till the day I die.), we entered the bar. The space was intimate, and we enjoyed the first two acts from afar, standing back by the bar drinking (Diet Coke & Water!). The first band to preform was a group called Xanny Stars, a local punk group whose music I enjoyed, but to be honest I couldn't really make out their lyrics. I always have trouble with that, and I sometimes wonder if it isn't something to do with hereditary hearing problems. Which reminds me, OGM was wearing his hear-phones (not a made up product, I assure you, although sadly not the steampunk hearing trumpet it sounds like it ought to be). Anyhow, the next group was a little more polished, going by the moniker Me Like Bees they evidently had been touring with Shonen Knife for some weeks now. They were... sort of a Southern Hard Rock sound? I have a poor sense of musical genres, added and abetted by liking groups that don't fit well in any one category. Anyhow they were good, with some very clear vocals, but I felt their musical style was a poor match for Shonen Knife. It sort of killed the energy of the crowd, too.
But then, then it was time to Knife! The crowd was small, maybe 100 people. We were perhaps ten feet from the stage, at the back of the crowd. And the band was really on. Shonen Knife totally rocked the first song, Bear Up Bison... then launched into Twist Barbie. That's the one I know all the lyrics to, of course. And you better believe I danced my butt off to it! The concert just kept going like that, it was super high energy and the band was totally jamming. I had a great view of Atsuko, who was on the left stage, as she is the tallest of the two sisters, and also drummer Risa who was an pink haired "Animal"-esque blur as she attacked the drum set! There were some memorable, crowd pleasing moments like the sisters playing back to back with their guitars, some clapping during one of the songs, and even some Japanese lessons (by serendipity I'd been struggling to remember that "Ame" means "Sweet" earlier in the night). All right in front of us, and with if I might say so superior quality to their studio albums. Cappybara was a much more punky (or is that spunky?) song in person that on the album. That's really nice, way too many 58 yr old rocker's live performances seem to leave one with the impression of "wow... you used to be good at this!?". Of course it helps that Atsuko and Naoko are Japanese, and therefore much better looking! Anyways, they also played a few songs from their new album entitled Sweet Candy Power, my favorite being California Lemon Tree. The album is sort of what prompted this latest tour. When the concert wrapped up, both he audience and band had rocked their hearts out and were getting kinda exhausted. OGM and I bought a set of signed postcards of the band members (For $3!) and also the latest album. Thus ended one of the coolest musical moments of my life. Words fail to express how much I enjoyed myself! It was great to live in the moment there and have the immersive experience of live music with a great band.
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So what's next for me? Well alls fair in life and blogging. I'll of course focus on my creative stuff first, but I'll probably also write some type of retrospective thingy next week, as I muse on my 25th Anniversary of being. Kinda a milestone, maybe? Or maybe just a good place to put a bookmark in, whichever. I also have the Zoar Civil War Reenactment coming up, which I'll probably do an AAR on. And of course, the end of our beloved series lies ahead at an indefinite point in October. Oh, and I will probably also write something as a response to Admiral Biscuit's recent challenge to write more stories in his little niche genre (Admiral Biscuit is apparently a genre now). I have in mind something about "Team Boats", a type of horse-powered paddlewheel ferry boat that was used in New York on Lake Champlain and elsewhere before steamboats took over. Excellent fodder for everyday, working pony fiction I think.
I'm familiar with Shonen Knife, but I had no idea they'd been around so long! :O Cool you guys had a good time. :D