A Small Concert

For those of you looking forward to the report on the Yamato concert we attended last weekend, I apologize for the delay. I caught the flu these past few days and have been in bed recovering. I also want to take the time to give a proper review, so please, just wait a bit longer.

Yesterday, however, Mayumi and I (in spite of a slightly lingering fever) were able to make a brief taiko performance at our church. The church decided to put on a "New Year Concert" featuring members of the congregation performing everything from ventriloquism to...well, taiko. We played a shortened, simplified version of Raijin (来人) using only shime taiko. It was well received and several people told us afterwards that it was their favorite performance of the evening.

Of course, being the people who created the piece, and having your own image of how it is supposed to sound, we know it wasn't performed perfectly and are aware of many mistakes and areas that need to be improved upon. That being said, I did notice an improvement in our playing. We seemed to be more crisp and together, which I account to all the extra shime practice we have been doing since last fall. We even received applause at two points in the middle of the piece, which caught me off guard the first time it happened. I was confused for a moment until I realized they were clapping because they were impressed. Wow. It's a nice feeling. We won't let it go to our heads, though. We are well aware that we still have a long way to go and we'll keep practicing.

Since we were performing, I don't have any pictures to post, but I am sure there are people who took some. Maybe someone even took video. If I get my hands on any of them, I promise to post them later.