Yamato New Year Concert - Part 3

It has been several weeks since we traveled to Nara to see Yamato perform their New Year concert. So it is probably time to finish up writing my "review" of their performance. This will be my third and final entry recounting Yamato's 2009 New Year Concert.

I have seen them around eight times now, and in the 8 years since I first saw them, their set list has not changed all that much, two or three songs at the most. Still, it never gets boring. Part of that is because they're simply awesome, and awesomeness never gets old. Another part, however, is that they are constantly adjusting and improving their pieces. The "Hayate" (shamisen piece) I saw at the 2009 concert is much different than the "Hayate" I first saw back in Salzburg in 1999; although it is the same song. Even the "Rekka" I saw at Exstasia this past summer was different than the "Rekka" performed in Nara a few weeks ago. Yamato is constantly tweaking their performance and their songs. They are always looking for little ways to make things better, more interesting, more exciting, always challenging themselves. Of course, this is good for their own development and improvement, but for the audience, as well, it has the result of making you feel that each time you see them, you are seeing a new concert (yet it still has that familiar feel, because you know all the pieces).

There is just one final aspect of the Yamato concert which I will share. I'm not sure exactly what to call it, professionalism? preparedness? anticipation of problems? Maybe it is all those things wrapped up into one, and I cannot think of the word that would describe that. Most taiko players have probably experienced bachi (sticks) breaking or slipping out of hands during a performance (or at least during a practice), and most of us probably have our trusty Yobi Bachi (spare pair) in a bag tied to the back of the drum, or at least on the floor or somewhere easy to reach quickly. Should we lose a bachi while playing, an extra one is then easily accessible. I would say that there were about two or three broken bachi during the Yamato concert, but their efficiency at grabbing the spare and continuing playing as if nothing happened is so good that you probably wouldn't realize that anything had even happened, if it weren't for the broken bachi flying through the air across the stage. They are able to adjust to these bachi mishaps so smoothly that they, literally, do not miss a beat.

But what really impressed me was how they dealt with a problem during "Hayate", the song which features shamisen. Towards the end of the song, the lead shamisen player, Mika Miyazaki, has an exciting solo. Yes, shamisen is a traditional Japanese instrument, but she gets into the solo so much, that you can't help recalling images of head-banging rock star guitarists when she plays it. It's great. Anyhow, a few measures before the solo, I noticed her turn her head backwards for a brief moment to the shamisen player behind her to her left. At the time, I thought she was maybe just getting into the music with her fellow shamisen players. But when it came time for the solo, I noticed they were both playing it. My first reaction was, "Oh, I so they put two people on the solo this year," but then I noticed something catching the light from Mika's shamisen. One of her strings had broken. I realized, she must have turned around to the girl behind her to signal that she should back her up on the solo. All this happened so seamlessly that neither my wife, nor the other two people we had come to the concert with even noticed that anything had gone wrong.

I am sure that they had planned how to deal with such a problem, should it arise. Otherwise, I doubt that Mika could have so easily and smoothly communicated that she needed back-up for the solo. Experience may have also played a role. My wife, having accompanied Yamato to Europe as a tour assistant in 1999 has seen Yamato perform over 100 times and told me that it wasn't the first time a string had broken during a concert. Knowing Yamato, though, I am certain that the first time the string broke on stage, they already had a plan in place.

Besides being impressed with the way they handled the broken string, I also was reminded that if one wants to be considered a professional, one must constantly be thinking of what could possibly go wrong and how to deal with that, should it happen.

The past three times I have seen Yamato performances I have felt and experienced the high level of talent and professionalism they possess. I suppose that seeing a group with such advanced technical ability and artistic sense and stage presence could be discouraging for some. As I said, the more I learn about taiko, the more I understand and appreciate what they do. It's almost like the feeling: the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. But for me, seeing Yamato's performances has never discouraged me in that way. Perhaps it is partly because I know that Yamato's beginnings have some similarities to our own, perhaps it is simply because I am being optimistic, or maybe it is just because I believe in setting one's goals high. Whatever it is, seeing Yamato's performances has always been an inspiration to me and instead of making me think about how far we have to go, it makes me think about what is possible with dedication and hard work. I don't know if we'll ever achieve the level that Yamato has (we certainly don't plan to tour the world for 10 months out of the year), but I know that we can work hard and that's what I plan to do.

After the concert, we were able to take a picture in front of the stage with the members of Yamato. In the picture are me, my wife, my daughter, and two friends, who are also members of the same Asano Taiko groups we play with.

Wadaiko Yamato - New Year Concert 2009

Early, January 11th, my wife and daughter and I piled into our white station wagon/mini van, along with two friends from our group, Jigen, and left Kanazawa for a four hour drive through treacherous snow-covered roads to Nara. (Actually, once we got halfway through Shiga Prefecture, the snow was pretty much gone.) We were heading out to see Wadaiko Yamato’s 2009 New Year Concert at the Nara Prefecture Cultural Hall. Last year we had gone by ourselves, but this year our daughter was old enough to sit through the concert and since Yamato had played at last summer’s Exstasia, they gained some new fans at Asano. Two of those new fans ended up joining us for the trip.

This being about my 8th time to see Yamato perform, I still classify them as one of the top groups in the world (if not the top). Although last year I made the claim that they are “the best group in the world” I am realizing that there are many different ideas about what actually makes taiko great and what some people view positively, others may not. At any rate, no one can argue that as far as skill, technique, stage presence and stamina, they are certainly at the top of their game.

The program this year was as follows:
Yakara
Rekka
Hayate (the piece with Shamisen)
Kizashi (just shime taiko)
Raion

Intermission
Guest Performance by Kongendo (Yamato’s own Taiko Dojo)

Rakuda (Mostly katsugi-oke taiko)
Garakuta (the piece with chappa – Hand cymbals)
Shin-On

Founded in 1993, Yamato is now nearly 16 years old. Although many original members have moved on, there is still a handful of founding members left. These members, however, are often based in Nara for most of the year, and only join the group on tour for short stints. This is one reason I have particularly enjoyed the New Year Concerts these past two years. It is probably one of the few times that you can actually see all the members of Yamato performing together. Besides that, it is on their “home court” and who doesn’t get an extra boost from playing for the home crowd.

Well, I have a lot to say about this concert, so instead of writing one looooooong entry, I think I am going to break it up into smaller pieces. So, that’s all for now. Please check back in a day or two for the next installment.

Another Reason to be a Fan of Wadaiko Yamato

Have you heard of the group, Yamato? If you've been around taiko for very long, it's likely you know of them, and if you're a regular reader/visitor to this taiko blog, then you probably recognize that I have written about them before. (a visit in May, their concert in January) and you also probably know that I have called them "the best taiko group in the world". I suppose that point could be argued. Everyone has different tastes, and their are even different opinions on what is considered good/proper taiko technique. Still, this past summer, while I was volunteering for the Hakusan Exstasia taiko festival, I had a chance to meet and "work with" Yamato again. And again, they gave me more reasons to be impressed with not only their awe inspiring taiko performance, but their attitude and character in general.

They arrived the day before the performance (as did all of the performing groups) and unloaded their drums. Later in the afternoon, apparently when they had some free time, I noticed that several of the guys were helping to erect the huge flags (look for the pics at the bottom) we were putting up around the concert venue. No one had asked them to help (you can't ask the talent to help), it seems they just saw people working and went to help out. When they finished helping out with that, Takeru (one of the sub-leaders) came over to me and said, "Brian, let us know if there is anything you guys need us to help out with, we are pretty free until the dress rehearsal". Again, none of us volunteers would dream of asking "the talent" to help out with the "menial" tasks we were working on (not that guests/performers were stuck up in any way, it just wouldn't be appropriate), but it was impressive that Yamato would make that offer anyhow. I also found out that they didn't need to be asked to help out. If they were free, they helped us out without being asked.

I was most impressed on the day of the Exstasia performance. If you read my entry about volunteering at the taiko festival, you may recall that the skies began to cloud up around 11 in the morning. In the afternoon, only a few hours before the show, a thunderstorm came through, soaking the venue. The venue was a sort of outdoor amphitheater and part of the seating were stone steps. These stone steps were now soaked with rain and there was not enough time for them to dry before the concert began. We couldn't have wet seats for the guests, so all the volunteers were given old newspapers and told to use them to soak up whatever water we could from the seating area. We all set to work on this slightly tedious task with urgency since the venue would be opened in less than an hour. After working at drying the seats for 15 minutes or so, I happened to look over to the other side of the seating area. I saw every member of Yamato over there with newspapers, working as hard as we were to dry off the rain-soaked seats. Now nobody would have ever thought anything bad or negative about them, had they not helped out to dry the seats. But that they noticed there was important (however menial) work to be done, that they were glad to help out, and that they did it without being asked really impressed me.

It reminds me of something I just read yesterday in a book about being a successful entrepreneur. The book describes people who are exceptionally good in business are "...down to earth, in touch with the seamy reality of ordinary life." (Michael Gerber, "The E-myth Revisited). Even though Wadaiko Yamato has seen worldwide success over their 15 + years of existence, it's obvious they have not let it go to their heads. They are great, considerate and generous people. Oh yeah, and they are really awesome taiko performers as well.

Check out a couple pictures of Yamato performing at the 2008 Exstasia Taiko Festival.