Event Details
| Group Name: | NakaNaka: Asobi Rock: Happy Fun Smile & Kagero |
| Event Date: | Thu, April 23rd 2009 |
| Event Time: | 7:30 pm |
| Admission: | $10 General Admission |
| Tickets (no fees) | http://dromnyc.com/home/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=333&category_id=2&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=69 |
| Event Info/Notes: | Thursday April 23rd 2009 NakaNaka Series: ASOBI ROCK HAPPY FUN SMILE and KAGERO 7:30pm $10 General Admission Join the NakaNaka Series Fan Page on Facebook for upcoming shows, news and special offers! http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/NAKA-NAKA-AT-DROM/155110990789  Happy Fun Smile: the best damn Okinawan pop band in New York City http://www.happyfunsmile.com/ www.myspace.com/happyfunsmile www.rikomatic.com/blog/2009/03/happy-fun-smile-the-best-damn-okinawan-po p-band-in-new-york-city.html happyfunsmile performs an irresistible blend of okinawan pop, electric folk songs (ultraminyo), supersweet ballads (enka), festival rhythms and obon beats. utilizing the sounds of the chindon, sanshin, accordion, saxophone, bass, percussion, and keys, happyfunsmile extols the virtues of o-pop and chindon to an ever-growing congregation! The following pdf has an image which you can copy, paste and some text that you can use..NACHI http://www.happyfunsmile.com/press/hfs_onesheet_v01.pdf KAGERO What is Japanese Gypsy Rock? "Cultural Confusion is our specialty," confides bandleader and founder Kaz Fujimoto, as he drains the last of his Guiness. This cat is a Japanese Gypsy -- you can tell from his personal style -- maybe it's the colorful scarf, aviator goggles or his proper English accent. No, it's the pants. The guy has great pants. Kaz and bass player Robbie Simpson have been making music together for over a decade. Robbie also has great pants and an impressive collection of Heavy Metal T-shirts. Robbie lives for hard rock and other tribal traditions of his home: New Jersey. Violin player J.W. joined the band after a seismic shift two years ago when Kagero began to develop their current sound. These days the three of them travel throughout the New York Metro Area and regularly crawl into the Kazmovan to gig in Jersey or parts North, South or West. The sound has been described as a melting pot of tonalities and rhythms from Asia, the Middle East, South America and Eastern Europe -- "Cultural Confusion". Sometimes the songs are beautiful imagery, sometimes sad folk tales, and sometimes silly songs about drinking. But the tunes are always fun, and the show is often a very high energy dancing good time. Kagero's world music goulash is very tasty -- even if you don't always know what's you're eating. Just call us your local neighborhood urban-gypsophonic, border-jumping, international debtor's prison groove-loving feel-good band next door. Kagero regularly records and performs with a revolving cast of guest musicians including Leo (drums), Yoed (cello), Wynn Yamami (chindon) and Emilio (trumpet). Their website http://www.kagero.com/home.cfm?mpf=frame&feature=28024&postid=26674 has music links too. MUSICAL MOUTHFUL article by Bill Lynch The Charleston Gazette Describing Kagero isn't easy. The band name is Japanese for "heat haze," but musically it's a collection of wild contrasts. Its style is a mishmash of everything from early rock riffs to eastern European folk music. It's high energy, often frantic music that sometimes sounds a little like "Fiddler on the Roof" starring "Panic at the Disco." KAGERO article by Mark Brown Left in Bay Ridge If Teyve, from Fiddler on the Roof, married a hot flamenco dancer from Mongolia, and they had the reception at The Raven Saloon in Patan, Nepal (the bar where Karen Allen works in Raiders of the Lost Ark), and they wanted a rip-roaring band to bring the roof down, that band would be Kagero. KAGERO LIVE AT MEHANATA ON JUNE 12 article by Stephanie Nolasco The Deli Magazine "I hate the yellow sun, I hate the blue sky," Kaz Fujimoto of Kagero sadly sings as an acoustic guitar slowly strums a familiar tale of love lost in a foreign land. The tragic ballad "Red and Black" quickly transforms into a dramatic flamenco dance. A tear-triggering violin and accordion unite to create a portrayal of a Spanish temptress stomping on Fujimoto shattered heart. Kagero, described as "Japanese gypsy rock," is exactly that: a marriage of bouncy folk songs with inspirations ranging from mellow, coffeehouse blues to haunting Middle Eastern tracks with echoes of an electric guitar. Fujimoto, Kagero's front man, isn't your typical lanky, fedora-wearing bohemian with suave, sensual vocals that'll knock your sheepskin boots off. Born in a Japanese village, Fujimoto wandered the streets of London, Dublin, and Paris, then finally settled his Beatles-obsessed, Guiness-loving self in Brooklyn. Along with Rob Bass in backing vocal and bass, J.W.'s violin, plus Toko on drums, Kagero is a musical voyage where gentle acoustic melodies, heartrending farewells, and some tango create a melting pot you'll want to lick. He will perform on June 12 in the appropriate environment of Bulgarian bar Mehanata on Ludlow. KAGERO RESIDENCY AT VOX POP written by John J Hagan Manager/Art Director Vox Pop Kagero played at Vox Pop one quiet night this winter. They displayed this rare energy that few live band performances have anymore. We immediately booked a second gig that led to a monthly residency. They are one of those groups that suck you in. People walking by can't help but stick their heads in then 5 minutes later they are fully immersed in the Kagero experience and loving every second of it. Their seamless blend of such starkly different musical worlds makes for a supremely unique output of audible sustenance. Put plainly, these characters rock! JAPANESE HYBRID article by Annie Wilner The Brooklyn Paper - GO Brooklyn - 04/05/2008 "As the set rocketed forward, Fujimoto's appearance became progressively messier, face warmed by beer, all the while maintaining control of his place as resident gypsy king for the evening." - read full article |