2017 April 06 — San Francisco at the Regency BallroomNOT LAZY —just in save mode—
San Francisco! It was fun. Much appreciation to everyone who came.
Only Dallas to go. We'll do our best and also have a good time!
Their Facebook page is command central for everything on social media,
including embellished translations from Ami and Yumi's Japanese.
This went about like the guys said who wrote up LA for JRock247. It was incredibly close-in
for an act of PUFFY's standing. The press bio says, "over 20 million CDs sold". Also, count
me among the people they captured for J-pop nearly twenty years ago ("Planet Tokyo").
I laughed when I read the comments about "This wasn’t a group resting on the laurels of past
success..." Not that you'll ever see a band from Japan loafing on a gig, but they don't have much
other than dried-up laurels to rest on.
PUFFY know that they have to re-take some ground. This is a really small-scale, in and out,
market-testing tour of areas where they used to be strongest. In this part of the world PUFFY
was news 10 years ago. There were not even a handful in the audience who said they'd seen
them the last time they played here.
When Ami asked "please support us", there was just a suggestion of sincere begging.
〜〜〜
The girls brought only a 3-piece band and some recorded tracks, but everybody up there had
the strength of two.
I like to say that San Francisco can humble anybody with its indifference, but this is already
a humble band. No strutting. Sincerely pleased and flattered by applause. The bonafide gorgeous
Ami and Yumi reject glamour, and dress in matching sacks labeled "Sue" and "Jane" accessorized
with training shoes.
When it's time for a band member to be featured, they blow the house down and then fall right
back into position. It's just work, they're working. The mechanic suits and Miyoko's bandana kind of
underscore that.
PUFFY US TOUR 2017 "NOT LAZY"
In San Francisco
Thanks very much, I'm dripping with sweat!!
I thought it wouldn't show on the dark blue color, but!…
Thank you to Ami-chan, camera, and Yumi chan, painstaking lighting.When they were introduced, they all got shy, front people included…
and these are huge players.
Below, Ba. Kii-chan, Vo. Yumi a.k.a YUMMY, Vo. Ami, Dr. Bobo-san,
Dr. Cindy, and Gt. Fumio-san.
http://instagr.am/p/BSmQVOJgoWy
A San Francisco evening, the drummer turned into two people somehow.
Although, it's the hubby of our drummer Cindy, a.k.a Miyoko.That's a big social note! She dropped it just like that.
I can only find one way to read it. Who knew.
Pos. | Driver's license says | Who's Who | Touring nickname |
Vo. Vo. Gt. Ba. Dr. | Ami Onuki Yumi Yoshimura Fumio Yanagisawa Hiroshi Kinoshita Miyoko Yamaguchi | The one that isn't Yumi The one that isn't Ami Tokyo session / touring guitarist since 1980 Session / touring bassist, Director of nineup production co. Drummer to the stars with Lipstick and Bim Bam Boom | Jane Sue John Matt Cindy (after LA suggested Betty/Kitty) |
PUFFY wants to connectTheir set told a little story, starting with "Hi Hi (Puffy AmiYumi)" and ending with
"Sayonara", kind of like a greeting card.
They took repeated breaks to address us in English from little crib sheets that they'd
fish out and read, one after another. They overdid that. Out of a desire for a Japan-style
exchange with the audience, they got into a fruitless quest for advice about things to do
in San Francisco when it rains. All you can do in San Francisco when it rains is eat, drink,
shop, go to a museum, or get wet.
When they went back to playing, everyone had caught their breath but the momentum
went flat. This happened at least a couple of times. The band could jump straight into it,
but the audience needed half of the next song just to get wound up again.
I calculate that your Tangerine is right here on the end of this armI was too close to hear well. Inside the PA's dead zone, there was nothing for vocals
but a blurry pair of portable fill-in cabinets. You could not distinctly tell what they were
saying when they spelled out T-E-E-N T-I-T-A-N-S.
The price you pay to be 15 feet from greatness.
They sounded terrific anyway. The PUFFY sound cannot be duplicated or altered.
Stages of PUFFY recognition1. IDK, the sign says PUFFY
2. LOL, they look exactly like PUFFY
3. WTF, they sound exactly like PUFFY!
4. OMG, IT IS PUFFY!!!!!!!
The other price of nearness is standing right where 4 wide-angle magenta spotlights intersect.
A world without greenThey said no photos and no videos, anyway. So every millennial present pulled out a camera. Bay Area attitude adjustmentsThis show was so far from being a sellout that they moved it from the main theatre that
holds around 1400 down to a smaller stage in the basement. No Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
opulence, just small-club compression. It was plain to see that PUFFY were disappointed
about the downgrade, because Sue and Jane were a little down in the mouth when they
came out and saw that the smaller space still was not nearly full.
It took PUFFY about 2½ songs to start really smiling. Half the audience was under 30,
a lot of them *way* under. Some of them showed up with a lot of commitment.
So it's not all bad news.
〜〜〜
Second time in a row that PUFFY projections for San Francisco have been way off, I was told.
They weren't helped by the weather. Anybody who was thinking about tickets at the door,
c'mon, I'll go if you'll go… those people stayed home to avoid drowning.
From around 5:30pm, there was a steady, cold, hard winter rain with a gusty east wind.
Unlike the honor guard of 40 or so lined up at the door, I hid out in a taco shop till 30
minutes before doors-open. But since they opened half an hour late, I still spent a solid hour
standing in it with my comrades in misery, watching waterlogged cigarette butts blowing uphill
along the sidewalk while venue staff fought unsuccessfully to hold down a portable canvas
pavilion.
There was nobody dry anywhere in the house. The people with the VIP tags were out there
in the weather as well. It was a complete foul-up. People were turning blue on the street.
http://instagr.am/p/BSmaf7nDM_C
Thank you—!!
No way — with BOBO-san, the boss
He came out to play
We played really a lot
Today we/I have the whole day offBobo's post-SXSW tour of the US with MIYAVI brought him to town on the same day.
〜〜〜
I tried to make mental notes about the setlist. I failed, it was a long set.
They played a *lot* of songs! And there's a formula to a PUFFY tune. They
blend a little in my head, since I don't know them backwards and forwards.
There were at least:
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Theme
Love So Pure
Call Me What You Like
Paffipipoyama (but I don't even remember hearing it)
Teen Titans Theme
Ai no Shirushi (Sign of Love) (Samba style)
JETTO Keisatsu (Jet Police)
Radio Tokyo
Your Love is a Drug
Akai Buranko (Red Swing)
Dareka ga
Electric Beach Fever
That's The Way It Is
That's probably 3/4 of it (?).
They wore me out.
The warmup actFor openers we had a pair of local heroes, Electric Machine Gun Tits.
If you don't love their name... it's just something else to get over.
Since 2015, EMGT includes Vocal, Front, and Mistress of Cheap Effects
Naoko Nozawa, with Guitar & Vocal Tora Fujimoto.
Tora's also known for his other band, a less refined duo project called
Tiger Honey Pot. Naoko N. had a comedy career on Japanese TV and
movies, till she moved to the US in the early '90s.
EMGT on Instagram:
@electric_machine_gun_titsTora on Instagram:
@tora69sexNaoko's blog (Japanese):
blogs.yahoo.co.jp/nozawa_naoko_blogThey are your basic licentious San Francisco hedonist/exhibitionist
punks with an early '90s feel:
Electric Machine Gun Tits Live at Milk bar 2015 - No. 52015 NOV 23 by Emgt ElectricMachineGunTits (09:40)
"Bloody Moon" ~ "Ken Merry Go Go"www.electricmachineguntits.comEMGT's method is, they play on three or so chords until they find one they really like,
and then they use that for the rest of the song. They're exciting because of unstoppable
faith in what they are doing (erasing your brain with sound).
Their theme song lyrics:
ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS
ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS
ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS
ELECTRIC MACHINE GUN TITS and so on.
They made an impression. They sure like doing what they do.
I just wish I could show you the sequined sparkle go-go boots with the zippers and 4" heels.