Big in Japan?

Yesterday I performed my music at the Gamuso Club in Tokyo. My gig was a part of their regular Open Mic Night, which happens every Sunday.

There were five other acts who performed, most of them Japanese, plus Mansureh, a French-Persian lady from Cologne, who currently lives in Tokyo. The audience was small, it consisted mostly of the performing artists and their friends. I think we were about 15 people.

So I am not really big in Japan yet (remember that cheesy song from the 80s?), but it’s a start! I performed six of my songs in two sets, I sang them live to pre-recorded backing tracks. The first set consisted of Live Now, Flow and Be Proud, the second set of three unpublished songs which I will not disclose here.

It was a lot of fun to perform, and the audience seemed to really enjoy my show. The other artists played live, mostly with acoustic guitars, one lady played a guitarlele, a six string ukulele tuned like a guitar. Most of them played covers, for instance Beatles, Oasis or John Denver songs, so everyone could sing along.

The highlights for me were Mansureh, who is a great singer, and the Japanese duo Fujiru Mujiru, which plays experimental music on cello and saxophone. I had some nice talks with several of the artists and with Lee and John from England who are running the show every Sunday, and who wrapped it up with a charming version of ‘Creep’ by Radiohead. I am looking forward to my next show in Tokyo, hopefully soon!

Thanks to Uzu Yoco for the pictures!