last night i played live at SHIBUYA ECHO together with the members from FROG again. i was very happy to do these two gigs with you guys. Honto ni arigatou!!!
photos by Aono Rie. arigatou!
AONO RIE also performed with her new band, and i was very glad to be invited to sing two songs together with them.
photo by Koide Yukimi. arigatou!
and MASA did fantastic DJ:ing, so did KINK and many more! here's a pic i took of masa:
thank you all for a great night!
=)
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yesterday i had a MIRACLE day in sunny tokyo with lovely company.
starting with a long lunch at Apres Midi in Shibuya, and then taking the short walk to the beautiful YOYOGI PARK which i had never seen before. it's such a lovely park!!! the sun was slowly setting over tokyo as we sat on a bench by the fountain, talking and laughing in the middle of two broken languages.
a metal-blue bird passing above, an angry black crow came asking for food, people practicing musical instruments under the trees, people walking dogs.
a peaceful oasis. life never stops surprising me. and every day i see how everything is connected. 7 years old discovering a passion, and now the same passion takes me across the world and lets me deeply understand the beauty of walking this planet with an open heart.
nothing is strange. everything is possible. la vie est un miracle.
=)
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after a really lovely, long weekend, i visited another live performance of TAISUKE TSUGIMATSU yesterday in asakusa, and i met up with taisuke and hiroko in the late afternoon.
after some quick sightseeing and a lazy yakisoba at a small cafe we went to the live house in central asakusa to listen to taisuke's piano and vocal performance.
why are the noodles so L-O-N-G when you have to eat them with chopsticks? wouldn't it be easier to make them short!?
view from the bar.
later, we went to BAR MUSIC in shibuya, Tomoaki Nakamura's new place. DJ - the great Toru Hashimoto. i was surprised to be able to dance and sing together with everyone in my own song "Passion" =)
after closing time, we went to have dinner (as we hadn't eaten for all evening), but the meal turned out to be more of a breakfast....
thank you Toru for bringing me together with one of the world's best songwriters. and Taisuke - i am looking forward to seeing you again and do some collaboration.
=)
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here is my updated live schedule for June, with links and all times. FROG singer RIE AONO made a great blog post about the live performance at HARAJUKU ASTRO HALL last friday, where i played together with three of FROG's members at KAJI HIDEKI's event. a lovely post:
aonorie.sblo.jp/article/38453119.html
we will play together again on FRIDAY at Shibuya Echo. Don't miss it!
=)
UPDATED LIVE SCHEDULE:
6/04 (Friday)
SHIBUYA ECHO
Shibuya, Tokyo
http://www.echo-shibuya.com
Open: 23:00 / Live start: 25:00
Together with musicians from FROG (Okii Reiji from Cymbals)
Also live on stage: RIE AONO's new band
6/11 (Friday)
BAR CACOI
Shibuya, Tokyo
http://ameblo.jp/cacoi
Open: 18:00 / Live start: 20:00
Acoustic live
6/13 (Sunday)
DAIKANYAMA LOOP
Daikanyama, Tokyo
http://www.live-loop.com
Open 15:30 / Live start: 16:00
with YOSHINARI NAKAMATSU (guitar/vocals)
and band (drums, bass, keyb)
6/18 (Friday)
ROMAN RECORDS CAFE
Takaban, Meguro, Tokyo
http://romanrecordscafe.p1.bindsite.jp
Open 19:00 / Live start: 20:00
Acoustic live
6/19 (Saturday)
PRACA ONZE
Aoyama, Tokyo
http://www.praca11.net
Open: 19:00 / Live start: 20:00
with YOICHI OKABE (percussion)
and special guest: TOYONO (vocals)
Acoustic live
6/19 (Saturday)
CLUB ROOTS
”Boy meets girl” vol.079
Koenji, Tokyo
http://www.geocities.jp/sekinebmg/info/info.html
Open 23:00 / Live start: 25:00
Acoustic live
Also live on stage: murmur
6/20 (Sunday)
BAR CACOI
Shibuya, Tokyo
http://ameblo.jp/cacoi
Open: 18:00 / Live start: 19:00 / End: 21:00
Short guest performance only, as support act for HITOSHI ARAI
Acoustic live (20 minutes only, at 19:00)
6/24 (Thursday)
MOJO WEST
Kyoto
http://www.mojowest.com
with TOYONO (vocals)
Open: 18:30 / Live start: 19:30
Acoustic live
6/25 (Friday)
NAMBA ROCK RIDER
Osaka
http://www.rockrider.jp
Open: 18:30 / Live start: 19:00
Acoustic live
6/26 (Saturday)
MUSIQUE DESSINEE PARTY
Kobe
http://www.disquesdessinee.com
Acoustic live
See you!!!
=)
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tonight i went to a live performance of TOKI ASAKO in harajuku together with Rie and Reiji. it was a very good concert with great musicians and many lovely songs. thank you, Asako! i hope we can write something together in the future!
i came home very early this morning after a long night out, finishing at a karaoke bar in shibuya around 7 AM. tanoshikatta!
;)
earlier last night i had one of the biggest concert experiences of my life. the intimate, acoustic concert of singer/songwriter TAISUKE TSUGIMATSU moved my heart in a way that has never happened before. thank you Toru Hashimoto for the invitation, and thank you Yoshiko for going with me!Taisuke's vocals and piano is out of this world. pure, naked emotion beamed from the stage in an amazingly beautiful concert. time stopped. i forgot to breathe. the universe expanded through Taisuke's sensitive voice and incredible songs.
it was a moment of godlike beauty. it has never happened in my whole life that i have been moved to tears by EVERY SONG. but last night, it happened.
the vocals and piano and chime playing of Taisuke Tsugimatsu is something everyone should experience. it opens a gate to another world, to a higher dimension, to a universally deep sense of belonging and meaning of life. i am very glad to have met you! your music is a beam of light.
after all it was a coincidence that we met... thursday night i went to the new bar BAR MUSIC in shibuya where my friend Hiroshi Yoshimoto was the DJ. Taisuke came and we talked a little and he gave me his CD "Animation for oink, oink!" and i was invited to the concert.
BAR MUSIC is a great bar. please go there everyone! Tomoaki Nakamura (musicaänossa) is one of tokyo's best DJs and the bar has lots of ..... great bottles and records!!!
=)
links of the weekend:
TOKI ASAKO
BAR MUSIC
TAISUKE TSUGIMATSU
Taisuke Tsugimatsu on iTunes
=)
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yesterday i had a wonderful dinner with good friends. and not just any dinner. it was a gourmet, homemade, unforgettable multiple-course dinner!
cooked with PASSION by organic ingredients, i was quickly convinced that eri-chan must be one of the best jazz-chefs in TOKYO. i must visit your cafe so i can taste your cooking more times!!!
i forgot to take pictures of all courses, because it was so delicious!
thank you yoshiko-chan for inviting me to your swedish-style home =)
chou gochisousama deshita!
next stop should be
» totocafe.com
for TOKYO's best food.
=)
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the jetlag is still possessing my body. now it's 5.30 in the morning and i haven't slept anything. tokyo has rained all day. around lunch i returned to the cafe where i heard my song play when i first arrived here.
when i talked to the staff i found out that one girl has my CD "passion". so i gave them a swedish version of the CD as a present, and gladly put my autograph on the cover. after all the world is very small. OR - my music is big here.
the walls and windows are very thin here. when my neighbours talk, i can hear every word through the wall. and now when it rains, it sounds as if the rain is inside the apartment, as if the window would be OPEN.
and it's cold too.
sorry, i'm just complaining. probably too tired.
oyasumi!
=)
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;)
my guest performance yesterday with FROG at Harajuku Astro Hall was amazing! even though i had just slept 2,5 hours the night before i was in a great mood and think that i did a good job on stage! the sold out venue had a warm atmosphere, and i was very pleased by all the smiling faces from the dancing audience!
i feel a great connection with the members, and hope to do some collaboration in the future with the genius songwriter and bass player Okii Reiji.
after the performance i was very glad to be able to meet Toki Asako backstage, for whom i wrote the song "Let the sunlight in" in 2008. i will record that song myself on my next album!
thank you FROG, i had a lovely time on stage with you! and thank you Hideki Kaji! tack!
;)
FROG and me. Please excuse the blurry picture!
we play together again in Echo Shibuya on June 4th!
FROG - "metamorphosis"
FROG website:
okiireiji.jp
=)
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i was told that the tickets for tomorrow's gig at ASTRO HALL are sold out! We will play in the first set of the two.
but we have arranged a new gig on JUNE 4TH at ECHO SHIBUYA in Shibuya. i will perform half of my setlist together with the members of FROG, and the other half acoustic.
don't miss this chance to hear my songs live with a tight band!
Start: 11 PM
1500 yen /with one drink
;)
=)
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thursday morning in tokyo. it's raining. quite refreshing though, i just returned home to my apartment in Meguro after a dinner with the members of FROG and a late night beer and snack in shibuya with guitar-player Masa.
6:40 AM.
a bit sleepy.
my room smells of dust and "old wardrobe". last night i slept for over 12 hours. tomorrow i'll try to wake up before lunch.
oh.... the biggest surprise of today! i went to a cafe here in Meguro, just 2 minutes away, and before I had started to drink my cafe au lait, my song "Passion" was playing in the speakers!!!
coincidence? a way of Japan to welcome me?
it doesn't matter. i was surprised and very happy.
=)
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