Page 1 of 2

Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 11:29 am
by Risky
Since Amanda has asked about my welfare I thought I'd better give a reply in the Club Area.

No, I''m not glowing in the dark.

I have had two nights in Yokohama (near Tokyo), followed by three nights in Kyoto (including a day trip to Hiroshima). Contrary to press the reports, life is going on as normal over here (obviously apart from the NE area).

We are in Himeji tonight and are travelling to Tokyo tomorrow. I will be performing for the Japanese Shadows Players Club on Friday night at a club called El Camino,which is famous for once having Nokie Edwards play there,and even more famous for once having Sir David Martin give a live performance there. I'm sure they will be asking if I know the great man :D

I'm playing with the club's house band and I think my set is going to include about a half a dozen of the big hits (I would have played Benny's Toon but I don't think they know it :lol: )

Sunday is the big day of the wedding, annd I will do Sukiyaki (Ue Wo Muite Aruko) at the wedding meal and some more numbers in the later session.

It's been raining here,and it's cold :cry:

I hope you're all behaving yourselves in Great Wyrley.

Phil

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:10 pm
by roger bayliss
Hi Phil

Glad to know you are not ionised yet ! Have a good play on Fri and give the little fellas our Hankies best !
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:31 pm
by alanbakewell
Sayonara, the Japanese word for goodbye.

Not to be confused with Cyanide, which is goodbye in any language. :D

Have a spiffing time there Phil.

Cheers, Alan.

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:05 am
by keithmantle
Thanks for remembering us Phil, Hope you have some cobs and beer mats at hand !

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 1:45 pm
by Risky
Hi Hankies

I'm still here in Nippon.

The Friday session at the El Comino was fantastic. Having left my wife and her sister in the restaurant to pay for the meal, I ran down the street to the El Camino. Once in there I met Yaeko who is a member of this site and a huge Cliff Richard fan.

I got to sit in a comfy sofa and was immediately supplied with a glass of beer, whilst I listened to the house band go through a set of Shads hits. During this time my wife found where I had run to and came in with her sister and husband. They were also given comfy chairs to sit in and free drinks. This is not what we are used to in Great Wyrley :roll:

I joined the band for my first set and found out which number I was playing about 5 seconds before the drummer counted us in :o . I remember starting with Peace Pipe, followed by Chatanooga Choo Choo. I'll have to look at the video to remember what came next.

My second set included Wonderful Land which was something of an embarrassment as I could not get the count-in right. I think that the sake I had had with my meal was beginning to take effect.

Shadows Club chairman Kazuo joined us after finishing work late. He volunteered to play bass on Dance On and Foot Tapper and I joined him on lead.

The people of the El Camino club and the Japanese Shadows Players are great. They are so friendly and anyone visiting Japan should get to meet them.

The only fault that they have is that they do not eat cheese cobs, and they have not yet discovered the pleasure of flinging beer mats at players who play duff notes.

I played Sukiyaki (Ue Wo Muite Aruko) at the wedding meal. I wasn't aware that the number has recently been revived and played as part of the tributes to the people involved in the Japanese disaster. Several members of the wedding party came to me afterwards and thanked me just for playing it.

I was totally gobsmacked after I played when my son (on electric guitar) and his new wife (on piano) played a fantastic duet based on a Beethoven piece. Don't your children just love making you look bad :(

At the evening dance, I followed a female opera singer with a couple of more numbers. All the (older) Japanese guests joined in with Kimi To Itsumdemo, but I stopped them singing when I played Roger Paulssons Mona Lisa :o

That's all the guitar playing for now. A big thank you to Yaeko for organising the Friday night and Kazuo for the use of his Burns guitar and AC15 amp.

I've got three more days to enjoy my holiday, then it will be back to sunny Staffordshire - are you still having a heatwave there?

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Mon Apr 25, 2011 4:18 pm
by keithmantle
Hi Phil, fraid so,its been really hot the last couple of days upto mid 20's in places, its been melting the butter on the cobs (my turn for them) 1st Tues in May, had good turn outs at 'The Hankies' look forward to seeing/hearing you soon.

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:31 am
by David Martin
Great report Phil... and yes, what lovely people they are. I well remember my evening at El Camino...

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:44 pm
by roger bayliss
Nice one Phil... glad it went well :)

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Fri Apr 29, 2011 3:42 pm
by Risky
Thanks for all the comments.

Here's a couple of holiday snaps:

Yaeko & Kazuo.jpg
Yaeko, Risky and Kazuo at El Comino
(695.54 KiB) Downloaded 14984 times


Wedding Photo.jpg
About to play Ue Wo Muite Aruko (Sukiyaki to you!) at the wedding
(619.91 KiB) Downloaded 14984 times


Phil

Re: Hanky on Tour

PostPosted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 11:08 am
by Amanda
I won't be there on Tuesday night, my lead suit
I got on Ebay hasn't arrived yet , neither has my Geiger counter!