by Risky » 25 Apr 2011, 13:45
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
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 . 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
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?
Last edited by
Risky on 01 May 2011, 18:18, edited 1 time in total.
(ex-guitar player) - now a ukulele and ukulele bass player!
Update: After 10 years absence, now a born-again Hankie