It might be too late and no one cares anymore, but last December I flew down to Los Angeles to see MAN WITH A MISSION! The two-day tour (first in New York City, then in Los Angeles) was already fairly last minute in terms of their announcement, so my ticket was booked in only a few days. Unfortunately the show was the night of my last final, so in my excitement I wasn't able to study well for my test. Well, it's the show I'll remember 10 years from now, not that exam I failed (right?)
The airport was much, much smaller than I imagined, even though I went in with the expectation that it was going to be quaint in comparison to LAX. The weather was nice, though much cooler than what I predicted would be the temperature in LA.
After Rei picked me up, we went to Little Tokyo's Curry House to grab dinner before the show. The usual chicken curry, can't go wrong. Curry is one of the few things I can eat for days on end without getting sick of it, but fingers crossed it keeps up.
Realizing that doors would be opening soon, we headed toward The Roxy on Sunset Strip, where a steadily growing line was forming. In all it was good-size crowd, particularly in respect to how late notice the show was for MWAM fans. The majority of fans were Japanese--some even came all the way from Japan to experience the intimacy of a small venue. By this time it was freezing, freezing cold out, so we hurried to get inside.
The venue has a +$3 at-the-door fee for guests who are under 21, which grants you a drink voucher to use at the in-house bar. Some freelance artists' works were up for display in the entryway of the venue, a few I believe served as subtle promotion for future events being held at The Roxy. It crowded the entryway a bit, but it wasn't a big problem (read: I didn't run into anything). Guests trickled in, sprawling throughout the cozy venue toward the bar counter and toward the seated section that was farther from the stage.
Rei and I made a beeline for the stage, and ended up in the center of the second/third row, but was more toward Jean-Ken Johnny's side (stage left).
No one had mentioned that the show would be, in essence, a three-man show. Once we knew this, Rei and I stood adamant in our spot for the first two bands' sets. First up was Fire Tiger, which, with their female vocalist Tiff at the helm, made for a great performance with strong vocals and great energy.
Moving away from the retro-pop groove and segueing into a more electro-pop sound, the second band to play was Mind the Gap. Their diverse lineup and heavy beats were able to get everyone riled up for the band they came to see.
The night's events didn't only include live music, but also a fashion show and fundraiser raffle in support of cancer awareness, and fighting cancer. Great cause, great music, great night.
Finally around 10pm the curtain came down and MWAM's equipment were beginning to get shuffled on stage. By now everyone knew who was coming on next, so the crowd gathered in front of the stage gradually grew as the band prepared.
After vocalist-guitarist Jean-Ken Johnny introduced themselves, "Hello everybody! We are! The MAN WITH A MISSION!" everything came and went in a flurry, only stopping when Johnny interjected a few words during his MCs. Vocalist Tokyo Tanaka, though unable to speak, was able to serenade us with his rich voice and his energetic stage presence (read: the affectionately named, "Tana-step"). The set, though short, got everyone moving: the jumping, fist-pumping, and arm-waving were unhindered beginning to end.
A crowd favorite was FLY AGAIN, one of the few MWAM songs to have "official" fan hand gestures. With a characteristic, repeated side-to-side upward-reaching motion done by the audience throughout the duration of each chorus, the fans were able to convey their appreciation for the band through their enthusiastic singing and dancing.
Somewhere in this chaos was the band's support member, E.D. Vedder. Not much is known about him. Basically nothing is known about him except: white mask, black hoodie, great affection for curry. Mad kudos from shredding with power, though you were stuffed in a corner because of the small stage.
What made this show even more unique was that SID of Slipknot dropped by, in full costume, to play MWAM's title track of their first US-release EP, "distance". SID makes rather frequent trips to Japan, and in performing many times at the same events as MWAM, has become quite good friends with the wolves. He was more than willing to help out his friends set their roots and surprise their fans in America. His mix of "distance" is also a track on the EP.
SID completes his mission, and before exiting the stage, jumps onto the audience. Despite our small size, there was ample space for him to be surfed across the crowd and safely back onto the stage. Not too much later DJ Santa Monica, notorious for his wild overenthusiasm, follows suit by leaping into the crowd. Unfortunately for Santa, he was just a little too tall and a little to big and wolf-y to be held up by everyone. He is dropped/let down, joins the likes of us in the pit, and fights to get back on stage through the hands scrambling to pet his head. It may be worthy to note that at this point I did, in fact, smash into him because the tidal wave of ladies behind me just couldn't resist his charm. I can also tell you that wolves smell very nice.
Jean-Ken Johnny thanked the fans time and time again, for coming to see them, for supporting them, and for having fun with them. After only eight songs, no one could see them go. Luckily for all the fans, they did not only one, but two encores. With even more words of thanks, Jean-Ken Johnny promised their return to the states, and the band members moved to round up the night with felt turntable disks soaring through the sky like floppy frisbees from DJ Santa Monica, and guitar picks flittering toward the audience from bassist Kamikaze Boy. As is the tradition at the end of each of their shows, after all the other members leave the stage, tiny Spare Rib comes out from behind his drum set to send everyone off.
He holds up one finger and everyone yells, "ONE!"
He holds up another, "TWO!"
Feeling the tension rise, he holds up three fingers, "THREE!"
And in the loudest voices they could muster to express their gratitude, everyone held up their claws and roared, "GOW!!"
Spare Rib seemed pleased, clapping and waving his hands as he left the stage. (Though, he doesn't seem to ever not be pleased!)
So ended our night. Whether it's engaging tens of thousands in Japan, or playing for just tens of people in the States, the quality, energy, and professionalism exhibited by this band in each of their performances is unheard of of people who have only been making music together for four years, let alone wolves! They showed experience beyond their years.
 |
| As an aside, from this point on I'm going to grow a sense of humor. Sorry. |
After the show, the audience still in a daze from what majesty had just transpired before their eyes, made their way to the merchandise booth and tried to come to terms with the real life that they had to return to come sunrise.
I, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to be able to go into their green room and greet (read: grovel to) our future overlords myself. Unfortunately I hadn't thought ahead for anything, and walked into this situation unarmed. That is, I had nothing for them to sign! The horror!
However despite the panic, I can confirm that it's no trick, and it's no lie. Spare Rib is really just that cute.
In my confusion after seeing the members with Sharpies at the ready, and the staff asking me what I wanted signed, I looked toward Rib. He outstretches his hand for a handshake. I stare at his hands, back at the staff, to Rib's face, to his hands, to the staff, and to Rib's face again. Really it's not a moment I am proud of but for the sake of letting you live vicariously through me, I will take one for the team.
Right, so after I picked up what remained of my sanity, I asked if I could get hugs instead. And let me tell you now, hugs > autographs. I don't care what you say!!
I'm just kidding. To each their own. But please take my word for it.
I continued to make a wonderful fool of myself (though Rei assures me I was fine...), but that is just too much so I will keep it to myself. We got a good amount of time with them, so after snapping a picture with them I graciously thanked them for coming to play in the US, and wished them well. Cue screaming my entire way home.
Rei and I, now in our share of being starstruck, took a few minutes to piece together our souls and made a slow but steady beeline toward the merchandise booth, which was ran by none other than this nice dude:
There was a bit of a language barrier, but hey I know enough Japanese to say things! I was down on cash but Rei wanted a souvenir from tonight. Casually explaining we were two short of two shirts, 飼育好男（しいくこうお？）generously let us buy both. I'm sorry we interrupted you as you were packing up!
After we bought our shirts, I asked him for a photo. Back then I didn't know how to pronounce his name, but I was able to let him know I knew who he was. He seemed surprised that someone who wasn't Japanese wanted to take a picture with him, especially since, you know, he's not actually in the band. Very kind. He even called over another staff member to take the photo for us. Again, thank you. He then complimented my Japanese and I replied with the. most. broken. "it really isn't, but thank you." that has ever been uttered. If you ever wanted to debilitate me, just compliment me and I completely shut down. Just a PSA.
And that's what happened! That my report! For such a short show the report ended up being quite long. Please do not feel obligated to read it all, though I would be very happy if you did. Beyond this will be what transpired in the remaining time I had in LA. Or rather, some of the things that happened that I happened to have photos for.
First off was portobello fries with my best friend who goes to school in SoCal. It's actually quite hard to eat potato fries now. Is it pathetic to say that I've dreamt about these fries? I can't wait to go back.
Then another friend was celebrating her roommate's birthday, and this was too pretty not to take a picture of. Sadface for me, because the other friend I was staying with is a teetotaler and I didn't want to impose myself even more by returning drunk.
And that was my very, very short trip to LA. It was just my luck to have gone down in the one week that LA was getting its own fair share of the winter storm, but as it's the most spontaneous trip I've gone on, it's definitely one I will never forget.
I hope you've enjoyed reading about my adventure to LA. And definitely kudos if you read everything all the way through. Have you seen MAN WITH A MISSION before? If you did, how did you like it? If you didn't, is there a song you'd like to hear them play someday? I'd love to hear about it!
Okay, it's now 4AM and I've gotten too excited and stayed up too late writing out all of my memories, so this will be it for tonight. All the best,
T
No comments:
Post a Comment