Indiana State Fair

We just got back from a quick quick trip to Indianapolis, where we performed at the Indiana State Fair! Three days, three shows per day. We were part of the "Bridges to Japan" exhibit this year, organized by the Japan America Society of Indiana. In addition to live performances, the exhibition included Japanese pop culture displays and delicious Japanese food.

We arrived in Indianapolis on the evening of Thursday, August 12th. At the airport, we met Theresa Kulchzak, Executive Director of the Japan American Society of Indiana. She is absolutely wonderful, and worked so hard all weekend. (Thank you Theresa!) After arriving at the hotel, we went to grab a quick bite at Rock Bottom Brewery. Yummmmy! Then, bed time!

Friday was by far the most interesting day. Jen, Jenny, Yumi and I started the morning off with a quick television promotion performance, where the hostess was mesmerized by our "ninja turtle shoes." The best part??? - Complementary oatmeal cookies! According to the kind gentleman behind the counter, they stayed up all night baking them. Our first group show was in the air conditioned International Pavilion. Then, as the clouds began to roll in, we moved all of our drums to an outdoor free stage. Unfortunately for us, those clouds became thunder, lightening and rain during our third set! Thank you to the 8 troopers who sat through the crazy weather to watch the show! I actually thought it was pretty awesome to play along with thunder. :) Some Perks of the Day included green tea ice cream, yakisoba and our very own RV trailer green room! (We're all not-so-secretly hoping that TP's next big purchase is an RV!) Dinner on Friday was delicious pasta from the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Indianapolis!

We were back at the fair on Saturday morning. In addition to performing and touring the fairgrounds, we met the members of the New York City based dance group, 10tecomai, who practice the tradition of Yosakoi Dance. I really enjoyed their energy and style of dance, and I know the audience did as well. Perks of the Day included Okonomiyaki, listening to Keith Urban from outside the grandstand and again, green tea ice cream! Dinner on Saturday was the unique cuisine of Adobo Grill, with the best margaritas and guacamole ever. :)

Sunday was our last day at the fair. We were able to do all three shows inside the International Pavilion this day. We were very thankful to be able to stay out of the Indiana heat! We deviated from the set list a bit on Sunday and tried some new/old pieces. Fun times! Perks of the Day included Henna tattoos, green tea ice cream (of course), and a free Selena Gomez performance (from our trailer window).

Special thanks to Thersa Kulczak, John Lajiness, Tamayo Fukumoto and driver John, as well as the rest of the team at the Japan America Society of Indiana! We had a blast!

ShastaYama 2010

A few weeks ago we took a roadtrip up north to Mt. Shasta,CA where we had the honor of sharing the stage with Russel Baba, Jeanne Mercer, Michelle Fujii, Toru Watanabe, Shasta Taiko, and Somei Yoshino Taiko Ensemble at ShastaYama 2010.

Thursday 7/29/10

Bryan, Jen, Darren, Courtney, Tomomi, Emily, Andrew, and I arrived in Shasta. Maz and Kris had left earlier in the week and were already there.

The log CASTLE!...where we stayed while we were in Shasta.

Friday 7/30/10

Since we had some down time in the morning, we decided to go hiking to Mossbrae Falls. Although it was quite a walk to get there, it was totally worth it! It was soo gorgeous!

After our hike, we headed over to tech rehearsal. The stage was set up on a large open field facing Mt. Shasta. It was really refreshing playing taiko while surrounded by such beautiful scenery. Shasta Taiko also taught us a fun dance that we were going to perform with them at the concert.

Tech rehearsal went ok overall but we did have two injuries. One of them resulted in Jen being sent to the ER! We were all really worried but after about an hour and a few stitches on her leg, Jen was back on her feet. She even played during run-throughs! Go Jen! The second injury was another leg injury. Kris accidently cut his leg on stage. Thankfully, he did not have to go to the ER! I think everyone was being REALLY careful after that so that we would not have any more injuries.

Saturday 7/31/10

Today was the day of the concert. After a deliciousbrunch at a local cafe and some souvenir shopping earlier in the day, we headed back out to the concert venue. There were about 1,300 people in the audience! Over 1 thousand people, Mt. Shasta in the background, Taiko drumming, and Shasta Taiko banners waving in the wind…the concert was very epic! :)

Sunday 8/1/10

After an eventful few days in Shasta, we headed back home to LA. It took us 12 hours and Bryan drove the ENTIRE time!!! Thank you Bryan! Otsukaresama!

Here are some more pictures from Shastayama 2010 :

http://picasaweb.google.com/TAIKOPROJECT/ShastaYamaFestival#

Thank you very much Russel Baba and Jeanne Mercer for inviting us! We had a fantastic time!

Higashi Obon 2010!

Hi everyone!

A couple weeks ago on July 24th, we performed a 45-minute set at the Higashi Honganji Obon Festival. We played a few TP favorites such as Expanding, Many Sides, and Omiyage, and also three of our newer pieces, Island Groove, Tsuki E and Seiza. Higashi Obon has got to be one of my personal favorite places to perform because of all the friends and family that come to watch. It's always nice to spot some familiar faces in the crowd!

Check out this great picture of Yumi during her solo for Many Sides!

Dancing in Tsuki E

All smiles in Island Groove

Here's a video of Seiza from the performance:

Thank you to Mickey from Higashi Honganji for recording the video and posting it on YouTube for us!

Afterwards, we all treated ourselves to some tasty eats. Higashi seems to have the most diverse menu out of all the southern California obon festivals. They had everything from chicken teriyaki and udon to tamales and chili rice. The cold somen and shaved ice were refreshingly delicious after performing in the hot sun. Yumi and I especially liked the popular "Dango Dogs", which were like little corn dogs, but instead of the traditional corn batter, the hot dogs were covered in a sweet Japanese donut batter. I wish I had a picture to share with you all, but I guess you'll just have to go to obon next year and try them for yourselves!