Let's Knife! New tour: Shonen Knife 2017 USA Ramen Adventure

[erilaz]

Last night I saw Shonen Knife at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, my fifteenth SK concert. The opening acts were the Pleasure Kills and Shannon and the Clams. It was a sold-out show; right before the doors opened, the staff told us there were only 40 tickets left at the box office, and I'm sure they went fast. I'd bought mine in advance, so I didn't have to worry.

I didn't take any pictures or grab a set list this time, but I did keep track of what they played, a solid mix of songs spanning their 30-year career:

Konnichiwa
Twist Barbie
Rock Society
Super Group
Capybara
I Am a Cat
Devil House
Redd Kross
Anime Phenomenon
Perfect Freedom
Banana Chips
Economic Crisis
Antonio Baka Guy

The encore was a set of Ramones covers:

Blitzkrieg Bop
Beat on the Brat
I Wanna Be Sedated
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
The KKK Took My Baby Away
Rock 'n' Roll High School
Pinhead

I was in the front row, directly in front of Naoko, getting constantly slammed against the stage by the moshers behind me. A great show, as always; as I told the girls during the autograph session afterward:「いつもすごい！」 I had them sign the mini-poster from the Japanese edition of Osaka Ramones.

I had already visited the merch table right when the club opened. I bought a tour t-shirt and also something very unusual:



They were selling these autographed, used drum heads for $30 each. The sign said they were selling only two at each show, but I was the first person in line when the merch table opened and there was already only one left. SCORE!

[boinsie]

Impressive!

[DARC1993]

WAIT!
they have been together for 30 years?!
notworthy

[erilaz]

^ There's only one original member still in the band, but she's been doing this for thirty years. The full original lineup was together for 18 years, though.

[MMko]

^^^ Intruders!


I went to the SK concert at Dante's in Portland last Saturday (11/5). I don't think it was sold out but there was definitely a solid crowd. Considering the last three times they've been here they've played really small venues and the turn out has been kind of weak I was happy to see them pack a bigger, more well-known venue again.

They played the exact same setlist as ^ San Fran. "Economic Crisis" is f'ing awesome live (see below). Ritsuko sang lead vocals on "Devil House" and "Sheenah Is a Punk Rocker" while Emi sang lead vocals on "I Am a Cat" and "The KKK Took My Baby Away". When they were signing my poster after the concert I told Emi it was nice to hear her sing. She thanked me and blurted out "I Am a Cat!".

I Emi. She's adorable and so enthusiastic and a joy to watch play. I really liked Etsuko and didn't think she'd be easy to replace but Emi has totally won me over. Naoko definitely has a talent for picking girls that really fit well with the group.

I would have loved to have snagged one of those drum head but we didn't get there early enough. I saw one guy right up front that had one but never saw a second. Too bad they weren't selling some of Emi's drumsticks:


It was nice to see Atsuko out running the merch table. I had her sign her picture in the booklet of the Japanese release of Rock Animals before the concert. I asked if she was going to play and was able to get a maybe out of her but she never did. I suppose there wouldn't have been anyone to watch the merch as DJ Sashimi seems to be back in Buffalo.

I picked up the Osaka Ramones CD, a sticker, and a Ritsuko bass pick before the show. I was going to get the 2011 tour poster after the show to have them sign but they were sold out by then. I bought the 1995 poster with the original line-up (awesome) and grudgingly bought a 2003 tour poster that I asked Naoko to correct for me:



Stuff People Should Watch:

"Economic Crisis / Cobra vs. Mongoose" live performance from 13.09.22 @ Incubate in Tilburg, Netherlands

Turn it up! (no really, the sound is really low)


"Capybara" live performance from 10.09.12 @ Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, CA

If the camera had ever panned down to the audience we could probably see erilaz in this one!

[MMko]

Knife News!

On November 7th Shonen Knife appeared on New Day NW, the morning show for Seattle's King 5 TV station. They performed a stripped down "Capybara" and had a brief chat with the hostess. A video of the full appearance can be found on King 5's website here - http://www.king5.com/new-day-northwest/ ... 65413.html

Former original Knife member Yamano Atsuko is now using Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/SK_Atsuko


Shonen Knife upcoming Christmas release!

Sweet Christmas


1. Sweet Christmas
2. Sweet Christmas (acoustic)
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Japanese digital: November 23rd, 2011
US & UK digital: November 29th, 2011
UK limited edition snow white 7" vinyl: December 1st, 2011
US maxi single CD: TBA

UK 7" vinyl cover:


"Sweet Christmas" teaser - http://vimeo.com/31755051


Sources:
http://www.shonenknife.net/discs/discs_ ... stmas.html
http://www.goodcharamel.com/?select=art ... honenKnife
http://www.damnably.com/2011/11/4335/

[erilaz]

If the camera had ever panned down to the audience we could probably see erilaz in this one!

From that angle, absolutely!

[MMko]

Knife News!



More info on the US CD release of Sweet Christmas from Good Charamel Records:

As you know, we always like to add something special to our North American releases, and Shonen Knife's new holiday maxi single "Sweet Christmas" is no exception and it's only available through our Good Charamel Online Store !

In addition to the 3 original songs from the maxi single, we've added a "U.S. Exclusive Version" of the holiday classic, "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" only available on the CD release

So the track list for the US CD release will be:

1. Sweet Christmas
2. Sweet Christmas (Acoustic Version)
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. We Wish You a Merry Christmas (U.S. Exclusive Version)

GC's online store will start taking orders next week. They also mention they'll be adding more merch to the online store soon.

http://goodcharamel.blogspot.com/2011_1 ... chive.html

[MMko]

Too bad they weren't selling some of Emi's drumsticks

Albany, NY merch table:


also,

Knife News!

Sweet Christmas maxi CD now available to order @ Good Charamel Records online store - http://www.goodcharamel.com/?select=store

The 3 track digital download is also now available on iTunes - http://itunes.apple.com/album/id477410717

[MMko]

Shonen Knife's cover of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is FREE to download @ Amazon for a limited time as part of their 25 Days of Free Holiday Music!

FREEEEE!



Disclaimer: Song is available for free for a limited time! (GET IT! NOW) If you are late to the party or reading this post some time after it was originally submitted don't be surprised (and, understandably, sad) that it is no longer free.