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

[boinsie]

Looks like we wont be up in Seattle by Aug 8th afterall. Oh wells, I'm sure it'll be a good show without me.

[esm]

They come to Minneapolis every year, it seems. At least this is the third time I noticed in the past few years. I just... haven't listened to them enough.

[TotallyUncool]

I'll catch them when they're in Long Beach (at the moment, that seems to be their L. A. area gig). It's going to be slightly tricky, since I have another event (part of a poetry/performance series I'm involved in) that evening -- but the first gig is also in LB, and it gets out at 10:00, so I think I can just leave a little early to catch SK.

[erilaz]

I went to the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco last night for my 16th Shonen Knife show. As usual, I was front row center, right between Naoko and Ritsuko and constantly in danger of getting hit in the head by their guitars. I was too far away from either of their set lists to grab one at the end, but here's what they played:

Konnichiwa
Riding On The Rocket
Banana Chips
Lazybone
Pop Tune
Osaka Rock City
Psychedelic Life
Sunshine
Rubber Band
Super Group
Buttercup (I'm A Super Girl)
Devil House
Making Plans For Bison
Blitzkrieg Bop
Twist Barbie
Cobra Vs. Mongoose
Move On

Encore: Top Of The World

I was bummed that they were out of both L and XL tour t-shirts; I can't fit into anything smaller. So I ended up buying a towel, a Ritsuko guitar pick, and a tour poster, which I got signed by Naoko, Ritsuko, Emi, and Atsuko, who was running the merch table. I also got my photo taken with the group, though I have to wait for my friend to e-mail me the picture.

Opening acts were two local groups: Chuckleberries (garage band covering oldies from the '60s) and The Mallard (in a Sonic Youth vein). Before SK's set, some drunk chick was knocking stuff over near the steps to the stage, and one of the regulars who I always see at SK shows commented to me, "She looks like trouble." Sure enough, she got up on stage, started messing with Naoko's pedals, and tried to get the mic turned on so she could sing a song. The club manager called for security, and two big bouncers hauled her off the stage and threw her out of the club.

EDIT: Pictures! Thanks to my friend Chris!

I passed on the autographed drumheads this time, but my friend bought one:



Naoko's setlist:



erilaz and the Knife:

[TotallyUncool]

I just got back from seeing SK at Alex's Bar in Long Beach. I bought the new CD (from Atsuko, who always seems to be running the merch table at L.A. area gigs). A good set, and a good crowd -- lots of fun.

Spoiler: show

And there was a fight at that gig, as well -- some run-down-looking, drunk barfly-biker type apparently made the wrong move with a girl (who was there with her BF), and wound up being punched across the dance floor by a short, wiry lesbian (hey, this is Long Beach - if you've got any sense, there are some people you know you just don't mess with ), and as he was lying at the foot of the stage, some random big-looking guy from the crowd came up to him, stood over him, and started yelling "GET THE F!CK OUT! JUST GET THE F!CK OUT NOW!" right in his face. About that time, two bouncers showed up, pulled him up to his knees (this guy was on the floor), and got ready to toss him out the door -- but before that happened, the girl he had originally been harassing came up (with a bloody lip) and took a swing at him. After the bouncers restrained her (gently), they dragged him over to the door and threw him out onto Anaheim Street (where he probably craweld across the street to one of the even cruddier bars).
And where was bloody-lip-girl's BF through all of this? Nowhere to be found -- my guess is that he was back at the bar, finishing his beer. (Later, during SK's set, they were both up at the front of the crowd, having a good time, so this kind of thing may be normal for them )

[erilaz]

Today I got some really great Shonen Knife items from Yahoo! Auctions Japan via From Japan.

Item #1: The original 1986 LP of Amusement Park on Girl Friend Records, which I got for the opening bid of ¥500. It's a compilation album that includes "Roketto ni Notte" ("Riding on the Rocket") and "Akuma no Yakata" ("Devil House"). I bought the 1995 CD reissue when it came out, but it has very different cover art.



Item #2: The original 20 cm vinyl of Yama no Attchan on Zero Records, vintage 1984. I bought the original vinyl versions of Burning Farm and Pretty Little Baka Guy in the early '90s, but this one eluded me for years, until I started seeing it on rare occasions on online auction sites. I was reluctant to pay the $60 or so that everyone was asking for it, so I waited patiently and finally got this copy for an opening bid of ¥500.



Item #3: Now this one's really special, but you have to know your SK history to appreciate it. Years ago, I heard a radio interview where Naoko told the story of how the band got its name. Naoko was taking an English exam at school, and the students had to bring a knife to open the exam booklet. (Clear evidence that this did not take place in the present-day U.S.A!) The girl in front of her had an old jackknife with the words 少年ナイフ on it. Naoko liked the juxtaposition of the cute word shōnen (boy) and the tough word knife, so she decided to use the name for her band. And here's what I bought:

Spoiler: show

It's very small, with a length of 7.5 cm closed, 13 cm fully opened. Buy It Now price: ¥400

[erilaz]

A new Shonen Knife album, Overdrive, was released on Good Charamel Records in North America on April 15th, available on CD, iTunes, and Amazon Digital Music:

http://www.goodcharamel.com/discography?id=8786

And dates have been announced for their North American tour this fall!



http://www.shonenknife.net/live.html

[erilaz]

I went to my 17th Shonen Knife show last night at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. As usual, I was in the front row, between Ritsuko and Naoko, getting slammed against the stage repeatedly by the moshers behind me (particularly one clown who's unfortunately a regular at S.F. Shonen Knife shows).

In spite of that, it was a great show, as always. The opening acts were Great Apes, a local band who supposedly played a set of San Francisco-themed songs (I can't confirm this, since I couldn't understand the lyrics at all), and Death Valley Girls (from L.A.), whose singer-guitarist Bonnie was a hilarious ball of energy. I asked Bonnie for her setlist, and she handed me all the setlists on the stage! When I got the band to sign one of them after the show, Bonnie turned it into an elaborate multicolor production and asked me to send her a photo of it, since this was the first time the other band members had signed anything using the nicknames she had given them.

Here's what Shonen Knife played:

Banana Chips
Twist Barbie
Pop Tune
Making Plans For Bison
Bad Luck Song
Like A Cat
Ramen Rock [Ritsuko]
Green Tea [Emi]
I Wanna Eat Chocobars
Flying Jelly Attack
Animal Song [Emi]
Get The Wow
Boys [Ritsuko]
Riding On The Rocket
Pyramid Power
Economic Crisis
Antonio Baka Guy
ENCORE: Sushi Bar Song

They didn't come out for autographs and photos after the show, but there were pre-signed CDs and posters at the merch table, and I got to talk to all three of them before the show, anyway. I brought a picture of the original Shonen Knife jackknife that I bought on Yafuoku (bringing an actual knife to the venue seemed inadvisable), and Naoko confirmed that this was indeed the kind of knife that inspired the band's name.

I bought a t-shirt, a signed copy of the latest CD, and a signed Japanese tour poster. I also managed to snag Naoko's setlist from the stage:

[Zunu]

There's something to be said for the expansive panorama of the vinyl album cover, especially for a collector. I mean, nobody really cracks open their MM CD's to listen to them, do they? It's easier to just get the MP3's online. H!P should try releasing a limited-edition vinyl, maybe each one with an individualized serial number good for a .flac/.mp3 download. Fans would snap it up.

[erilaz]

A new Shonen Knife album, Adventure, was released on March 23rd in Japan and on April 1st in North America and Europe.

Major personnel changes since the previous album, Overdrive: Drummer Emi left last July due to concerns about extensive overseas touring and was replaced by Risa from the band Brinky. Bassist Ritsuko gave birth to a baby girl on 17 September 2015, and filling in for her is none other than original SK drummer Yamano Atsuko!



http://www.goodcharamel.com