Hikashu and Jang Gi Ha performed "Ningen No Kao" together

Last night, the first Japanese gig of Jang Gi Ha and his company, an emerging indie act from South Korea, was held at a venue called Lush in Shibuya, Tokyo. The place was pretty packed and lively. That's always a good sign.

Hikashu was called in as guest and performed first. There were not much time so unfortunately, no stretched improvisation. But aside from that, it was dense, tightly 40+ minutes. Of course, it turned out great.

The band appeared and swiftly kicked out their set by a new, unreleased song called "Ashita Ni Kaketa" ["Taking a Chance on Tomorrow"]. It's an uplifting, mid-tempo number with many humorous word-play in its lyrics, and always works great as a starter.

The next tune was "Tengoku o Nozokitai" ["Want to Glimpse the Heaven"], a christmas song (well, sort of). In interlude, lots of christmas-related tunes were quoted one right after the other. It went kinda overplay (the time was limited) and eventually Makigami had to hold it, then the band went back to the part where it should be and completed the tune. After that, "Ikirukoto" and "Nyuunen" were performed. Somewhat shortened, but sharp as always.

Then "The Curry Master" followed. It is the featuring number of Mita Freeman, the philosopher of the group. As a preamble, Mita preached about the importance of Cardamom as an ingredient of curry, then performed it. As always, in the midst of guitar solo, he shouted "Curry!" and the song went into climax.

At this moment, introduced by Makigami, Jhang Gi Ha appeared as a guest and performed "Ningen No Kao" with the band. He must spend some time for preparation; he sang the lyrics well in Japanese and there were no misses. And so that he made the stage debut in Japan with a Hikashu's song, as Makigami noted it on the scene. That's great, indeed.

After that, the band went into "Pike" and concluded the set.

Jang Gi Ha and the Faces played about an hour. Their set was very entertaining, not exactly I anticipated, but anyway it was great. Makigami also appeared at their set briefly and performed. It seemed that Jang Gi Ha and his company had already established a strong fan base here and a bright future was awaiting them in the country also.

As for the Hikashu's set, I would say that seeing them perform is always quite an experience and the event proved it again. Their next appearance is on December 26 with all the original members. Apparently they prepare a special program for the date and I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Note: A blog of Hasegawa Yohei has a photograph of Hikashu and Jhang Gi Ha in rehearsal. See here for the photo. Mr. Hasegawa is a Japanese musician who has been active in South Korea for years, and he came to Japan with them for supporting as an additional guitarist.


Related Entry:
Jang Gi Ha and the Faces invite Hikashu for their first Tokyo gig