Taiko at the World Series - Detroit Tigers

At the Taiko Center, we have had a few opportunities to perform outdoors in downtown Detroit. It is always a unique and fun experience to be surrounded by the big buildings, a lot of people and to hear the deep sounds of taiko drums echoing around the city.

So when the Detroit Tigers made the playoffs last month, I decided that if they could make it to the World Series, the Taiko Center would pack up the drums, go down to the game and cheer on the Tigers from the streets.

Once they punched their ticket to the World Series, through the connections of one of our students, we were able to get a spot right along Woodward in front of Comerica Park. We arrived on site at 5 PM, set up the drums and started playing on and off up until the game began around 8 PM. Once the sun went down it was pretty cold, so we kept playing from time to time to stay warm. Many people stopped to listen on their way to the game, took pictures, videos, stoped to chat and so on. Many people looked happy to see us. I hope we brought some joy to everyone who was down in the city.

Unfortunately, the Tigers lost that night and went on to get swept by the Giants the following day. We still enjoyed performing and since the Tigers are favored to get back to the World Series in 2013, we may just have to plan on heading down again.

See more pictures at our Facebook Page.

Four (actually five) Taiko Concerts in Two Weeks!

Raion Taiko at the DIA - Friday Night Live

It's finally August! Actually, finally is probably not the best word since July really flew by. It was perhaps our busiest month yet, the past two weeks being the most intense. After our performance at the Concert of Colors, we had two more that week - one in Battle Creek and the next at the DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts (pictured above).

Our DIA performance was actually rescheduled from May (also a busy month). We had planned to to perform outside, but as we approached our scheduled performance date, it looked more and more like it was going to rain. A day or two before the performance, a last minute replacement was found and we postponed our performance until July, when it was less likely to rain. 

Funny how things can be ironic. As it turned out, on the day in May that we were originally booked for it did not rain. In fact, it was a beautiful evening, if I recall. And, you guessed it, July 22 turned out to be a fairly wet day. As we were driving down, it started pouring rain. Obviously, the rain let up in time for us to perform, but there was a point where a few sprinkles started during the show, but not enough to cancel.　(Nothing like this video - rain starts around 2 min)

The following week we only had one performance at a library near Grand Rapids, but the week before we held our first Kids Summer Taiko Week each afternoon. We had a great time with two classes with kids aged 4 - 12 years. Altogether, we had 12 kids. To end the kids summer course, we held a mini-recital at Guernsey Farms Dairy on the lawn.

There was a good crowd on hand for the performance with many family and friends. After the performance, there was, of course...

... Ice Cream for all!

Raion Taiko at Detroit Concert of Colors 2011

Yesterday Raion Taiko reached a major milestone (in my mind, at least) when we performed on the stage of Detroit's Orchestra Hall as a part of the 2011 Concert of Colors.  What a privilege and honor to be a featured performer at such a wonderful hall, one of the top 3 halls acoustically in North America. When Mayumi and I first formed Raion Taiko back in 2005, I never dreamed that we would make it to Orchestra Hall.

Orchestra Hall is the home of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra and has hosted many national and international acts, which is evidenced by all the signatures on the backstage walls. Including one that we were especially delighted to discover yesterday ...

When I was in high school, I played violin in the Detroit Symphony Civic Orchestra and we rehearsed at Orchestra Hall every Saturday, so I was well aware of the hall's acoustic qualities and it's reputation. As we were setting up and preparing for our set, I stepped out into the audience to check the placement of the drums and I looked up and around at the hall and for a minute a wave of emotion washed over me as it sunk in that we were actually on the stage at Orchestra Hall.

The hall certainly lived up to its acoustic reputation. As a result, I think we were able to give one of our best performances yet.  It was hard to see very far out into the audience, but the response was good and I noticed several people in the front row who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves with big smiles on their faces. My cousin, who drove down from Saginaw to see us, told me there were even a couple dancers in the aisles in the back. It's amazing how the audience energy gives energy back to us on stage.

We ended with our arrangement of Yatai Bayashi (made famous through Kodo) and received a standing ovation, to our surprise.  Unfortunately, because of time restraints, we weren't able to end with our usual encore, Mushi Okuri.  We did get a big compliment after the show.  A man came down to the stage to ask me if we have ever seen Kodo perform to which I replied that we had several times.  He followed up with, "You guys are right up there with them, aren't you."  Of course, we know better, but it was still nice to hear.

If you missed us at Orchestra Hall, try to catch us at the Detroit Institute of Arts this Friday, July 22 at 7 and 8:30 PM.  You can always stay up to date on our performances through the Performances Page on this website and also by becoming a fan of our Facebook Page.

Upcoming performances and a Visit with Young Entrepreneurs

Last Friday we had the opportunity to visit a group of young Entrepreneurs at Schoolcraft College for their Kids on Campus program. We went there to talk about what it has been like to start up a new business, how we prepared and some of the challenges we faced (continue to face) and then they asked us questions.  Since many people in Michigan are still unfamiliar with taiko, we brought one of our drums and some videos to show them what it is that we do.  Everyone was very impressed with the volume of the taiko drum.  One of the questions we got: "Why is it so loud?" Actually, most of the questions from the kids were more about taiko than about starting a business, but luckily, the instructors kept them on track by asking a few important questions.  We enjoyed the visit and will be visiting another group of young entrepreneurs again this Friday.

In other news, after a somewhat slow month in July, we are now gearing up for what should be a busy August and hopefully a new influx of students for fall classes.  For the second time, we will be bringing along a group of students to perform at an event along with Raion Taiko. This time it is on August 14th in downtown Detroit.  Raion Taiko will be performing a 30 minute set at the Heidelberg Project's Dancin' on the Streets festival and at the end we will be joined by about 10 of our students for a big Mushi Okuri finale! See details for this performance on the performances page.  We are excited to play down in the city for the first time.

Finally, as the Great Lakes Taiko Center approaches the mid-point of our first year, we are making some big plans (with special guests from far away) for the fall and the winter next year.  More information to come as events are confirmed...

Raion Taiko Now Offering Lawn Care!

Lawn Care? That's right! This past Saturday, we performed at another graduation party. As usual, we ended with Mushi Okuri, which means to send away the bugs. The piece was traditionally played while walking through the rice fields in Kaga in order to make noise and scare away the bugs and other pests.  As I was explaining this to the audience, the father of the graduate said, "I don't care about the bugs, get rid of the moles!"

"Alright," I said, "Today we'll call it Mogura Okuri." (Mogura is Japanese for mole)

Later, as we were packing up our drums into the van, I noticed a rodent crawling out of the lawn and crossing the street. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be... you guessed it, a mole! I guess it worked. We sent at least one of the moles away. So... should you have a mole problem in your yard, just give us a call, we'll play "mogura okuri" for you and get rid of your moles as well!

Independence Day Parade, Plymouth, MI

A week before the mole episode we got up at the crack of dawn to participate in the Good Morning USA Independence Day Parade in Plymouth, MI.  The parade starts at 7:30 AM and is one of the earliest in the US. As difficult as it was to wake up at quarter to 5, I was grateful for the early start because it got pretty hot later on that day. Mayumi and I played Odaiko for about 45 min non-stop and that was hot enough as it was.

There was a lot of positive response from the spectators along the way and a few shouts of encouragement from people we knew. Overall it went very well. The good news about next year: the parade organizer said they will be moving back the start time.

Here are a few pictures from getting ready for the parade: