J-Summit : June 20106
Posted by - In Music
As I’ve mentioned earlier this month, J-Summit NYC’s monthly event was held on Japan Day and CrayonBeats sent special correspondents Rebecca and Julie to give us their opinion of the festivities. The girls are both into J-rock, however, they were relatively new to some of the local bands that played on the 6th. Read on for Rebecca’s review on how things went:
J-Summit in Review, by Rebecca Mei
J-Summit was held on Sunday, June 6, 2010 and the lineup included Go Takeuchi, Lilac, Nobuya, Truthseekers, Gramm, and Gelatine. The night, scheduled to begin at 5:30 pm at Webster Hall, was delayed until about 7 pm, as people had not shown up on time. Before the main show, there was a short Lolita contest.
As Go Takeuchi, a group with just two members, opened the night with their music, they brought a variety of instruments onto the stage and got the audience engaged with their uplifting music. The vocalist transitioned between each song with a story about something he had experienced or saw. Although he tried to interact with the audience, there was still hardly anyone in the hall.
Lilac-photo by Rebecca Mei
The next performance was Lilac, a very energetic band with 3 members. They played 7 songs and half way through their performance, a broken drumstick was thrown into the audience. I didn’t start getting engaged until the third song and as they were playing their fourth piece, I started staring at Toshi, the vocalist, and began thinking about other bands. I only wish they could engage the audience more and to distinguish themselves better.
It wasn’t until around 8 pm when the hall started filling up. The audience formed a horseshoe around the stage until Nobuya came on and called everyone to step closer up. He had a good choice of music and engaged the audience by teaching dance moves to follow along. He had also cross-dressed midway into his act. Truthseekers was a group of eight and their playlist was long but lively, with a taste of Jazz. At times, their vocals would be covered by their music, however, their style of music did not seem to suit the concert as a whole.
Gelatine- photo by Rebecca Mei
GRAMM came out to the stage playing a mix of techno and trance. Their singer sounds a lot like Evanescence if she would just project her voice a bit more. Finally Gelatine, an innocent looking band who is actually not so innocent, took over the stage. The singer was wearing a bunny costume that only covered her necessities and the bassist wore a cow costume. Their music was hyper, loud and screechy but very entertaining. The vocalist was like a little monster on the stage. Overall, it was a fun night, though it was also a long one.
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Thanks a lot Rebecca for your review! Did you attend the show? Or Japan Day? What were your thoughts?
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lol, is this some hodgepodge desperate attempt at a ‘japan nite’?
“I started staring at Toshi, the vocalist, and began thinking about other bands. I only wish they could engage the audience more and to distinguish themselves better.” you expect too much for a band that is mediocre at best. The only reason that band exists is to inflate the egos of the members.
and are u sure GRAMM wasn’t a guy cross dressing as a girl?
Hi Griggsy,
To my understanding, J-Summit is in place to promote and explore Japanese music and pop culture here in NYC. “Hodgepodge desperate attempt at a ‘Japan night’ ” is, in my opinion, not only ill-observed, but also quite rude. The kick off of J-Summit just happened to correspond with Japan Day in NYC…if that’s where you’re getting the “Japan Night” idea from…however, I’d like to ask, did you attended J-Summit last month? If not, as I mentioned before, the event is now a monthly thing, with rotating artists, so you can check them on out July 10th. The info will be posted in the Events tab. If then, after attending the show yourself, you still feel the same, I would suggest you either a: contact the promoters/creators and (respectfully) toss some ideas their way that you think could better the experience. or b: find something else to do with your time.
As far as your assessment of Lilac being “mediocre at best”, well, I guess that’s your opinion, and you’re entitled to it….however, I’d like to play devil’s advocate and point out….isn’t that the point of pretty much any rock and roll band (to inflate the egos of it’s members)? If you’re delusional enough to think that there are rock bands out there who do shows purely “for the music” then…I won’t knock you and just let you live in your rose colored world.
That being said, thanks for visiting CrayonBeats!
–Tiffny
You should do a little homework and see J-Summit started last year. It then returned as a monthly thing starting off on May 16th.
From the press release by the organizers “j-Summit NY will be hosting a Japanese pop culture festival” . Lets look at some bands that have played in May:
NoirceuR, Lilac, Stella’s Attic, the Hsu-nami, Typherus
This month Lilac is playing the 3rd time, Stella’s will do their 2nd J-Summit. Oh yeah Nobuya and Ri-Bon are back again too.
What does Stella’s Attic (Aerosmith cover band?) have to do with Japanese pop culture? What does HsuNami, a chinese / american instrumental band have to do with J-pop?
Typherus? the lead signer is not Japanese, sings in chinese. Just rips off the vkei look. Not sure what to make of ‘American Vkei’ but whatever floats your boat.
Some of the other bands are just mixed bands with some Japanese members and as in the case of Truthseekers their music doesn’t mix with the rest of the night.
Yes you’re right, it takes a bit of ego to form a band and get on stage. But it takes real balls to try to do something unique and blow away the audience. And it takes real skill to actually execute and pull it off. These guys have the ego to get on stage, but once on stage they don’t have the gas to rock the house.
So is it ‘rude’ to point out the obvious? or is it rude to falsely advertise? People are being asked to pay $12 for an event that is really a 6 for a 9 and pretty much clone of previous installments.
Why should I suggest ideas to the organizers? Can’t they not think for themselves?
This is going to be my last response to you, Griggsy, as I already see you’re quite salty over this and I don’t want to go back and forth with you, so…
“You should do a little homework and see J-Summit started last year. It then returned as a monthly thing starting off on May 16th. “
–Yes, I know this. I attended last year and THIS year as well: http://wp.me/pnqgk-Z7
I apologize for the confusion of dates in my first response, so again, there’s no need to be rude.
“From the press release by the organizers “j-Summit NY will be hosting a Japanese pop culture festival” . Lets look at some bands that have played in May[...]”
I will go out on a limb and say that, perhaps it’s not necessarily them singing in Japanese, or even BEING Japanese, more so that they are embracing aspects of Japanese pop culture. As you’ve pointed out, Typherus does the whole American Vkei thing..well, I would think that’s tipping the scale towards Japanese pop culture in a way…? As for the mixed bands thing, I don’t really know what you want me to say. The event celebrates Japanese pop culture (which is a melting pot of other pop cultures in itself)…must it be STRAIGHT from Japan, in Japanese, and only by Japanese people for it to be “right” in your eyes?
—I actually agree with you that it would be nice to see more acts, however, there aren’t many J-rock bands (or in general Jpop acts) who are active in NYC…if you’ve noticed the same bands (give or take a few) play just about any and every gig/festival/event in the city that has anything to do with Japan. Don’t lay all of the blame on the promoters…if there are other bands out there, well they aren’t doing a good job making themselves known (that is…if they even want publicity).
“What does Stella’s Attic (Aerosmith cover band?) have to do with Japanese pop culture? What does HsuNami, a chinese / american instrumental band have to do with J-pop? Typherus? the lead signer is not Japanese, sings in chinese. Just rips off the vkei look. Not sure what to make of ‘American Vkei’ but whatever floats your boat. Some of the other bands are just mixed bands with some Japanese members and as in the case of Truthseekers their music doesn’t mix with the rest of the night.”
—This, I cannot answer, as I’m not the promoter of the event.
“These guys have the ego to get on stage, but once on stage they don’t have the gas to rock the house.”
–Again, this is, your entitled opinion. That’s the thing about music and art in general…it’s all subjective.
“So is it ‘rude’ to point out the obvious? People are being asked to pay $12 for an event that is really a 6 for a 9 and pretty much clone of previous installments[...]Why should I suggest ideas to the organizers? “
—It’s not what you were pointing out it was the way you went about it..so yes, that was rude. It’s not what you say, but how you say it.
As for your question on why you shouldn’t approach the organizers: you’ve already answered your own question. If you feel it’s redundant, and a waste of money, why are you complaining on my blog…that has (mind you) very little influence over what the promoters do. I believe, that if you feel so strongly about this, then THAT should be the reason why you suggest ideas to the organizers. It’s YOUR money, right? Right? Well, then do something about it rather than be passive aggressive, and griping online. You wanna see different bands? Tell them. You think prices should be lower? Tell them. You’re unhappy with the way it’s run…you got it: TELL THEM. THEM. not me, THEM.
If you’re not going to voice your opinions, ideas and thoughts on something that you are paying for, then how, pray tell, will they know what they need to improve on? If you keep saying everything’s fine just what do you think they will do? (and by repeatedly going to their shows and paying the cover, you are in fact, saying it’s fine)
Also, if you feel you’re too above contacting them and suggesting things, then I don’t think you’ve the right to complain. Especially if you keep going back for more…it boggles my mind as to how anyone in general complain about things to everyone but the people who can make the changes…and be so indignant about it as well.
Lastly, all I can suggest to you is, if it puts you off so much, don’t go. stop going..and as I said earlier-find something else to do with your time.
Again, thanks for stopping by CrayonBeats,
–Tiffny
Tiffny you posted a review of an event in NYC. There is a comment section in your blog. Your blog is open to the public. Why can’t I express my opinions or observations on the event that you are reviewing?
Are you one of those people who go about saying stuff like “hey if you don’t have something good today, don’t say it”.
If you have problems with people expressing opinions then you need to clearly put a disclaimer on your blog.
As a person who attends live shows regularly, and actually still buys cd’s, why can’t I as a consumer voice my likes or dislikes on an apparent public forum?
Maybe you need to look at some other blogs and see how users give their takes on products and services that are announced. Take a look at Autoblog and Engadget and see how users respond to products that are not even out yet. Even other bigger music blogs have comments sections that are filled with debates.
This is a good thing for the users and the blog owners. But if you don’t want it, then so be it.
And so you, there’s been other attempts to do regular shows with bands based around some theme niche. For the most part these have all failed.
So as a music fan, as a consumer, it boggles my mind that venue time and space is not used for something a bit more forward thinking. I’ll spell out what these shows are. “Hey! these kids like anime, lets just get some asian related bands and make money!” It’s exploitation plain and simple.
The organizers of J-summit have no public forum. They do have an FB page but I don’t have an FB account and I do not intend get one.
Again, if you don’t want people voicing their opinions then you should remove the comments section.
much thanks
G
I know I said my last response would be the last one, however I think the above comment is deserving.
There’s a big difference in leaving a constructive comment and leaving comments meant only to ruffle feathers. This comment, is by far, the most constructive of the ones you’ve left. Your previous comments were very brash, so yes, I do think that if you’re coming to my blog to just to kick up dust, then save it. That may be how other blogs get their kicks and hits, but I’d rather not. Sorry. That’s just me. If that means less comments or views, then so be it. I’m not chasing numbers. I’d rather have quality over quantity. Also, I have no problem with people expressing opinions, and I’m definitely not saying every comment has to be gushing in agreement with everything we post, but c’mon. This may be the internet, but it’s no excuse to be rude.
And you’re mistaken: it’s not a public forum. It’s a blog. My blog. Yes, comments are open to the public, but it’s not a place to climb on a soapbox and gripe either. Your first comment was not an observation of what I (or rather, my correspondent) reviewed, but rather it was attacking the event’s coordinators, bands, and attendees of the event. That’s what I’m pointing out.
I never said you can’t voice your opinions…as a matter of fact, I encouraged you to do so. But, just look at it this way…if someone rudely criticizes you, are you going to take their words as weight or with a grain of salt? Now if someone critiques you on the same ‘problem’, but in a much more respectful manner, wouldn’t you be more apt to listen to their point of view? That’s all I’m saying. If you want someone to listen to you, raving at them is not the answer…even if you do have valid points.
I agree with you that many of the organizers in NYC, in the past, have exploited the kids who will eat up anything Asian related because of their love of anime, manga, or what-have-you, and some even still– but in actual conversations I’ve had with the organizers of this particular event, they do truly want to expose more people to Japanese pop culture. Not just anime and Vkei mind you, but hip hop, reggae, pop, lolita, dance…all of it. Perhaps their reasoning for including bands like Stella’s Attic, Typherus, et al is because of lack of resources (bands) and just what you’ve stated: “attempts to do regular shows with bands based around some theme niche [...] for the most part [..] have failed.” So yeah, maybe that’s why. I don’t know, because like I said, I didn’t organize it, but it seems like a logical answer.
The organizers of J-summit do, in fact have a myspace, and lists their contact info of the Exec Producer and Media Exec right there in the ‘about me’. So, I don’t how you think there’s no way for you to share your ideas with them? Were you thinking to call them out in front of many people, have them gang up on J-Summit’s creators and have them lose face? Is that why you went about it that way? Because if you want to show that others feel the same as you, perhaps being a little more mature about it, would get more things done. Maybe you should create a petition, have ppl sign it and fwd it to them.
Or just send them an email, or give them a call. They’re actually very cool guys and would probably love to hear your suggestions (respectfully). Because like you said, as someone who attends shows, and actually still buys CDs, you are their audience. And if your ideas on how to get things going in the right direction are what they need, who’s to say were that can take you? Do you have experience in promotions? A&R? If so, you should definitely contact them because you do seem very passionate about it.
In closing, I’ll thank you again for stopping by CrayonBeats, and the comment section will stay where it is. Thanks again, and good luck.
–Tiffny