OBACHAN'S SCRIBBLES

I went to an outdoor live concert held in a small village outside Kochi city last night. This kind of event is becoming popular throughout Japan… I mean, having big music events for youth in rural/remote areas where otherwise very little people would visit. Perhaps such venues are good for outdoor live concerts because not many residents would complain about the noise (…because there are not many residents there.) No, I'm not making fun of them. I think it's a good idea and I welcome such events.

This is the venue of the live concert last night. There were some food/drink booths around and it was kind of funny seeing people eating some traditional food like somen and seared bonito watching things like hip-hop dance, BMX performance and DJ mixing.

I heard that many different artists performed there since afternoon, but I was able to see the stage after 19:00 or so. I didn’t know much about the young performers I saw – a hip-hop group, I imagine -- but I loved watching their dance so much. A DJ called kentaro also performed and he was said to be a real famous kid. They said he was a former champ of World DJ mixing championship (or something?) Even someone like me who doesn’t know anything about DJ mixing technique thought he was awesome. Boy, it was so nice of him to come.

I missed the last train from the village, so I took a taxi to a bigger train station to catch the last express train. The taxi driver was a big fan of old-time rock groups and said he goes to the Ventures’ concert every time they come to Kochi. (Yes, the Ventures come to Kochi almost every year to perform, believe it or not.) I really love it when seemingly serious elder folks talk enthusiastically about their favorite bands with stars in their eyes like they are back in their teenage days again.

We all love music, don't we?