Invasion of the Geeks from Akihabara
You may have noticed a large hole in my internet presence lately (at least, my twitter friends and the good people of #oihayaku may have noticed — it’s not like I’ve been a blogging machine in ‘09), but I’ve been rocking out at the South by Southweset music festival. And before that, the interactive conference of the same name, learning some tasty stuff for my work on the series of tubes. Busy times.
The SXSW music fest is one of the world’s largest; our city, with its hundreds of music venues, turns into a giant mega-venue for something like 1500 bands (that was the ‘08 number). You plan your day around some bigger acts, and then wander in and out of bars to various other things with a hundred gazillion of your closest friends from all over the world. By the way, Australia, you’ve disappointed me. I expect Australians to be fitter and more tan. But then again, musicians don’t tend to be the outdoorsy types.
While wandering through the increasingly trash-covered streets, mai waifu spied a flyer announcing THE GEEKS from AKIHABARA TOKYO. This was, needless to say, both intriguing and slightly frightening. So when midnight rolled around, we made our way to the Irish pub, which if you ask me is the perfect setting in which to see a Japanese band.
It was kind of intimate, considering no one had heard of them, but the crowd all had big grins on their faces as the four young rockers blasted through some pop-punk cover tunes (Green Day’s “Basket Case” when we walked in). After that, they threw out a bunch of original songs, still pop-punk but with a little more complexity and “pop.”
I gotta say, these guys rocked the house. They jumped around, they posed for cameras, they stood on railings, and taught all the Americans how to say “saiko” and do their hand gesture (one part devil horns, one part middle finger, and one part… the shocker?). Whether they were actual geeks, or actually from Akihabara, or whether 10% of Americans got that joke, it doesn’t really matter. They were tight as hell, polished in sound and fashionable looks but with just enough sweaty punk edge. Check out their site at geeks.co.jp or their myspace.
Hopefully tonight I can manage to see Peelander-Z, who are always entertaining.
I guess it’s better than having them being gaijins and belting out Asian Kungfu Generation tunes or something to that effect.
I am so jealous you got to go to this event! I heard so much about it! I definitely will go next time!
Sounds like quite the experience! I’d say they have a sense of humor, too, with a name like “The Geeks.”
Now I’m wondering if Akihabara has a burgeoning music scene.
Seems like alot of fun. Did you get any cool swag, like those beer hats or #1 Foam Fingers? :3
Just what are you tryin’ ta say? You got a better body-build than them?
hyuk hyuk! I only know how tight it is in heav-*gets shot*
Let the debate commence!