Tohoku Tour Day 2

昨日、宮城県気仙沼でライブを２回やりました。最初に『Light Up日本』というフェスティバルに出演しました。その後『Vangaurd』という古いジャズ喫茶店で演奏しました。お店の看板が被害を受けて、周りに津波に流されたビルもあったのですが、どうにかこのビルはまだ残っていました。町の中でビルのほとんどが流された区域がたくさんありました。残っているビルはずっと使えない状態です。

ライブに来てくれたお客さんは本当にライブを楽しみにしていたみたいで、凄く印象的な演奏でした。畠山さんは気仙沼の出身で、自分の故郷や震災についての曲もいくつかやったので、お客さんにとってもミュージシャンにとっても感情的な演奏でした。そこにいることが出来て本当に大切な経験でした。面白い人にたくさん会えて、直接につらい話を聞きました。気仙沼から大船渡まで運転してくれたタクシーの運転手は震災の前に自営業をずっとやっていて、お店が津波に流されて、タクシーの運転手になるしかないでした。かれも真面目にギターを弾いていたのですが、特別なギターも津波に流されて、毎日長い時間にタクシーを運転しているので、練習する時間がまったくありません。将来にギターが弾けるようになる時間があるようお祈りします。

今回のツアーでたくさんの面白い人に会えて記憶にずっと残る演奏が出来て本当に感謝しています。近い将来にまた東北で演奏出来れば良いなと思います。

We played 2 shows yesterday in Kesennuma. The first show was at a music festival called Light Up Japan. The second show was at an old jazz café called Vangaurd. Although the main sign was damaged by the tsunami the building somehow survived although most of the buildings nearby are completely gone. This town was one of the hardest hit towns by the tsunami last year. There are large sections of the town where nearly all the buildings were completely washed out into the ocean. The few that remain are uninhabitable.

The people at the show were so excited for the show that it made it a very memorable performance. Miyuki Hatakeyama is from Kesennuma and some of her songs are about her hometown and also about the tsunami which made it a very emotional performance for the audience and for the musicians. I felt very lucky to be there and hope I get a chance to perform there again in the near future. I met some great people and got a chance to hear first hand some of the hardships that people went through and are continuously going through. Our taxi driver was once an entrepreneur but his business was destroyed by the earthquake and he had to become a taxi driver to support his family. He was also a very serious guitar player but his very special guitar was destroyed by the tsunami and he has no time to play anymore because he works very long hours driving his taxi. I hope he gets a chance to play again in the future.

I am so grateful that I got the chance to go on this tour and meet so many interesting people. I hope I get a chance to do more performances in this part of Japan.

The band and the people who put on the show!