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.

Three Weeks of Taiko

Last weekend we began three weekends of consecutive taiko performances. On Sunday, we traveled to Lake Orion (north of Pontiac) to be a part of the Dragon on the Lake Dragon Boat Races Opening Ceremony.  It was a beautiful day for the event, but we were glad to be done with our set by 11:30 because it was already starting to get hot. We only had 10 minutes to play so we did a short set of Raigun, an Odaiko piece and Mushi Okuri. One of the nice things about short sets is you feel like you can give your all and not worry about saving anything for the end of the concert. It is over before you know it. There were many people taking pictures as we played and some have shared them with us. Here are a few:

This Monday (September 6, Labor Day) we are excited to be a part of Royal Oak's Arts Beats and Eats festival. We will be performing at 11 AM on Vince and Joe's stage. We are particularly excited about this because we will be debuting a couple new pieces and will also be joined by my brother, Andrew Sole, the drummer of Chicago's popular group, The Detholz!.

We have performance for a private event on Sept 11 and the following weekend, on Sept 19th we will be in Saginaw for a Japanese festival at the Japanese gardens. Details can be found on our taiko performances page.

Finally, we will be starting new taiko classes next week. If you, or anyone you know might be interested, please check out our taiko classes page and get in contact with us at raion.taiko@gmail.com

Beford Library Anime Convention and Michigan Genbukai Karate Spectacular

Last Sunday (June 13), we packed up our new van and a trailer and the five of us piled in and drove an hour south to Temperance Michigan. The Bedford Library was holding an Anime Convention and invited us to perform.  It was our first outdoor performance since January, when we played Mushi Okuri outside of the University of Michigan Mochi Tsuki event.  The weather on Sunday was a lot warmer than it was back in January. We performed in the parking lot in front of the library. As we were setting up, we even attracted the curiosity of several passers by.

"Where are you guys from?" One lady asked.

"The Great Lakes Taiko Center in Novi," I answered.

"And what brings you all the way down here?"

"The Anime Convention."

"The enemy convention!? Who's the enemy?"

"No, no. The anime convention. You know, like Japanese animation?"

"Oh, I see..."

It was very hot and most of us got some sunburn, but we enjoyed ourselves very much. I hope we can perform again next year. See pictures from the event in the photo gallery.

For residents of the Northeast Detroit suburbs, we, along with about 8 of our students, have a performance on Friday evening (June 18) for the Michigan Genbukai Karate-do school. We are a guest performer at their Karate Spectacular: a showcase event to benefit the Special Olympics. The performance is at 7:00 PM and tickets are $7 for adults and $4 for children 12 and under. See all the details on the Performances page.

University of Michigan JSA Spring Festival Article

A couple weeks ago we performed at the Japan Student Association's Japan Festival at University of Michigan.  Our performance got a little write up in the Detroit area Japanese language newspaper, Japan ニニュース倶楽部 Here is what they wrote about us:

雷が落ちたかと思うような音でスタートしたのはＧｒｅａｔ Ｌａｋｅｓ Ｔａｉｋｏ Ｃｅｎｔｅｒ　主宰するソウル夫婦と仲間による和太鼓グループ　‘雷音‘のパフォーマンス。大きさも形も様々な太鼓を体全体を使って叩く姿はエネルギッシュで颯爽としていた。目を離さず見続けていた女性は｢すっかり引き込まれてしまったわ。とても感動した！｣曲風の異なる数曲を太鼓の種類を変えたり、横笛を加えたり、変化のある構成で披露。祭りムードを一気に盛り上げた。

and here is my loose English translation:

The performance by Raion Taiko, a group from the Great Lakes Taiko Center led by Brian and Mayumi Sole, started with a thunderous sound. Using their whole bodies and including many different types and sizes of taiko drums, the group gave an energetic and gallant performance. One woman who did not take her eyes off the performance the whole time said, “They really drew me into the performance. I was very impressed!”.

By changing the style of the songs, using various types of drums and even adding Japanese flute to some pieces, they offered a program with variety. Suddenly the feeling of a festival atmosphere had increased.

Also, before that, we had performed at the Michigan Japan Quiz bowl.  We didn't have anyone to take video of us, but with a room full of teenagers, you have to expect that at least someone has a cell phone out and is recording.  And just as I thought, they were.  The other day I found our first unauthorized video posting on YouTube! Do I pursue the copyright infringments? Or just let it go... I think I'll just let it go for now.  Here's the video if you're interested