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Shonen Knife @ Burt's Tiki Lounge 12/5/07
| I had seen that Shonen Knife were coming to Salt Lake through a small mention in the City Weekly newspaper. I also couldn't help but notice that the show was at Burt's Liki Lounge, a place I wouldn't have expected them to play. Shonen Knife are a quite famous and highly regarded band of three women from my old "home town" of Osaka, Japan. They've been playing an addictive style of aggressive pop-punk for over 25 years now, and no one does it better. They are often sighted as an influence/inspiration by a number of musical heavyweights, including Sonic Youth, REM, and The Pixies. I would naturally have thought that a band like Shonen Knife would play a predictable venue like The Depot, In The Venue, or maybe Club Suede. Burt's is rather a "dive" (though a cool and curious one) that has served Salt Lake as a tiny punk venue for a couple of decades now. Burt's generally features a never-ending string of small touring bands of the punk variety with little following and even less money. So, when I saw that a near legendary band like Shonen Knife was to play this small State Street punk bar I knew I couldn't miss it. The show was scheduled for the same night as our family Christmas party at my parents condo, but that ended up not being an issue. More of an issue was the fact that Tee would be out of town on business and I would have to secure a baby sitter for that night. The baby sitter would also have to be willing to stay out late on a school night; a big ask. In the end all was worked out thanks to arranging a sleep-over for the kids at my sister's immediately after the party. It was easier than I would have ever guessed. I spoke to a couple of friends about the show in the week leading up to it, but only Lamont seemed to really want to go. I wasn't sure how much he would like the experience, but he's good at keeping an open mind. At the family Christmas party I was surprised to find that my brother Brian was in town for a couple of days on business. I mentioned the show to him at the party and he said he wanted to come. So, by about 10:30 Lamont, Brian, and I found ourselves standing together inside Burt's with large cans of Pabst's Blue Ribbon (Burt's traditional drink of choice) in our hands. The place wasn't crowded, but there were plenty of people there. Immediately I was conscious of the makeup of the crowd being distinctly different than what I would have expected. While there were a number of the "punk" and hipster type folks you would expect to see, there seemed a significant number of people that looked like they're more used to spending their evenings playing online video games than seeing live music at Burt's. I wondered if perhaps there is some sort of Shonen Knife following that is made up of Japanese "manga" (comics) and video game geeks; seemed a good explanation. There also were a variety of people that seemed to be both of the "granola" type, and those just wandering in off of State Street. Strange. After taking in a concise and impressive set by the opening act, Juliette Dagger, and securing a nice little niche near the back from which to watch the show and talk, Shonen Knife took the stage and started banging out tunes from their newest album, Genki Attack!. They eventually played from throughout their catalog and sounded exactly as Shonen Knife should. The "girls" looked great as well, considering that they are at least my age. They were also in great form, looking like the veteran rockers that they are. |
| The size of the crowd was just right in that it was a good crowd for Shonen Knife to play for, but easy enough to move around in. At one point I left Lamont and Brian talking and made my way to the very front of the stage in order to snap some photos. I was struggling to get any good shots but I went back up front again later in the show and had better luck. At one point I was standing off to the side of the stage near the drummer and I was taking in her very impressive drumming. Despite being a cute little Japanese girl she could ROCK IT! Definitely the real deal! The regular set ended just then, and the frontwoman Naoko, came and set her guitar down just inches in front of me. I took the opportunity to say something complimentary to her in Japanese. She looked pleasantly surprised, and gave me a smile when she came back out to retrieve her guitar for the encore. The show ended just at the right time and everyone seemed pleased with the show, me included. Brian and Lamont seemed to have really bonded, and continued to talk as the crowd started trickling out of the bar. I was really happy to have been able to see this show. The whole feeling of being back at Burt's Tiki Lounge after all these years and watching such a unique and classic band as Shonen Knife was kind of nostalgic. It was almost as if I were 20-something again! And I must admit it's fun to be able to indulge that feeling now and then! |
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