The Tokyo Concert Experience

Last year’s Leave Them All Behind was without a doubt one of the best shows in 2018. It made it to my list of top concerts of the year , second only to King Crimson’s eight headed beast spectacle. That bill included Boris and Sleep, playing for the first time in Japan. The announcement, a few months back, of a co-headlined Neurosis/Converge show for this year’s edition was obviously amazing news. On the day of the show I got there early to get a Neurosis t-shirt. I rarely check the merch table at shows, but after this experience I can confirm, Japanese people love their goods. I queued for 25 minutes but could get the shirt. The line was really well organized and things went on smoothly. I got inside the venue and found a spot by the front rail on the side. Not too shabby, I could be up front right on the edge of the crazy mosh pit I was expecting for Converge. A guy next to me asked me if I was there for that band, I told him yes, but mostly for Neurosis. Later he stormed out in...

I used to be a DJ at a jazz radio show long time ago. Once I played Rahsaan Roland King’s live version of I Say a Little Prayer and got so many calls that I couldn’t keep up with the phone. The over 12 minute version found on the album Dog Years in the Fourth Ring is a fascinating trip and the audience responded. That familiar melody played with that kind of ferocity, developing into a blissed cacophony, struck a chord in the show’s listeners that kept inquiring about that tune long after it finished. There’s something about the deconstruction of standards that’s always hypnotic and mesmerizing. Improvisation makes this deconstruction possible. It’s how the performer imprints his personality and makes the song his own. The melody as the anchor travels through the improvisation vessel and becomes a transforming experience. This revision of what’s familiar  unveils elements that sometimes we didn’t know were there. This process is for me one of the most compelling ones w...