Last night we decided to have a more civilised Friday night and went down to the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya and checked out Blast!.
Blast! is a brass band/percussion dance ensemble meaning people are dancing with their instruments, doing ballet inspired dance and all manner of things on the stage (and if you remember to look) in the boxes at the back of the stage. It was all very impressive, with some great snare drum pieces, and a lot of colour. It was hard to watch all the movement at once – one minute there would be two people on stage, next there would be ten, all moving around, as all the players quietly come on, perform, and then leave the stage again. It was definitely a great night out for some live music – especially if you’re a brass or percussion fan. Musical styles went from Ravel’s Bolero (amazing) to Jazz to taiko-esque drumming and the musicians not only play the instruments and dance, but could really draw the crowd in. It certainly wasn’t cheap (our tickets cost 9,800 yen each I think) but I must say that I actually thought it was worth it for for about 110 minutes of performace over two acts.
I think all the Shibuya shows for August are sold out, but there may be tickets left for the week’s worth of shows at the Kokusai Forum next month. Go on, treat yourself!