Tag: Taiko

Blue Man Group and Taiko drums – great together!

So, I wandered around Youtube again, as is my wont, and found a really neat collaboration between two of my favorite things, Blue Man Group and Japanese taiko drummers. I think the group is called “Kodo”, but the caption says “Blue Man Group meets Wadaiko”, so I’m not sure. I do know the name of the song is one of BMG’s titles, “Mandelgroove”. This performance is full of awesome percussion, including the largest taiko drums I’ve seen (although there are probably even larger ones), plus it’s got the signature Blue Man Group humor as well as their excellent coordination and peculiar instruments. I would love to have seen this live, but even on a Youtube video it still has the energy and the power of the performance. BMG is an acquired taste for some, but no one can deny their creativity and their ability to make strange and quirky music (and the instruments to play it!). Of course people that know me and come to this site know I’m all about quirkiness!

So, for this video, if you have good bass speakers, crank them up, sit back and enjoy some good good drumming!

Help some kids out, if you can…

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This is a Kickstarter effort to finish up a documentary on a group of kids who lived in Fukushima, Japan. The kids lived in a town called Yamakiya that had to be evacuated due to radiation from the nuclear plant, but they managed to stay together, performing in their taiko drum club, despite being separated. The kids got to come here to Washington DC to perform in the Cherry Blossom Festival this past Spring, and they were incredible! Their energy, their skill, their love of drumming caught everyone up in their performance. I managed to catch a bit of their last performance that day, and I’d love to see these kids get an even wider audience, for their music and for their story.

If you can see your way clear to click on it and donate, that would be terrific! Even $5 would help! They only have one week to raise the rest of the money, so if you could pass it along, please do so.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1241316848/don-doko-don-the-yamakiya-taiko-drum-club-project?ref=card

Update:  They made their goal!  Their project is now a go, and I look forward to seeing the documentary they produce!