LIVE 2011/5.3 AT HIBIYA OPEN-AIR CONCERT HALL A PIECE OF FUTURE

This is such a joyous and life-affirming concert despite related tragedy, or maybe more so because of it. People can be so resilient, pay fond homage to that which has been, and move forward with joy and pride in their hearts. It feels like, and is, a celebration.

In 1999 the Fishmans' frontman, singer, primary song-writer/composer, and guitarist Shinji Sato died. This effectively put an end to Fishmans, but the tribute band Fishmans+ with surviving Fishmans members and other other band members formed later for concerts. Only one of these songs, the longest, "A Piece of Future", is performed particularly by the group Fishmans+, the rest is considered to be Fishmans with many guests. This concert acts as a tribute to Shinji Sato, whose father reputedly was involved in organising the concert not long before he in turn died, and I think also in tribute to the great collaborator Honzi (violin, piano, keyboards accordion) who died in 2007. This concert happened just two months after the devastating Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which made waves around the world with the news of it in 2011.

This concert is best worth seeing and not just hearing. Watching the crowd in the rain, say, adds to the feel, and seeing the smiles and enthusiasm adds to the experience. I love the sound of the rain too when you hear it. It does help to know some Japanese, at the least, or have subtitles in your own language to get a feel for some of what is being expressed to the audience. My Japanese is limited, and I have not seen subs, so I lacked detail in what I heard commonly. Of course things like recognising the performers and thanking the audience is obvious. I think because I have worked in Japan and travelled there quite a lot, and my time in Japan has been very important and special to me and changed the course of my life, as a non-Japanese person I probably would feel more of a sense of connection with the whole "happening" than most. Also, it would really help to appreciate this concert if one is already a fan of Fishmans, as I very definitely am.

One thing I love about Fishmans is that they would consistently take their compositions and improvise and evolve them for later performances. Every time I have heard a different version of a Fishmans' song, there were surprising and delightful differences to me. The music in this live shifts and moves in both interesting and unexpected directions (after listening to it a few times, I notice more each time). I do tend to favour Fishmans later work (into the second half of the 90s). While the loss of Shinji Sato meant that they lost their main creative force, and to my knowledge no more original compositions were produced as Fishmans or Fishmans+, what was left of Fishmans, and working with others, lead to other creative takes on Fishmans material. Sato's last composition that I know of, "A Piece of Future" which he had performed at about 8 minutes, shorter, or a bit longer depending, has now been tuned into a 26 minute piece (the "talking" start of that sounds very Swans, by the way. It has post-rock qualities).

Instrumentally this is very good. The drummer, Kin-ichi Motegi, who was a big part of organising this and was with the original Fishmans, plays drums very well and I think his vocals when he sings are very fitting. And i think he does a great job taking on the front-man role while talking to the audience. It makes me feel happy. The guitar playing is superb, and I love various vocalists, especially the female vocalists and I love the choir aspect. The violinist does a great job is the absence of Honzi. Honzi may have had quite small feet (I can't report on the actual physical dimensions), but those are some big shoes to fill metaphorically-speaking.

The dub (reggae) influence and aspect is very significant in this performance, and I love the joy of that. Fishmans was more of a dub band early on before it went in more of a dream pop and neo-psych direction. There is plenty of dreamy music too. It is long, but the energy of it translated to me.

Some personal highlights are "In the Flight" and "Weather Report" (two of my favourite Fishmans songs and I love these takes) as well as "Walking in the Rhythm", "Night Cruising" and more. I really like this version of "I Dub Fish". It's often the instrumentals that come into the songs that really lift the music for me despite liking vocals. And I appreciate the hip-hop that is utilised. There is diverse expression coming into the music from a diverse group of performers. One thing I have noticed with Fishmans is that elements that might not be much in my wheelhouse normally I can appreciate and enjoy when incorporated into their music. Fishmans has got me to love dub.

While I like "Season" on this, playing "Long Season" might have elevated this farther. It's already long, but I would have happily had a 40 minute plus version of "Long Season". That would have made for a very long night for the band and audience if added to the performance. They might not have been so joyous after that, but aren't we supposed to suffer for our art? They had the players for it to put out an incredible, dynamic version of that "epic" (so to speak). That said, I can't complain, but there is a little regret there. Hopefully some other time. Fishmans reunion for 2026! This time I will try to be there be it in Tokyo, or even in Vancouver. I'll be the one in the audience wearing the trout mask replica and codpiece. One can wish; I wish for more Fish, man.

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