Russell finally gets to rock!

Ms. Denniston has requested more information on Russell's big concert, so here we go!

The 23rd was a national holiday here in Japan, so even though it was a Tuesday, it was a good pick for the Kobe band to have their first live. Russell is in two bands, but the Kobe band is the first off the blocks in terms of concerts. Their name is Off Limits and they are mostly a cover band. They have several Green Day songs, Pretty Woman a la Van Halen, so generally loud and fast. They are fun to listen to.

Japan is full of garage bands and groups hoping to become the next big thing. Ever wondered where they practice? I mean, the apartments are tiny and everyone lives very close together - at least in the cities. So where are people nurturing these heavy metal start ups? As it turns out, there is a rather large network of rehearsal studios that bands can rent for a few hours. They prices are very reasonable and the practice rooms provide Marshall stacks (or similar) with microphones and a full drum set. Its fairly common to see people on the trains and on the street toting an electric guitar with them, and the music stores have row after row of guitars to choose from. Its clearly a popular pass time. The practice studio that Russell goes to also has a venue for live performances.

Bands are obligated to sell 30 tickets and then get a cut of anything beyond 30 that they sell. Off Limits definitely passed the 30 ticket mark, so there was a nice crowd ready to rock out on Tuesday night. The concert was awesome and the band and crowd had a lot of energy. It was super fun. Russell, of course, sees lots of room for improvement, and is embarrassed to have the concert online, but I insisted, so without further adieu, Off Limits' first gig:

Off Limits 2010-11-23 from Jaci Mull on Vimeo.

After the big event, there was a professional band from Tokyo playing, but all the Off Limits fans left to have dinner with the band, so... well, it got pretty quiet in the venue. Oops!

Among those attending dinner were the bass player (and band leader's) friends, the drummer's family, some friends from dancing in Osaka and all my co-workers. We were a pretty rowdy group. At one point we were asked by one friend to take a group picture holding up a sign for someone who was just getting married (I think that was the story. In any case, its a cute picture of most of us together. From here we went and had a 2 hour all-you-can-drink with dinner party at a local Japanese style bar. It was really fun.