YAMATO - The Drummers of Japan Bakuon World Tour 2015 in Berlin

At the beginning of 2015, the traditional Japanese drumming ensemble YAMATO - The Drummers of Japan launched their new show, Bakuon - Legend of the Heartbeat. In April, the taiko drummers ventured to Europe, where they performed in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Belgium. In June, they returned to tour across Germany and Austria. On July 14th, JaME was in attendance at the Komische Oper for Bakuon - Legend of the Heartbeat’s Berlin premiere.

Before the show’s start, a number of taiko drums were already assembled onstage: shime-daiko, miya-daiko, okedo-daiko and the huge odaiko. Behind these hung the logo of YAMATO, as well as dozens of artificial cherry trees of the stage. When the lights within the venue faded, a voice welcomed guests over the PA, and a thick fog wafted around the stage. Afterwards, a number of translucent curtains scattered around the stage were raised one after another, giving the audience their first unobstructed view of the taiko drummers of YAMATO.

The players of shime, miya and okedo daiko and Higashi Saori, who blew the first soft tunes out of her shinobue flute opened proceedings with the song Habataki. A few moments later, the shinobue was joined in the melody by male vocals. These vocal parts, which grew more and more dramatic, started to alternate with bursts of hard drumming. The pace changed as well. Even the choreography, especially in the song’s final third, became more theatrical.

The four players at the front of the stage: Fukuda Hisato, Kato Jun, Futaki Masaya and Matsumoto Haruki, carried and they whirled their okedo daiko through their air – the drums were only attached by a single shoulder strap. Meanwhile in the background, Imai Subaru and Ono Kenta set the rhythm. For the finale, Futaki and Kato lifted the middle-sized okedo daiko drum and let Imai strike it alone. By the end, the drum was tilted dangerously in his direction.

Amid rousing applause, a giant banner was lowered across most of the stage, obscuring it from view. Then, the members of YAMATO sat down in front of the banner with their small shime daiko and, one by one, started to perform Sen-nari. Entering as pairs, every member who joined was illuminated by a single spotlight as they started to play – the rest of the auditorium remained otherwise pitch-black. The spectators witnessed an impressive performance, experiencing the full range of the shime daiko at a breathtaking pace.

The song of the soul, Tamashy, was opened by several sounds of nature, such as the chirping of birds. Within this song, the odaiko took on a more important role. Higashi Saori and Ogawa Akiko, each with a bell in hand, supported the initially meditative piece of music with emotional vocals. The Japanese lyrics were projected onto the wall. Later, the men of the troupe joined in, repeating the words “toko tom" continuously. In the second half, the volume increased as the shime daiko came into play, although the odaiko drums continued to play a part.

Anyone not yet convinced of the seemingly inexhaustible energy of the six men and four women up until this point were surely persuaded by their ensuing performance of Ittetsu -Sakura fubuku-. For this number, the heavy odaiko drums were brought close the edge of the metallic stage set, their skins facing the audience. Surprisingly, the men sat down directly in front of the drums with their backs to the audience. It almost looked as if they had been caught underneath the drums.

To relax the mood, all of them stretched their limbs and let themselves fall backwards for a moment, even though there was nothing behind them. Moreover, dozens of cherry blossom leafs floated softly from the ceiling. The fast ground rhythm was provided by the bright, small shime daiko drums, then the odaiko drums joined in their melody.

Following an intermission and a rearrange of the stage scenery, YAMATO continued their show with Gokujyoh. For this song, energetic but melancholic shamisen chords merged with the soft whistles of the shinobue and the strong drums. The performance was highlighted by some expressive vocals. In the darkness, the men’s luminous red drumsticks and two big “nara” lanterns caught the eye.

At the very beginning of Rakuda, Kato hit his okedo drum alone onstage, but the others soon followed, and the audience witnessed another furious and breathtaking display. Furthermore, the deep rumble of the odaiko, which was beaten with a stick shaped like a large baseball bat, made the venue’s floor tremble. During this number, the crowd was introduced to another instrument: a bronze cymbal called a chappa. In a brief moment of silence and tension, when most of the troupe came to a halt at the front, Ono broke the silence with a cheerful "Hello!" in German. Moments such as these may not be as spontaneous as they might appear, but the musicians were nevertheless praised with a thunderous ovation.

Though the little chappa was confined to the background in the previous piece, its big moment came in Garakuta. The funny and original performance in which Imai, Matsumoto and Higashi Saori challenged themselves and pretended to throw or catch something with the aid of the chappa, coaxing much hearty laughter out of the crowd. Then, a giant drum and two kotos marked the start of the final big number, Bakuon.

One after another, the different drums joined in the ensemble. With this piece, the musicians not only proved that they could produce rousing rhythms, but also that they’re brimming with positive energy. As such, the standing ovations that followed came as no real surprise. A deep bow and ten smiling faces showed the audience that YAMATO had also enjoyed the Berlin premiere of Bakuon - Legend of the Heartbeat.

Though no calls of “encore" resounded through Komische Oper, the persistent applause seemed to have the same effect because only a few moments later, the ten members of YAMATO returned for an interactive encore. Without much encouragement, the crowd clapped their hands in time with the drums. This worked so well, Imai and Ono took to showing the audience clapping movements that they could repeat. These became steadily more difficult, but this didn’t harm the joyful atmosphere, as on the contrary, everyone seemed to very much enjoy these final few minutes.

Before long, ninety minutes had passed. YAMATO - The Drummers of Japan put on a rousing, dramatic and funny presentation. The lighting effects and the drummers’ performances in general were outstanding. The troupe’s youngest members left the biggest impression due to their blatant playfulness. JaME looks forward to YAMATO’s next visit to Europe.

Set list

01. Habataki
02. Sen-nari
03. Tamashy
04. Ittetsu -Sakura fubuki
Intermission
05. Gokujyoh
06. Rakuda
07. Garakuta
08. Bakuon

JaME would like to thank YAMATO - The Drummers of Japan, BB Promotion and Grabner|Beeck Kommunikation GbR.