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Dave Long, ALT, Saitama-shi
Foreign bands in Tokyo are shite aren't they? Let's be honest. If, like me, you've experienced woeful renditions of "her name is Luka, she lives on the...." or perhaps forty something pony tailed "funky" dudes twanging their way through the Eagles' back catalogue, you'll know what I'm getting at.
Well according to Indi, the drummer of The Trees, that's the wrong they set out to right. A kind of mission to keep the gaijin end up in Japan. After all we invented this pop music lark didn't we?
At the "intimate" Mean Fiddler [a bar, similar in size to your tree house back home, except smaller] in Takadanababa, the place was filled with a partisan crowd, predominantly from the Saitama JET community.
While the rest of the band tucked into their pre gig dinner [complimentary steak and chips washed down with beers, a very hungry band!] I took the opportunity to talk shop with Indi. When a lad thinks about a rock'n'roll band, we think, those bastards, they get to shag all the best girls, pose onstage and get free food, drugs and drink. I asked Indi if, even at this early stage of their career, he had found this to be true....I got an eager confirmation, but then a hasty retraction, accompanied by a shit eating grin. So yep, it seems the boys are enjoying the trappings of the rock life. These juicy revelations had me contemplating applying for a position as Trees manager/ roadie and joining in the fun....but then |
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I remembered the wedding ring on my hand…
So who are they? Four members are from various unremarkable towns around England, two from Japan. The UK members live in Saitama teaching English.....sounds familiar eh? Where did the name come from? I was told it was from a discarded flash card found lying around during rehearsals ....oh yes, I’ll believe that.
Well what do they look like? Dave Tree assures me band fashion policy is to dress dead cool. Phinn flagrantly disobeys this cool policy by sporting a luxuriously lengthy Dr Who Tom Bakeresque scarf. Lead singer Dave Tree looks like a Revolver era Paul McCartney auditioning for The Strokes whilst sporting superb George Best sideburns. Skinny ties were much in evidence I counted three, suggesting a slant to the current NME rock vogue. Guitarist Phinn appears to have graduated from the John Squires school of axe man moodiness until he suddenly pulls out a startlingly tiny, bonsai sized blue guitar and his fret board heroics begin to look less Keef and more Jim Royle [ask your UK mates]. Indi on drums is dressed for business in standard "drummers" muscle vest.
What do they sound like? In previous interviews Indi dismissed the rock, sorry I'm going to yawn....legends, Lennon, Dylan etc, in favor of drum and bass, so maybe wide musical differences exist in the ranks. |
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Through my haze of smoke, Guinness [900 yen a pop!!!] bleary eyes and ears I thought I could hear REM with added groove and wizard keyboardery courtesy of Jimmy from Stoke, valiantly trying to shake off his hometown’s Robbie Williams curse. Dave and Issei harmonised effectively for a couple of numbers, in-between song banter was kept to a minimum, maybe that'll come later.
Technical problems dogged the performance, but midway into one of the extended jams that had fans dancing like chimpanzees, Dave Tree launched himself into a boogie with the fans.....no Oasis-style, standing stock still, scowling statue shenanigans with this shaman-style front man. As I emptied my wallet and downed my pint things came to an abrupt halt...the faulty in-house sound system had gotten the better of the Trees. Faulty wiring prevented us from hearing the band at their best, but there's plenty of fizz left in this band. I staggered off into the night to get my last train back to Saitama and hunt for some food around the station, deja-vous anyone?
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