Review: Mikami Kan live at a theatre in Golden Gai, Shinjuku, Sunday 3rd September 2006

I really love Mikami. The anger and unpolished rawness of his sound and his distinctly Japanese crooning, punctuated by shrieking, stylised vocal explosions make him a unique artist. I have seen one other Mikami concert, bizzarely enough when he supported Damon and Naomi! Needless to say he stole the show, pouncing on stage with his green Gretsch guitar, tearing ears to shreds, growling, sticking out his tongue. Oddly, the impression I had was that of a dragon; certainly he spits out his vocals like crackling fire.

This Sunday 3rd show was in Golden Gai, a haven in the middle of the apalling Kabukicho sex district in Shinjuku. It consists of a block of maybe 50-60 micro bars flanked by tree lined footpaths. Mikami used to work (and drink) in Golden Gai, or so the proprietor of the bar where I bought the ticket informed me. The theatre where the concert took place was fairly small. Perhaps 50 people squeezed in (I was the only non-Japanese in the audience). This meant that a perfect level of intimacy was achieved. Mikami eschewed his huge Gretsch for a banged up cheapy Epiphone acoustic guitar precariously mic-ed up on a low stand.

He didn't spare our ears. I suspect it would have been loud enough had there been no amplification at all - that jagged voice is almost mitigated by a speaker really. At the height of his screams, the roof was really lifted off the tiny theatre. In every song, Mikami's abundant energy and his easy access to a wellspring of personal anguish were apparent. His physical contortions matched the contortions of his voice as well, the guitar swinging, stabbing; his feet stamping, as if any extra emphasis was needed! I had some epiphanies about Mikami's style during the concert. For example in the first three songs he used just the same three chords. Unashamedly! Wrenching and hammering the strings into the fretboard, his style of playing is utterly tactile and pays little heed to the specific chords or notes being played. His style is a classic instance of guitar playing as a physical activity first, a sound source second. It almost seems as though Mikami's point is to bring about a turbulent flow of energy through the crowd and his choice of a singer/songwriter mode of performance is rather incidental to this concern. Devoid of the usual skill cues in his voice and guitar playing, the audience is forced to evaluate their experience of his playing moment by moment, as his croon turns into a snarl, and the hesitant guitar strum becomes a violent stab of distorted sound, and them the maelstrom dies down again, evoking the very vicissitudes of life! Mikami bangs, stabs and stomps. He divests energy to the crowd.

Of the songs I recognised, I can only put a name to the wonderful "DEEREYE" from the fairly recent (2001?) "Nanbu Shiki" album. Here, it was lacking the astonishing drums that made it the centrepiece of said release, and Mikami's propensity to slip into an almost yodel during the refrain marred it a little, but it was great to hear it live nonetheless.