I guess this happened three weeks ago, but I'm finally settled and have access to all my photos to tell the story of Chatmonchy's American debut. Yeah, it's long.
After driving for far too long, I arrived in Austin. I made my way to where the JapanNite Preview show was to happen. It was at a place called Typewriter Museum. When I looked up the place on google maps, the address on google's street view showed a rundown house with bicycle wheels all over it. I thought it surely couldn't be the place, but there were bars/clubs all around on the map so I figured the general area was correct. When I got there, I found that it was indeed the place, but I had to go around back where I found just how crazy a venue this was.
There are old typewriters all over the stage of this outdoor venue.
There was also a goat (who decided to lie in the shade when I wanted to take a picture, sorry).
Welcome to America, Chatmonchy! You're playing next to a goat!
I saw Eriko and Akiko arrive in the venue during one of the early bands, and Eriko's jaw was pretty much unattached as she was taking in the place. They are used to playing large places and filling the Budokan and such, and now they were at this outdoor makeshift stage. She probably saw the goat. I waved at Akiko, who kind of half-waved back in an absent-minded manner since she was not really paying attention, but was in awe of her surroundings. They walked out the back.
After the early band was finished playing, I walked out and saw Chatmonchy sitting outside at the tables outside. Their staff was filming something, but then they all got up to look at the menu inside or something while the three girls were just standing around their chairs. Fighting my inner voice that tells me not to bother other people, I worked up the nerve to walk up to them. I said, "Hello, Chatmonchy!" to get their attention. Because I'm stupid, I suddenly got extremely nervous as all three of them were staring directly at me expecting me to say something. At that point, I choked out a mere "daisuki". Two of them were confused, either because I mumbled or they weren't expecting Japanese. Kumiko, however, told her friends 「大好きって！」 at which the other two got happy. I managed to say a longer sentence to more accurately explain my "daisuki" when I followed with "ichiban sukina bando!" They all went "yay". I told thanked them for coming to America to which they responded with shaking their heads and saying "no, no". At this point I realized I didn't know any Japanese, and these three Japanese girls were staring at me. So I very dumbly said, "I will watch you play later!" while pointing at the stage and making air guitar movements. I was too nervous to even remember to say what I love saying to Japanese people: "Nihongo ga heta desu". I also didn't want to bother them. Even though I was a dumb fan, I like to think I was the first fan to talk to them in America since this was before they had even played a single show yet.
An hour or two later, Chatmonchy took the stage. They were pretty much the only band with roadies, so they were set up quickly.
I tried to get a picture of each, but poor Kumiko looks like she watched Sadako's video. As you can probably tell from the angle of the pictures, I was directly in front of the bassist. So while she was setting up, I yelled, "Acco, yay!" She was amused. I was so close, I could have reached out and touched her boot. I restrained myself though.
The show was short but good. The played 6 singles, nothing special. But it was Chatmonchy, so it was special. When the roadie was cleaning up the stage after the show, I tried to get the custom-made pink bass pick that Akiko had dropped, but he put it back in the case. I did get the setlist though. The setlist for Chatmonchy's first American show!
Quotes of the day.
Akiko: "I love beer."
Kumiko: "Let's dancing!"
Afterward they stayed by the merchandise to sign things and take pictures. I got my album signed, bought a shirt, and got my pictures taken. First it was just with Akiko while the others were busy, then I got a group shot. I then left the crowd and went toward the exit of the venue since I had just been up in the front and having an awesome time. I happened to see Kumiko walk by, so I said "Kumikon!" and she looked up waved excitedly and said "Bye Bye!" Then they piled into their van and drove away. I waved to their car as they waved back. The venue was outside and basically right by the road, so I wasn't stalking them. I promise. Then I made friends with the Chatmonchy assistant who was waiting for the van to come back to take the staff. It was a great half-Japanese/half-English conversation. Then I called Pucchi because I had to talk about all the awesome stuff.
I watched a whole bunch of other bands, then left to get ready for Chatmonchy the next day.
The next day Chatmonchy played another short show, but it was a day show benefiting an Austin Girls Rock Camp. It was a bunch of rocking girl bands. The openers were these little 13-year-old girls who were pretty good for their age. It was a pretty cool show for Chatmonchy to play since it was so tiny.
Only a few of us Chatmonchy diehards knew who they were, and there were a whole bunch of little kids running around. People did get into it though, so perhaps they inspired the next generation of Chatmonchy to come from some little kid watching them that day in Austin. They ended their set with a surprise B-side performance. Yay. Another Japanese band played next. They were called Bo-Peep and rocked really awesomely.
But this is about Chatmonchy. After Bo-Peep finished I made my way to the venue where the real JapanNite show was to happen that night. I was way early, of course, so I waited as the first person in line for a while. As
this article said about me: "What Mage does care about (so much so that he drove all the way to Austin from his home state and waited at the front of the Japan Nite line for hours) is seeing Chatmonchy."
This was a real venue, not an outdoor makeshift stage. It even had a Japanese sign, presumably saying you had to be 21 to drink.
I was waiting long enough to see the signs get put up.
When I finally was able to get inside (you can tell because all of a sudden my phone's camera is terrible since it is dark), I saw Chatmonchy's sign. Apparently Kumiko's sister paints a sign for every tour or something?
After waiting through a bunch of really good bands actually, finally at midnight Chatmonchy's roadies began setting up.
There was a sign that said Chatmonchy A-Go-Go. American Tour. With all sorts of messages on it. But I couldn't get a good picture of it with the lighting hurting my phone's eyesight. Regardless, the girls came out and rocked the bar. I saw it all from the front row. The crowd loved it, even Akiko was loving it. She was bouncing and smiling way more than she had been the previous two days. I could see the enjoyment on Kumiko's face as well. They were playing a real show now. Perhaps it was nostalgia for when they were this close to the energy of the fans before they became so popular to have to play far away from the crowds in large venues.
Quote of the day.
Kumiko: "I have three wisdom teeth, but I... don't like the dental clinic."
At the end of the show, Akiko threw a whole bunch of her bass picks into the crowd. I still got none. Kumiko threw her drumsticks directly over my head, but I did not think fast enough to jump up. What I did get was sore calves from all the excited jumping during the show and also a peeling red face from being outside in the sun for 6 hours two days in a row. But it was worth it.
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