Speaking of faits accomplis (yes, plural), here's something that I meant to cover much earlier... or rather, I had been wavering to cover it for certain reasons, to be discussed shortly. The lowdown of the story is... yes, I collaborated again with Otaku Band to perform the Japanese "anthem" as far as Pokémon is concerned. I've performed it once in the past with a different band and countless other times in karaoke competitions, but not with this band. And so, like the previous collaboration, half of it is a story that needs to be told and half of it is a critique of the performance itself.
Otaku Band had originally asked to collaborate with me in January at a more distant festival event, but at that time, there was already a local convention that I had committed to, and I couldn't be in two places at once (or in J-pop culture parlance, make "shadow clones" of myself). But then, they were announced as part of the performer lineup for the biggest convention in my area, and it naturally became a chance to fulfill the collaboration. I communicated with them and things were set up.
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| For this critique, the supporting images were photographed by a different friend during the performance. |
When it came time to perform, in the interest of time, I was just called to the stage as soon as my name was called. At that point, I had to compose myself to sing, and everything seemed fine... though I couldn't seem to hear myself sing at first, unlike the prior time. It was as if what happened at a certain festival competition was repeating itself, and it was all I could think about to the point that I lapsed and started too early on the second verse. Their arrangement had the instrumental break before it slightly extended - a point I had been informed of beforehand. And now it's a fait accompli.
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| Things go through my mind, voices go through the mic. |
After that, however, the rest of the performance was fine. I even added my own twist in the final chorus as I sang with Dina, the band's main female vocalist. That twist was singing the "call-and-response" parts as in the original arrangement with Rica Matsumoto and the backing vocals. I've been complimented on the additional twist, and it really made things feel like a duet. Though it may not have made up for the earlier lapse, at least it did lend a unique character to the performance.
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| On the stage, we two are one. |
It was the lapse above that made me waver in making the critique (and telling about its story) until the other day when a photographer friend of mine - and the band - brought up the performance through an external recording, which happens to be already uploaded. Through it, we addressed the obvious lapse, but I also discovered that my microphone was, indeed, not set up properly initially, confirming my suspicions. The sound person seemed to have rectified the situation mid-way through, which may be why the rest of the performance was so great. That too becomes a fait accompli.
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| When all is said and done... |
The discussion also led us to reminisce the first collaboration, for which my photographer friend remarked that it was a shame that the photographer friend couldn't be there to see it in person way back when. After reminiscing, we conjectured ideas for a future collaboration, whether it would be a repeat of "Pokémon Theme" or a redux of this performance in order to make good on all the faits accomplis. Of course, that's not for us to say - that lies with what the band (and its manager, a very good friend as well) says when the time comes.
Besides being described by the term "fait accompli", this collaborative performance, given the above, may just be described with another term: "rite of passage". To perform at an occasion with very many people (the most I've performed in front of), to deal with the challenges that occur, and to take all of that in stride may just be part of the process of getting involved in singing with a band. Something that Otaku Band says about when they perform on stage is that the stage is their playground, and that seems fair enough: whatever happens (ahem, fait accompli) is all a part of going through life - and I'm only grateful to do that with them.
One year ago: More Berries for Pokémon Go?
Two years ago: The Future of WhatsApp Pokémon Stickers
Three years ago: Virulent Impacts
Four years ago: From One Path to Another
Five years ago: (Again a) Local Ex-Raid, 3/24/2018
Six years ago: The Many Forms of Pikachu in Shuffle
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