Indian states fight for slice of 'concert economy' amid boom
NEW DELHI -- When American rap megastar Post Malone takes the stage in India's Assam state in December, in what will be its most high-profile international act yet, he will be capping a breakout year for live music in a country that has seen Coldplay play massive, lucrative stadium shows, and the start of a "concert economy" race between multiple states.
Post Malone's gig is part of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's freshly minted 40 billion rupee ($464 million) Concert Economy Policy, which seeks to transform the state into a premier music tourism destination. Building new stadiums; creating a touring circuit between Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Jorhat; and incentives for international acts are all part of the initiative.
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Yomiuri Shimbun
6 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Photo Exhibits Set to Celebrate Wild Okinawan Rock Star Who Swung Snakes on Stage
Photo exhibitions about the late Katsuhiro Kawamitsu, a singer for the legendary Okinawan rock band Condition Green, are set to open in Tokyo in July and Kyoto in September. The photos on display will be taken from the book 'Condition Rainbow,' which was published last year by Kawamitsu's partner Norico, a photographer. Kawamitsu, known by his nickname Katchan in Okinawa Prefecture, died at 78 in 2023. His band was one of the pioneers of 'Okinawan Rock,' a genre that was strongly influenced by American culture in the 1960s, when the prefecture was controlled by the U.S. military. Kawamitsu's life was deeply entwined with U.S. military bases in the area. He was born on the prefecture's Miyakojima Island in 1944 and moved to Koza (now Okinawa City) when he was 10. After the war, the parts of Koza near the U.S. Kadena Air Base flourished by entertaining Americans, resulting in dramatic economic growth for the city. At the same time, Okinawans had to endure the crashes of military aircrafts, as well as criminal cases and traffic accidents perpetrated by U.S. soldiers. A traffic accident caused by a U.S. driver in Koza triggered an explosion of residents' anger on Dec. 20, 1970, and they set U.S. military vehicles on fire. The incident is known as the Koza Riot. In Koza, Kawamitsu's mother ran an A-sign bar — the name for watering holes that were allowed to serve U.S. soldiers and the military's civilian employees. Kawamitsu grew up hearing the American music played on jukeboxes at bars and started his music career as a drummer in the 1960s. In 1971, a year before Okinawa was returned to Japan, he formed Condition Green, for which he was the leader and a vocalist. Kawamitsu sang in English, and the band performed at U.S. military bases, as well as bars and clubs nearby. The band was known for performances that were not only full-on rock but also extreme. Band members would form 'human towers,' stacking on top of each other's shoulders, and swing snakes on stage. At the time, Okinawa served as a hub from which the U.S. military dispatched troops and shipped materiel for the Vietnam War. U.S. soldiers in Okinawa, on edge about possibly dying at the front, became violent and would throw ashtrays or beer bottles at Japanese band members when they didn't like their performance. Kawamitsu's aggressive demeanor on stage may have been his way of trying to tame the audience. 'I think he took in the negative emotions of the American soldiers and transformed them into entertainment,' said Norico, 49. 'He said, 'Rock is something that cannot be defeated.'' According to Norico, once when Kawamitsu and his fellow band members were forming one of their human towers, they fell over on purpose to excite the audience. Kawamitsu told the guitarist who was to be at the top of the tower not to stop playing even if the tower collapsed. 'Katchan was so welcoming,' Norico said. 'He also had many American friends.' The band released such albums as 'Mixed-up,' grew popular on Japan's main islands and even performed in the United States. Kawamitsu meets Norico After Condition Green disbanded in 1988, Kawamitsu went solo and appeared in TV dramas and commercials, while also running the club Jack Nasty's in Okinawa City. He was recognized as a person of cultural merit by Okinawa Prefecture in fiscal 2014. Norico, a native of Kanagawa Prefecture, met Kawamitsu during a trip to Okinawa Prefecture in 2006. When she first saw him, he was lying half-naked on the bar counter in his club. The next day, Norico visited a rock festival to see Kawamitsu perform. Not only did he sing, he unnerved the audience by having one festivalgoer a stick skewer in his teeth. Norico, who was about 30 years younger than Kawamitsu, was captivated by his performances and couldn't stop taking photos of him. But while Kawamitsu was wild on stage, Norico said he was a sensitive person. 'One day we went to a restaurant, and he was very impressed by the beauty of a glass there. He often took reporters to his favorite beach when they visited to interview him,' she said smiling. In his 70s, Kawamitsu was hospitalized several times and contracted multiple types of cancer. Norico was traveling back and forth between Okinawa and Tokyo, where she worked. During the pandemic, it became difficult to meet him at the facility where he was being treated, so she moved to Okinawa and began caring for him at home. Half a year later, he died. In Norico's book, photos show this period when he was being cared for. He couldn't walk and was getting his food through a tube inserted into his stomach. He liked to go outside in a wheelchair, according to Norico. After Kawamitsu's death, she published the photo book with help from crowdfunding. She thanked everyone who was involved with the book and said, 'I hope more people will get to know Katchan and Koza through the exhibitions.' The exhibits will be held at Gallery Cafe & Bar Ludens (where visitors will need to order a drink) in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa district from July 14 to 19; America-Bashi Gallery in Tokyo's Ebisu district from July 23 to Aug. 4; and Gallery Green & Garden in Kyoto's Sanjo district from Sep. 12 to Oct. 13. The photo book can be ordered at Kawamitsu sings on of NoricoKawamitsu, second from top, and his band members form a 'human tower.'Kawamitsu receives medical treatment.
Nikkei Asia
2 days ago
- Nikkei Asia
Indian states fight for slice of 'concert economy' amid boom
NEW DELHI -- When American rap megastar Post Malone takes the stage in India's Assam state in December, in what will be its most high-profile international act yet, he will be capping a breakout year for live music in a country that has seen Coldplay play massive, lucrative stadium shows, and the start of a "concert economy" race between multiple states. Post Malone's gig is part of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's freshly minted 40 billion rupee ($464 million) Concert Economy Policy, which seeks to transform the state into a premier music tourism destination. Building new stadiums; creating a touring circuit between Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Jorhat; and incentives for international acts are all part of the initiative.
3 days ago
Hosono Haruomi: An Innovator Transcending Musical Forms
In 2024, Japanese musical luminary Hosono Haruomi celebrated his fifty-fifth year in the music industry. His wide-ranging career includes involvement in influential bands like Happy End and Yellow Magic Orchestra, his sessions with Tin Pan Alley, and a stack of solo albums, through which he has explored a staggering range of genres from rock to country to ambient to electronica and beyond. Reflecting on his broad musical meanderings, Hosono has wryly described himself as a musical vagabond. But far from drifting aimlessly among varying styles, he has always followed the North Star of his own curiosity and creative instincts, adapting his music to the times and broader trends. Below I examine Hosono's free-spirited musical journey to shed light on his deep passion and insatiable creative urge that have been the unwavering drivers of his success. A Pioneering Force Hosono impressed those around him with musical talents early on, leading to his debut in 1969 while at university as the bassist of the psychedelic rock band Apryl Fool. The collaboration was short lived, but it led Hosono to experiment with the West Coast sounds of groups like Buffalo Springfield, a band whose country and folk style tinged with elements of African American and Latin music he felt an almost primal attraction to. Eager to scratch this musical itch, Hosono approached Apryl Fool drummer Matsumoto Takashi and other bandmates about forming a new group modeled in the style of Buffalo Springfield. The result was Happy End, consisting of Hosono, Matsumoto, Ohtaki Eiichi, and Suzuki Shigeru. The band toured and produced three studio albums from 1969 through the early 1970s. Rather than mimicking Buffalo Springfield's sound, though, the group followed their lead in exploring the surrounding musical and cultural landscape to unearth their own lyrical roots. The consensus among most domestic rock bands at the time was that songs had to be in English to be considered authentic rock. Happy End helped put this notion to rest by firmly embracing Japanese lyrics, placing them among the pioneers of Japanese-language rock. The cover of Happy End's 1971 album Kazemachi Roman . (© URC Records/ Sony Music labels Inc.) By the time Happy End released its second album, the 1971 masterpiece of Japanese-language rock Kazemachi Roman , Hosono's musical interests were already gravitating toward the sound of American singer-songwriters like James Taylor, whose warm baritone and distinctive acoustic arrangements served as a model for Hosono in developing his own vocal style. Hosono released his first solo album, Hosono House , in 1973, shortly after Happy End disbanded. The work was one of the first examples in Japan of home recording, with Hosono cutting the album on recording equipment he lugged into his abode, a former US army house in an area known as the 'American village' in Sayama in south-central Saitama that was popular with artists. The cover of the 1973 solo album, Hosono House . (Photographed by ) Tropical Trilogy Hosono's next project was the band Tin Pan Alley. With the group, Hosono shifted his focus to studio recording in emulation of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, the famed group of Alabama-based session musicians—nicknamed 'the Swampers'—who played on hits by stars like Aretha Franklin and the Rolling Stones. Tin Pan Alley performed on albums by some of Japan's top artists of the day, including Matsutōya (then Arai) Yumi's 1973 debut Hikōkigumo (Vapor Trails) and former Happy End bandmate Ohtaki's 1975 Niagara Moon . The band's sound, which came to known as the Tin Pan style, helped lay the groundwork for what later became Japanese city pop—a genre that would capture the attention of music lovers far beyond Japan's shores. A collection of Hosono's works from Happy End to his 'Tropical Trilogy.' (Photographed by ) Meanwhile, Hosono continued to explore the musical landscape with his solo works. After Hosono House , he turned his attention to the evocative instruments and rhythms of exotica, blending sounds from such disparate places as New Orleans, Latin America, China, and Okinawa in an experimental approach that he labeled as 'chunky music.' The result was his 'Tropical Trilogy' consisting of Tropical Dandy (1975), Bon Voyage Co. (1976), and Paraiso (1978). While the innovative sound of the trilogy initially failed to resonate with listeners and even musicians, the works were far ahead of their time. Hosono continued to push his chunky music into uncharted territory in search of new, captivating sounds, merging it with then burgeoning disco and synthesizer-driven electronic music. His vision resonated with fellow established musicians Sakamoto Ryūichi and Takahashi Yukihiro, who came together to form Yellow Magic Orchestra, or YMO (1978–83), a band that revolutionized electronic music in Japan and overseas. From left, Hosono, Sakamoto, and Takahashi of YMO. (© Redferns/Getty Images/Kyōdō) Stepping on the Global Stage YMO was heavily influenced by the German band Kraftwerk, who are widely considered pioneers of electronic pop music. Kraftwerk expressed its Germanness through its electronic sound, inspiring YMO to likewise explore its Asian identity. The fruits of this search manifest in the song 'Technopolis,' the opening track on YMO's second album Solid State Survivor . Starting the song with the vocoded chant 'Tokio,' YMO proudly declared itself a band representing the technopop sound of Tokyo. The cover of YMO's 1979 Solid State Survivor . (© Alfa Music, Inc./Sony Music Labels Inc.) YMO became a global pop culture phenomenon. It dominated the music charts in Japan and grabbed the attention of music listeners overseas, particularly in the United States and Europe, with the band embarking on two world tours. Hosono and his bandmates shaped the direction of Japanese pop music, both as performers and with their songwriting skills. Hosono penned hits for some of Japan's biggest pop stars, such as idol Matsuda Seiko's hugely popular 1983 'Tengoku no Kiss.' Fame came at a cost, though, with the constant attention and demands of the industry taking a heavy physical and mental toll on Hosono. After YMO, Hosono stepped away from synthpop and threw himself into the mellow, contemplative sounds of ambient music. Also known as environmental music, the genre pioneered by Brian Eno had a psychological, healing effect on Hosono, buffering him against the clamor of the pop music industry. Within the serene harmonies he also found a means to bring an ecological perspective to his creations, forever changing his relationship to music. In time, Hosono came to consider himself as a conduit rather than the source of musical creation. He declared that even his most imaginative works could only be considered within the broader context of musical history and traditions, an idea that formed the core of his musical approach going forward. A Return to American Pop Since the mid-2000s, Hosono has returned to his roots, playing American pop, country, boogie-woogie, and other mid-twentieth-century styles of music he fell in love with as a young man. On stage and in the studio, he has brought together up-and-coming artists—some young enough to be his own children—to play live events and for albums like his 2011 solo release HoSoNoVa and the 2013 Heavenly Music , relishing the opportunity to pass on the music that had inspired him in his own youth. Hosono also continued to work with his YMO bandmates. He played with Takahashi as the electronica duo Sketch Show, and Sakamoto later joined the pair to re-form YMO, working on various recording projects and performing in Japan and overseas. In general, though, Hosono has shifted away from electronic music, leaning more toward the subdued sound provided by acoustic instruments. Even after YMO got back together, the group played a quieter, more refined version of their trademark electronic style. Ongoing Musical Journey Hosono at the Tokyo International Film Festival in October 2019. (© Jiji) Hosono has remained a pioneer throughout his career, trailblazing new genres of music as he explored the strange, surprising, and unfamiliar sounds that captivated his creative impulses. Passing from one musical journey to the next, he has come to see himself as one more dot along the spectrum of musical history. He has added his own unique touch to this continuum while devoting himself to carrying on musical traditions. In the few years since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hosono has returned to the stage with a band made up of young performers including his grandson Hosono Yūta on bass. He is currently working on a new album of original works, his first since releasing Hochono House in 2019. Recording and mentoring the next generation of musicians marks a new chapter in his ongoing musical legacy, which in its fifty-sixth year has brought him a new kind of joy. (Originally published in Japanese. Banner photo: From left, YMO members Sakamoto, Hosono, and Takahashi at a performance in Spain in June 2008. © Reuters.)
