Music! and Movies! in the Month of August, 2016

Hadn’t put my musical and movie events from August together yet due to writing about Iceland and Singapore.  Here I go first with music!

Dope – a film

Shakatak @ Billboard Live Tokyo

Tegan & Sara @ Daikanyama Unit

Na Leo @ Billboard Live Tokyo

The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead? – a documentary

Akinori Nakagawa @ Suntory Hall

The Violin Teacher – film

Summer Sonic 2016

Summer Sonic 2016

Alexandra Stan @ O-East

Song of Lahore – a documentary

Maia Hirasawa @ Billboard Live Tokyo

And the films.

Dope

The Damned: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead

Once in a Lifetime

Looking for Her

A Walk in the Woods

While We’re Young

The Violin Teacher

High-Rise

Song of Lahore

Standing Tall

11 Minutes

Paths of the Soul

Truth

And my favorite film of the month.

The View of and from Harpa

This modern building on the waterfront of Reykjavik, Iceland, while now being one of the signature buildings and the cultural center of the city known as Harpa, has apparently been the subject of controversy while being built because of its massive size, the serious financial crisis, etc.

The concert hall and conference center

It was the meeting point for an eating tour I had joined.

It provided a good view of the port from the inside that was quite special.

 

Fringe Club!

After dinner at the Ship Tavern, my friends, their daughter and myself went to check out the “Fringe Club!“, an a cappella performance event in Covent Garden.

The featured performers of the evening were two non-professional a cappella vocal ensembles, one all-female, an older bunch and the other a college student group, both of which required audience participation that was, to my surprise, rather fun.

Music! in the Month of February, 2016

Have been back a couple of days from my trip to Luang Prabang, Laos and there are lots more to write about that but for my record, taking a moment to review my music activities from last month.

noon at Motion Blue Yokohama

David Bowie Is, a documentary film of the artist’s exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum

Victor Rock Festival 2016 @ Makuhari Messe

Hit the Road, a soul bar in Asakusa I happened to stumble upon

A. J. Croce @ Cotton Club

Adam at in-store event at Tower Records Shibuya

Schroeder-Headz in-store event at Tower Records Shinjuku

Brian Setzer’s Rockabilly Riot! at the Tokyo Dome Hall

Around the World in 50 Concerts, a documentary about the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam

Wrecking Crew, a documentary about a group of LA studio musicians that played on tons of hit records by some of the biggest names in music

Sarah Maeda at Motion Blue Yokohama

Here is the trailer for the David Bowie film which does not really do justice to the film which I thought was more interesting than the trailer seems to suggest.

 

Movies! in the Month of February, 2016!

Last night was it for movies this month so here I go…

Les Souvenirs

Saul Fia

5 Flights Up

In the Heart of the Sea

David Bowie is Happening Now

American Ultra

The Gunman

Black Mass

Calm at Sea

Dheepan

Steve Jobs

99Homes

Around the World in 50 Concerts

The Wrecking Crew

Unbroken

I wouldn’t say it was the best film of the month but it was certainly the scariest not just for the violence but also because I lived in Boston in the ’70s and to think that this was happening gave me chills.