We left Japan on the 8th and have arrived. For the time being we will go to see our concert venue, the National Place of Culture. The building used to be used for politics. The hall can hold 4000 people!! It is really huge!

“Yamato EU Tour 2010 First Period” This year our European tour will be split up so we are calling this trip the “first period”. Yesterday we went to look at the concert venue. The seating area, as well as the stage are both very spacious!! But, Yamato’s trailer, which came all the way from Holland, was too high for the loading dock and we couldn’t unload. We parked the trailer in a parking lot, transferred the contents to a smaller truck and used it for unloading. It was a lot of work!

Our preparations in Sofia continue today as well. We hang the lights, mark our positions, check the lights, check the sound … it takes time. And each country has different ways of working. It can be pretty stressful.

When we think of Bulgaria, we think of yoghurt!! Bulgaria yoghurt is really delicious. When we tell people here that “Bulgaria” is the brand name of a yoghurt in Japan, they are surprised, but pleased.

Before today’s performance, we held two workshops. The first was for children. They were great kids, who worked really hard. The second was for adults. They had many questions. Bulgarians are very energetic. Among the workshop participants, we noticed someone wearing an American tour t-shirt. It seems that she won it from one of our web contests.

How lucky!
Today we sold out! We had an exciting concert with 4000 Bulgarians!!

Today and tomorrow we will rehearse for our concert from morning till night. The lighting operator will also practice the light cues. We keep the practice intense imagining that it is the actual performance.

Whether we have a performance, are rehearsing or just taking a rest, we need to eat. That’s right, eat, eat, sleep, sleep, play taiko!!

We are off today and tomorrow. Two days. Well, what should we do? If you want to know, we’re eating again. Some say that our tour reports are only about food.

What do you know… Yamato might end up on the big screen!! A music director, who came to see our show on the 11th really enjoyed it. The next day he came by while we were practicing. He said that he would really love to make a song together. He was very excited. Then he said, “I just happen to be shooting a movie. If you like, why don’t you come along?” We gladly accompanied him. He told us to bring our drums and our costumes. Why? You mean, we can be in the movie? As long as it doesn’t get edited out… Stay tuned…

We left Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria and are heading towards Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is the second largest city along the Danube River and was the largest city in the former Yugoslavia. Historically it is a very old city. Some of the houses date back to the 6th century.

This is Serbia!!
It is our first time here! It is Yamato’s 47th country!!

Our first performance in Serbia was over before we knew it. It was a big success and our tour continues on to Croatia. Just like Serbia, it is also our first time to visit Croatia… which means it’s our 48th country! Yamato’s gonna give you an exciting first concert, Croatia!

The lighting trusses were supposed to be finished yesterday evening, but actually weren’t finished until this morning. Finally, just as we were ready to get the taiko out on the stage, we had to wait for the cleaning. But the cleaning wasn’t starting. “Hey, let’s do the cleaning ourselves!” On tour many people do all types of different jobs for you. But it’s not right to always expect others to work for you. We got out the rags and put our hearts into polishing the stage.

We are traveling to the capital of Hungary, Budapest! Budapest is a UNESCO World Heritage site, by the way. The beauty of the old towns lining the banks of the Danube River is quite striking.

This is our third time in Budapest. The venue is 1600 seats and it seems to be sold out!! We’re happy! Actually, we’ll be here for five days and two performances on Sunday. And they’re all sold out!! It’s good motivation for us! Some TV cameras were at our rehearsal. Are we getting nervous?

We are on an early morning TV show. Maybe it’s because it was so early, but everyone’s face seemed a little tight. As each of our faces came up on the monitors, we got more and more nervous.

If Yamato has a day off… that’s right, it usually rains. Since it rains whenever we have a day off, we gave a street performance. It serves as advertising and PR as well. Even though it was sunny yesterday, it was cloudy today. Yesterday was really pretty. What a shame. But many of the pedestrians passing us by let us know that they were coming to see the concert.
Tomorrow is another day of hard work!!

It’s our third concert in Budapest. Yesterday we got the day off and our bodies are well rested, but now our muscles are out of practice. The last song of our program is always a big deal. The final song of the “Matsuri” show is “Hanabi”. There are 10 performers on stage and eight of them are playing Odaiko. Odaiko is … difficult. The more you play the drum, the deeper and more profound the sound. Practice, practice and practice some more.

Today we had two performances. The first concert was exciting, but it was almost as if our bodies were not awake and had a heavy feeling.
The second concert we had a much lighter feeling, but we seemed to be moving too much and our own hands seemed to get in the way. Our apologies… But all the seats were full for both performances and the audience was very happy. Their mood really helped us to get over our panic. If there were no audience, we would not exist.

Our fifth day in Hungary. Our time here passed quickly. In Western Europe the theaters have a day off on Mondays. In Japan too. But it’s different in Eastern Europe.

After a one week stay in Budapest, we are moving on to our next stop, Slovakia.
Ah, Slovakia has joined the EU. The currency is Euros so we do not need to exchange any money.

Today’s concert was the last for our first crew of the Yamato 2010 EU Tour!
We received a standing ovation from 1500 people. The performance was a big success!! Thank you for all your help.