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| photo courtesy of San Francisco Taiko Dojo |
The show opened with a performance of Hiryu San Dan Gaeshi, performed by San Francisco Taiko Dojo. Center and side stages were full of moving, leaping drummers and performers. There were more taiko players than I had ever seen perform at one time.
In addition to SF Taiko, in attendance were Sacramento Taiko Dan and Zi-Pang from Japan.
Sacramento Taiko Dan, at one point opening with an impressive vocal harmony, displayed their exceptional drumming skills. This is my first time seeing them perform and Tiffany Tamaribuchi has to be one of the most impressive Odaiko drummers I have had the pleasure to see.
Zi-Pang was something new for me. Leader and founder Hiroyuki Hayashida is a premiere katsugi okedaiko player, and he and the other members of Zi-Pang were truly impressive. I found their unconventional addition of cymbals to one of the pieces less to my taste, as it brought the Asian flavor of taiko that I love so much more toward a western drum sound, but I still found seeing them play quite enjoyable. Their energy and passion was truly infectious.
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| photo courtesy of San Francisco Taiko Dojo and Hiroyuki Hayashida |
Every player of taiko knows the power of the big drums. The way a single beat can echo through your chest, changing the rhythm of your heart and reaching you on a level you've rarely felt. This performance held true to that experience, and the focused expertise of the drummers was matched only by how much they seemed to enjoy what they were doing.
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| photo courtesy of San Francisco Taiko Dojo |
More than anything for me, as a taiko player, this show was inspirational. Zellerbach Hall is a fantastic venue, managing to feel small and intimate despite it's size. I felt close to the performers, participating in their excitement and their skill. Being as close to them as I was, they seemed less like rock stars or the magic creations of motion pictures and more like real people doing something they had dedicated a great deal of time and effort to perfect. It made my taiko goals seem possible, attainable, not because the performers were reduced but because they elevated me, they brought me into their sphere of influence and wrapped me in the pounding rhythm and raw enthusiasm of world class taiko.
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