I am soundcheck! – 26th November 2004

missing link instore

we got up early in an effort to get down to lygon street for breakfast though by the time we were sorted it was lunch time anyway – still, the food was great and we relaxed a little in the 30 degree plus heat. we found the source of jj’s technical problems, so feel confident everything should go well today.

so – load out from the house, load in to missing link, setup and wait – thank god for the air conditioning in the store!

gray daturas play first and churn out some nice sludgey noise – the set is short and sweet and the crowd are digging it.

anticipation mounts as limited express take the stage and play through a more poppy set (if you can call it pop!) with a great rendition of ‘donuts’ and much jj and yukari theatrics. everything goes without hitch and the band are happy and the crowd are happy too!

everyone comments on how happy limited express (has gone?) are on stage and how infectious their smiles become. special show time!

jj – “i did a good show – but we forgot to sell t-shirts – sorry!”
yukari – “in japan we can’t have a show in a record store because they are too mainstream”
koji – “i was a little nervous because i haven’t played many instores. i am soundcheck!!

pony with ai yamamoto & kaigen and twitch of the death nerve

after much chat we finally load out and head up to the pony to load in again! straight onto stage and the band are jamming out and instrumental soundcheck while soundman nao sets up around them. twitch of the death nerve looked impressed as they brought their kit in and were really looking forward to the show.

the room filled up and ai yamamoto and kaigen beat out some laptop noise and curious hip-hopisms which sounded great to me.

a few minutes later and twitch of the death nerve cranked up the pressure some with some very impressive genre bending stop on a dime twists and turns – they were cool and super nice guys too.

there seemed a genuine curiousity about limited express (has gone?) tonight and the crowd eagerly watched and enjoyed the best show of the tour so far.

the pony is a nice intimate venue and nao managed to get a good loud sound cranking. with a little bit of space in front of the stage it was the perfect opportunity for yukari and jj to mix it up with the crowd and the response was very enthusiastic indeed.

it took us a long time to get out of there as we sold a ton of merch and the band were asked to autograph cds and have a chat with near everyone in the place! cool cool – damn cool – tonight was the shit – but i reckon it’s going to get better!

jj – “awesome! awesome people – lots of applause – we had lots of fun together – our music is best enjoyed together – band and audience. australian audience is nice.”
koji – “last night was the best show in australia so far. fucking great show! everyone was nice – i like melbourne people.”
yukari – “now i don’t remember everything because i was too excited. i was glad many people told me ‘fantastic’ and ‘great!'”


mark from twitch of the death nerve had this to say after ‘special show time’:
“bands like limited express (has gone?) are capable of making someone’s year or even changing someone’s life. seeing artists who have delved so deeply and passionately into a world of their own inspires others to fight harder for their art. it reinforces peoples belief in the things that they already know, universal truths which reside in the minds and hearts of all people who truly believe in the significance of art. it is clear that touring a band like limited express (no matter how mind blowing) is a low profit venture. the fact that someone was prepared to lose money on them warms my heart.”