SCHOOL LIFE/SPECIAL STUDIES: Folk Song Club Spring Concert

 This past Sunday showed off the fruits of months of effort from my fellow club members. Not yet able to be performed by the new first year students, the upperclassmen showed off what the Folk Song Club is made of at the venue King's Cross in Sannomiya. The event showed the real nature of the club activity, the overall purpose of the club. It confirmed my expectations and ideas about what Folk Song is all about, and that's an escape from the realities of academic life, whether temporary or in excess. The event, shortened in Japanese as "Harukon" (春コン meaning Spring Concert), is taken seriously with weeks or months of practice. However, when the event finally comes about, it's all up to how much the members put into their show. While all the bands that performed were cover bands of Japanese artists with the occasional foreign cover (on this day, a mumbled vocal performance of Green Day), the results were mixed, some bands being explosive with all the right levels on the microphones and amps bringing out a clear-cut performance, and other bands struggling to get through a set. The bands that didn't do too hot either displayed disappointment with themselves or filled up stage time with inane emceeing. Some bands just blasted sound in a punk-style with little discernible melody. One performance was made up of acoustic songs, sung by an upperclassmen in a melodramatic mood throughout the set. There was a ska-ish band featuring a horn section and lead female vocalist. A few bands showcased extremely gifted lead guitarists who often stole the show. Overall, there were more successes than disappointments.

 The bands are organized on a fairly strict time schedule. Over ten bands performed, and time for each set was distributed based on class rank (upperclassmen got more time, the younger ones limited to about twenty minutes per set). The first year students watched their upperclassmen perform with awe and admiration. Truly the hierarchy of group culture in Japan shows, as I have stated before, even in a group dedicated to a genre of music that seeks to trash rules and conformity. While this is a theme that could be expanded on and probably will be in my writing, in short, most Japanese who fit into a counter-culture usually do so on a superficial level, while maintaining the core of their cultural being.

 The way in which the onlookers of the performances enjoyed the performances, however, was pretty rock and roll. While not by any means dangerous, the mosh-pits that formed during the more punk sets was certainly rougher than how I've seen people react at Japanese shows before- with crowd surfing and all. The mood befitted the Folk Song Club, the wilder of the two music clubs at the University of Hyogo. And it may just be because of that mood that the freshmen took part in such behavior at the show; as the more punk sets yielded mosh-pits and crowd surfing, sets performed by all female groups yielded adoration for their cutesy stage-antics (at one point I yelled in a cheer only to be scolded by an upperclassmen member, telling me 'They're girls, Blake, cheer more cutely!"). Whatever the mood set by the upperclassmen, the younger members surely follow with respect and enthusiasm.

 Although the show was a big success and a lot of fun, I could not help but feel it was overall pointless in terms of anything else outside of the club. The show only attracts club members and former members, not much of anyone else. It's only seen by the club and doesn't seem to generate any buzz further than that. And so this cycle is repeated until the students graduate or drop out of school, and as all the bands appear to be cover bands and don't always take that seriously, the shows done by the Folk Song Club amount to little more than mindless enjoyment, an escape into music that's eclipsed by the social aspects of the club, and the inevitable drunken after-party that occurs after such concerts. It's no wonder my friend who I mentioned before in this blog left the club in order to pursue music more seriously. While there are great degrees of talent in the club, the general feeling I get is that it's escapism from the dull and even harsh reality that anything else means graduating only to desperately seek full employment in a field that most of the students have no passion or interest in, and to work in such a job until the end of their lives. Such is the impact of Western culture like rock and roll; Japanese will become impassioned with the music, escape into it, but realize the chances of leading an economically successful life while maintaining this passion is impossible, particularly in Japanese society which typically dictates work ethic over personal fulfillment. As the economy and work environment in Japan continues to grow more dismal, it will only be harder for the kind of people that make up the bulk of the Folk Song Club to not escape into the joys of school club-life. These are, of course, my own speculative observations, but above all else, I'll be sure to enjoy the escapism with them and do the vocals for Oasis, The Specials, Red Hot Chili Peppers and any other musical act I get a chance to take part in. It's a hell of a lot more fun than hearing students moan about having to find a full-time job after they graduate.