These guys are tireless. With this their fourth Boston concert over a two-year stretch, seeing Fujiya and Miyagi lay down another exciting concert at the Paradise Rock Club reminded me how hard these musicians have been working since their debut album found unexpected success in England and the United States.
The concert consisted of standard F&M fare, with "old" songs like "Collarbone," "Transparent Things," "In One Ear & Out The Other," as well as tracks off their new album Lightbulbs. The addition of Lee Adams on drums (they played without a drummer until 2008), brings some heaviness to shows that otherwise relied on Steve Lewis to get the crowd going with synth manipulation. Interestingly, Adams skipped both the first song of the set and first song of the encore, giving the crowd a taste of the development of the band.
Drummer aside, Fujiya & Miyagi shine during live shows when they perform instrumentally. The subtle musical shifts and building energy that defines Krautrock are on full display in songs such as "Cassettesingle." Often lasting a full seven minutes, the band (sans vocals), improvises a little, builds a lot of momentum and then rocks out for the final part of the song. It's a truly mesmerizing part of the show.
Perhaps most exciting, the Boston crowds have finally started to get into F&M. Previous crowds of shoe-tapping and head-nodding were replaced by a core group of kids dancing to the synthesizer shifts and electronic blips. Maybe you don't need a Timbaland beat to get people moving after all.
And yet despite all the good times, you couldn't help but notice how tired the band has become. They took the stage at an early 9:00pm and finished their encore set by 10:10pm. I made it home by 10:45—probably the earliest I've ever come home from a concert—and while I'm glad they didn't fill in the time with mediocre DJ sets just to make me stay out later, I certainly left wanting more Fujiya.
Why are they so tired? Since they first played Boston in May 2007 (opening for Peter, Bjorn and John), they've been touring endlessly across the United States, England, and Europe. We saw them again later that year in 2007, in the fall of 2008 and now the spring of 2009. I assume they're not taking their newfound popularity for granted, but one wonders if this is sustainable for a group. Surely they're looking forward to going back to England and resting? The last time we saw them we brought some "real food" since they professed a sincere tiredness of eating out every night. We admit to slipping them some bourbon, but otherwise it's doubtful that bar/club food can fuel them forever. After all, you can't find cucumber sandwiches, sausage rolls, or fish pies readily in the States.
I guess when you reach this level of success, you're reluctant to take a break for fear that your fans (and the genre itself) will move on. While I can sympathize that F&M do not want modern Krautrock to go the way of '90s big band pop, I hope Fujiya and Miyagi realize they have made plenty of new generation fans that will never see Neu! or Can perform live. For those of us that missed the '70s, Fujiya and Miyagi have cemented themselves as the leading performers of modern Krautrock. As such, we look forward to seeing them for a long time to come.
