NFV Song Spotlight: Tashaki Miyaki's City

I've noticed that Tashaki Miyaki has a rather passionate following amount photographers who have shot the scene for a number of years. Though I am perhaps not as passionate as my other photographers, I do have a long history with the band. I saw the band way back in 2012 when they opened up for Family of the Year. In my notes from the night, the reason I went was for Family of the Year (I am a big Family of the Year fan), but also because I noticed a band called Tashaki Miyaki was playing and I found the band name intriguing. A couple years later, I saw the band at Make Music Pasadena. Looking through my records, it looks like the last time I saw them was at their Echo residency in 2017 when they played with L.A. Witch and Z Berg. That was a line-up. 

Tashaki Miyaki at Zebulon

Now that's 7 years ago and seems a long time not to see a local band play again -- especially when I have an affinity for the band. I haven't totally missed out on my Tashaki Miyaki fix. I've seen drummer Paige Stark perform around town, playing guitar while having fellow bandmate Luke Paquin backs her. So kind of like seeing Tashaki Miyaki, but in a different form. 

Tashaki Miyaki at Zebulon

I noticed that Zebulon had the band booked for the Saturday night after Thanksgiving and I circled the date on my music calendar. The 7 year drought had to end. Many others had the night on their can't miss calendars as the venue was full. It has to be mentioned that Sunflower Bean's own Julia Cumming was in the audience and got a call out by Stark. 

Tashaki Miyaki at Zebulon

I do believe Cumming lives in New York so she flew out to hang out in Los Angeles during the long Thanksgiving holiday and catch a Tashaki Miyaki set? I've always thought about how cool it would be to just fly out of Los Angeles to catch a favorite former Los Angeles musician such as Queen Kwong who is currently living in London. 

Stark and Paquin were joined on stage by two backing musicians: a guitarist and bassist. Stark was front and center playing the drum kit. They played songs from across their music library. The band opened with "Somethin Is Better Than Nothing" which is one of their first songs they released. They then jumped to the present, played their yet to be released "Wrong Way" which had Stark hitting the tambourine cymbals with her left drum stick. The band's most recently released song "I Came" has a hypnotic symbiotic connection between drums and guitar. 

Tashaki Miyaki at Zebulon

For their cover of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under The Bridge," Stark gave a call out before starting off the song, "Where's the ladies who came up to me at the merch table? This one's for you wherever you are." She also encouraged the crowd to sing along, which many did.

The night ended with their 2017 song "City." Stark must have called out every one of her friends before starting out the song. It is a song where the band members occasionally goes in different directions. There are clashes between guitar and drums and the vocals climb the scale and at times are purposely out of tune. Other times, Stark's vocals are perfectly pitched and then Paquin plays the guitar in attempt to disrupt the beauty of the singing. To end the song, Stark slowed down the drum beats and then spread her arms with drum sticks extended as she sang "Are we all alone?" on quiet repeat. She lowered her arms and her vocals and the band's playing came to a silent ending. It is a song of contemplative conclusion, but the crowd cheered wildly none the less. What else would one expect?

Tashaki Miyaki at Zebulon

Why might the music have those moments of distorted and disconnected sounds and vocals? Just take a listen to the lyrics.

Look at the world
It is big
I am small

A random observation: Stark is the drummer with a thousand facial expressions.

Setlist: Somethin Is Better Than Nothing, Wrong Way, Gone, I Came, Tonight, Baby Don't, I Feel Fine, Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers cover), City