Wakin and his band flew in to Narita Int'l Airport on Tuesday the 29th. The J-Club group -- there were about 15 or so of us at first, and a few more joined later for the dinner, since it was a workday -- arrived at the Pacifico Yokohama Convention Center lobby by 4 p.m. because Wakin and his band had kindly given permission for us to watch their rehearsal! Wakin and his people had arrived around the same time from the airport and took a break to rest for a bit, then showed up in the lobby just before 5 p.m. to greet everyone. Wakin spent about 15 minutes there in his black Bruce Lee t-shirt [ha!], baggy beige pants and low-brimmed beige cloth hat to sign a homemade J-Club banner, receive a dragon-adorned jacket from the club, chat and pose with individuals, and receive even more gifts! Then he went off to get prepared for the rehearsal.

But he and his band and crew, and all of us in the lobby, had to wait a long time before they could actually start their practice session.... The regular activities were being run through and checked out first for the next day's event, which was Taiwan-based ING-Aetna Insurance Co.'s annual awards bash. So Wakin & Co. and the rest of us couldn't go in to the hall until around 6:30 p.m., where we were first led in through the back and right onto the stage itself -- pretty cool! Seemed to have been an error in the confusion, tho', so we were snaked back around and down the stairs to the front center of the seating area of the big hall. The rehearsal finally got under way at 6:40 p.m., and it was a quite a treat! The lineup:

1. Love Follows Us

2. Blue Suede Shoes

3. You Make Me Happy and Sad

4. I'm Gonna Marry You Tomorrow

5. What a Wonderful World -- The 1967 Louis Armstrong classic

6. A Man With a Story -- This was particularly outstanding not only for the singing (Wakin was well-warmed up by now ), but also for the spectacular playing of the "Blue Violin-ist," Lee Chi. He's so good on the concert VCDs/videos, and it was simply breathtaking to watch him in action on this song with Wakin live on stage! They all went through it about twice, partly because they were breaking in a new keyboardist.

7. Take You Home

8. The Flowery Heart -- After this song, they tested out the mobile platform a little with Wakin standing on it, since he would rise up onto the stage that way for his Big Entrance. Then Wakin launched into a really rowdy rendition of....

9. Friends (Peng You), which was to be his opening song -- outstanding! But then he went on to sing ...

10. I Didn't Intend to Leave

We certainly didn't intend to leave either hahaha, but we reluctantly had to head over to the restaurant at 8:30 p.m., 30 mins. later than originally expected and still a while before Wakin & the band were ready to call it a day. We had reservations at the Kissho Japanese restaurant in Landmark Tower, and even after waiting there politely for a bit we finally began to eat because everyone was really starving and it wasn't clear until the assistant phoned at the end of their rehearsal when Wakin would come to the restaurant! Poor Wakin was obviously starved himself when he got there, and he enthusiastically dug right into his Japanese bento: "sashimi" raw fish slices with soy sauce for dipping, small and colorful boiled items of vegetables, fish and meat all prepared and arranged artistically in the squares of the black-and-red lacquered box, with miso soup and white rice served in bowls on the side and green tea ice cream for dessert.

WHOA! What the heck is this?!

Quite a feast, but Wakin didn't really get the chance to eat much of it at all, the poor fella! There was all the talking to do, a toast to make (the beer flowed!) and a speech to give through an interpreter, a few more gift exchanges (this is where I made mine, shown here), and then we all could line up for a signing session. So, I guess we adjourned sometime after 10 p.m. Whew! And Wakin was so energetic at his concert the next evening.

What a great time to be remembered always. Of course, all of us here in Japan are looking forward to the next opportunity! -- A. Kurita, WWS

Back >>