[It took time but here’s our Thank You post]
We have to post this. Official thank you newsletter to all of you. (also social media and website)
We finished our USA tour in July.
And it was successful. Very successful – at least in our standard. It was a big blessing.
We want to say thank you.
(I try to attach some photos – quickly made collage photos)
It was a relatively short tour.
Yet we played a total of 9 shows in the 2 weeks and a half period.
It was quite a journey.
We are glad we came back safe. (Long drive, crazy drive, crazy hard schedule)
We are happy all the shows were awesome and successful.
Now, have we toured in the USA before?
Some people asked us this question.
Yes.
We have toured in the USA before.
We are an indie band. However, for some reasons, we had multiple opportunities to visit the USA and play music. (Maybe because we are influenced by those American rock bands from 1980’s…?)
We toured in the USA multiple times when we were younger… with [Tak, Hassy, Jake] lineup.
For a long time we were not really active as a live band, even though we were making so much music, so many albums.
However, after Shinryu joined our band in 2021, we once again became active as a touring band. We started playing shows vigorously again.
That’s why we toured in the USA for the first time in a long time back in 2022, with our current lineup – [Tak, Marie, Shinryu].
That tour was a success. Because our current lineup is the best ever. Tak – songwriter and message, Marie – cute and cool, Shinryu – Samurai and strong!!!
However, this time it was an “independent tour”. (Last time we came to the USA, we joined “The Extreme Tour”, a Christian music tour, so we didn’t have to plan and book shows ourselves.)
Our question was: Can we tour in a foreign country in 2024? Even though we are just an indie band? Can we book shows? Can we make a traveling plan that works?
The world has changed. Music industry, music scene has changed. Things are more difficult than before. Rock music is basically dying. Can we do it against all the odds?
But we had to do it. Because we had some people waiting for us. This time, we had to visit the South. Especially Texas. Last time we visited that area, it was back in 2011. And we promised to come back. It was a long overdue homework for us.
We stepped forward, trusting in God. And…He has answered. Everything went well. (Except for all those delayed flights!!!)
We played 9 shows in a mere 18-days period. (So busy!)
The shows we played, small sized clubs, mid sized venues, some larger places. We played churches, DIY clubs, rock music venues, and some back yard party!
We met so many new and old friends. And it was a very blessed journey. We had so many happy moments.
We visited a Japanese church in Dallas Texas. (ICC Dallas) That’s where Tak&Marie were baptized back in 2009, just after we started playing Christian music. It meant so much for us to visit the church again.
We played a special DIY indie venue in Houston Texas. (Super Happy Fun Land) It’s a long story, but we played that place before… it was a happy reunion show with local friends… I mean “international friends” …with fellow Christian rockers. We saw our old friends David from Midnight Metal Monastery (Christian metal radio). We saw Filthy Rags, our friends from The Extreme Tour. And the show was hot!!
In Chattanooga Tennessee, it was another happy reunion moment. We saw “Ko and Saori”, a Japanese Gospel rock duo. We’ve been good friends for a long time now and it was great to finally play a show together with them.
Let’s not forget Scott from “Funky Sunday Party” – who made this tour possible – our tour partner and a good friend of ours. It was a blessing to have this journey with him. (And his dog Willy!)
Every show was the highlight.
Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio (San Antonio!!!), Chattanooga TN, Backyard show in Erie PA, and the last moment show in Bowling Green OH.
We met great people in every town, and they loved us. Our merch (T-shirts) were sold out even before we finished our dates in the South. (I know we should’ve brought more!)
And we have videos, audios, photos from all the shows. Some of them were filmed/shot by professionals.
Our performance was top notch. We believe we delivered our best to our fans and audience members.
Like I said, it was a relatively short tour. (Well, it’s still a long tour in Japanese standard) However, it turned out to be the best tour we have ever done.
We are happy. We feel blessed. We are thankful.
When we look back, a year ago, we were in a tough situation. Because we had a fire incident in the apartment building Tak&Marie lived in. We lost a place to live. We were not sure we could go on. We were not sure we could keep playing music. However, we had so much support from our fans. And God led us to a church in Kawasaki (Asao Christ Church). There we met so many new friends, and a new journey began for us. We recorded a new album in that church. (Titled “Coming Back Alive” – We probably are going to release it early next year?)
Thanks to your help (and thanks to God’s guidance), we could go on and keep on rocking… and now we toured in the USA, successfully and with so much blessing.
We can’t be thankful enough!
Now, maybe it’s still an indie sized success. If you look at commercial factors and those numbers, it’s still a small success. However, blessing, love, faith, friendship, message, and hope… these things are huge, and there is no end to them. We can’t simply measure our success by human standards… especially when you are an artist who dedicates his/her work to God. Because our true success is in Heaven!
We believe we could share some taste of heaven with our friends and fans, through our music and message.
Bible quote – Luke 17:20-21
“Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
After coming back to Japan, we played one more important show in Nagoya. (We opened for a well known metal band in Japan) The show was equally blessed and successful. That was like the 10th show on the tour and it was the real end of this long tour. That is why I’m writing this long newsletter right now. Because now we can look back and reflect on what we have done.
On our social media pages, we have been posting updates and photos from the tour. We hope you enjoyed them. We will post more “recap” stories, photos, and movies.
But for now, we will sit back and rest for a while.
Please allow us to have time to recharge our batteries.
Here, I will try and make collage photos, so that you can feel the blessing and happiness on the tour.
Thank you very much!
God is good!
He definitely answers your prayers.
This is our testimony, and we hope you keep on rocking!
Rocking in Christ!!!
Tak / Imari Tones (Japan)