Columbus-based Southern Indiana Taiko will highlight part of Ethnic Expo’s Japanese theme.
Photo provided
You’ve heard the axiom a thousand times, and the band Spirit Bomb applies it to a rock beat with lyrics in mostly Japanese and four other tongues.
“Music really IS a universal language,” said lead singer Elaina Sekino.
So it is for the fast-emerging Japanese anime tribute band beginning to tour the country with a culturally celebratory and unifying message far beyond its songs.
The Fort Wayne-based four-member group will be the featured act for Friday and Saturday’s free, Japan-themed annual Ethnic Expo international festival of arts and food drawing thousands of people to downtown Columbus along First and Washington streets.
In fact, according to the data collection service Placer.ai, last year’s Ethnic Expo attracted approximately 18,500 people over two days last year.
The vocalist, who is Japanese herself, acknowledged that Japanese anime has morphed from obscure to a mainstream part of American culture over the past 20 years.
“I was just in Target the other day,” Sekino said, speaking by phone from Charleston, West Virginia, where the group was performing. “And anime was everywhere.”
Guitarist Kevin Samuel concurs, remembering when he fell in love with anime in TV, movies, videos and video games in middle school some 20 years ago.
“It definitely was not very mainstream then,” Samuel said.
The group expects its set list slated for 8:30 p.m. Friday to include a mix of songs from Japanese media, plus a bit of its original material it just recorded. If this seems challenging for a general audience to digest, vocalist Sekino offers a reminder of their listeners.
“Our fans tend to already know most of the music,” she said. “And I don’t know of many other groups, or maybe even any other groups doing exactly what we do to quite this same scope — singing these (show) songs in their original language.”
For Gail Nowels and her crew, their chief language is a rumbling rhythm. And their presentation of Japanese culture carries the emphatic drumbeat of strength. Therein lies part of the background of taiko drumming, used for centuries everywhere from the battlefield to spiritual ceremonies.
“It’s very empowering,” Nowels said.
She would know. She’s co-director of the seven-member, Columbus-based Southern Indiana Taiko, which has performed and demonstrated the art form far and wide. The ensemble will be another of the featured guests of Expo’s host country. Members will bring their own guest: Cincinnati-based top taiko drummer Eddie Yates, who has mentored the local group.
A former resident of Japan, he is the only Westerner to be accepted to train and perform with Aska Gumi, among the preeminent Japanese drumming troupes in the world.
“He’s quite phenomenal,” Nowels said.
Area audiences probably would say the same of Southern Indiana Taiko, currently teaching local fourth-graders the disciplined, respect-rooted art and with future plans to reach out to local seniors with Parkinson’s. The local group, including members who have studied in Japan, has performed at other festivals, arts and corporate events and more.
It will include at expo an opportunity it normally offers at other gatherings: a chance for hands-on learning of taiko with a simple song.
Other hands-on activities include expanded free games and more both days for youngsters courtesy of the kidscommons children’s museum downtown. The two days is possible because students currently are on fall break.
Jody Coffman, communications and events coordinator for the city of Columbus and Expo’s coordinator for the second year, mentioned that organizers got positive feedback from attendees last year, especially about spreading out food and bazaar vendor booths to create more room for those strolling the streets.
“And we’re super-excited about all the acts and activities this year,” she said.
Expo schedule
Friday
5:15-5:40 p.m. – Indian Classical Dance
5:45-6 p.m. – Bollywood Beats
6-6:25 p.m. – Parindey
6-8 p.m. – Singer/guitarist Marissa Fullenkamp
6:30-7:30 p.m. – Ballet Mosaicos
8:30-10 p.m. – Japanese anime cover band Spirit Bomb
Saturday
12-1 p.m. – Southern Indiana Pipes and Drums
2-3 p.m. – Cummins Diversity Choir
3-4 p.m. – Mariachi sol Jalisciense
4-6 p.m. – Columbus Symphony Orchestra Brass Band
4:15-4:45 p.m. – JASI Yosakio Dance and Workshop
5-5:30 p.m. – Japanese Fashion Review
5:30-6 p.m. – Japanese Kendo/Iaido Show
6-8 p.m. – Singer/guitarist Marissa Fullenkamp
6:15-7 p.m. – Southern Indiana Taiko
7:15-7:45 p.m. – Southern Indiana Taiko Workshop
8:30-10 p.m. – Brett Wiscons and the Benders
