Kodō One Earth Tour 2019: Evolution

Yesterday my wife and I saw the Japanese taiko drumming group Kodō perform their 2019 "Evolution" tour at Zellerbach Hall, on the gorgeous UC Berkeley campus. The show was sold out, and the 2,689 seat auditorium was packed!



Neither of us knew a whole lot about the group going into the show. I've seen their name mentioned here and there in various audiophile circles when good dynamic system testing music is discussed. My wife loves live music and performance, and I'm a big fan of drums and rhythms in general, so we decided to check it out.

It turned out to be a fantastic show, and I'm very happy we decided to go! These guys (and a few gals, too!) put on an incredibly impressive performance. Talk about locked in, they were operating like a well oiled machine! No sheet music, no conductor - everything played 100% by memory. There were tempo and rhythm changes, complex patterns, syncopation, and deep layering. Nothing phased them. There were no mistakes. They were in complete and total harmony and synchronization with each other. It was spectacular.

Reading about the group, it quickly becomes evident why. They literally eat, sleep, and breathe taiko drumming. The members actually live and train together on Sado Island off the coast of Japan. I looked at the bio of one of the women performers, and it said she started playing at age 2! Also, check out their training and selection process (emphasis added by me): "Apprentices who hope to be performers spend two years living and training together communally in a converted school on Sado Island. After this period, apprentices who have been selected to become junior, probationary members spend one more year training and practicing in which they may be selected to become full members of Kodō." It's quite clear that they only accept the best of the best.

The performance ran for two hours, with a 15 minute intermission. They did a total of 11 different pieces, each having it's own type of drums or other unique characteristics. One featured singing and choreography. Another featured their largest drum, the 400kg Ō-daiko. When the shirtless, incredibly shredded drummer struck this thing with his massive drum sticks, you could feel the bass from it resonating in your chest! Quite stunning, and absolutely impressive from an athletic standpoint to watch him bang out complex rhythms on it for as long as he did. I also liked how there were no lulls or silence in between the songs. One or more of the drummers always kept a beat going that transitioned into the next piece.

Going back to the songs with the complex and synchronized choreography for a moment. It's hard at first glance to fully appreciate how difficult this is. Kindof like the old "pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time" thing. Any drummer will tell you that it's incredibly hard to walk or move around while playing and keeping in time with your rhythm. Marching bands do it, but their drummers are typically marching to the same rhythm that they are playing. The movements that Kodō were doing were graceful, fluid, flowing, and did not visually match the rhythms that they were playing while doing so. It's one of those things that's hard to wrap your head around just how impressive it is when you're watching it in the moment, but the more you think about it later the more you realize just how easy they made it all look when it is anything but. In addition to them making it look easy, I got the distinct impression that all of the performers thoroughly enjoyed what they do. The looks on their faces clearly told me that.

Even though it was an entirely acoustic performance, they were able to play at thunderously loud levels! If you typically wear earplugs to a concert, you'll definitely want to do so here as well. I was very thankful that I brought mine! In addition to the thunderous crescendos and pounding rhythms, they also demonstrated the ability to make the quietest of sounds with some of their drums. Tiny rhythmic ticks and taps that were extremely subtle and nuanced. Some of which would play off their fellow performer creating a stereo effect that panned from left to right, or that mimicked the sound of a falling ball - bouncing more rapidly as it was about to stop. The effortless grace and elegance, along with their rapid and impactful primal rhythms really served to demonstrate just how versatile they are.

Overall it was a unique, unforgettable, and fantastic show. A true demonstration of a group of humans working together in complete and perfect unity and harmony, proudly showing you just how exciting and powerful taiko drumming can be.

I highly recommend hearing them play live if you live anywhere close to where they will be touring. Not to be missed.