This post was written in 2005. Some information may be out of date.
Maywa Denki is an art performance band that’s also a company, and they’re active internationally. Back home in Korea they’re
a little known too, as the company that makes seemingly useless toys like the Knockman series
and Bitman. I first saw them when they appeared at an EeL concert, and honestly they were way beyond the level of
an opening act for EeL, since they were far more entertaining than EeL, the actual headliner.
This was an event where they present what happened in 2004 and what they’re planning for 2005, and I paid to see it.
Maywa Denki is the only company in the whole country whose business report you have to pay to watch. ^^
(I’d guess it’s the only one in the whole world, too.)
It says “Maywa Denki Business Report Show.”
Here’s the main show. The humanoid robot you can see at the back, the machine that looks like a
flower-shaped stand and so on are all homemade instruments. Every instrument is homemade and runs on electricity (100 volts).
They don’t use ordinary guitars or drums at all. ^_^ The man in the spotlight in the middle is the charismatic
President. His playing and his comic banter are something else. He’s led this avant-garde art performance
band for over ten years, so I guess that’s only to be expected.
After the opening performance there was a presentation of the business plan. This year he says they’ll somehow try to sell
the artworks they’ve only exhibited and never sold until now. Once my finances improve, I’ll definitely buy one.
There’s apparently an exhibition of the President’s rough drawings planned for June and a live show around July, so I’ll
have to go to those too.
After the business report there was a meet-and-greet with the fans. All sorts of people turned up,
but the highlight was this guy. A photo of the President and someone cosplaying as the President. ^_^
To close the Business Report Show, everyone sings the Maywa Denki company song together. Hmm… I do have that song
as an mp3, but a song like this means nothing when you listen to it as an mp3. The fun is in watching the show live
and copying the performance. I don’t recommend listening to it sober. The man in red
is the President’s older brother.
The autograph session. It isn’t free… apparently you have to buy at least 2,000 yen worth of goods to get one. 🙁
I’ve been buying a bit too many CDs lately (and that day I also bought a few photo books), so I didn’t get an autograph…
I’ll have to aim for next time… there’ll be plenty more chances. ^_^
For more details, check out http://www.maywadenki.com/.