goth live at fire cafe osaka july30 2022

[Photo taken at FIRE CAFE]

FIRE CAFE is a cool and suave restaurant and bar with an artistic atmosphere run by Italian Simone.

The cuisine cooked at Fire Cafe is really delicious!

They make their own pasta. The spaghetti bolognese and also the chicken chacciotore that Simone and his chef prepared for me after my performances were really wonderful!

Buono mangara! [Italian: delicious food]

THE GIG

After such a long over 2 year break from performing [due to the pandemic] this gig was:

ONLY MY 6TH GIG IN ALMOST 3 YEARS.

So, honestly, I am still forgetting some bits, the NEW lead guitar solos are 'so so'.... Sorry about that, but I am a 'person' - not a JUKE BOX or a machine.

However, every gig the 'PERFORMANCE' gets better!!!

THANKS TO ALL YOU GUYS AND GALS

WHO SUPPORT ME AND FORGIVE THE ROUGH BITS!!

I AM ALWAYS DOING MY BEST

TO ENTERTAIN YOU

EVERY SHOW!

THE GIG

There were quite a few people already there or arriving as I set up before 8pm.

VERY HAPPY to say that several tables of those people STAYED UNTIL AFTER THE SET 2 FINISHED!!

ALSO: HUGE THANKS to the Japanese girl

who made a

'LIVE DRAWING' of ME PERFORMING LIVE!!

[SEE PHOTOS BELOW].

HIGH ENERGY WORKS!

Who would have THUNK it:

HOT MUSIC at FIRE CAFE!

Because of the 'mood' of the audience:

SET 1

was more 'up tempo' than previous gigs.

Including:

TAKE IT EASY [EAGLES],

EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE [POLICE],

HONKY TONK WOMAN [ROLLING STONES]

&

BROWN SUGAR [ROLLING STONES].

[Both SONGS are played in OPEN F TUNING on guitar].

FRED MERZ [one of my students at my SCHOOL GCG] 'sat in' and played bass on

COME TOGETHER [BEATLES],

SUPERSTITION [STEVIE WONDER]

BLACK MAGIC WOMAN [SANTANA].

I continued solo with

WHEN I SAW HER STANDING THERE [BEATLES]

and finished SET 1 with

HOTEL CALIFORNIA [EAGLES].

SET 2

I HEARD IT ON THE GRAPEVINE [MARVIN GAYE]

MASTA BLASTER

&

I WISH [STEVIE WONDER].

Then I invited Fred up again on bass. We did

SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE [CREAM]

This, honestly, kind of 'crashed' - as it was first time to play it and the mix and my confidence weren't good. Sorry! NEXT TIME: WATCH OUT! Ha ha!

However, we redeemed ourselves with:

SWEET HOME ALABAMA [LYNARD SKYNARD].

I then did my popular medley of

LOCOMOTIVE BREATH [JETHRO TULL]

into

LONG TRAIN RUNNING [DOOBIE BROTHERS].

LED ZEPPELIN'S CLASSIC STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

The song went down really well [although, again to tell it straight, I hadn't performed that song for the longest time...5 years or longer?] so I didn't have heaps of confidence in the lead.

THE LETTER [BOX TOPS, but my version is much more rock - Joe Cocker and Leon Russell style].

I finished SET 2 with

PLAY THAT FUNKY MUSIC [WILD CHERRY].

We had added more LATE ARRIVERS [including a group with some kids] and had a pretty good crowd by that time and they wanted more!

ENCORE 1:

I FEEL GOOD [JAMES BROWN]

&

YOU MAY BE RIGHT [BILLY JOEL].

I had eye on the time as I MUST catch 'LAST TRAIN' on Nankai line at 12:08am.

EVERYONE wanted more so I did

ENCORE 2:

FOOTLOOSE [KENNY LOGGINS].

Then a mad scramble to pack up my performance gear.

FIRE CAFE's chef cooked a magnificent CHICKEN CHACCIOTORE for me, which I had to 'wolf down'.

SO SORRY I couldn't take my time enjoy such a delicious meal!!

As I was performing the next night [SATURDAY 24TH] at

HARMONY MUSIC BAR [in Tamatsukuri]

Simone let me leave my stuff [except my guitar - I gotta take that home!] to pick up the next evening. Then a mad dash to the train which I made with a whole 4 minutes of calm down, breathe slowly time before it headed off.