I have been obsessed with Boredoms since 1993.  They are sort of like a little jewel you spend a lot of time chasing, whether it’s an album import or a rare live show here in America, you have to search and it’s always expensive but it’s always completely worth it as well.  They are a Japanese band who specialize in bringing you soaringly fantastic things: sonically, visually, mentally, and spiritually.  And they rock as much as any band you can think of.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thrown my arms in the air listening to them.

For the past few years they have been putting on special events for certain days.  The first was on July 7, 2007.  7/7/7.  In a park in DUMBO, Brooklyn they assembled a massive drum jam of 77 drummers playing in unison.  The next year, 8/8/8 it was 88 drummers.  This year, 9/9/9 they honed it down to 9 drummers for more than one performance.  Butchy was one of the chosen drummers and I was very happy to oblige his request.  I got Herb and Frank’s permission to use The Jazz Guys‘ practice space and Butchy got to play.  Also, he turned out to be a really cool guy.  He said he’d try and get us into one of the shows.  I said I was very interested, but secretly I didn’t really believe him.  Those shows are tough to get into.

A few days later I was at work at The OP (bar) and got a call from him.  He asked if me and Herb not only wanted to go to a show but actually BE INVOLVED in it.  I imagine this was probably the only way Butchy could get us in, if we were part of the “crew.”  I had already felt pretty damn awesome that I helped out a Boredoms show in some very small distant way, but now this was too much.  I could hardly contain myself texting Herb about it.  We rejoiced at our good fortune repeatedly over the next couple of days.  We somehow managed to get Tanner on board, got our workdays off, rented a car just to be safe (Budget rules, but the guy behind the counter was a real grump) and went off to Troy, NY to see Boredoms on Sept. 11, 2009.

The car ride was fun. Tanner did all the driving.  We listened to The Beatles Mono Remasters and other good music.  I had never been that far down Route 7 before and it was gorgeous.  The other guys were getting annoyed that I kept talking about the scenery, but whatever.  We got to Troy and drove up a hill to the venue.  And what a fucking venue it was.  EMPAC (Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center) is the most jaw-dropping building I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in a bunch.  It is this big whimsical building with an exterior of windows on top of a hill overlooking the city of Troy.  Entering it is like entering Emerald City.  Upon arrival we quickly met up with Butchy and ZACH HILL (Hella). (I thought Herb was going to cry, but I couldn’t stop myself from taking pictures of this building with my recently acquired Lomo camera.)

We then walked up the stairs (look at ‘em!), went through a food court, took a right down a long blue hallway and soon we were watching a Boredoms rehearsal.  It was like that part near the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind when they’re preparing to meet the aliens and that guy is basically doing a sound check:  ”I don’t think we could have asked for a more beautiful evening, do you? Okay, watch the skies please…”  Like Roy Neary, I just sort of stood there, took it all in, and started running around (and then took a lot of pictures).  The theater is enormous and mostly “stadium seating”.  The stage was in the center of the room.

There were seven drummers outlining a circle. Yoshimi P-We (The Flaming Lips didn’t make her up) and Yojiro Tatekaw’s drum kits were in the middle. Muneomi Senju stood to Yojiro’s right, alternately fiddling with nobs and playing guitar. Boredoms founder and visionary Yamantaka Eye stood facing them from the inner-edge of the circle, his gaze perpendicular to Yoshimi and Yojiro’s.  Eye had constructed two apparatuses made up of a vertical board with guitar necks mounted on both sides. They were arranged so they were facing him while he stood.  One had seven necks (four and three on either side), the other had five (three and two).  They were tuned a certain way so that he could use a staff to strike all 4 necks at once and make a hellacious sound.  Sometimes it sounded like God, other times it sounded like a piano.  The drummers brought their own kits.  Some were big, some were small.  Eye doesn’t speak English very well, but I guess Hisham Bharoocha of Black Dice, Pixeltan, and Lightning Bolt (I was too nervous to approach him) does and was interpreting EYE’s instructions for the other drummers.  This wasn’t a jam.  As far as I could tell it was a very precise piece, and Eye was not only a performer, but the conductor.  It was already mind-blowing.

Deerhunter were the opening band and their drum kit was on the stage.  Playing this kit with the rest of the drummers (during rehearsal) was a little Japanese boy named Toma.  It turned out he was the son of Boredoms’ manager (a very nice person).  He looked about 5 or 6 years old, was wearing a light blue Darth Vader shirt, and had protective headphones on (with Boredoms stickers all over them) because I guess he gets to see them all the time.  And he can already play the drums.  And he might be the coolest person I’ve ever met.  More on him later.

So what was our reason for being there?  What did we have to say when someone asked us what our purpose was (we indeed were asked, nicely)?  We were the “bearers”.  We were 3/10 of a crew that were going to lift a platform with a drum set screwed down on it to be played by Yojiro and then carry it around while he played with the rest of the band.  I watched them screw it down.  It took the drum tech guy hours.  Again, precise.

I’m gonna talk now about how nice all of these people were.  From the drummers to the crew to the road manager to the happy drum tech to the people that worked at EMPAC to the merch table lady to the angry teenagers serving us crappy burgers at a shithole diner to the guy who instead of giving us directions had us follow him to the venue… ALL very kind, friendly people.  Everyone involved in the show was there for the sole purpose of great music and it was joyous to see.

We returned to the EMPAC drummer dressing room with intentions of seeing Deerhunter.  BUT what we saw were most of the friendly drummers practicing their parts together on chairs while Toma was wearing his protective headphones like a mohawk and having mock-battles with any of us.  Sorry, Deerhunter.  This was another thing we knew we weren’t going to see again.

Aaron Moore.  He was one of the drummers.  He normally plays with a band called Volcano The Bear.  He’s English and a cool motherfucker.  He called Herb a cunt (thank you).  He heard me say (while watching the drum chair pract icing) “This might be the greatest day of my life” and asked mockingly “Oh, am I a part of it?”  I had to answer honestly “Yeah, you actually are.” He came up behind me and Herb a moment later and whispered “Mates, the last 20 minutes are fucking TAKE OFF.”

The show.  I’m trying not to use words like “amazing”, “fantastic”, “spectacular”, etc. too much, but it’s hard.  Get me a thesaurus.  Musically it was out of this fucking world.  The sounds they made are almost indescribable.  EYE was most certainly a conductor.  He would guide the drummers to dizzying peaks and then to calming lows.  The entire circle of drummers was like a huge, breathing creature.  Seeing that many cymbals being hit at once is more shocking than you would imagine.  Even watching the drummers rest for a minute and stretch in their different ways made the whole unit seem like a single living thing.  At one point they did this amazing drum roll where each one passed the roll on to the other perfectly.  And Aaron wasn’t fucking kidding.  The last 20 minutes were indeed TAKE OFF.  It was a version of “Acid Police” (from Chocolate Synthesizer) that was supremely beautiful and rock primal at the same time.  I forgot that drums are an instrument.  You can play notes and chords on them if you play them right.  The beat they played so ferociously was just as good as any Bo Diddley groove.  There was a break in the song and my heart fell a little.  ”Oh no!  I could listen to that forever.”  It wasn’t over.  They started right back up with a glorious, screaming coda (that reminded me a lot of another Japanese band called Ultra-Bide.  ”Africa“.  Look ‘em up).  Total silence.  EYE (politely): “Thank you so much.”  Applause.

Now we were backstage deciding whether or not hang out or go home.  Every drummer was dripping with sweat and looking happy as fuck.  Aaron said “I told you so!”  Herb complimented Zach Hill (who looks like Animal from The Muppet Show when he plays) and was deeply happy that Zach remembered his name.  EYE walked by me and nodded.  We decided to leave these guys alone.  We said our goodbyes and left.

Easy drive home.  I woke up the next morning and wondered if it was a dream.  The pictures from my camera proved that it was indeed the greatest day of my life.