After seeing Yamato back in October (review here), it's hard not to compare the two groups. They're both primarily made of younger players, are very physically fit and "active" on stage, stretch themselves creatively quite a bit, and use staging quite extensively.
I noticed right off the bat that many of the song names weren't Japanese, songs like "Queen" and "Horizon". But I didn't like the absence of any sort of song/liner notes. In the second half, I had trouble telling where one song ended and another began. This didn't detract from the overall show, but I personally like knowing that sort of thing.
Staging was similar to Yamato's in that there were risers in the back as well as the use of a silk screen in front of said risers at one time to give a different visual texture to those behind the screen. There was a grid on the floor that extended up and onto the risers for them to place equipment, which gave the stage a bit of a visually distracting style - a red grid on a black surface. Entrances into songs seemed a bit casual as well, with players walking onto stage comfortably, but somewhat too relaxed for my taste. The grid and the casual entrances often disconnected my immersion into the show.
Onto the breakdown!
The Pros:
- Talent. Tao is musically dynamic and tight, with a lot of thought given to energy and staging that only enhances the overall show. They want to give the audience an experience that's different from the usual taiko concert.
- Unexpected surprises. In seeing countless taiko shows, there are certain staples/cliches that come up. "Crossovers", or where the left hand rapidly plays alternating right-then-left head on a horizontal drum are one of the most common, as well as "pass-offs", where a line of players will play a rapid sequence of notes, one person after the other, down the line. In this show, it either happened in different configurations (crossovers) or with more intricate choreography (pass-offs). Other things, like playing odaiko en masse but without a drum - singing the notes - made things very unpredictable.
- Creativity. It's not easy to come up with nearly two hours of interesting taiko. Tao added costuming, a splash of light showy-ness, instrumentation (percussion, koto, flute), and just enough differences in each song that helped establish the group's style from other groups out there.
- Vision. The group is a young group in terms of performer age, and this comes across in the overall show. The men are often bare-chested, there's a sense of testosterone and playful bravado but without arrogance. They are showy without being garish, and push "traditions" without trying too hard to be "extreme".
- Potential. I can see this group getting better the next time I see them. I don't mean that to say they were anything short of damned good, but I'm actually curious to see what they'll do next tour. Other groups I go to see because I enjoyed what I saw last time, but with Tao I have a feeling they'll be pulling out some new surprises. I could be wrong, but it's the feeling they left me with.
The Cons:
- Oh look, they have women in the group. One of the biggest differences between Yamato and Tao is that Yamato's female performers hold their own. In Tao, the men are clearly featured, and the women get other roles, like playing flute and getting more frou-frou costumes. They were on the odaiko standing on the risers, but as accompanying beats and not as soloists. Some people might not really mind this gender difference, but since their style is less about strength and low stances, I don't see why women aren't doing what the men are.
- Stop stopping! Sometimes, I'm okay with a song having a false ending - a long pause in sound or motion before starting up again. But I *hate* it when there's more than one in a song, and/or it happens in more than one song within a set. Is it there to elicit applause? If so, it backfires, because when they really do end a song, I don't want to give it anymore in case I'm fooled again.
- 13 songs listed, 39 songs played. This happened with Yamato's set as well, and I wonder if it's just a style that's getting more common? When a song has three or more different moods, it's hard for me to enjoy it, and even harder to remember it! For example, I can remember bits and pieces about some of the songs I liked, but I have a lot of trouble remembering what song did what where. And because of the many many different moods throughout the show, I can only remember the layout of the drums but hardly any of the patterns, and I'm musically-oriented; I tend to keep patterns in my head long after a show.
- Alllllmost sharp. Musically, Tao nailed it. The theme of each song also comes out very strongly. But when it came to the small visual things, I just wanted a little more togetherness. For example, when a group would raise their arms or lean in one direction in unison, one or two people would be at a different angle or be moving out of sync with the others. I would bet that it's not their priority rather than them just being sloppy, but because they're SO tight musically, being *almost* together visually is frustrating when I would think it could be easily fixed.
Overall:
I liked Tao and would highly recommend them. The issues I had were mostly minor and I don't think it would detract from most people's enjoyment. They announced that they had 36 more shows after ours, so they're definitely playing their asses off this trip and I hope they get a good fan base so they can come back again!
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