If you think updating a 6th Century Japanese art form for modern European audiences would be a difficult task, you would be right. Taiko drumming has played a key role in traditional Japanese music for centuries and, until recently, performances have been restricted to Asia and South America. With this in mind, you’ve got to respect the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers’ ability to not only craft a show that pays homage to the music’s Japanese roots, but also their ability to hold an audience for two hours of pretty much pure percussion. This feat was made somewhat more impressive when the ‘comandante’ (rhythm leader) Neil Mackie came forward and introduced the music for the first time, in a thick Glaswegian accent. This translation of Japanese culture by a Scottish music group formed the basis of what was a compelling show, attempting – often successfully – to fuse the incessant, hypnotic Taiko drumming with wind melodies, humour and movement.
Despite the programme detailing that tonight’s was a performance with a repertoire, from the very beginning, the staging made it clear that the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers were not here simply to reel off the pieces. The vast, reverberating pound of the bass Chū-daiko filled the stage and, as the performers emerged, the audience was treated to the first overtly visual section of the show. Soundtracked by momentous opening number ‘Chronos’, ultra-violet light flooded the stage, illuminating ghoulish dancers that, with some effective choreography, glided among the drums. This visual focus is perhaps unsurprising when you consider that the majority of Taiko pieces are centered upon a monotonous motif; it’s hardly easy to present two hours of repetitive drumming without relying upon some other form of spectacle. Evidently, it is precisely this incessant, driving nature of the music that is compelling for those acquainted with Taiko drumming, and the whoops and cheers of the drummers on stage reflect this.
However, when the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers did turn to these other forms of entertainment, the audience was left wanting. A scene in which the drummers comically knock each other over with their drum sticks failed to gain much response from an audience not expecting the traditional Japanese music to be mixed crudely with slapstick. Later, a well-constructed scene of ‘catch the cymbal’ – complete with slow-mo dives – summoned a much better reaction, but it was difficult to ignore that, for all their Japanese costume and make-up, authenticity occasionally dwindled for the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers.
Yet when the drummers returned to the programmed repertoire, we were reminded why this is the most successful Taiko drumming company in Britain. The touching duet ‘Hibiki’ saw a man and a woman take to opposite sides of one drum, engaging in rhythmic conversation. The technically impressive ‘Yatai Bayashi’ followed, the rhythm shooting between the drummers, each one in turn becoming incensed by the beat and pounding it out to the audience. This was the dialogue that the audience had been looking for, and they responded accordingly: a standing ovation, fitting for this uplifting performance.
William Rees-Arnold
Image: taiko.co.uk