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| Picture via @puffy |
What is amiyumidas? A fan blog dedicated (mostly) to the j-pop/rock duo Puffy with news, reviews, commentary and other things Puffy that pique the contributors' interest. As you browse the site, feel free to leave comments, in either English or Japanese. よろしくお願いします！
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Happy 19th Birthday to Puffy
A very happy 19th birthday to Puffy. Who knows what the future holds, but lets hope for something awesome for the 20th!
Monday, April 20, 2015
New Toyota Commercial Featuring Puffy
Along with a number of other artists on toyotown.jp, Puffy is now featured in a new ad for Toyota's Corolla Fielder Hybrid in Japan. Check out the website version here.
Pretty much Puffy when singing is the dominant artist, which is cool. Also they seem to be having fun with it, which is also nice to see.
Here is the TV spot:
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Puffy's 2015 Tokyo Billboard Show
Puffy played on Thursday April 9th at the 2015 Billboard show in Tokyo (h/t natalie,mu). It appears Ami and Yumi were more relaxed in this show than the prior year. It is hard to tell if there is something going on with their dynamic or perhaps fallout from Yumi's second marriage ending at that time put a strain on things. In either case it is nice to see (according to Google translate) that they seem looser and in a better place.
Several take away items from the article I pulled most of this information from. Drums (Koichi Kawanshi) and bass (Kinoshita Hiroharu) are back in order. A keyboardist is also present (Mikio Ito). My best guess is the guitar player is new (Yusuka Fujita) and the only one. The last is an interesting choice, as Puffy in in the past year went two guitars and no keyboardist. From what I heard from the live performances that have been streamed, this is probably a better choice as keyboards are integral to Puffy's musical style. How important we may debate, but they are.
The set list was a mix of what we would expect, no surprises:
Not sure if this tells us anything about the next year, but Ami made mention last year about some things coming to the fore in the spring so what those are is as much a mystery to you as it is to me. In either case Puffy continues to keep their hand in the game and that is good.
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| Picture via Natalie.mu |
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| Picture via Natalie.mu |
1. K2G
2. Kore ga Watashi no Ikirumichi
3. Daisuki (Cover)
4. Boogie Woogie #5
5. boom boom beat
6. Puffy de Rumba
7. Mother
8. Jet Keisatsu
9. Nagisa Ni Matsuwaru Etc
10. Radio Tokyo
11. Asia no Junshin (encore)
2. Kore ga Watashi no Ikirumichi
3. Daisuki (Cover)
4. Boogie Woogie #5
5. boom boom beat
6. Puffy de Rumba
7. Mother
8. Jet Keisatsu
9. Nagisa Ni Matsuwaru Etc
10. Radio Tokyo
11. Asia no Junshin (encore)
Not sure if this tells us anything about the next year, but Ami made mention last year about some things coming to the fore in the spring so what those are is as much a mystery to you as it is to me. In either case Puffy continues to keep their hand in the game and that is good.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
PUFFY NO NAZO NI KANTO KINKEN TOUR
Puffy announced today that they are doing a new mini-tour around the Kanto region. The Kanto region is around Tokyo and this is a four date tour so it is pretty modest so far as tours go.
The shows start at 17:30, no information if there is an opening act.
Great to see Puffy keeping their hand in the game. I am more curious to see if this is a precursor to something more ambitious. The set list might give us some clues but I doubt we'll see that until near the time of the concerts.
The shows start at 17:30, no information if there is an opening act.
- 7/11 (Sat) Chiba and Kashiwa PALOOZA
- 7/12 (Sun) Gunma Takasaki club FLEE
- 7/18 (Sat) Saitama · HEAVEN'S ROCK Saitama New Urban Center
- 7/19 (Sun) Ibaraki Mito LIGHT HOUSE
Great to see Puffy keeping their hand in the game. I am more curious to see if this is a precursor to something more ambitious. The set list might give us some clues but I doubt we'll see that until near the time of the concerts.
Friday, March 20, 2015
When Puffy Turns 20: Thoughts, Hopes & Fears
Puffy’s twentieth anniversary is coming up next year, which for American bands would be a noteable achievement. For a Japanese act? Outstanding, especially since bands in Japan quit at the drop of a hat, cynically repeat quitting or never gain traction and dissolve. Examples of this are Judy & Mary, Murasaki and PuppyPet respectively.
Chatter on Ami’s feed has briefly mentioned her and Yumi’s twentieth anniversary as a duo, which got me to thinking:
What do I want from Puffy for their twentieth anniversary?
A live album from the tour. This would be on the scale of Judy And Mary’s Warp Tour Final, but tack on another ten songs to seal its awesomeness. So think a double cd, if not a triple.
A bluray or DVD of the tour’s final concert. Lots of extras with making of, behind the scenes, alternate camera angles, commentary. Ideally this would be a bonus or mega set with the CD version of the concert.
US Tour dates. Honestly I think this is incredibly unlikely unless they partner up with Comicon or another act that they can partner with (Shonen Knife would be a fine example).
A new album. This want fills me with trepidation. Are we going to get something really good like Sweet Drops or something awful like Himitsuno Gimmy Cat Ufufu Hontouyo? Much as I think Rolly is talented (his cover of Talalan is really great for example) and creative, what he passes off as music sometimes is not good. The only thing that gives me hope is Thank You took a while to release and it was quite good, so hopefully Ami and Yumi are striving for perfection and that is why we have seen nothing for the better part of four years.
An ambitious tour. I am not talking about number of dates alone, I am talking venues. A few scenarios here for the final tour concert. Some are probable, good and limited. The others increasingly unlikely, bad and awesome. The first scenario is they play Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudo and interest in their concerts is about the same. The second scenario is Nippon Budokan which could come about if there is good press and interest in Puffy’s Anniversary. The last scenario is Tokyo Dome, which would probably require Puffy coming back to form and there being tremendous interest in this final tour stop.
The first scenario is premised by previous final tour stops and Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudo (capacity 3100) seems like a venue that they can fill and it’s a good one for filming. The underlying premise is if it is really business as usual for Puffy, they will continue on as a duo.
The second scenario, Nippon Budokan (capacity 14000) is prefaced by the fact that I think there has to be a lot more interest in Puffy than we see now. I think sentimentality and celebrating a long and successful career might be enough to push a twentieth anniversary up to this venue. Having been there, it really is a neat place and Puffy has also played at Nippon Budokan.
The last scenario is Tokyo Dome. Ami and Yumi via an interview have stated they’d rather watch a concert there than play one as it is too big. But I am thinking big here, so bear with me. The ground swell for a 20th anniversary concert would have to come about from interest in the band coming to or exceeding Puffy-mania levels last seen in their first three albums. Sadly the only way I can see a concert at Tokyo Dome happening is if Puffy announces their end at the twenty year mark. I could also see Nippon Budokan playing out in a similar scenario.
Anyways, these final concerts playing out would be three potential wants based on what Puffy wants to do after twenty years. If Puffy must go, they should do it in style, do it huge and leave a mark.
Ultimately what I want is for Ami and Yumi to be happy, productive and together because they are something special and singualrly or more accurately dually...unique.
Chatter on Ami’s feed has briefly mentioned her and Yumi’s twentieth anniversary as a duo, which got me to thinking:
What do I want from Puffy for their twentieth anniversary?
A live album from the tour. This would be on the scale of Judy And Mary’s Warp Tour Final, but tack on another ten songs to seal its awesomeness. So think a double cd, if not a triple.
A bluray or DVD of the tour’s final concert. Lots of extras with making of, behind the scenes, alternate camera angles, commentary. Ideally this would be a bonus or mega set with the CD version of the concert.
US Tour dates. Honestly I think this is incredibly unlikely unless they partner up with Comicon or another act that they can partner with (Shonen Knife would be a fine example).
A new album. This want fills me with trepidation. Are we going to get something really good like Sweet Drops or something awful like Himitsuno Gimmy Cat Ufufu Hontouyo? Much as I think Rolly is talented (his cover of Talalan is really great for example) and creative, what he passes off as music sometimes is not good. The only thing that gives me hope is Thank You took a while to release and it was quite good, so hopefully Ami and Yumi are striving for perfection and that is why we have seen nothing for the better part of four years.
An ambitious tour. I am not talking about number of dates alone, I am talking venues. A few scenarios here for the final tour concert. Some are probable, good and limited. The others increasingly unlikely, bad and awesome. The first scenario is they play Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudo and interest in their concerts is about the same. The second scenario is Nippon Budokan which could come about if there is good press and interest in Puffy’s Anniversary. The last scenario is Tokyo Dome, which would probably require Puffy coming back to form and there being tremendous interest in this final tour stop.
The first scenario is premised by previous final tour stops and Hibiya Yagai Daiongakudo (capacity 3100) seems like a venue that they can fill and it’s a good one for filming. The underlying premise is if it is really business as usual for Puffy, they will continue on as a duo.
The second scenario, Nippon Budokan (capacity 14000) is prefaced by the fact that I think there has to be a lot more interest in Puffy than we see now. I think sentimentality and celebrating a long and successful career might be enough to push a twentieth anniversary up to this venue. Having been there, it really is a neat place and Puffy has also played at Nippon Budokan.
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| My visit to Nippon Budokan 2013. It is a cool venue. |
Anyways, these final concerts playing out would be three potential wants based on what Puffy wants to do after twenty years. If Puffy must go, they should do it in style, do it huge and leave a mark.
Ultimately what I want is for Ami and Yumi to be happy, productive and together because they are something special and singualrly or more accurately dually...unique.
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