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Tube spectacular
at stadium
By John Berger
Special to the Star-BulletinPahfekuto! A perfect concert! That sums up, in Japanese or English, last night's magnificent performance by Tube at Aloha Stadium. The Japanese "summer band" super group made its American debut with a show that will stand as one of the biggest and best staged here. The set was gigantic, sound and lighting superb.
Water effects have been part of Tube concerts for years and the fans weren't disappointed last night. Many down front were soaked when a giant "wave" erupted as Nobuteru Maeda sang of surf and summer love.
Fireworks and flash bombs punctuated other numbers. Much of the set appeared to burst into flames at one point. Waterfalls cascaded off the "mountain" at another.
Tube played for almost three hours straight. No opening act. No intermission. Three additional musicians (sax, percussion, keyboards), a backing vocalist, and four perky female dancers gave excellent support. A Hawaiian trio came out for one number and a 24-woman dance line added to the spectacle on others.
Through it all Maeda and Michiya Haruhata (guitar), Hideyuki Kakuno (bass) and Ryoji Matsumoto (drums) proved themselves the equals of just about any rock band in the world. Haruhata gave a virtuoso performance playing everything from screaming power rock to acoustic ballads. Kakuno was equally competent and charismatic.
Matsumoto was hidden behind his drums at the back on the main stage but came forward once to play ukulele and later joined the others for a short semi-unplugged segment at the end of the central runway that projected out into the audience.
Maeda showed Hawaii that he is a world-class talent. He sang with power, finesse and great feeling in English and Japanese. He played guitar and proved an engaging storyteller. When one of the special effects malfunctioned he smoothly improvised a comic bit around the problem.
The fans were a great counterpoint to the show on stage. They sang along and clapped and jumped in unison. Almost everyone had received a balloon with their Tube gift package; the balloons were inflated and released on cue to shoot briefly skyward before falling back into the crowd. It was an unusual concert effect for Hawaii; all the more so since the fans deposited the balloons in the trash afterward!
It was one of the best rock concerts of the last 10 years in Hawaii. Tube rocks!
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