Sean Lennon Related
Yuka Honda, Pamelia Kurstin & Susie Ibarra at Tonic
and Meeting Sean
Thursday, Aug, 24 2000
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Yuka Honda on keyboard
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Susie Ibarra on drums
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Pamelia Kurstin on theremin
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I was very pleased to hear that Yuka Honda was having a show with other artists. I decided to check it out since I had never heard Yuka playing with others other than with Sean and Cibo Matto.
I got there very early so I was able to peek at Yuka sound-checking/rehearsaling. I was waiting for her to come out and I got her to sign her autograph on my Stereotype A CD. After that, I also saw Timo Ellis and Duma Love and got them sign on the same CD, too. They were very nice, and I got to talk to Timo for a while. Timo seemed to be surprised to see that I got all members' autographs except for Miho's. Timo was having a show with his own band called Pterodactyl; Bird of Doom after Yuka that night. Timo told me that his show would be very loud and rock music kinda thing. He asked me what I do, and I told him that I'm an art student and found out that his father is an illustrator and his sister is a graphic designer( or the other way around. I don't remember exactly.) from him, which is nice. By the way, Timo drew a person(I think it's Timo himself) next to his autograph(so his talent for drawing is from his blood!) and it was so cute. His show was supposed to start at late night. He told me that the drummer, Susie Ibarra, who was playing with Yuka on that night is amazing.
With Yuka on keyboard, Susie Ibarra on drum, and Pamelia Kurstin on theremin, the show started. Like Timo said, Susie Ibarra was amazing. She seemed like she was born to play drums. She used a lot of other stuff other than drum sticks to play drums. She also played little bells, too( if I'm so ignorant about this kind of stuff, please anyone tell me what they are called). Her drumming was very powerful but sometimes, so delicate that I was being very careful not to disturb the music with me taking pictures. I heard that Yuka used to do avant-garde stuff before, and that night's show was the most experimental live music I have ever heard. It was very mystical and different. It was my first time to see someone playing the theremin. I didn't know what it was at first, so I had to ask Pamelia Kurstin after the show.( she was really nice, too, she said" oh, it's called theremin, you sould check it out. it's so cool.") All the songs were instrumental and Yuka was different from when she played for Cibo Matto or Sean. She was very serious(no that she was not serious for other shows) and seemed to try to concentrate on playing for the delicate sound of their music.
After the show, I saw Sean Lennon watching his girlfriend, who was meeting her friends and fans. I went to say hi. He was holding a digital camera to film Yuka's show. How sweet! I and other person asked him when his second album would be out and he said it would be next year. He said " I just want to be so good."( yes, you already are) I asked him if he got the book I sent him and he said yes, but he hadn't read it yet since he was reading a sci-fi novel which was really thick. The book I sent him a while ago was "Elephant Vanishes" by Haruki Murakami, my favorite book ever! Haruki Murakami writes very strange, but sensitive and real stories, and I thought Sean would like his short stories. Sean told me that he had read Haruki Murakami's other books "A whild Sheep Chase" and "Hard-Boiled Wonderland/End of the World" which are really good, too. He said that "Coin Locker Babies" by Ryu Murakami is his #1 book ever!( man!! I started reading that book this summer break, but didn't go on since I was working on this website! I wish I had read it so that I could have talked to him about it...) so all Sean's fans, read "Coin Locker Babies"! I took a picture of Yuka, Sean together, and I met Timo again, so I took a picture of three of them, too. and As you see, for this picture, Sean made a face( cute, cute, cute). Sean asked me how long I am staying in New York, and I told him that I'm staying here for one semester, and he said "Great, I'm having a show in September, so you should come!" (are you still having a show soon, or were you talking about the Dopo Yume's show at the Cooler? Sean...?) I was going to stay for Timo's show, but I was very very tired and had to come back home.
It was very nice to see Sean again and to hear Yuka's great music. Sorry Timo that I missed yours.
Timo Ellis, Yuka Honda & Sean Lennon
all photos by Sujin Lee