Last year I was fortunate enough to visit and play in the beautiful country of Japan. It was a great cultural experience on many levels – the music, the food, the people… everything was so unique. I played 3 shows (Tokyo, Kyoto & Mie) and setup shop in downtown Shibuya on the back of a truck.
It was so fun. The visit changed my life, and it truly saddens me to see what’s happening over there right now. They are such nice people and for such a heavy disaster to be sprung upon them as a country is just unfair.
Keeping it on a positive note though, earlier this year I coordinated with DJ Sancon, who did shows with me in Kyoto and Mie, to come over and play some shows in Canada in a ‘DJ exchange’ of sorts. Sancon’s hometown of Kyoto was lucky enough to not be affected by any of the tragedies thus far, and he will still be able to come rock some shows with me in Canada this weekend. And as a treat he will be bringing a few crates of records to play a vinyl only set. Dedicated!
Friday March 25th, we will be in my hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia at The Paragon Theatre. Also jumping in to show off some Canadian talent are MCs Quake and Tachichi. A classic Halifax hip-hop show with a Japanese touch. RSVP on Facebook.
Saturday March 26th, we will be at The Drake Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. It’s a big weekend in The Big Smoke as it is the weekend of the Juno awards, and so the bar will be open until 4am to celebrate. We’ll be joined by the inimitable Your Boy Brian and, well, you never know who. It’s Juno weekend, and there are a lot of people in town. Something tells me there will be some surprise guests as well…
As loyal fans, I would like to give you the opportunity to win a pair of tickets to the show you will be able to make it to. 1 set of tickets will be given away for each show and here’s how:
Head over to my Facebook page and come up with a caption for this photo.
Just leave your caption as a comment on the photo to enter, as well as #TO or #HFX to indicate which show you’re able to make it to. We’ll choose winners later this week.
Only thing that I ask is when you come to the shows, make some noise… because the guy doesn’t speak english!
A portion of the proceeds from each show will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross to aid relief efforts in Japan. We’ll also have a donation box if you’d like to dig a little deeper. You can also order one of James White‘s amazing “Help Japan” posters (pictured below) by clicking here. All profits from these sales will go toward relief in Japan.
UPDATE: Great news! Halifax-based visual artist James White (who in his initial run of posters generated $7250.00 in donations) will be coming out to this Friday’s show at The Paragon Theatre (featuring Japan’s DJ Sancon) to setup a booth to sell his awesome poster (above) and raise money for earthquake relief in Japan. We will be combining proceeds from the door, poster sales & donation box to make a big lump donation to Canadian Red Cross.
We will also have a donation box set up at The Drake Hotel on Saturday night for those in Toronto looking to contribute. Let’s help make a difference in a country in need, while enjoying some of it’s musical export. Please come out and support.
See you this weekend!
UPDATE: Thank you for all of your generous support. Thanks to the fans, artists, staff and everyone involved, we raised $1184.25 for Canadian Red Cross in support of Eartquake & Tsunami relief in Japan/Asia! Big thanks to James for taking time out of his busy schedule ($15,000 in fund raising!) to participate in the event. And thanks to Sancon for keeping high spirits and contributing to the international vibe of the night in person! Here is our official donation email:
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