Flashback: Shonen Knife at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (21 Oct 2009)

Setlist Konnichiwa Banana Chips Super Group A Map Master Barnacle Johnny, Johnny, Johnny I Wanna Eat Choco Bars BBQ Party Ramones Forever Devil House Twist Barbie Riding on the Rocket Giant Kitty Pyramid Power -- Encore -- Sushi Bar Song Top of the World (Carpenters cover) Read More Shonen Knife It was an all-girls night out as Japanese trio Shonen Knife (guitarist Naoko Yamano, bassist Atsuko Yamano, and drummer Risa) headlined the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis on October 2nd. Red Pens I liked Red Pens a lot, for a guitar and drum band, they were pretty loud and infectious. Guitarist/singer Howard Hamilton must collect guitars or something, as he had carefully tuned and setup at least three guitars for their 9-song set

Just to give you a little context, Shonen Knife basically broke up in 2005 when bassist Michie Nakatani drummer Mana “China” Nishiura died in a car crash in New Jersey… You didn’t hear much from the band since then… So I was really happy to see that the group returned in 2009 with a new album Super Group and tour. As I mentioned, singer/band leader Naoko Yamano basically decided to take a backseat and let Ritsuko Taneda take charge on a few songs. Taneda did fine, as she previously cut her teeth in J-Pop group Denki Candy.

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Let's get one thing straight: Shonen Knife is still adorable, they still try and sound like the Japanese Ramones band, and, yes, they still love singing and eating food. Shonen Knife is all that at the 7th Street Entry last night, October 21^st.

Opening up for them was Red Pens, who I previously saw (and loved) with Those Darlins. Laura Bennett is in shorts with ringed tube socks (it's funny but I don't think they make socks with those rings anymore), Howard Hamilton is still a rock god in his blue button shirt. Their setlist was about the same from the last time I saw them, except they did "Cave Something" early on, like the second song.

Shonen Knife came on stage shortly after 11pm, dressed in their "Power Rangers"-type costumes, looking very uniformed. They were holding up their Shonen Knife/Osaka hand towels in the air, as if we had no idea who's on stage. It wasn't until midway did I realized that they were actually sort of advertising that they had "Shonen Knife/Osaka" merchandise for sale. It seemed to go hand-in-hand with their official sweat wristbands.

From my memory, they did only a handful of songs from their new album, Super Group, including the title track, "Super Group". The other songs I recognized from the new album were, "Pyramid Power" (this was done near the end) and "BBQ Party" (which sounded fantastic live).

After three new songs, singer Naoko Yamano, said eagerly that "Now for some classic Shonen Knife!!", launching into such classics like "Banana Chips", "Ramones Forever", and, of course, the best song, "Riding the Rocket".

Interestingly enough, there was one song, "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny", that Ritsuko Taneda took over singing for the band. The song is actually quite old, from their 1994 album, Rock Animals.

Setlist photo courtesy of Mats Sexton

For encores, they did "Sushi Bar Song" and "Top of the World" (their popular Carpenters cover). Sadly, I was hoping for "Tomato Head", "Daydream Believer" (Monkees) or even "Brown Mushrooms"... but hey, I'm perfectly happy with the Rocket song.

After the show, they did a meet & greet, signing autographs. I got my old 712 album and bought a few singles for them to sign. One of the Shonen Knife single was a Christmas song, with lyrics by Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), which I'm looking forward to putting on my iPod.

If they're coming through your town, go see and meet them! Their new album is called Super Group, out on Good Charmamel Records.

Shonen Knife at 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (21 Oct 2009) photo by Vu

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