Triple Diamond
June 25, 2008
Nishiogi Terra
Yoshi Shimada - Drums
Tohben Yukawa - Bass
Macoto Takahashi - Guitar
Triple Diamond makes blues rock and rhythm look easy and sound brand new. The three first-call Tokyo vets know just how to build up riffs, rhythms and rocking to one explosion of energy after the next. All the time, they look like they are just hanging out and enjoying themselves. Part of that onstage cool comes from years in the business, and as key players in many of the best bands in the city. Most importantly, though, all the guys in the band know the magic of true roots music—killer guitar riffs, thundering bass and super-tight rhythms.
They don't take long to get warmed up. Takahashi's scorch-and-burn solo on "Into the Fire" sounded like it was an encore. Rolling out one Stevie Ray Vaughan riff after the next, the mid-tempo number rocked deep, but at an unhurried, confident pace. "Don't Tell Me Lies" had nice shifts of tempo, which let everyone play how they like, fast, slow or following their own inner groove. The care on each of the songs never loses the raw, rough joy of blues-rock.
Digging into the classics, as they do every show, Shimada took over the vocals on Willie Dixon's "You Can't Judge a Book." After telling about going to the funeral of the late, great Bo Diddley, who Shimada backed on tour for years in the States, the song had a special poignancy. Yukawa and Takahashi jumped in on great solos that kept taking the energy higher into full rock glory. Later in the second set, the Diamonds took on Bo Diddley's great "Mona," digging into the Bo Diddley beat and making sure it'll live forever. You could almost see Bo Diddley dancing up at heaven's gate!
The trio always feels like a much bigger band. They never overplay, though, but know how to bring their musical voices together into a potent mélange of energies. Takahashi has incredible range, working all over the guitar fret. His guitar work never sacrifices feeling to technique, but stays sweaty and wild. Yukawa matches his range on bass, working in deep sounds and hard-hitting harmonies. Their technique makes the blues-rock complex and nuanced, but their feeling keeps it real. Shimada is a force of nature. He has a great, big sound that still mixes in little touches, a marimba here,
You always keep looking at the drum set to see where all the great sounds come pouring out from, but it's just from him directly.
The trio is a perfect match, one where the whole is much greater than the sum of its already estimable parts. Playing around town with their other groups must be just as important, but it always feels like Triple Diamond is their favorite musical baby. The energy of the band pushes back the walls of the room, even while keeping an air of unceasing cool. Keeping alive the music and recreating it again is something that they feel deep in their bones, and anyone who hears them will, too.
