Some fans come to our shows once every two years, because they spend so much money in our Exhibit Hall that they need to save enough money to come back.”Īn anime fanatic doesn’t have to come loaded with cash or credit cards to enjoy Anime Expo. “So for a lot of fans, to have all the major retailers in one place is a. “Most cities are lucky to have a comics store that carries anime,” Tatsugawa said. One of the convention’s most popular attractions is the Exhibit Hall, where vendors deal in often hard-to-find anime souvenirs and goods, from laserdiscs and original production cels to posters and pencils. “On average,” he said, “we send at least one representative a month to Japan, and we have people who are in Japan who do full-time liaison work.” How can we work with you, and how can you guys help us develop these things?’ It’s gotten to the point where people in Japan are contacting us and saying, ‘We own the Japanese market, but it’s the U.S. “We travel to Japan and talk to these guests and try to discuss how we can promote their work. All the staff know our material inside out, so you get a lot of little nuances you don’t get in other venues – that support means absolutely everything to us.“We’re now at the point where most companies treat us as equals because we’re now a corporation,” said Tatsugawa, head of the Hollywood-based Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, which sponsors Anime Expo. Everything there is always so easy and it allows you to put on your best show when all the pieces fall into place. “We have a long list of venues we absolutely love going to, but The Hairy Dog is quite literally home for us. Playing the Hairy Dog, as they do tomorrow, remains a thrill, however many times they do it: “Hometown shows are just the best shows,” says Dan. It allows the emotional side of his vocal delivery to really shine and we’re chuffed with how that came to life.” “Lonely Road is the kind of thing we’ve wanted to do for a while, where John is at his absolute best, just him and a guitar. “Having Rich on keys and Dale on bass has added a different dynamic to our songs and the style is definitely more classic rock than anything we’ve done previously,” says Dan. Adding Rich Wilson on keyboards and new bass player Dale Bollard-Tonks has also freshened the sound up, they feel, although Dan’s powerhouse drumming and Arran Day’s virtuoso guitar remain key features. With that, the band’s sound is also evolving and their current single is a ballad, Lonely Road, showcasing lead singer John Hartwell’s emotional delivery. The fans of the NWOCR scene aren’t shy about talking to you about their perceptions as well, so we’re definitely aware of an increased perception.” We’ve had some incredible opportunities this summer, such as Steelhouse Festival, Stonedead Festival, the New Wave of Classic Rock Festival – all of them put us in front of big audiences. “We definitely feel awareness of the band is growing. Dan said: “You have to prioritise the things that help the band most and, for this year, we needed a big tour to help promote (first album) Eden, the crowdfunder and ourselves in different parts of the country, and the tour with Hayseed Dixie really helped us do that. The album is about two-thirds recorded as they continue to work around day jobs, families and touring commitments. The Hairy Dog in Becket Street hosts a home-town gig for These Wicked Rivers. It’s not quite there yet but it’s very close to being complete, allowing us to do everything we wanted.” We wanted to raise more money so we could do a better record and more promotional stuff alongside it, and our fans have just come out and absolutely thrown all their weight behind it. In the last few months, they have been thrilled by the success of a crowdfunding plan to help fund their second full-length album, one which has proved a loyal fan base is growing: “The crowdfunder has been an amazing experience,” says drummer Dan Southall. But the tour is only one strand of the band’s progress. Hayseed Dixie are known for playing rock classics in a bluegrass style, something of a contrast to the straight-ahead rock of These Wicked Rivers. They are 11 dates into 23 of the support slots, wedged into a month, having started in September at Pocklington in Yorkshire, and taken in four dates in Scotland.īy the time the tour ends in Hertford at the end of the month, they will have nipped into Wales too and covered all four corners of England. Derby band These Wicked Rivers feel things are starting to take off for them as they briefly break off a high-profile slot supporting American stars Hayseed Dixie to play a hometown gig at the Hairy Dog on Friday night.
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