The tao of drumming

MANILA, Philippines - Walking toward Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World, you’d think you were already in Vegas: slots clinking nearby, waiters groaning under trays of wine and food, short skirts and high rollers everywhere you look.

But those of us tossing back cocktails in the theater’s lobby were actually here to see something special. Cultural, even. Drum Tao, the performing drum troupe from Japan, are here for a series of 10 shows (brought to Manila by Travelife magazine and Establish Events) from July 12 to 22. We were happy to score front-row seats for the Gala Premiere Night.

Unlike Broadway-devised percussion shows like Stomp, which rely on household objects like brooms, matchboxes and trashcans, Drum Tao uses big props. Very big props, like the Japanese Wadaiko drums — massive toms weighing 400 kilos, with a circumference of 1.7 meters. To see 15 group members wielding dowels and clubs of various sizes and whanging the hell out of three-foot tom drums in synchrony: well, it’s like listening to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham’s second coming.

Little drummer girl: Don’t be fooled by her size, this Japanese performer packs a wallop under dramatic red lighting.

At the press conference, Therese got the lowdown on how Drum Tao prepare for eight months of touring a year. First of all, Wadaiko drumming takes a lot of muscle strength — this is not your mother’s Kodo drumming. Inspired by traditional forms of percussion, music, and martial arts, they’ve modernized the look and sound of Wadaiko to come up with a show meant for pure entertainment.

The group, which has played for over five million people worldwide, brought 50 drums in for the series of shows, including a “Big Mama” drum that would probably require a crane to lift and which is hit with what looks like a baseball bat.

Interestingly, the troupe of 15 includes five women, and group members all live together on top of a mountain in Japan and follow a strict regimen to keep their bodies in perfect condition (you’ll see it in the perfect biceps, rippling back muscles and lack of arm flab onstage).

Octodrummer: Eight arms appear to beat out a powerful rhythm during one number.

Every day they wake up early, run in the thin mountain air, work out and practice drumming for an hour and a half. You’ve got to be fit to make those huge drums sound so powerful.

The group ranges in age from 18 to 41, and though there’s no particular theme to the pieces, one senses their camaraderie onstage. Of course, to be a Drum Tao member you need to have good rhythm, but as one member put in in the presscon, “I think since we all live together, the most important thing is to be funny” and get along well with the group.

Our favorite numbers were those that mixed in instruments like the koto (where a lone female drums on top of the stage in a highly stylized fashion against the red backdrop of a setting sun) in one beautiful and melancholy number; other ethnic instruments come from Indonesia and China.

Onstage, Drum Tao weave a subtle canvas of sound during the two-hour performance. Traditional Japanese music comes through in the shakuhachi flutes, the plucked koto, and the shamisen, a three-stringed banjo-like instrument that gets an update from its geisha origins as it’s played by a trio of bandana-ed rocker types. Just call them the Jimi Shamisen Experience.

Rockin’ shamisen: Three strings sound like a blues solo in Drum Tao.

Taro Harasaki, the leader of the group, says they studied shows like Cirque du Soleil for a long time before they choreographed Drum Tao. They seem to create numbers together, collaboratively (sometimes recalling Stomp). Mixing drum artistry and music with comedy, the result is somewhat like being in a Kurosawa movie.

Yet it’s refreshing that Drum Tao doesn’t rely too much on comedy, as some cultural shows do. They play with the audience in a few call-and-response clapping numbers, and there’s a bit of tomfoolery onstage involving ninjas. But these are serious performers. So serious, they have a tendency to end numbers to astonished silence from the audience. At that point, one or two troupe members will give a small, polite Japanese head nod, and the audience, realizing it’s time to applaud, starts in with their own percussion instruments. The sound of two hands clapping: that’s Drum Tao.

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Drum Tao performs July 12 to July 22 at Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila. Tickets are priced from P1,000 to P4,500. Book online at www.ticketworld.com.ph or call 891-9999. Also visit selected National Book Stores, Robinsons Department Stores, Greenbelt 1 and TriNoma box offices for tickets.