From Seat B123 on the left balcony, I peer down and see in the front row on stage from left to right sat: Goku, in his orange-yellowish gi, Itachi Uchiha in his black and red cloak, and a young girl sporting the classic anime school uniform get up: white shirt, red tie, skirt, and stockings. It’s a Sunday night and the Saigon Winds are playing at a sold out HCM Conservatory of Music for a two night show called, “Anime in Town.”
I arrived with a group of friends for the 7pm show a few minutes early to snap photos and get comfortable in our seats. “I know Pokémon!” I shirk in response to playful questioning of whether or not I’m a true anime fan. I am not. “Who is your favorite Pokémon then?” My mind goes blank on cue. “Pikachu!” I say pointing to the girl in the second row with the franchise's mascot perched on her music stand. My answer is enough to halt further questioning. It was clear my knowledge of tonight’s entertainment was limited. My secret was out.
Truth be told I played a bit of Pokémon on Gameboy and Nintendo DS and watched a bit of the movies and shows when I was younger as well as a few Studio Ghibli films when I got a little older like Princess Monoke, Spirited Away, and The Wind Rises, but that’s about it I’m afraid. The only reason I’m familiar with the likes of Doraemon, Conan, Demon Slayer, Attack on Titan, One Piece, and others are because my students talk about them every class I see them and many of my friends recommend that I should watch them. I know, I know…
Regardless, weeb or not, here I am downtown in Saigon listening to a 40+ member orchestra playing classic anime tunes with no speakers in the house. Just raw sound. The orchestra let loose on all the big time names: One Piece, Pokémon, Demon Slayer, Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Detective Conan, and Attack on Titan more than once. Plus there were some others I didn’t know about like Yoasobi, Weathering With You, and Your Name, among others.
I came to learn that the fleet of instruments playing for the audience are collectively worth billions of Vietnamese Dong. The people playing said instruments have been playing together for anywhere between 10-20 years, sometimes more. And the person leading the group, the conductor Tran Nhat Minh, is the youngest in the history of the conservatory I heard.
Listening to this type of music in this type of setting is an emotional experience. For every person in the crowd, these are the songs that have been playing throughout their lives, probably the longest and most consistent out of any band or singer they’ve come to know and like. The sounds tied to their related stories are deeply ingrained. Sound and story and viewer become one early on and stay connected forever. It’s amazing to experience, no matter the song, a single note is struck and the place goes wild. Even someone that can only relate to the “Gotta Catch Em All” song, I perked up immediately saying, “Hey, I know this one!” But attempting to put myself in the shoes of the rest of the audience, this would be like if all of your favorite artists from throughout your life played their best songs on a single stage — it has to be a pretty cool experience for them and by proxy a cool experience for myself.
One of my favorite parts was when between songs, one of the trumpet players would stand up and double as the MC for the event. He went around to each instrument to introduce the musician to the crowd before having them play a quick something. Or, in his own words, “Chơi something!” It’s fun to witness how someone can succinctly express their personality in a few seconds with the spotlight momentarily on them as an individual and not the group as whole.
One of my other favorite parts would be that after a musician was introduced to focus on their unique sound for the next song. I later learned that active listening has a term for live music — “following the line.” The personality behind each piece —the flute, the trumpet, bass, piano, xylophone, and so on — are pooled together to create a sort of collective being. The harp was the best to zero in on. After all, the Muses danced to Apollo’s harp.
It’s very fun to be in the know on things. It’s a very fun feeling when you saw the movie that just came out and you have your two cents to add to the conversation. Or when the latest episode of the big tv series airs and you have a theory as to why everything is as it is. Or when a new album was released and you’re ready to take the stand as to which song was the best of the group. Or when something happens in the news and you already read up on it and can gauge what is going on in the world. Or you too remember watching a show when you were a kid and you can nerd out with total strangers over very specific, very dear to the heart one liners that a select few get.
That stuff is awesome. That said, I would argue it’s also fun to not be in the know on things. To experience things as an outsider in a strange new land. You may not know much about basketball, why not go to a game? You may not know much about modern art, why not go to a museum? You may not know much about anime, why not go see an orchestra play its popular theme music just for the hell of it?
Witnessing other people erupt out of their seats and flail their arms over a song or single frame from an episode is awesome too. You don’t need to know the song or the scene or any of that, you can just enjoy being in the presence of people really enjoying something. It’s a way to take interest in others. It’s a way to escape our own interests for a moment. It’s a way to escape our own selves for a moment. It’s a way to escape out of our own worlds and escape into the worlds of others. It’s one of the best ways to escape.
