This weekend's Taico Club in Nagano Prefecture will be the first of four summer-festival appearances for Tokyo synth-pop/postpunk act Kimonos. Formed only last year, the duo of Leo Imai and Zazen Boys' Shutoku Mukai will also play at Fuji Rock (July 30), World Happiness (Aug. 7) and the Rising Sun Rock Festival (Aug. 12, 13).
Local alt-rock luminary Mukai has plenty of festival experience under his belt with Zazen Boys and the seminal Number Girl. Imai performed at Summer Sonic in 2009 as a solo artist. He thinks Taico Club will be a good setting for Kimonos to make their outdoor festival debut.
"It's a unique event; big enough to have a festival atmosphere, but small enough to feel relaxed and intimate," say Imai. "Also, it seems that the majority of people going to Taico Club have pretty eclectic tastes in music, which is always a plus."