I don't have the rights to play any Chai on my website so instead why not listen to Drum Machines Can't Dance while you read.  If you like please click on Home to check out more of my tunes.

PAGE 1

CHAI NEOPunk and how I got hooked

Glasgow SWG3 October 21st, 2018

(C) what’s this? (H) support band with an intro?? (A) OK, you got my attention (I), C H A I etc etc and on bounce four Japanese Girls in matching Pink. OK, still got my attention. “Hello everybody, we are Chai. It’s showtime...” 

I think this is the point my brain started second guessing itself.  A couple of songs go by, then something I recognise, the Ting Tings’ Great DJ... are they singing in Japanese? Who cares? That’s brilliant! It wasn’t till watching the various “Chai commercial song” songs on YouTube that I understood they were promoting their merch). I’ll come back to NEO Kawaii later.  

By halfway through N.E.O. that was it – I’d taken the Red Pill (or is it blue?) gone past the point of no return, witnessed the event horizon. I was hooked on Chai.  My name’s Don, I’m not ready to kick the habit yet…

The support band shone through

Superorganisms got lucky. They committed the cardinal sin of headlining a gig; never ever, ever, have a support band that could upstage you. Superorganisms were, of course, brilliant. Getting to witness their show I’d watched over and over in videos, first-hand, was an experience I’m so glad to have seen. Orono amazed me – she had the crowd eating from her hand, and in Glasgow that’s no mean feat. They looked and sounded amazing. I left knowing I’d just been to one of the best gigs of my life; and I’ve seen 100s of bands live so trust me on this one.

On the bus back to Edinburgh all I could think about was who was that support band? The first thing I was going to do (after making a coffee obviously) was search for them on YouTube. But what were they called? In it pops to my head, Chai, why do I remember that? After watching several of their live shows it became apparent that Chai, at any lull, any point they can, will announce that “we are Chai” and their matching pink outfits have CHAI in big letters, right in the middle. OK, so that’s verging on brainwashing, but so far they haven’t announced a mass suicide pact, so I think I’m safe.  Since that night I’ve devoured everything Chai, watched every video, seen every interview, even the ones in Japanese, basically if it moved and had Chai on it, I pounced.