Drum Tao doesn’t miss a beat, gets standing ovation

MANILA, Philippines — What you’d think would be a nearly two-hour show featuring a bunch of serious, angry men pounding on drums is, in fact, a sensory experience of different beats and rhythms, music, lights, and the astounding artistry and physicality of the Japanese performers that headline the four-day show called Drum Tao at the Kia Theatre in Araneta Center.

This is Samurai Drum Rock, and by that it means you get true rock stars in a sense -— they don’t just beat on the Taiko drums, which they either carry or roll out onto the stage; along with it they perform martial arts movements incorporated in a bit of dance, play musical instruments, and chant; sometimes, doing two or three of these things at the same time. And they look damn good doing so; martial arts and vigorous drumming make for good cardio exercise, indeed. They also do such a good job that the standing ovations the Manila audiences have given them (and the reaction is the same everywhere across the globe, we hear) are richly deserved.

You don’t need to get your culture on to enjoy this show -—- that’s the beauty of it. Anybody with a sense of rhythm can get into it. Bobbing heads to the beat should be a given, if you ask me. Then again, it plays well with anyone who can appreciate the beauty of performance arts, and marvel at the intense discipline behind it.

The show premiered on April 19 to thousand-strong audience. By word of mouth, the numbers grew. Kia Theatre, with its expansive stage and lush deep red walls, seems like the perfect backdrop to the show, big enough to make it feel grand but also intimate enough to hear the voices of the performers without microphones all the way at the back.

 The show itself ebbs and flows: It assaults the senses with a barrage of nuanced beats one minute; then calms the audience down with haunting sounds of the flute, or the music of a solo performer playing the shamisen (a traditional Japanese guitar) bathed in spotlight amid a darkened stage. There are also numbers that you could hear the drum sounds in stereo, traveling from one side of the theater to the other. And others that elicited “ooohs” from the audience, who, by the grace of good sense, actually heeded the producers’ call to refrain from taking cellphone photos and videos of the show.

What is breathtaking is the fact that every single one of the performers -— from as few as two on stage, to as many as all of them — is in perfect sync with each other. Not a single beat was amiss. Some numbers build up to such a speed that you could almost feel your own muscles burn as you watch the super fast drumming on stage. Even the ladies, who mostly come out in long, flowy dresses, hold their own, showing the duality of feminine softness against raw fierceness in their numbers.

Drum Tao, however, isn’t just a show of brawn. What is surprising to those that hadn’t seen the shows in Japan or abroad, and something that has really worked for Pinoys, is the show’s humor. There are some moments of levity in the production, including a fairly funny bit with what seems to be the den-den daiko (Japanese pellet drum), otherwise known to the older members of the audience as those small palm-played drums in the 1986 movie, Karate Kid 2.

Drum Tao was established in 1993, and only began a world tour in 2004. By 2012, they had finally reached Manila for the first time. Today, Drum Tao has a total of 39 performers grouped into different teams that perform throughout Japan and all over the world. The Drum Tao troupe currently in the Philippines consists of 16 men and three women, every single one of them is an amazing performer. With a 15-minute break in between two substantial sets, the show is super entertaining in a heart-pounding way and tonight is the last night you can catch them. An advice, though: Don’t come in late; the Japanese aren’t big on tardiness!

For tickets, visit www.ticketnet.com.ph or call 911-5555.