It was snowing badly at the performance location and the highway was blocked... so we had to leave an hour-and-a-half early to ensure we made it for the rehearsal. And, indeed, it was snowing. We made a pitstop at a small store:
We made it on time, and the concert was fabulous. Although sparsely attended, the audience was wonderful and enthusiastic. Afterwards we invited them to come up on stage to see the bells. We used to do this more often, but for some reason this is happening less this tour than in the past:
People love to see and touch and hear the bells!
This woman was fascinated by the harmonics and how she perceived them:
Four-in-hand is always a fun concept and people are fascinated by the fine control we have over the bells:
Singing bell, the technique that Sonos reintroduced to the handbell world, is also an audience pleaser:
It can be hard to get at first, but once somebody figures out the technique and makes the bell "sing," their eyes just light up with joy. It's a great honor to bring that experience to people the world over.
Getting back was a bit of a challenge. We hopped in the bus around 10 PM. And we moved 30 feet or so and... sat. And sat. And sat. Turns out that the highway was being reopened, but a snow plow had broken down and needed to be towed! The irony!
We'd move a few feet. Then we'd sit. And sit. And sit a lot more. We finally got home around 2AM. Yeah, it was a long night. We thought we might go back to the hall and sleep on our foam. ;) But, our intrepid bus driver persevered and we made it back!
The next day, before we left, we wandered around Itami a bit, so I'll leave you with a few impressions:
(See if you can see the weirdness in the picture of the building above!!)
Then it was off to Morioka, but that's for another post.
---Jason
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