Mari Natsuki belongs to that species of Japanese show biz personality who does everything, and not necessarily in a small way. More well known to young folks as an actress, the 61-year-old started out in the usual way, as a singer; but the kind of image she conveyed from the Orange Court stage at 11:30 in the morning made it difficult to pin her down as a pop star. Outlandishly dressed in a patterned one-piece bathing suit and black tights that ended at the knees, not to mention a long cape-like thing, a Mari Natsuki T-shirt (which all the band members wore, too), and boxing shoes, she is no shrinking flower. And that mascara was scary.

The band, which includes her husband Nobu Saito on percussion, introduced her with a kind of free jazz freakout to which she added some well-rehearsed shrieking and chanting. Given her style of belting, the blues is her most comfortable mode, and her take on Janis Joplin abandon was more accomplished than it should be, which explains how she got the gig of playing Big Mama in “Metal Gear Solid 4.”  In any case she does as much sing-talking as singing. Then she gave the bass player a solo. The bass player?

She added some new Japanese lyrics to the melody and chord changes of “Stormy Monday,” and looked genuinely beaten by life during the delivery. Some say acting is a full-time job. -Phil