A duo consisting of electric bass and guitar, the two bounded happily onto stage despite their somewhat older age. This cute appearance was soon totally dispelled as Utaeko’s gravelly raw female lyrics growl into action and a line stepping country bassline joins. Rolling her R’s almost like a European, her Japanese is about as country and rough as you can get without speaking Okinawa’s dialect. Every burr in her voice able to rip a new emotional response from the audience.

The bassist Tomohito was almost in a reverie, a stark contrast with the leading lady’s laser focus and intensity. But when he does wake, he pushed the guitar for pace in a rushing hoe-down. Saxophone and keyboard are also added as guests, adding a soothing and an elegant touch respectively. The saxophone is switched out for a flue, as the country sound is mixed with almost traditional Japanese vocals, with an instrumental jam following it in a wild flurry of flute notes. Proving not to be just a purveyor of country’s ever-present resilient sorrow, the duo mixed things up with a sense of wonder and contentment filling their last songs.