Morinaga Akimi plays a variety of musical genres

There’s a lot on the line for Rookie A Go-Go performers, potentially the necessary exposure to land a record deal or even better yet a slot on one of the smaller festival stages next year. To decide who was merely good and those that were outstanding is a democratic process via the voting box off to the side of the stage.

Morinaga Akimi and his band were such challengers. Musically, he hedges his bet by playing a variety of popular musical genres, unlike other Rookie performers who tend to power pop and punk. From his website, he is a self-proclaimed “Latin-American-pop-singer-songwriter” who absorbs various genres of music such as Bossa Nova, reggae, Japanese New Music (70~80s Pops), idol, and adult contemporary.

It’s truly a broad spectrum but if you are a competent guitarist who has a thorough understanding of music, performing boundary crossing songs is possible. On a rainy Saturday night, much of the crowd might have preferred to be indoors, and indeed, only the hardcore were out for this performance. Who could blame them as the only shelter from the storm was onstage with the many members of the Il Paradiso providing a wonderful backing for Morinaga Akimi. We hope better weather next time will make his performance more enjoyable as he is truly deserving of yet another chance to win over newcomers to his music.