Music is great. Everyone loves a good band. And great songs are, well, great. But sometimes what you really need isn’t just music, but a good show. Fortunately Shibusashirazu is there to give you both.

The legendary troupe founded in 1988 by Daisuke Fuwa started their set as strong as any group could ever hope to- with an epic, anthemic jam accompanied by Day-Glo orange dancers twirling bananas and…. a giant puppet wailing on the saxophone. Almost every band in the world would foam at the mouth merely at the thought of closing a set like this. Shibusashirazu opens with it.

Without letting the tension drop, they moved into another huge jam, this one supported by a head to toe white painted ballerina butoh dancer. But to leave the things to see to the side for a moment, there are also things to hear.

The thing that really makes Shibusashirazu work is the fact that the band doesn’t even need these theatrics to be amazing. Conductor at the front, cigarette dangling from his lips, orchestrating a group of impeccable musicians as they blended free jazz, no wave noise, funk grooves, shredding guitar solos, in short expertly done kitchen sink genre madness.

About fifteen minutes into the set a very special guest joined the madness- Makigami Koichi, lead singer of none other than legendary band Hikashu, who threw down some crazy caveman scat. My goodness, match made in heaven right here. He stayed on throughout the set to play the world’s smallest trumpet.

They assured us mid set that, 30 years into their career, they are still doing it how they want it done. They slept in tents last night too. They too suffered through the rain. As wild as they may be, we are part of the same family.

Toward the end of the set the band offered up their mellowest fare, still epic and driven by wailing guitar, but less frenetic and accompanied by what appeared to be a dancing god of death in a lovely dress. All supported by Makigami’s vocal approximation of a theramin.

Things finally ended with another slightly somber song, which saw all the cast of characters reassemble on stage, our butoh friend now painted chrome silver. The music swelled, the vibes crescendoed and went wild. At the end of it all it truly felt like we were all cast members in Shibusashirazu’s grand performance.

If everything up until this point has sounded like the ravings of a mad person you obviously haven’t seen Shibusashirazu before. I assure you this has been a blow by blow account. Unless I, too, have lost my mind.