Asia: Clapton Plugs In For ‘Layla’, ‘Trump On Show’ in Hong Kong, We The Fest Announces Artists

Eric Clapton played the first of five concerts at Tokyo’s legendary Nippon Budokan arena April 13, and among the 16 songs was an electric version of his hit “Layla,” which for the past decade or so he has been performing acoustically, usually while sitting down. 

As some in the local media pointed out, it may not have been serendipity that prodded Clapton to revive the more raucous version of one of his most famous songs. On April 1, the Japanese government unveiled the name of the next imperial era, which begins May 1 when the present emperor, Akihito, steps down and his son, Naruhito, ascends the Chrysanthemum Throne. 

The new era’s name will be Reiwa, which means something like “beautiful harmony,” but in any case Internet meme-makers have been having fun with the pronunciation of the word, which rhymes with “Layla,” and soundtracking videos of the unveiling ceremony with Clapton’s song, giving the era name a whole new meaning and goosing the song’s popularity for a new generation. 

Clapton himself hasn’t commented on the matter, but given his close relationship with Japan – the Budokan residence is the only extended run he’s announced so far this year – he surely must know about it.

A brand-new summer rock festival will take place July 26-28 at the Jisan Forest Resort in Gyeonggi Province, southwest of Seoul. It’s called the Jisan Rock Festival, which may confuse some South Koreans because there was already a festival called the Jisan Valley Rock Festival, which had been an annual event since 2009. However, that festival was effectively ended last year by entertainment company CJ ENM, which, according to the Korea Herald, “cited issues related to Korea’s entertainment industry.”

The organizers of the Jisan Rock Festival told the newspaper that they hope to “carry on the legacy of the original rock festival” and, in the process, “embrace other genres of music such as hip-hop and electronic dance music.”

So far, only South Korean acts have been announced for the inaugural blowout. International artists will be announced on May 3.

We The Fest, which is billed as “Southeast Asia’s #1 festival for music through to fashion, food and arts,” will take place at the Jiexpo Kemayoran in Jakarta, Indonesia, the weekend of July 19-21. 

On April 10, the festival organizers announced a new batch of artists, including Troye Sivan, Anne-Marie, Cashmere Cat, Jai Wolf and Joji. Already on the roster are Rae Sremmurd, Alvvays, Cigarettes After Sex, Jess Connelly, Daniel Caesar and a slew of Asian artists.

During the second weekend of April, Donald Trump held court at a theater in Hong Kong, or, at least, his Chinese double did. Playwright Li Kui-Ming created a Cantonese opera called “Trump on Show,” a fantasy about the 45th president meeting the late Chinese Communist leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou En-lai. The opera also features North Korean leader Kin Jong-un, who visits Trump in the United States. 

The opera is billed as a comedy, and reimagines Trump’s personal life, which includes a twin brother who happens to live in China. At the beginning of the three-hour play, the Trump family moves into the White House and Ivanka finds an old suitcase that contains an English version of Mao’s famous Little Red Book, which explained his ideas on class struggle and the modern communist state. The discovery leads to all sorts of adventures. 

Li told the Associated Press that the piece is not designed to comment seriously on political matters, but rather, in the tradition of Chinese opera, uses current affairs to draw an audience. He hopes that one day “Trump on Show,” which is in Cantonese but also contains some English, can be performed at the White House, or even in Pyongyang. 

The actor who plays Trump, Loong Koon-tin, said, “I will certainly portray Trump’s special characteristics. I will wear a red tie and suit, with a blond hair wig and golden eyebrows. Apart from the appearance, I will also imitate the way he talks as well as his body language.”

One person who bought tickets for the opera said before the performance, “With the recent tense relationship between China and America due to the trade war, I want to watch this show and see how the playwright depicts Donald Trump, and hope the show will bring on new ideas to improve the U.S.-China relationship.”

On April 15, activists and members of the Japan PEN Club held a news conference in Tokyo to announce that an online petition calling for Sony Music Labels to lift a ban on sales of recordings of the Japanese techno duo Denki Groove. On March 12, one member of the group, Pierre Taki, was arrested on suspicion of cocaine use at his apartment in Tokyo.

Taki was released on bail April 3, but a day later, Sony Music Labels halted all sales of Denki Groove CDs, DVDs and other merchandise. Other companies also stopped selling products that featured Taki in some capacity. In addition, Denki Groove’s headlining performance at this summer’s Fuji Rock Festival was cancelled. However, Taki’s partner in the group, Takkyu Ishino, will perform there as a solo artist.

As of April 10, the petition had garnered more than 64,000 signatures from people in 79 countries, according to the Sankei Shimbun newspaper. The group that held the news conference told reporters that it was not Sony’s place to police what people could listen to.