The Captains Invade America

The Captains are Japan’s best kept secret. This neo-60’s garage band has a large school girl following in their native land but is unknown in America. Apparently, they pattern themselves after an actual vintage band, the Spiders, who starred in “Go Forward,” a Japanese version of Hard Day’s Night/Monkees show paradigm of 1967. This crazy film was shown before the performance. The Captains played to a small, enthusiastic crowd of aged hipsters and girls and the International House setting added to the school-afternoon atmosphere. The ancient hipster part of me certainly enjoyed the surf sound, but the rest of me, the little girl, enjoyed the romance in the performance which was part Monkees, part Kiddie show. The rumous about people fainting at their concerts seemed to be more than hype but it is the singer who faints. If I’d been a Japanese school girl I would’ve passed out several times myself especially when the leader walks about in the crowd with a rose and proposes to unsuspecting fans. He must be the most beautiful man alive. At first, I thought he might be a woman, then I noticed the adams apple. Hearts were aflutter.