The Heart-Pounding Rhythms Of Mugenkyo

People never fail to fascinate, non more so than the founders of the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers: namely Neil Mackie and Miyuki Williams.

More than 30 years ago Neil, at least, was in Japan, heard about Taiko drumming, fell in love with the North Eastern Asian rhythms and set about learning his craft.

Three decades later, he and Miyuki still front what is probably Europe’s premier Taiko drumming group.

And, last night, for the first time in almost five years, Covid was gone and they were back to thrill the audience of Bradford St George’s Hall with their heart-pounding performance.

Little did I know that West Yorkshire is a hotbed for Taiko drumming and diehard fans were out in strength to cheer on Mugenkyo – meaning Limitless Reverberation – and its eight members who made a heavy aerobic workout look like a walk in the park!

This was the group’s 30th anniversary, hence the tour name - Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers: In Time - 30th Anniversary Tour – and it was great to see such a visual performance full of big beats, enthusiasm and precision, yes, precision.

Taiko drumming is a bit like a line up of Irish dancers: when everyone has to do the same thing – in this case accurate drum beats and stage choreography – the heat is on because, one slip and everyone notices!

There wasn’t one and, considering that the Mugenkyo line up has probably changed a number of times over three decades, last night’s seamless performance is testimony to three things: commitment, rehearsal and, most probably, brilliant recruitment!

As Europe’s longest-established taiko group, Mugenkyo is widely recognised as the groundbreaking pioneer of this exciting art-form, thrilling audiences at thousands of performances worldwide.

At first I wondered how a ‘drum’ show would hold an audience for two hours but I needn’t have worried. Theatrical, dynamic and atmospheric, the show kept everyone spellbound and, for novelty value alone, is worth a ticket. How often do you get to hear this type of drumming other than in Japan or Disney’s Epcot?

Probably never!

Ladies perspire, never sweat goes the saying. However, that would be insulting the ladies on stage who had arms of steel and lungs of an average pearl diver and, boy, they didn’t arf perspire after two hours of drumming!

Mugenkyo push the boundaries of the art-form with their genre-crossing collaborations: with violin, piano & voice for the BBC World Showcase, with fiddle, tabla & Indian dance for the Edinburgh Mela Festival, with Scottish bagpipes for BBC Scotland, and with electronic music at Glastonbury.

They’ve offered inspiration to Robert DeNiro and Hollywood, given a helping hand to Bollywood, done a 26-date run at Adelaide in Australia and even drummed in Dubai at the World Expo.

Last night it was beats in Bradford and Mugenkyo deserved every bit of the applause and standing ovation they got. A very different and culturally rewarding night.

Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers: In Time - 30th Anniversary Tour
St George’s Hall, Bradford
More About Mugenkyo: www.taiko.co.uk