softball: an unofficial fan page

03/06/2004 - The Babys is Rie's and Haruna's new band. I was able to catch their first live show in Tokyo today down at Shinjuku Loft. The band consists of Rie on drums, Haruna on bass, and Shunsuke on guitar and (most) vocals. They played five or six songs, with most being sung by Shunsuke, though Haruna had a song of her own and Rie joins in on choruses.

01/21/2004 - SOFTBALL's Independent Film DVD has been released. It's a roughly 60 minute DVD with clips of various performances from their beginnings in the late 1998 to stuff from 2003. There are also some clips of them in the studio recording Tenkuu. Unlike their previous two DVDs, this one is actually available in stores (I got mine from Tower Records in Shibuya), such as amazon.co.jp.

01/04/2004 - Today, Einstein Records held a large New Year concert in Motoyawata, Chiba Prefecture. I wanted to go, but unfortunately I was enjoying myself far too much at my friend's place in Seattle. This concert marked two significant events in Einstein History: the first Einstein-sponsored live show of Orgel, a new Einstein Records band, and the first live show of Akiakane, Moe's new band. An interesting bit of trivia: this concert was held at Route 14 in Motoyawata, the site of SOFTBALL's very first live show back in May 1998.

12/08/2003 - After a few months of waiting, the LAST TOUR DVD has been released. This disc is a compilation of performances from each of the 10 concerts on the Hakkou Ichiu Tour. Sendai only gets one song, but you can see me briefly if you look over to the left. :) This disc was only available through their website.

08/2003 - This month, the DVD of SOFTBALL's final show together (04/02/2003 at Nagoya's Apollo Theater), entitled LAST LIVE, was released. I believe it's limited to only 500 copies, with 250 copies reserved for fan club members, and another 250 reserved for people who went to one of the shows on their final tour.

03/14/2003 - Today was the last concert of theirs that I'll ever see in Sendai. It was great, a perfect ending of an era. Unlike the last time in Sendai, they played Tokoshie ni, so I was happy. Check out the comments and pictures on the show at my LiveJournal (03/15/2003 entry) here.

03/07/2003 - SOFTBALL is breaking up. After approximately five years together, the band is calling it quits. No concrete reasons were given for the split, but after five years together and with some members about to graduate from college/university, maybe they just felt like they wanted to do something new. They mentioned on their home page that they hope everyone else will continue to carry on the torch that they held.

12/27/2002 - At the recent concerts, we received flyers for the upcoming album and tour promoting the album. Here are some pictures for those interested:

flyer promoting the album and tour (front)

flyer promoting the album and tour (back)

flyer promoting the Shibuya-AX date (rie's face rocks so much!)

12/26/2002 - Oh. My. God. Best Christmas present *ever*. Read the Livejournal entry about the events on that day here.

12/25/2002 - Well, here we are. I've been meaning to throw a site together based on one of Japan's best punk bands (and perhaps the best all-female punk band) for quite some time now. I finally got around to starting it now that my school in on it's winter vacation.

Softball consists of three Japanese girls, Moe, Rie, and Haruna from Chiba-ken. They're nice girls, and they think. As time goes on and they get older, I believe they're turning more political and beginning to speak out more on the issues they believe in.