Nature’s Neighbor Live @ Blackie COFFEE & BAR 京都府亀岡市 (令和7年7月19日)

Mike Walker from Nature's Neighbor performs a live set at Blackie COFFEE & BAR in Kameoka, Kyoto on July 19th, 2025.

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This is not the best show I've ever played. It isn't the most well recorded or professionally filmed live show up on this channel either. I edited this footage together from 3 iPhones.

The iPhone tripod I set up in the back of the cafe for the wide angle seemed great when I looked through the screen, but little did I know that I lined the shot up in such a way that a hanging lamp would completely obscure my face. When I checked the footage I was very disappointed, even though the closeup iPhone footage was just fine, I thought I wouldn't be able to edit together a video worth uploading... that is until my partner told me that she filmed the whole thing on her iPhone 11. That saved it.

It's funny seeing the footage switching from 4K footage from my iPhone 15 to her grainy iPhone 11 footage, but you know what, I actually think it works. Documenting the few live shows I play in Japan is extremely important to me. I know that these types of videos are not the ones that "do well" on this channel, but they're actually my favorite videos because they show me in my rawest most vulnerable form.

Although I've been performing in front of live audiences both large and small since the age of 12, I still get very nervous when I play these small intimate shows and you can definitely see it in my demeanor especially during the first three songs. But after about 15 minutes I start to relax and my singing becomes way more natural and free. That's how most of my performances are. They start out rough and usually get better after the first few songs go by.

This channel is about documenting and archiving my experiences as a musician. I don't dress things up and I don't fake it. What you see is what you get. And this performance, although I was performing at about 75% of my potential abilities, will still becomes a precious memory, and that's why it's going up on my channel, warts and all.

At a good gig I'm great, but at other times I'm just alright. And if I was younger I'd be very angry with myself for not playing at full capacity every time. But as I get older, I'm starting to learn to accept it all as part of the same picture.

1.) 嵐の前の静けさ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ 0:56 ]
2.) Michael & The Whale - - - - - - - - - - - - -[ 3:42 ]
3.) 園部 (Sonobe) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ 8:00 ]
4.) Worst Storm Since 69 - - - - - - - - - - - -[ 14:27 ]
5.) Ponyboy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[ 17:37 ]
6.) Time Traveler’s Folk Blues - - - - - - - - [ 21:58 ]
7.) Lluvia - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ 26:00 ]
8.) January Again - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [ 30:26 ]
9.) Instant Friends - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[ 37:19 ]

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► Apple Music:   / natures-neighbor  

► Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/73nzq...

► Bandcamp: https://naturesneighbor.bandcamp.com/

► Instagram:   / naturesneighbor  

► Nature's Neighbor Webpage: https://www.naturesneighbormusic.com/

► Record Label: https://www.pigeoninfirmaryrecords.com/