Bloomington band reunites for own 20th anniversary

Joining in on Lotus Festival’s 20th anniversary celebration was Bloomington-based band, Japonize Elephants. Though they’ve since split up, on Saturday Japonize Elephants came back together to celebrate their own start 20 years ago as well.

“It’s been 20 years, and it’s great to be back,” the band’s violinist Megan Gould said. “Now we live in all different parts of the country, and it’s exciting to get to play together again.”

The band itself has eight main artists, including vocalists, a saxophonist, a violinist, a banjo player and percussionists.

Their show for Lotus kicked off at the Bluebird Nightclub at 8:45 p.m. Saturday evening.

Hondo, a radio disc-jockey from 91.3 FM Bloomington Community Radio, opened the show by reading a newspaper review about Japonize Elephants, which included the description “wild, Appalachia-by-way-of-the-Middle East hyper-speed gypsy caravan” from the record label Secretly Canadian.

Hondo welcomed the Elephants back to Bloomington while they stood behind him, backs to the audience and instruments by their sides.

“It’s homecoming, y’all,” Hondo said.

Then, in a moment of sudden noise, the Elephants began to play.

The attendees of the show ranged in age and dedication. One woman in a red-sequin jumpsuit pushed her way to the front at the beginning of the set while some older fans covered their ears.

Out of all the attendees, one group of people, hugging, stood out among the others.

Meredith Richmond was one of these people. She said she sees this group of friends once a year at Lotus Fest.

Richmond and her husband work for a private production company in Battle Ground, Ind., and she said seeing local groups perform is both part of her job and also something she greatly enjoys.

She said she was drawn to Japonize Elephants because of their local connection, but she was also drawn to the Bluebird.

“I had my first date at the Bluebird with my husband in ’74,” Richmond said as she waved to him across the room. “Sometimes we come here and see bands we want, but honestly, we just love Bloomington.”

Follow reporter Janica Kaneshiro on Twitter @janicakaneshiro.