Hello, the final show of the tour is coming up fast and I just want to make sure that you get your free ticket to the live stream this Friday if you want one.
SO please check out https://www.maestro.tv/shaodowmusic and if you'd like your free ticket, send an email to [email protected] before the end of today so that we're able to send you your free entry code with enough time before the show.
Make sure to use the email address that you used to supported the Genki Dama with.
Thanks again for helping make this all possible. I'm so incredibly happy with how this tour has turned out.
Hopefully you can be there to celebrate with us on Friday.
I'm currently in the tour car, we're driving from Tokyo to Hamamatsu for the first show of the tour.
It's been pretty crazy so far, I landed in from the flight on Wednesday and went straight into rehearsals with the band.
We all gelled extremely well over our love for Japanese culture and anime, the Bass player Bubby Lewis has played on tour with Snoop Dogg, Stevie Wonder and Jhene Aiko. The drummer Yuna is from a super popular band called Chai and is on the same label as Creepy Nuts PLUS played drums for one of the Jujutsu Kaisen ending songs and the guitarist Karas is THE guy to know in the Japanese music scene and is an INCREDIBLE guitar player.
So overall, I'm amongst some absolute legends.
But now, onto business!
We promised you a live streamed show and now we're able to officially announce and deliver.
We will be livestreaming the final date of the Genki Dama Tour on Friday 14th June live from Tokyo.
There'll be some special guest performers and the official Anime and Chill Afterparty, so it's going to be a VERY special event.
The livestream will begin from 6:15pm (Japan Standard Time) at https://www.maestro.tv/ShaoDowMusic
You will of course be given a FREE ticket to this event as a thank you for helping to make this tour possible.
Please check what time it'll be in your country in order to ensure you can attend and if you would like to claim your free ticket, respond to this post or email [email protected] and we will get a free entry code over to you.
Please make sure to respond by Wednesday 12th June in order to ensure that we have enough time to sort everything out in advance.
So that's it. I look forward to seeing you in the chat, celebrating this event with us and enjoying some fantastic music live from Tokyo.
A totally independent tour in Japan.
wow.
Thank you again. I couldn't have done this without you.
I had a few sleepless nights, put together close to 100 packs of merch and the post office probably got sick of me, but I'm VERY proud to say that all of your rewards have now been sent out!
(and I didn't miss my flight)
For UK people they should be with you by the end of the week. International people, it make take up to 2 weeks.
If nothing has arrived by then, please let me know so that I can try to look into it for you.
I'm currently sitting on the flight to Japan, my wife and son are asleep next to me. We're may be 6 hours away from our destination.
I'm only now getting the opportunity to reflect on what's actually happening here.
I'm about to go on tour in Japan!!
And YOU made that possible for me.
A dream that I've held for 10 years, may be more.
You supported it and made it a reality.
Thank you.
The merch reward you have coming is just a small way of showing my appreciation.
Actually! Before I forget. A couple things.
- If you want to follow along with the tour adventures in (close to) real time. Please follow me on Instagram, Tiktok or Twitter (@shaodowmusic)
- We ran out of sticker sheets, so not everyone was able to get one. I'm sorry. I included an extra wristband for you if I wasn't able to send stickers. I hope that's OK.
- Also, at the last minute I decided to not go forward with the Genki Dama Tour branded boxes and opted for plain ones. I'm less sorry about this though. I have a strong suspicion that sending a bunch of boxes with the words Spirit BOMB on them (especially internationally) would've been a recipe for disaster!
Ha!
So! The tour begins on the 7th in Hamamatsu. Before that though, we'll be announcing details for the live streamed show direct from Tokyo on the 14th.
As a backer you will of course get a free ticket to this. Everyone else will have to buy one if they want to see the show.
Thank you again, enjoy your merch. Let me know what you think, please send pictures and hopefully I'll see you in the chat celebrating with me for the Tokyo show.
I'm leaving for Japan on Tuesday and I'm beyond excited to start this new adventure, thanks in no small part to all of you.
I plan to begin packing up the tour merch and reward boxes for you all tomorrow and will be making A LOT of trips to the post office on Monday in order to send them.
Could you please TRIPLE and then QUADRUPLE check your address details are correct before Monday as I want to ensure your reward gets to you with no issue.
Lastly, there's 11 people who haven't filled out their address details yet. I don't want to air out your names in public. But if you're one of them, please look out for an email from me shortly, I'll help guide you through the process to get it sorted.
Anyway, thank you again for helping make this all possible.
Things are moving fast for the Genki Dama Japan Tour!
MERCH!
Almost all of the merch has arrived with Shao Dow and we are on schedule to get you everything you pledged for in May!
Which means this weekend we are "locking" pledges, which is the final chance for you to change your shipping address if needed. You will receive an email about it.
As we continue to push forward on SK Labs and wrap up the StarKid Returns rewards, we're also launching a new crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter this Saturday, April 6th, 2024. This time we'll be raising funds for a fantasy-filled musical adventure...
StarKid invites you on a journey to The Lands That Are for our latest stage production, CINDERELLA’S CASTLE! This grim retelling of the classic fairy tale is filled with humor, puppetry, and an electrifying musical score by Jeff Blim. We've put together an amazing cast and crew that we're excited to reveal over the coming weeks, so be sure to check out the new campaign to learn more.
Below is a sneak peek at what's in store... the full Kickstarter trailer will launch on April 6th, along with the campaign! Follow our Pre-Launch Kickstarter Page HERE to help us build the hype and stay notified about updates on the show!
Follow the campaign for:
Exclusive Previews: Dive into the depths of the production, from peeks at the musical score, to cast reveals, to glimpses at this new fantasy world we'll all create together.
Backer-Exclusive Perks: We're lining up special rewards to celebrate your support, including new apparel, exclusive digital backstage content, and more!
Join the Story: Our journey would not be complete without all of you. Your contribution helped make our StarKid Returns campaign a success, and we'd love to have your support in creating the magical realm of Cinderella's Castle.
Your tour merch is on its way! Shao will be receiving everything in April and will be sending everything to you all in May before the tour!
Here's some pics, and we'll keep you updated as we progress.
Handsome flag, handsome guy
The new manga is almost finished!
What a fine looking cup!
IT'S ALL HAPPENING AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO YOU!
We're super excited about the GenkiDama Tour and we hope you are too. See you again in April with an update on merch reaching Shao, and the completion of the manga.
Since the STARKID RETURNS campaign ended in October of 2022, we've toured with the JANGLE BALL, produced NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE (and released the show on YouTube). We've shipped physical rewards and signed scripts, but we're not through yet!
Last weekend, on Saturday March 16th, we hosted our STARKID REACTS Livestream for SK Returns backers who contributed $25 or more. If you missed the stream (where SK cast & crew members re-watched our latest musical NERDY PRUDES MUST DIE), you can still catch the unlisted video on YouTube. Be sure to check your email for the STARKID REACTS messages, containing the link to the stream.
And speaking of emails, we've already started scheduling our $1,000 tier STARKID RESPONDS video chats. So if you're one of the 24 backers who we'll be having an hour-long Zoom conversation with, please make sure to look out for messages from us about planning those hang-outs. We had our first round of video chats today, and they were tons of fun!
As far as rewards go, that just leaves the STARKID RECORDS Personalized Songs! We're pleased to report that those are being worked on right now and should go out within the next few months.
WHICH BRINGS US TO THE SK RETURNS PROJECTS THAT ARE IN CURRENT DEVELOPMENT. Namely, STARKID LABS...
While the three SKLabs projects are all in various stages of pre/production, we're looking to have all of them completed within the next year. In fact, here are some brief updates from the three SKLab teams: First off, the forces behind SISSY had this to say: "The script for Sissy is in active development, with Tammy and Corey L. setting some deadlines for different stages of the script and production. We’re aiming to mount the reading in summer of 2024." Next, Lauren Lopez, the creator of THIS TITLE IS PERMANENT! teased a winter '24/'25 release with the following statement: "Ok you ABSOLUTE FREAKS™️! This Title is Permanent will be premiering in the winter, which should give everyone ample time to watch Divas Live 1999 (in full!) before listening." And the producers of SPACE BABY (currently targeting a fall 2024 release) sent this transmission: "Ahoy there, Interstellar travelers! We’ve been hard at work bringing our new anthology series, Space Baby, to life! You might ask… what IS Space Baby?!
Space Baby was conceived as a safe space for artists to bring to life their wildest, most WTF ideas. This cosmic variety show will feature the work of a diverse array of creators and digital mediums seen through the eyes of our titular tot as he sets out to discover the origins of life itself. Participants are given a prompt, a budget, and (most importantly) permission to get weird. Don't overthink it. At its core, Space Baby is an experiment in creativity, comedy, and play.
So where’s the show?!
Starting back in early 2023, we began the process of finding someone to bring our titular tot to life in puppet form! After meeting with several different puppeteers, we found an amazing artist based in the Washington DC area who agreed to take on the challenge within our limited budget. Turns out, making a puppet takes a long time! Over the summer and into fall, as we awaited the arrival of our heroic space child, we met with a variety of artists as we assembled the creative team for this first episode. Then, in late November of last year, Space Baby was done and sent to us! Now in 2024, the time has finally come to begin production. The creative team is assembled, our intergalactic infant is in our hands and we are SO excited to show you all what we’ve been working on. It’s gonna get weird!
The creative team (so far) includes: Jaime Lyn Beatty (co-creator) Curt Mega (co-creator) James Tolbert (writer and director) Matt Dahan (original music) Angela Parrish (original music) Leigh Lahav (animation) Sinead Persaud (writer and director) Kim Whalen (producer and actor) Amy Plouff (original props) Nick Gage (theme song) And more!!!
Be on the lookout for an official trailer dropping later with a target release date of late summer / early fall! Thank you for helping us bring new stories to life!
Sincerely, Jaime, Curt, and the Space Baby Team"
In fact, you can watch a teaser for SPACE BABY right here!
In addition to the SKLab projects themselves, we'll also be producing the SKLABUMENTARY (a short documentary detailing the process of bringing these experimental endeavors to life). That featurette should be coming out in late 2024/early 2025 as well, so stay tuned for more updates!
In the meantime, THANK YOU again for supporting the STARKID RETURNS BackerKit campaign. We so appreciate your involvement and your patience. We hope you've enjoyed all the projects that have been released thus far, and we can't wait to show you the rest of them!
Gratefully yours, Nick Lang StarKid Productions
PS. We've got one more treat for you! A special peek backstage at the STARKID JANGLE BALL in your first POV VIP TOUR (the NERDY PRUDES backstage tour will be coming soon)! Enjoy!!!
