Stray Cats LIVE! @Las Vegas. The Island’s Wish, on a Flag.

The Flag in My Pocket

I didn’t even know whether I could bring the flag in at all. Not knowing, I walked into the venue.

It folds down small enough to fit in a pocket, and it isn’t anything dangerous like metal. Security check… passed!

My seat was front row, center. The band’s gear was right there in front of me. The opening act finished, and at last it was time for the Stray Cats. Excitement and a strange kind of nervousness were all mixed together.

Right in Front of Me, the Stray Cats

The intro music played, and the members walked on stage.

“An emotion that can’t be put into words” must mean exactly this. A joy I had never felt before, and tears welling up.

I met them when I was a child, and that was decades ago. The Stray Cats, my heroes all this time, were playing right in front of me. And so close, too.

But even in the middle of all that emotion, there was a mission sitting in the back of my mind. I had to raise the flag. But the moment I took it out, I might be thrown out. That fear mixed in with everything else, and I was in a state I couldn’t even explain to myself.

With my head in a jumble, seven or eight songs went by. A dreamlike time slipping past.

It’s time. I have to do it!

The Moment I Unfurled It

I unfolded the flag I’d been keeping on my seat.

Right away, a security staff member standing in front of the stage came over. My nerves hit MAX.

The staff member looked over the flag… and walked away.

It’s okay!

The members of the Stray Cats glanced our way now and then, too. I could tell for sure that they were looking at the flag. Please, let them feel what I mean by this!

But then, partway through, when my classmate and I held the flag together, a security staff member came over again, pointed, and warned us about something in English..

It’s over…

Once More, Little by Little

I put the flag away for the moment. So it really wasn’t allowed after all. Maybe the message itself was the problem. My feelings were so tangled that, even with the band right there, the music hardly reached me.

I don’t know how much time passed. Even while listening to the music, my head was running at full speed. If it was truly forbidden, I’d have been out the moment I first unfolded it.

Oh, I see. Maybe unfolding it together with my classmate meant “don’t use two seats.” Come to think of it, they had been pointing at the chairs.

Deciding that was it, I timidly tried unfolding it small first. By this point, the music was no longer reaching my heart at all.

Open it a little, close it. Open it a bit bigger, close it. I kept repeating that, and then I was back… it’s okay!

The Flag Left My Hands

If possible, please mention it in the MC, Brian! Even as I hoped for that, the encore passed in the blink of an eye, and at last the final song ended.

Wrapped in huge cheers and applause, the members lined up to greet the audience.

At that moment, another Japanese fan toward the right side of the front row handed Brian something like a souvenir.

“Mackie, you hand yours over too!!!”

My classmate’s voice came from next to me.

Carried by the moment, I held the flag out in front of me, and Brian reached out his hand. The flag was leaving my hands.

And then, up on the stage, Brian unfurled the flag for us.

Can a miracle like this really happen!

Nice Catch, and a Celebration Drink

A little aside: as I was leaving my seat after the show, a staff member on the stage took a pick from Brian’s mic stand and tossed it into the audience. I happened to be in just the right spot, reached out my hand… nice catch!

That night at the hotel, helped along by a celebration drink with my classmate, I sobbed my heart out. Thank you, God!

When I reported back to my friends waiting for news in Miyakojima, it spread across social media in no time.

I know this is a reckless challenge. Even so, a tiny, tiny first step toward bringing the Stray Cats to Miyakojima has been born. Now all I can do is move.