With Deep Sadness...

November 6, 2005 1:46 PM

Mana "China" Nishiura, drummer for Shonen Knife & DMBQ, died on Friday afternoon. "It is with a deep sadness in my heart, that I must announce the passing of Mana "China" Nishiura. She was tragically killed in a three-vehicle accident near the Delaware Memorial Bridge yesterday (November 4) shortly before 1 p.m., after the Econoline van carrying her band, DMBQ, had crossed the bridge from New Jersey near Carneys Point in Salem County. A Mitsubishi Eclipse clipped the van's left rear fender. The van spun out of control, and careened over a barrier on the ramp to Route 40. Mana was ejected from the van and she died at the scene." A bit more about Shonen Knife.
posted by jenleigh (48 comments total)

Damn. I loved Shonen Knife.

*cranks up Twist Barbie*
posted by jonmc at 1:54 PM on November 6, 2005

Damn is right. I just DMBQ last weekend and they were pretty fuckin' awesome. It was nice to see the spirit of Blue Cheer living on in Japan.

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posted by NoMich at 1:59 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by FormlessOne at 2:08 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by blastrid at 2:08 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by Smart Dalek at 2:13 PM on November 6, 2005

I've got both the American and Japanese editions of "Let's Knife."

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posted by Faint of Butt at 2:21 PM on November 6, 2005

Hey, Blue Cheer just played Golden Gate park last weekend. Thanks, I never noticed that bit of musical taxonomy before now.
posted by telstar at 2:22 PM on November 6, 2005

Hmmm, dot didn't post. Try again:

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posted by telstar at 2:23 PM on November 6, 2005

sad and all but Nishiura joined the band relatively recently, after Nakatani left.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 2:36 PM on November 6, 2005

Driving over that bridge has always freaked me out a little as it is.
posted by sixdifferentways at 2:39 PM on November 6, 2005

I guess Mana shoulda been wearing her seatbelt. Then she, too, would probably be treated for non-life-threatening, but serious, injuries, instead of just plain dead.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:44 PM on November 6, 2005

fff: this vs. this
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 2:56 PM on November 6, 2005

AARRRGH!!

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posted by stokast at 3:06 PM on November 6, 2005

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Love Shonen Knife. Damn.
posted by Kickstart70 at 3:12 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by sciurus at 3:45 PM on November 6, 2005

Another Shonen Knife fan here. This comes as a shock, to say the least.

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posted by May Kasahara at 3:54 PM on November 6, 2005

[heywood: law or no law, it was a terminally stupid personal decision.]
posted by five fresh fish at 4:00 PM on November 6, 2005

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(Though expecting a drummer to wear a seatbelt seems somewhat "undrummerlike")
posted by R. Mutt at 4:08 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by Suck Poppet at 4:09 PM on November 6, 2005

GOD DAMN IT. I hate cars sometimes. Fucking senseless way to crawl around on the planet.

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posted by loquacious at 4:16 PM on November 6, 2005

fff: did you read the 2nd link?

loquacious: cars are pretty good if you're in a band driving to a gig, tho.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 4:20 PM on November 6, 2005

fff: did you read the 2nd *link*?

Hmm, another one of those links that keeps trying to load microsoft office.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:37 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by mert at 4:47 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by Rothko at 4:48 PM on November 6, 2005

Bummer.
posted by mmahaffie at 5:34 PM on November 6, 2005

Damn, that sucks. I love Shonen Knife - and I know exactly where that happened; coming off that bridge is terrifying, always has been. What a shame.

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posted by mygothlaundry at 5:45 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by VulcanMike at 6:26 PM on November 6, 2005

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posted by Colloquial Collision at 6:34 PM on November 6, 2005

Recent addition to Shonen Knife or not, this makes me sad. I love Shonen Knife.

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posted by HSWilson at 6:41 PM on November 6, 2005

I know exactly where that happened; coming off that bridge is terrifying, always has been.

I've been there too ... one scary ass bridge.
posted by R. Mutt at 6:57 PM on November 6, 2005

"I guess Mana shoulda been wearing her seatbelt. Then she, too, would probably be treated for non-life-threatening, but serious, injuries, instead of just plain dead."




Sensitivity isn't one of your stong suits, is it?
posted by bat at 7:21 PM on November 6, 2005

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Shonen Knife was great, and she was fantastic the last time DMBQ played out here. In their closing number of the evening, they had stacked all the drum gear in the center of the stage like impromptu sculpture while she gleefully crowd-surfed with her sticks and a couple of odd pieces of the kit. Though I'm describing it poorly, it was a total rawk 'n' roll moment.

They were supposed to play the same venue on Friday, actually.
posted by safetyfork at 7:26 PM on November 6, 2005

No but reality is scary isn't it?
posted by evilelvis at 7:27 PM on November 6, 2005

There are a few good DMBQ photos from that show at the top of this sucka pants page.
posted by safetyfork at 7:43 PM on November 6, 2005

bat: roughly 40000/365 people died in car accidents today.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:55 PM on November 6, 2005

Ejection deaths are usually very gruesome.
posted by puke & cry at 8:03 PM on November 6, 2005 [1 favorite]

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posted by dhartung at 11:23 PM on November 6, 2005

Well, that fucking sucks. Dot and all that.

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posted by goofyfoot at 11:30 PM on November 6, 2005

Heywood: That's awesome. He died the same way he lived: flagrantly disobeying seatbelt laws. The best part of that article is how everyone talks about how smart he was. Clearly he wasn't THAT smart.
posted by antifuse at 1:30 AM on November 7, 2005

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posted by Snyder at 5:58 AM on November 7, 2005

crap
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posted by space2k at 6:22 AM on November 7, 2005

Man, I was down in the basement and tossed on an old mixtape (labelled "Shazam!") and Twist Barbie was how I started out side B. I was just wondering what had happened to them...
posted by klangklangston at 6:37 AM on November 7, 2005

What's with the . posts? Is that the metafilter equivalent to pouring some malt liquor out of your 40, so China can have some?
posted by illovich at 7:02 AM on November 7, 2005

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Absolutely love Shonen Knife. Big time bummer.
posted by ed at 7:21 AM on November 7, 2005

Its tragically ironic that it was a Mitsubishi that caused the accident.
posted by Atreides at 7:49 AM on November 7, 2005

fuck.
posted by plexiwatt at 9:24 AM on November 7, 2005

What's with the . posts? Is that the metafilter equivalent to pouring some malt liquor out of your 40, so China can have some?

Exactly, and always kinda lame, imo. Make a comment or move on. Dots are hardly a sign of respect. My2c.
posted by mrgrimm at 12:08 PM on November 7, 2005

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posted by five fresh fish at 12:40 PM on November 7, 2005