Week before the tour snippets:
-" Sugao ...choko?"
- Peter hosted the whole of Japan with a rare aplomb.
- The Tokyo Jupiter family and associates had a day of sightseeing that hit such locales as Harajuku, Yoyogi Park, Asakasa, Shibuya, and Omotesando
- We kept in practice with the help of an open mic in Shibuya.
- Designer T-Shirts can cost triple digits.
Day 1
Kofu
Bodega:
We took a train to Kofu and bore witness to the beautiful Japanese countryside. We met Kimi at Otsuki station and drove to the venue, Bodega. We were greeted with a wonderful salad, as well as our tour mates Birth and Black Heart Rebellion. It was learned that sound checks are an important part of japanese live music. Jesse and Dylan showed up fashionably late with a man named Einnar. This man seemed to have had enough of Japan. Afterwards, we went to an izakaya and partied until one person passed out, then took group pictures. We slept in a huge room and got naked in varying degrees at a hot spring.
Bands:
Clean of Core - Nice synth DUEL music. Theorem - Wonderful sound and wonderful people who help you to sleep in a unique fashion. Ovum - Meticulous instrumental music.
Day 2
Yokahama
Orange County Brothers:
This Show was many floors above the street. It had no elevator. That's okay, because equipment is provided at the venues. The laconic bartender caught our interest. The bands held a pre-show meeting where we became one. Later, we liked the note they handed out. Despite the sad fact Birth was not able to be with us here, this show had a nice feeling and the crowd was going off.
Bands:
Because Of This Happening - A great start to a great show. Myasma - Intense music.
Weave - A delightful sing-screaming group.
Day 3
Kichijoji
Warp:
The night before, Bob blushed an SK5. This venue was anticipated because a man sang a song about Kichijoji at the open mic we attended previously. It was nice and the turn out was ridiculous. We got to interview our translator (who did a good deal of other helpful things as well), Miwa. Some men from America attended. We met, and later became friends with, bomber. We were informed all of our sports dreams came true that night. Heaven In Her Arms supplied some much needed pizza at the party. The price difference for pizza would shock you. Peter said this was due to the poor availability of the correct cheeses. It was confirmed at this after-show that everyone is involved in kompai. WE MET WITH MATSU!
Bands:
Cohol - Dark speed metal. Sora - Anticipated and lived up to expectations. Heaven In Her Arms -Their live show had the best close we had seen in a very long time.
Day 4
Gunma
Sunburst:
This place had good graffiti. They had the second best balcony of the tour. We made songs about how Ian had changed with an acoustic guitar we found. The live music area seemed far removed from all the other places in the venue on a physical, aesthetic and intellectual level. Birth rejoined the fold! On a tour with a great amount of amazing food offerings, this had one of the best. It had mushroom soup, a nice soba dish, tofu, salad, peanut butter & jelly with pre-cooked texas toast, some other nice noodle dish along with around twelve other things. We paid for endless drinks and didn't know they were endless.
Bands:
S-explode - set themselves apart from what anyone else is doing in Japan, in a good way. Ricolt - Precise and determined. Great hosts, great show closers.
Day 5
Yamagata
Dai-ni Kouenn Studio:
At this venue, we were wrapped in something akin to tatami mats, walls to ground. When entering, one had to traverse a labyrinth. This show had a laid back feeling to it. The crowd had their own distinct style. It was raining in a cold fashion for most of the night.
Bands:
Nameme - Nearly naked, nice chords.
Day 6
Koriyama
Peak Action:
We slept at a hotel that was converted from a farmhouse. It was in a sleepy, beautiful little town that had shrines and temples dotted throughout the nearby forest. They gave us a perfect breakfast beside some well placed beans and chillies. We took a promotional photo for the lady who ran the new bed and breakfast. She supposedly put it up on her internet site. Later, city shopping was kind to us.
The venue housed one of the best shows we have ever had. Delicious rice balls were provided. The crowd went buck wild. Everyone, including us, went completely bat-shit. The show wouldn't stop, both in time length and energy level. Koriyama felt like the Japanese Melbourne.
Bands:
Minority Influence - Some of the coolest people we met on a tour full of really cool people. Also, intense music! Shaft - Old school going crazy. Repeat - Nice synth goodness. Scena - Instrumental build up Sui - HOLY SHIT! In the best way possible!
Day 7
Okayama
Crazymamma 2nd Room:
This venue was perched about six stories above the street. They had a balcony that overlooked part of the city. We talked of hip hop with Ruben as the sun went down and later hung out on the rooftop briefly, thanks to Ian. Green Sheep joined us at this point! At McDonalds, they sat us down when we tried to order food. They then ignored us for some while. We went to the counter one at a time and then they served us as if they have never seen us before. After the show, we slept in the stage room of this venue.
Bands:
Green Sheep - Extremely considerate and rather talented. Sound.Ring.Reverberate - Nice cinematic instrumental. Circle Flex vs Makoto Takashi Takeda- Two men played drums on the floor while a lead singer yelled and another got drunk and danced into people. Shuly To 104kz - Nice looped guitar as a man spoke passionately atop it.
Day 8
Kobe
Blueport:
The city layout was unique. It could have been that particular night, but Kobe seemed to be the LGBT capital of Japan. Weird stories seemed to be happening in all the winding side streets. TOMO WAS MET! He and Ian had a good talk and great present exchange. It should be noted that, throughout the tour, our drivers were extremely safe and conscientious. Also, rest stops are much more serious in Japan. Overall, the venue had the best posters of the tour. Our place of rest for the night was a Japanese squat.
Bands:
Dam - Intense music with neat, long pauses. Garageland - Fun old style punk. Arbus - An interesting mix of hardcore, jazz, and non-dissonant mathcore.
Day 9
Kyoto
Ritsumeikan University:
This was a festival. Some of us had just found out as we walked into the venue. We met Lamar from San Francisco and hung out with him for a bit. Later, we found out his band, P.S. Burn This Letter, consisted of some of the number of an old favorite of ours, Gauge Means Nothing. Random acapella could be heard throughout the halls. We really enjoyed this show and the look into japanese university life.
Bands:
There was a great amount (20+) of quality on those two stages, some of which we witnessed.
Day 10
Shinjuku
Nine Spices:
Here a change of plans occured. We were told we could have a ride to the airport, but we would need all of our luggage. Half of our number had to retrieve ours from Peter's house, which, by train, was quite some way As we haggardly walked back up the sidewalk toward the venue after our sojourn, we were informed it was time to play. We put down our suitcases and walked on stage. It was pretty fun! This show was the other best show on the tour. There was an afterparty for the afterparty like R. Kelly talks about. The band Crever were super cool and made the 2nd afterparty a smash hit! Nick learned lewd things to say in Japanese thanks to Yashi, HTSG. and Kouta. We drove to the airport after this part and said our sad goodbyes.
Bands:
High Tension Sex Girl - Great music and people. Damn fine live show and best bass drum dance I have ever seen. Isolate - Sick tight!
The other bands, Day Anti-Submarine System Static Crab People, Artless Note, and Qurage, were missed for the aforementioned reason. We checked them out on the internet later and you should do the same.
CONCLUSION
Overall thanks to: Peter for being wonderful and taking all we could throw at him and more (Also ringside seats!?!?). Jesse & Dylan for sound help and going with the flow. Miwa for translating, guiding and an overall congenial vibe. Hiroki Sano for the thoughtful gift. All the venues for the obvious.
The Black Heart Rebellion for transforming into a tour family with us. Ruben for being Public Relations and the boss (which means he became an efficient rapper). Tim for being a FREAK (and also for fist gloves). Emeriek for Kobe late nights and catching us talking shit about his lifestyle. Alex for making us feel at home thanks to his american accent and for being okay with too much head rubbing. Vally for the beautiful artwork and koala jumps. Pieter for being an ambassador to the far eastern world. Tomas for quiet walks in the country.
Birth for taking care of us in far away country and DESTROYING it live every night! We fell in Love with Shima, Kouta, and Kenji all for different reasons: Shima is a beast! Kouta looks naughty when he is smoking and filming. Kenji is great to talk to about how Birth's performance went that night and his overall heartfelt demeanor is appreciated greatly.
These fine men helped with driving and the tour overall. They were invaluable and cool as ice! So, thanks to: Yuma for his plans of European marriage, Yas for being funny as hell!, Miyazaki for great noodles and floor space, Yusuke for being infectiously fun, Sugi for his sincerity and talks of envy while we tried to beguile a stray cat.
Final thanks to:
Friends and family and band families for being the backbone.
Tokyo Jupiter Records for its support.
KIMI FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!
Ian would like you to know the pictures in the Japan album are in chronological order.