We'd like to send a big "thank you" to the many people who made our experience at the Loud Park festival - and throughout the remainder of our stay in Tokyo - so memorable. It was a fantastic visit for us. The folk who helped us over there are so numerous, it's hard to know where to begin.
But for a start, we'd have to give special mention to Tetsu of Trooper Entertainment. More than anyone, he got the ball rolling on this one. Thanks also go to Naoko from Creativeman for her extensive organisational skills (and patience!), and to Atsushi for kindly showing us around town on our day off. And let's not forget all of the interpreters, journalists and drivers we encountered during the festival.
However, there is one man without whom we probably couldn't have played at all that day, and that's Tom Sutton. Having been given just a matter of days to learn our set, he performed impeccably. Most of us would be terrified at the prospect of playing in front of thousands of people on the back of only one rehearsal - but thankfully not Mr Sutton! Cheers Tom.
So...what was it like, some of you might be asking..?
Great! Obviously this was the biggest audience Firebird has played to so far. We're more accustomed to club shows or smaller festivals. But the crowd made us feel very welcome. As far as the eye could see, there were smiling faces, raised hands and a surprising number of people singing along. The whole thing gave us a serious buzz!
For me, the one disappointment was the hire amp I was using. Doing shows like this on a limited budget means a band can only afford to travel with the essentials - guitars, cymbals, sticks - and the rest is hired in by the promoter. So it's a bit of a lottery concerning the gear you find waiting for you at the other end. Often it's quite poor, as was the case with the guitar rig at LP. You know when an old amp badly needs a service and a completely new set of valves? That's what the matter was here - a very broken-up tone and almost no sustain at all. So if you see the You Tube footage and wonder why the guitar sounds so crappy...now you know why!
Otherwise, no complaints. Pearl were generous enough to supply Ludde with a great kit, and Tom's Ampeg bass rig was firing on all cylinders.
Encouraging words from Steel Panther and Dokken also meant a lot. You think I'm joking..?
But more than anything, it's the atmosphere that will stay with us. To those of you who were there in the audience, cheering us on - thank you! You gave us an experience that none of us - Ludde, Tom and myself - will ever forget.
And already plans are afoot for a return visit (in the form of a few club shows) next summer...
- Bill, October 20th 2009