Velocity3,
25 Suaves, ?,?,?,? I
wish I knew the names of the other bands. I lost the flyer
and I'm sad because it was the only non-garage show of the
tour. Other parts of Japan worship Guitar Wolf. These guys
look to Fat Day. How can you beat it? We woke to cheese filled
sausages and porn videos. It was truly a great way to end
a great tour.
5/20/00
Star
Club
Kobe,
Japan
Chelsea,
25 Suaves, Punky Time Underwear, Go Devils, Roi Tan We
actually had to pay $200.00 to play this show. Can you believe
it? Chelsea were amazing though.
5/19/00
Bears
Osaka,
Japan
25
Suaves, Punky Time Underwear, Roi-Tan, JFPTR An
intimate gathering of 25,000 of our closest friends.
5/18/00
Fandango
Osaka,
Japan
25
Suaves, King Brothers, Yokosuna Ichiban Our
biggest show on the tour. SOLD OUT because the King Brothers
opened the show. We sold tons of stuff and the kids were clamoring
for more. I think we confused them with our small numbers
though. Maybe Japanese kids can't count that low. The stage
was so big that we looked more like set decoration than a
band. I stood on the monitors and tried to act big. Fortunately,
I'm getting fat so that helped, too.
5/17/00
Exodus
Yokkaiti,
Japan
Voodoo
Boots, Antonio 3, Estrella 20/20, 25 Suaves, Akky Beer We
played reggae in a reggae club. When we got there the African
owner of the club told us that we either had to get some Jah
groove on or get the fuck out. We did our best to let the
sunshine in but the other bands couldn't hack it and belted
out MEAN rock and roll. A birthday event with cakes and coke.
5/16/00
Kieth
Flack
Nagoya,
Japan
Akky
Beer, Antonio 3, ?, ?, 25 Suaves Akky
Beer could change anyone's life. We were fighting this day
so I really don't remember much.
5/15/00
?
Shizuoka,
Japan
Estrella
20/20, 25 Suaves, Quartet Los Cruzos
A
little known Illegal club in Shizuoka, 20/20's Morikawasan
was gracious enough to book us a show here. It was everything
that I'm used to a more. I recommend that anyone touring Japan
play here by all means. 20/20 were fantastic. Even better
than the Tokyo show, these hometown heros got the whole crowd
rocking in no time. Quarter Los Cruzos were like a the Monarchs
with the vocalist of Brutal Truth up front. Amazing, a take
on garage that I've never seen before. Hopefully these guys
will get famous and take over Japan. We stayed at Morikawa's
house in the tea fields of Shizuoka and I perused through
is Puffy collection that rivals even my own. Any one who knows
where to get the Puffy 7 inch box set let mw know.
5/14/00
F.A.B.
Yokohama,
Japan
Howling
Guitar, Jig Head, Hoe Inu, Das Boot, 25 Suaves
After
2 less than spectacular shows in the Kanto area, we were worried
and moral was low. There was dissent within the ranks. Chinese
food in Yokohama is excellent, we were at least privelaged
there. However, the show was another problem. No one showed
up. I really don't care, 6 bands mean at least thirty people,
enough for any rock event. Right? We were still a little bummed
at having to play first for three nights in a row (we came
from Amerika, the other bands came from across the street,
I guess my Japanese skills led everyone to believe that we
lived in Japan) and decided that we'd just run through our
songs and go. When we got on the stage something else came
to our heads. We abandoned all of our songs and wrote completely
new ones just for the occasion. Eventually everyone started
rocking and we busted into a couple of old ones. This led
to a massive jam session involving everyone in the audience,
a true event. The show turned out to be great, with all of
the bands giving their best in a low stress beer infused rock
fuck fest. Howling Guitar were great, the guitar player is
like a machine, you turn him on and he just burns. Hoe Inu
were again amazing, Das Boot pulled it together to make a
truly hot rocing set. A great evening and to top it off we
all went for a great Chinese course dinner.
5/13/00
Y2K
Tokyo,
Japan
Howling
Guitar, Jig Head, Das Boot, 25 Suaves, Hoe Inu, Estrella 20/20,
Ed Woods, Blues Bog
Right
in the heart of Roppongi, this are reminded me why I never
lived in Tokyo. Strange Indian men trying to get me to go
see "totally naked Japanese girls" for high prices,
bad expensive restaraunts, Yamamba everywhere... I walked
out of the club and there were like 300 Yamamba gathered in
front of what looked like a disco or something. For those
of you who do not know, Yamaba are the Jap girls that sit
in tanning booths for hours getting as absolutely brown as
they possibly can, bleach their hair and then paint there
faces with this extremely bright yellow eyeliner and lipstick.
The result is about as attractive as spoiled milk. They call
them Yamamba because they look like a female demon that eats
men in the mountains. I used to defend Japan and say that
it's not nearly as strange as people say but I have to give
in here. The show was a music business event, with industry
people and bands everywhere. We played first but still managed
to pull off a solid set. 20/20 were great, Morikawa san has
the right idea, a blend of soul and garage but done in such
a pristine fashion that it can hardly be passed off as another
Jap garage thing. Nice guys to boot, you couldn't ask for
better. Hoe Inu stole the show. A guitar drum duo, they sound
a lot like Doo Rag after an acid bath. I can't wait to hear
their record. Whereas many Tokyo bands tend to be perfect
to the point of bordome, Hoe Inu are certainly a stand out
of scum.
5/11/00
Look
Chiba,
Japan
Howling
Guitar, Jig Head, Das Boot, 25 Suaves
A
strange scene, we got to this club and felt really out of
place. Thee Michelle Gun Elephant posters everywhere. Ugh.
Our solution: go to the convenience store and get as drunk
as possible in the 1 hour before we had to play. It worked.
I was totally hammered and Fumie could bairly speak. We both
abandoned our set and proceeded to recreate Tuva throat singing
while vomit spewed from our noses.
5/9/00
Sublime
Aomori,
Japan
Thugs,
Cyber Yankee, Malcheez, Kick Inside, Blues Dog, 25 Suaves
Aomori
is a small town at the northern tip of Honsyuu, Japan's main
island. Few Japanese ever go there but it is famous for it's
strange dialect and the large numbers of bizarre artists,
playwrights and musicians that claim Aomori as their birthplace.
Malcheez were definitely no exception to this. When I first
met one of the vocalists, I thought she was somebody's girlfriend
who didn't have anything to do with music but was just along
for the ride. A small housewife looking girl, quiet and demure.
When she got on stage I couldn't fucking believe it. There
was the same girl screaming at the top of her lungs, duded
out in grind core regalia, alongside a longhaired dude with
black metal face paint screaming metal lyrics of what sounded
like the Contortions run through a meat mincer. I was totally
blown away. The remaining bands were much the same as the
previous evening but sonically maximized to the power of ten.
We were a bit more awake this evening and See from Kick Inside
graciously lent his guitar skills. I got naked and threw up
on the crowd. A great show.
5/7/00
Klub
Kounter Action
Sapporo,
Hokkaido, Japan
Antonio
3, Thugs, 25 Suaves, Cyber Yankee, Kick Inside, Blues Dog
The
first show on our Japanese tour. It's not like I've never
played in Japan before, but I was still a bit worried. We
were jetlagged, tired from the 26 hour flight and the 16 hour
train ride to Sapporo plus the fact that we had to shell out
$100.00 for hotel room in Hakodate because an erupting volcano
stopped all train service. Not good. Add to that the fact
the we were playing with bands we didn't kow and had just
absolutely no idea what we were getting into. I turned out
to be one of the best nights of the whole tour. All of the
bands were great, although we were surprised to see what an
imapct the King Brothers have made over there. Antonio 3 belted
out there garage hits as interpreted by a drunken freak high
on rice alcohol. Amazing. Kick Inside kicked the audience
in the teeth, reinterpreting the Stooges catalogue along with
a heavy dose of metha-amphetamines. Blues Dog made rock and
roll conversion easy, giving the people a doctrine to follow
blindly. Cyber Yankee play punk rock/metal girl rock and have
the second most delicious drummer in rock. Ugh. A world of
pain. We rocked the house playing the only show on the tour
where I actually had a voice. I caught a cold at this show
and couldn't speak for a week. Thugs rocked the house but
were just gearing up for the onslaught that was to come the
next evening in Aomori. Sapporo ramen in excellent, the people
are excellent. I highly recommend Sapporo to anyone. I'm almost
sorry I didn't live there.