25 Suaves Japan Tour 2000

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.

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.

25 Suaves, Punky Time Underwear, Roi-Tan, JFPTR An intimate gathering of 25,000 of our closest friends.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.