Rock in Japan 2009 + Lots of Japanese music :)
On the 31st...me and Rin headed to Rock in Japan (an all Japanese music festival). http://rock-net.jp/fes/09/
The quick reports and pictures can be found at : http://ro69.jp/fesinfo/rijfes09/quick/
It took us a long time to get there and after sleeping at a Manga cafe (with tiny booths for you to read manga and watch tv or play the computer, which alot of people use to sleep in), we headed off at 8am to set up our tents.
The little Tiny one on the left is our tent (£15 and easy to put up :D).
Ready to go! At 9am!
When we got into the venue, we thought it was important to aqquire our favourite Band's Tshirts. Little did we know that probably 50% of the people there had the same idea. So after waiting for 1 hour in the que for the Ken Yokoyama Tshirts....we came out with only a towel each saying "FUCK KEN" because they sold out... We were pissed off....oh well.
Because we waited for so long...we almost missed the opening act!! But thankfully after a little bit of running...we caught them.... Perfume....(completely and utterly un-rock like band....).....
Click to viewPerfume... Who dont actually sing live as all of their music is electro pop through synthasizers... Why oh why they were on the main stage at Rock in Japan...I dont know. But danced for a little bit and moved on to... The Back Horn.
Much Much Much better :)
Next was Chatmonchy. Who were amazing :) The sun had came out and we were...pretty hot, but we danced along anyway.
We had a slight break between bands...and grabbed some food.
I also got to ride a giant Koala :)
You can see the video here;
Rin also jumped on it.
Food time!
sitting down view :)
Then...came one of my favourite bands The Beat Crusaders.
Woot Woot. They were amazing! About 20 people came on stage with their token face masks. It was crazy. They started throwing them into the stage too so everyone was fighting over them. They played Come on Feel the Noize and alot of my favourite tracks. They also did some Collabs and one of the Teriyaki boyz joined them on stage to perform. It was awesome. Me and Rin were impressed.
By the end of their set...we had moved to the very front of the Grass stage.
Very close!
For the next 3 hours this would be our standing space.
Next up MONGOL800 Koi no Uta was amazing :) Mongol 800 are an Okinawan band, very laid back and cool. Expect because we were at the front we were crushed by thousands of fans... we had to keep up though as next up was one of our favourite bands.
ken yokoyama!!!!!
I <3 Ken. As always...he rocked. But he did speak for alot of the time...and he wasted alot of time rather than playing :( I wish I could have heard more!! The new band players were good too. They played some of our favourite songs and it was crazy toward the end. We were told not to dive...and yet of course..everyone did so. I almost got a black eye on occasion....
3 hours of standing in the heat got to us...so it was off for some shaved ice and a look around.
Signing the board.
All the previous band signings from RIJ. This year was their 10th year.
Coming back. It was hoooot
Beat Crusaders Tshirt and a Fuck Ken Towel. Awesome.
This is Sound of Forest. We checked out Come Back my Daughters but...to be honest I hated the music....
We also skipped on on ACIDMAN. We heard some tracks but we were tired.
The Last band was amazing though.... RIZE.
<3 Rize (the other Guitarist had recently left the band...but the three of them did an amazing job!).
I hadnt heard any of RIZE's music but I was impressed. Very very heavy. The Bassist was doing high kicks and playing and jumping about. The vocalist was going crazy and had an amazing voice. And me and Rin were right at the front of it all. I actually think it took less than 2 mins to lose him.. he was gone in a second and I was stuck in the mosh pit! On my own! Oh well.
Kami Nari was the best song they played I think. They got one of the fans on stage to sing the end of the song. He did it very well actually! The crowd went crazy. They also started smashing up the stage after the performance. Awesome. Just Awesome.
Lake stage just before rize.
After and wasted from jumping around.
And day one was over!!!!!
After an ok sleep we headed on to the Grass stage and watched;
10-FEET
9mm Parabellum bullet
Kimura Kaela
Rip Slyme
Straightner
Nothern 19
and finally Dragon Ash.
I didnt know any 10-Feet songs but they were CRAZY!
Next up on my favourite list was Kimura Kaela, who was incredibly cute which some of the guys kept on shouting out!
She also played my favourite some Moustash from the wax adverts here.
Before that, we went and bought some Northern 19 tshirts . The guy there was so funny...we just had to buy something :P We got matching tshirts (opps...)
Yup....more waiting.
Rip Slyme came on...who were a real crowd pleaser...but we were shattered so sat down and watched them....opps...
Everyone was going crazy with thier towels too!
SUNSHINE!!! it was so hot!
Rins shoes used to be black...but after a few hours of jumping around....
Towel spinning!
Rin wanted to watch Straightner...but they didnt impress me so much...but we watched them anyway. Next up we saw some of Overground Acoustic Underground which reminded me of hillbilly country music...yuck....skip on that...
But then we got to see Northern 19 !!!!!!!!! Finally! It only took me 2 years to get to see them!!!
Weeee
The crowd was crazy. Everyone was screaming Northern 19 and we were right in middle of a mosh pitt!!
It was awesome and Rin lost his shoe....
We checked out the seaside stage for a while, which had a beautiful sea as a backing.
I cant remember who was playing...but we liked the sea :P
Passed out Rin
Meeeee in my Northern 19 tshirt. The plaster is for the bit of burnt skin on my face.....I got sunburnt baaad...
There was some really cool sculptures too!
Last but not least...we got to see the amazing Dragon Ash :D
They had 2 dancers doing breakdancing. The bassist was wearing blue and red lights on his headphones... and he was playing his Bass with a lightsabre... it was awesome!!!
They played alot of older songs. I loved the song "Dry your eyes" and they even had 10-Feets vocalist in to do a collab too. It was great. Dragon Ash were more than great, they were the highlight of the weekend!!!!!
Shattered in matching tshirts.
Day 2 was over!!!!!!!!
Cartwheels and failing.
That night we had a few drinks, some curry and crashed out. 3 days at a rock festival is a bit much.... 9am to 9pm....outside, in the heat is too much!
The next day we had to pack up all of our camping stuff and thankfully we were able to send it via the post to my house :D So no heavy bags.
First up...we went to buy Maximum the Hormone Tshirts...and failed... but Rin got a nice Towel :)
Pretty cool figures.
First up....POLYSICS!!!!!!! Well actually we stopped by Glory Hill and then went on to POLYSICS :) I <3 Polysics. They were dressed in flight attendant outfits and had the silly lil visors on again. The lead for the POLYSICS has the same name as Rin --- Hiroyuki Hayashi and they had tshirts with his name on it...I really wanted to buy one but no money!
We then had to run back to the Grass stage as Maximum the Hormone were playing. However Rin was feeling really ill so I had to carry him to the bus area and we bused it to the grass stage...he was shattered and in pain (from sunburn I think!)
They played lots of the older songs which was great and everyone was dancing up and down. Fun times Fun times. Except Rin was kind of in too much pain to dance.. silly boy.
Rin passed out during HY.
Which....were ok...and played my fav song 366days :D
I think I was almost in tears at this one. Beautiful song.
Up after that was Superfly, who was stunning and amazing at singing! AMAZING!
I want her hair... High 5 and how do I survive were some of my favourite songs of hers.
Then we moved on to see Puffy! Who we caught a few songs of.
There was a really camp guy doing ALL of the dances to the songs... very sad.. very sad... They played Asia No Jushin. I was happy.
Rin was really...dead by this point, so we sat and listened to the Telephones and BIG MAMA. He suddenly jumped up later and got energetic...before collapsing again....oh well...
I got to See Ore Ska Band!!!!!! Which I was happy about!
All Girl Ska Band. Niiice They looked about 12 but they had such an energy about them. Very happy band.
Finally...we finished the evening by Running to catch The Hiatus! Who were....ok actually...
I wouldnt say they were great, but they werent bad. I think I preffered Ellegarden more.. They did all of their songs as they only have one Album out, but the number of people who had came to see them was amazing. There was no room to stand!!
Ghost in the rain was their best song.
Rin was pretty much dead after that.
And then the closing fireworks went off.
FIREWORKS!
And Rock in Japan was over :)
It was a great weekend, but 3 days is a bit much... it was 36degrees most days and I had burnt myself really bad. I couldnt leave my house for a few days as my face had crusted over. Never again will I get that burnt...it was horrible. (I did use cream! It just didnt work!!!).