JAPAN 2003 - SUMMER SONIC

Summer Sonic 2003 was held at Makuhari Messe and Chiba Marina Stadium in Tokyo. It was a two day event, and we went to the Sunday which featured Radiohead, The Strokes, The Doors, Blondie and more. Here we are near the Indoor Stage, posing with some prankster. Peace out dude!
Most of the punters at Summer Sonic put a lot of effort into what they were wearing, even if it was innappropriate for the 30 degree weather. I should have re-taken this photo though because the girl on the left pulled a full on stoner face.
The girl in the middle spoke American which made asking for a photo a hell of a lot easier.
Interpol's light show was really good. They didn't sound too shabby either and were wearing suits which made me take them seriously. Unfortunately they'd come on after we'd seen The Rapture so everything else just seemed disappointing.
The Mars Volta, are essentially two guys, Omar Rodriguez (guitar) and Cedric Bixler (vocals), formerly of Texan combo At The Drive In. They were incredibly intense, kinda like a mash of Frank Zappa, Fugazi, Tool, Pink Floyd and MC5 with really Robert Plant-esque vocals. They were twirling their guitars and jumping off their amplifiers which made Ben and I cack ourselves.
Great food in general and all types of booze to be had! None of the plastic cups with light beer you get at Oz fstivals. You could shout yourself a giant mug of full strength Heineken, grab a G&T or get the chirpy bar-guys to whip you up a cosmopolitan if you were feeling a bit more saucy. I just went with some tortillas and a bottle of water.
Elvis lives and runs a burger store at Summer Sonic. Really, that's him in the middle, straight from his sell-out Hawaiian show.
Sweet dreams kids.
These girls tell you how to put your bottle in the bin. I'm not joking, the girl on the right seemed totally confused until one of the Bin-Maidens showed her the true path.
"We don't need no-one to tell us what to do!" The ladies dig The Living End.
This is the Outdoor Stage at Summer Sonic, where Blondie was playing when i took this photo.
Me with Michelle and Ben just before The Strokes started. I'm not sure what the symbol on my new hat means. We reckon its Arabic for "dumb white guy" or something.
This guy was seriously doing the 'i'm not worthy' worship thing at me for taking his photo. I dunno what his name was, but lets call him Phil. Seeing bands at a big festival with a stadium filled with Phils can be a little weird because they don't seems to talk much, especially between songs. They just clap loudly when the song ends then go completely silent. Its a little unnerving.
Chicks dig The Strokes.
We were a little too far from the stage to take any decent photos so i took shots of the video screen. This is that guy from The Strokes with the cool hair. The crowd went bananas for these guys, because they are rad.
Again, i took this photo from the video screen during Radiohead's amazing closing set of the festival. They are without doubt the best band on the planet but Thom looks like a demented pixie. When they finished (their last song was Creep) there was some great fireworks, then we lined up for 30 minutes to leave the venue, then walked another hour to the train station. insanity.
We went to see The Rapture and Polyphonic Spree play the Summer Sonic After-Party at The Liquid Room in Shinjuku on the monday night, which turned out to be one of the most amazing gigs i've ever been too. It started really early at 7pm, and wasn't cheap (Y5500 each) but it was worth every cent. The Rapture from New York, who we also saw at Summer Sonic, are my new favourite band!

This is the Polyphonic Spree, a 24 piece indie-pop orchestra from Texas. They dress in red robes, sing about the sun and make you feel like this crazy life thing might actually mean something. Seeing them in Shinjuku was like a religious experience, it blew my freakin' mind!

Next stop, HIROSHIMA >>>>>