Day 9 Thursday June 21

Time to move out of the hostel . Thank god. We pack up all our stuff and head for Setagaya. We used the credit from Air BnB to get ourselves a very nice place to finish off the tour. Get to the closest station but just when we think we are close Google Maps let’s us down. Damn. I message the contact from the station. One minute later a guy asks if I’m Rob. Quick service indeed. Seems he was on the same train as us and saw us and the message. He proceeds to walk us to our house. Yes house. We’re only dropping our bags off and coming back later but just putting our stuff in the door we can see it’s quite big in Japanese terms. 

We go off and get something to eat and while Bruce and Choc go off exploring we return and claim our rooms. I’m a bit averse to narrow and steep steps so I take the bottom room by myself and Chirpy and Rod get their own rooms too. Bruce and Choc share. We can really stretch out here and other than a quick explore of the neighbourhood we take it easy.

After a bite to eat we head off to Poor Cow in Shimo-Kitazawa. Tonight we’re playing an acoustic set. We carry minimal instruments on the 20 minute walk to the venue set up and play the set acoustically. Not many people there but it’s fun and a great atmosphere. Someone asks for Mary Anne which is a song I haven’t played since 1980. I get through half of it. But then I break a string and that’s the end of the show because we have no more strings.

Jonestown then get their moment in the spotlight. Bruce and Choc perform one of their originals and a cover of Thirteen by Big Star. It goes down well.  We sell a few Cds and drink with our friends and our new friends. Everyone starts putting records on. Fifi as so many records there and so many genres. He keeps his record collection at the bar. And he doesn't seem to mind people taking turns putting records on. Atsushi appears with a bunch of food that he bought down on the street. It's great and like so many times on the tour I haven't eaten in ages so I go down the 3 flights of stairs and get some take-away. We stay long past the train finishing and while a couple walk home the rest of us taxi home.