At last we were going to play our first gig. Kobe. Helluva Lounge.
Packed our bags. Made our way to the first train. Then to the fast train at Shibuya. Shinkansen. Got us to Osaka in just over 2 hours. Jumped on another train. Went the wrong way. Stuffed up the wheels on my suitcase but eventually we made it. An extended walk that we found out later wasn't necessary. Google maps sometimes gave us problems.
Ended up being on the other side of the park where I stayed 2 years ago.
Dropped off our stuff then made our way to Shin-Osaka to catch another train. Was there another train after that I can’t remember. I think there was another one in Kobe. But just one stop.
More walking plus we get the first message. “What time will you arrive?” From Susuki at the gig. We were running a little late for soundcheck. More messages followed. It wasn’t good to be late. We found the bar and went in but when I turned around there was only Chirpy and I. The others had disappeared. The bar staff looked worried. I went outside to look for them but they had disappeared. Went back down and they turned up a few minutes later. Didn’t even ask where they went. Did two songs. And then went off to grab a bite. Looked for a while but it got too tiresome so a few of us went and grabbed burgers.
Kobe looked so much different from when I was last there. It was bustling and full of restaurants. Last time I must of come out of the wrong exit because it seemed like there was nothing there. Except the giant Gigantor.
Got back to see all the supporting bands who were wildly diverse but always entertaining. The first bands guitarists had at least 25 effects pedals. And he used them all. I particularly liked Susuki's band Dubois who were more of a power pop band. Poz and Yolanda turned up and though Choc was looking after the merch stand Yolanda took over and got everything organised. She was a hit with the crowd too and I believe we sold a lot of Merch because of her. People liked the deal of a T-shirt and CD for 3000 yen. At one stage I looked over and there a small and polite queue.
And then we were on. The crowd was enthusiastic and we played better because of the atmosphere. It was brilliant. The lights came from the floor so I found it hard to see the setlist (cos there was writing on both sides) but we burned through our songs. Just before American Cool I broke a string and Choc came and grabbed my guitar. This ended up being his cue to join us onstage. He came onstage with another guitar and we kept on rocking. It was pretty magical and my first feeling was it reminded me of those early Mod gigs back in 1980. They knew the words to a lot of the songs and singalong to Things and For You and Baby It's You. Totally brilliant.
After the show we signed autographs, had pictures taken, sold merch and drank beer. Then we caught the train home. Actually someone checked their watch and realised we were close to missing the last train to Osaka. But we made it. All feeling a little high from the gig. Said goodbye to Poz and co. at Osaka station. We popped into the supermarket at about 1pm and bought a bottle of red. The supermarket was packed with shoppers. A few glasses of red and it was time for bed. Luckily we had 3 seperate rooms so we could stretch out a bit. Second place in a row without a TV. Not that we noticed.
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