Summer Sonic | 08.09 & 08.10 | Japan
By Team JamBase Aug 22, 2008 • 1:00 pm PDT

Summer Sonic :: 08.09.08 & 08.10.08 :: Makuhari Messe Event Hall & Chiba Marine Stadium :: Tokyo & Osaka, Japan
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Successful rock festivals are often only as good as the venues they occupy, and given the lack of space even in the greater Tokyo region, the massive Makuhari Messe, hosting three stages, and Marine Stadium, with smaller stages scattered throughout, are superb! These two major arenas are a fair distance apart, but as long as you’ve donned some comfortable shoes, one can easily maneuver between them with relative ease. Some may have complained about getting around but the fact is Summer Sonic, in accommodating some 200,000 punters, presents a very strong lineup and fully caters to everything including numerous food and retail areas, side shows staging comedic and musical acts and a private beach, all offering chill-out spaces in between shows. There’s even a separate stage out near the camping area next to the Silent Disco. For around $150 per day your costs are immediately met by the main acts showcased at the end of each evening.
Saturday, 08.09.08
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Perfume
Earlier in the day the Dance Stage started with Japanese female trio Perfume, who enveloped the crowd with their heavy thumping beats and mannequin-like dance gestures coupled with intermittent questions and jokes in Japanese. Their performance of the hit “Chocolate” definitely pleased the crowd.
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OneRepublic
As the first few notes of “Apologize” played, the mostly female audience was already swaying in unison, mouthing the lyrics being passionately delivered by pianist-frontman Ryan Tedder. Despite some criticism of Tedder’s supposedly bland voice, there’s no question that the guy can belt it out and hold his own, although his attempted cover of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” proved slightly too much. The band played solidly throughout the set, but there were times when Tedder was drowned out by the additional surges of sound. Although OneRepublic wowed the crowd with “Stop and Stare” and “Someone to Save You,” hearing Tedder sing “Come Home” (his ode to a friend at war) live definitely made my hurried dash across the motorway separating the two main arenas worthwhile.
Old Man River
Old Man River and his band have risen out of the Sydney music scene and over at the Beach Stage they performed songs off the new album, Good Morning, including “Summer,” “Time” and “Better Place.” Fusing the sitar with up-beat drums and infectious guitars, they created a colorful, warm mood as the ocean breeze encircled the stage, sending positive vibes out into the swaying assembly.
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Paolo Nutini
Back out on the beach the charismatic Paolo Nutini, known for his unique voice and insightful lyrics, did his darnedest not to let the crutches he was on keep him from showing the crowd a good time. Nutini did an amazing vocal performance of the poignant “These Streets,” which, to me, is already a classic since it reminds the listener of where they are and where they’re heading. With the help of his band, who backed him phenomenally, bodies were bopping all around to songs like the catchy “New Shoes,” the harmonica-infused “Funky Cigarette,” a bluesy “Mellow Down Easy” and his new tune “Sleepwalking.” Nutini was sporadically up hopping along with the crowd during the hour-long set, and even on crutches he definitely knows how to entertain.
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They played “Lucky Man” before Ashcroft said that he wasn’t sure if the next song made it over to Japan but it was big in Iceland. Then, violins, which could only mean “Bitter Sweet Symphony!” It sent the entire stadium into raptures, whereupon Ashcroft donned his leather jacket and introduced the final song, “Love Is Noise,” which, with a constant, heavy dance drum beat, sounded a bit different, lacking any substantial guitar involvement but supplemented by Ashcroft’s floating voice. All in all, for a band that has recently regrouped after some years, it was a truly brilliant performance.
Continue reading for Sunday coverage…
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Polysics
If you haven’t yet heard of Tokyo’s biggest new wave, hardcore punkers, then you’re likely to get a massive electric shock! Buckle up for these crazy kids, who are guaranteed to send you into a spin with their manga/anime/punk influenced tunes. Band members Hayashi (guitar, lead vocals), Kayo (vocals, bass, synthesizer), Fumi (vocals, bass) and Yano (drums) all dress in identical jumpsuits, complete with custom made robotic shades. They will make you wish you had a triple espresso to keep up with the latest songs off their new album, We Ate the Machine. Hayashi, who screams and squeals incessantly, sets their frantic onstage pace. It’s a huge contrast from Yano, who, other than playing the synthesizer, was motionless for most of the set except for several sporadic outbursts, which included the shaking of bright pom poms! Yes indeed, the Polysics are truly unique and you don’t want to miss their show.
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Alicia Keys
Dressed in custom Armani attire, perfect makeup and looking fit, relaxed and generally gorgeous, Keys entered to deafening screams, heading straight into “Go Ahead” before infusing reggae beats into “You Don’t Know My Name.” Keys was supported by her two female back-up singers as they sang “Teenage Love Affair” and moved to a Diana Ross and the Supremes routine before “Heartburn” and a spectacular piano performance of “I Need You.” The band then broke it down into a Spanish Harlem themed “Karma,” which had everyone up dancing and clapping to the extended set that segued into “How Come You Don’t Call Me” and “If I Don’t Have You.” Keys pumped up the crowd with the final song, “No One,” as she bopped between her piano and around the stage before waving goodbye, leaving her back-up singers to take over as the crowd continued to jump, their hands in the air, eagerly awaiting Coldplay.
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Coldplay
Lights out. Cue deafening screams, the inevitable glow of cell phone screens, flashing camera lights and incongruent clapping. The stadium came alive with impatient anticipation as a giant backdrop depicting Delacroix’s “La Liberté guidant le peuple” (“Liberty Leading the People”) brought the stage to life. Coldplay’s current album, Viva La Vida, features the same painting on its cover and the revolutionary theme continued as the band, fronted by Chris Martin and dressed in mock-Napoleonic outfits, opened with “Life In Technicolor,” amidst blazing lasers and a huge array of lighting, followed by “Violet Hill.”
Martin used every opportunity to address the crowd in their native tongue and completely shocked everyone with a solo piano rendition of “Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana” (“A Flower Unlike Any Other in the World”), which sold over two million copies for SMAP, Japan’s most celebrated pop group. Despite his honorable yet slightly confusing attempts at Japanese, he had the audience singing along, and judging by their reaction he pulled it off extremely well. Definite audience favorites included “In My Place” and “Yellow.” Granted, there were several outbursts of “oohs” and “aahs,” but it’s rare to hear a Japanese crowd sing all the words to an English language song, and “Yellow” proved a true testament to Coldplay’s global reach.
During “Politik,” Martin smiled while altering the lyrics to “60,000 Japanese people watching us/ Let Alicia Keyes always play with us,” foreshadowing her appearance later. Martin didn’t stop bouncing about and running out to the crowd throughout “Fix You,” where he sprinted between the extremes of the stage and momentarily dropped to the floor before pacing back to his piano, where he collapsed in a sweaty heap, much to the audience’s delight.
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The “Violet Hill” video, which features dancing politicians and scenes of war and poverty, then played before Alicia Keys was introduced by Martin as “the most beautiful woman in the world… except for my wife that is.” She joined Martin on piano as they performed “Clocks.” Waving a Japanese fan, Martin improvised by singing, “Sitting on the piano with Alicia keys singing.” He ended the routine by singing the lyrics of Keys’ hit “No One.” The show closed with “Lovers In Japan,” and as an enormous explosion of colorful paper butterflies fluttered over the crowd, the band played “Death and All His Friends” and “The Escapist” before saying goodbye and making way for Summer Sonic’s fireworks finale. Coldplay’s performance was raw, and they seemed to enjoy themselves, especially Martin. Of course you have the usual theatrics, but as shown in his attempt at an extremely famous Japanese pop song, they were genuinely thankful to their fans. They were living in the moment and the mutual admiration of all involved was apparent.
There’s no disputing this year’s acts were simply outstanding, yet what also stuck out was the vigilance event organizers took towards recycling. There were recycling stations everywhere, guarded by staff that kindly insisted on the removal of bottle labels to be placed in specific bins. Awesome. Definitely one of the cleanest music festivals I’ve attended. Another notable memory of the festival was Von Halen, a Japanese rock group known for performing Van Halen songs. Led by lead singer Debuccho Lee Roth, who sported the tightest red and white striped Lycra pants I’ve ever seen on a middle aged-man, they got the Marine Side-Show crowd into the spirit, and even drew a large group of onlookers from the Marine Stadium. These guys were class. They looked like they were genuinely having a blast and that’s what it’s all about really. Summer Sonic ’08 impressed the capacity crowd fully. If you can make it out here for the festival in 2009 do it. Sure beats listening to cicadas in the cruel swelter of the Japanese summer.
JamBase | Rising Sun
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