Summer Sonic 2012

Yesterday, John and I attended Summer Sonic, a Tokyo music festival held in Chiba (an area of Tokyo) featuring big name artists. The festival lasts the entire weekend, but John and I only went on Sunday. Musicians this year included: Ke$ha, Rihanna, Foster the People, Green Day, Jamiroquai, Tears for Fears, Garbage, Pennywise, Franz Ferdinand, Pitbull, Hoobastank and many more. John and I went mainly to see Foster the People. If you don't know of them, here's a piece they did for NPR's "Tiny Desk Concert" series:

http://www.npr.org/event/music/140256900/foster-the-people-tiny-desk-concert

They're kind of indie, kind of hipster, a little bit pop. They put on a great show and it was wonderful to see them play! The festival itself was also amazing. First, the cost was a little outrageous. John and I pad nearly $400 for two one-day passes and that was with a military discount. Two-days passes cost about $700 for two people. We also paid $66 for a round trip bus ride to the venue. We could have taken trains, but the cost was the same and the train does not drop us off right in front of our car at the end of the day. We stayed at the festival from 10am to 10:30 pm. It was a very long day.

In the US, when we hear "music festival", we automatically assume it is going to be outdoors. John and I were in our outdoor gear and slathered with sunscreen. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the festival site and found it was mostly indoors. A few stages were outside and there was outdoor activities, but you could stay indoors for the entire festival if you so chose. The indoor venue was large enough to host several thousand people, food stands, souvenir stands, bars, and about 5 or 6 stages. I don't think in the US we have indoor venues quite so large.

I think I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves. Be prepared for a long post!

The Summer Sonic festival is a place where local artists can showcase their talent. Lining the halls and sidewalks were large artworks by various Japanese artists. Some artists painted while the crowds watched. Here's some of the artwork:

As I mentioned earlier, the venue was enormous! The inside stages were so large that the crowd could move to the front and there was plenty of space in the back of each stage area. The back of the different stage areas were full of people sitting down and enjoying the music from a distance. Additionally, many concert goers decided to lay on the concrete floor and nap while they waited for the next concert to start. If you tried laying down in the back of an indoor venue in the US, you'd be kicked out. Here's some pictures of the venue:

The back of the venue where you can see people laying down and sleeping.

Stage decorations.

One of the interesting things about this event was the fact Marlboro, the cigarette company, had a huge presence there. They had several "smoking" areas set up where women in short shorts serve you free cigarettes, lighters, and other corporate merchandise. Additionally, the Marlboro areas had fun activities people could try before grabbing their free pack of smokes. I'm not a smoker, but some of the stuff they had was irresistable to try. It's very interesting to see the amount of money these cigarette companies dump into advertising in foreign countries since cigarette advertising is so tightly regulated in the US. Here's some pictures from the Marlboro areas:

This was Marlboro's main area. Pushing a series of buttons would cause a blast of ice to come out from around the shiny globe. Tables in the water give the illusion of sophistication.



The picture we got for free while being shot with an "icy blast" of air. It now hangs on our fridge!

The next set of pictures is Foster the People. An hour before they played, they signed autographs for fans. The autograph area was extremely regulated. They were scheduled to sign autographs for an hour, or for the first 50-75 people, whichever came first. John and I waited in line for 45 minutes only to be told, "Too bad." once they had seen the first 50 people. Fans were not allowed to take photographs during the signing session AT ALL. If you wanted something signed it had to be something you bought at Summer Sonic and it could not be on your body. I watched as security made a girl switch shirts because she wanted Foster the People to sign the shirt she was wearing. They agreed she could have the shirt signed, but it could not be on her body while the signing was happening. Additionally, during the concert they do not allow any type of pictures. Japanese law is very strict when it comes to using people's images. However, like any culture, they will find a way around the rules. If you stand in the middle of the crowd, they can't get to you fast enough to tell you to quit snapping pictures....this is how we got our pictures...:

Their background.

Ben Foster, lead singer.

The end of their performance.



The foam hand we bought for them to sign. It did not get signed.

Lastly, I wanted to share the story of how I got two free towels and a free t-shirt. During the summer, the Japanese people carry these long, thin towels with them everywhere to wick away the sweat. These towels are HUGE sellers and almost every artist had a sweat towel as part of their official merch. Unfortunately, all the towels sold out on the first day and when we went to buy one we were out of luck....or so we thought...Summer Sonic was sponsored in part by Daiichi, a gambling company in Japan. They had an area set up where people could play Pachinko and slots (not for money of course, because gambling for money is "illegal" in Japan).

John and I watched as people walked away with free sweat towels and we badly wanted one.The sign explaining how to get a free towel was all in Japanese, but through the power of common sense, we figured out you had to take a picture of a code and send the code to a specific e-mail address. Then, you had to show the e-mail to the employees and they would give you a towel. I did this and was able to get the e-mail I needed for the towel. The employee handed me my free towel and a ticket.

I didn't understand what the ticket was for exactly, but I watched as Japanese people carried their ticket around the corner and played a large slot machine game. No one won anything, but for trying they were all given a free t-shirt. "Why not?", I thought as I got in line. The grand prize winner could win a trip to Las Vegas.

I didn't win the trip to Las Vegas, but I did get to spin the big slot machine and get a free t-shirt. It was really fun and I'm glad I did it. I was nervous because you had to stand on a platform while everyone watched you press the button.

The slot and pachinko machines.

Yup, that's me on the platform.

Collecting my t-shirt.

John and I wearing our sweat towels appropriately.

The t-shirt and towel.



The area was called "Sonic Vegas"

Alright, I think that covers everything. Summer Sonic was amazing and John and I would definitely return next year. We discussed getting a hotel near the venue and going both days. And yes, the Japanese do enjoy the same music we enjoy in the US, many of them were singing along to every Foster the People song. They knew the songs so well that Ben Foster stopped singing for a moment and the crowd took over to finish the song perfectly. They also had Japanese bands playing and they were amazing. One particular one I enjoyed was called Polysics. Polysics had a female bass player who was extremely talented. It was such a fun day and I can't wait for next year!