Summer Sonic is a 2 day music festival held in both Tokyo and Osaka on a weekend in August, with Tokyo and Osaka alternating the line-ups between both days. I have gone three years in a row and this year proved to be one of the best, for the Sonic stage at least!
I spontaneously bought a ticket for the Sunday in Osaka in the morning of the actual day, luckily there were some left, Tokyo was sold out! It is a bit pricey at 15,000 but the lineup was worth it in my opinion. The best way to access the festival is to catch the subway to Cosmosquare and then get a shuttle bus for 1000 yen. You could go via local bus for cheaper but it is a much longer and more uncomfortable route!
This year the site map for the festival was completely changed, there seems to be some local construction going on so maybe that is the cause. The mountain stage used to be for the heavier rock bands but they were now playing in the indoor arena on the Sonic stage. Mountain was relocated to the baseball stadium, which was pretty cool since the acoustics were good and you could choose seating if you wished, only downside is that toilets etc are not accessible from inside. The food and drink areas are now completely separate whereas they used to be part of the Ocean stage, which is nice since everyone eats together but if you are the type who appreciates beer and pizza nearby the music you might not appreciate it!
Speaking of Ocean stage, it has now been moved to the far end which feels like AGES away, about a ten minute walk from the Sonic stage, I heard many people voicing complaints about this and people adjusted their viewing schedules to avoid having to make long walks, which are especially taxing in this crazy heat! Lawson which used to be really close and convenient was also on the opposite side....so I hope they adjust the layout a little next year!
I basically spent most of the day in the Sonic arena so I didn't care though...!
I grabbed a quick photo with the pretty Summer Soni girls then headed headed towards the arenas.
But onto the music...!
The Struts - Mountain Stage.
1. Roll Up
2. Could Have Been Me
3. Kiss This
4. Put Your Money On Me
5. Where Did She
I arrived in the fierce heat near the end of their set. I had time to kill before the bands I really wanted to see so I decided to check them out. They seemed to be working the crowd well and instantly reminded me of older classic rock bands such as QUEEN and The Rolling Stones. Everyone was happily cheering and clapping along, a pretty good way to kick a festival off. At one point, the vocalist had everyone sitting on the floor ready to jump up at command so I guess everyone appreciated them! I won't listen to them again but worth a drop in if you see them on the line-up.
Billy Talent - Sonic Stage
Unfortunately I can't find a set list online but they definitely at least played...
Red Flag
Try Honesty
Line & Sinker
Fallen Leaves
Louder than the DJ and more...
It has been a long time since I have seen these guys, about 7 years ago at Reading festival in the UK. They still know how to rock! Their set was one of the strongest of the day, consistent, crisp and on point! The backing vocals were really strong and had a great impact, bringing back a lot of memories, despite not listening to them for so long I found myself easily recalling the lyrics and shouting along. Ben on vocals has a really unique vocal style, all the band members contribute really well, really noticed the bass in the songs. They all looked super slick in their red shirts too, I think Jonny G on bass is my new man crush haha. The audience really got into it too, with a circle pit, friendly moshing and a few fans were even waving Canadian and red flags, was an awesome start for my Sonic stage day!
Acid Black Cherry - Sonic Stage
1.Black Cherry
2.versus G
3.少女の祈りⅢ
4.罪と罰~神様のアリバイ~
4.ピストル
5.SPELLMAGIC
6.エストエム
As you walked around Summer Sonic you could see two distinct groups of fans, those who were here for Acid Black Cherry (ABC) and those who were here for Babymetal. I was here for both but it was ABC's announcement that finally edged me into getting a ticket. Their regular live shows sell out instantly so this was the best chance for many people to see them and it was DEFINITELY worth it. This was their first Summer sonic performance in 6 years! As soon as Billy Talent left a swarm of girls glad in ABC t-shirts, towels, wristbands and horns rushed to the stage and it became packed very quickly.
The band came out to a huge cheer and lots of girly screams of YASUUUU! The crowd vibe was very different from Billy Talent, before the fans were separated in their enjoyment, but for ABC there were many diehard fans and everyone was united as one. It's amazing how young Yasu still looks, he is like Hyde and Gackt who seem eternally ageless. The members all looked fantastic clad in black.
They kicked off with their classic Black Cherry and the crowd were jumping, fist pumping and singing in unison. For their heavier songs such as ピストル and Spell Magic everyone was thrashing their heads side to side and swinging back for a huge head bang tsunami all together, was an amazing feeling. The atmosphere was charged and alive.
You can tell that Yasu is very comfortable on the mic and his MC was fun, clear and enjoyable to listen to rather than just hoping they kick into another song. The only down points I noticed was that sometimes the pre-recorded backing vocals took away from the bands performance rather than amplify it, it might have been better with Yasu just singing without it. Also their set time was WAY too short, for such a big band I was really surprised that they had an early day slot instead of a later one, considering how many fans turned up...maybe next time! Definitely check out ABC if you haven't before!
At the drive in - Sonic Stage
1. Arc Arsenal
2. Pattern Against User
3. Sleepwalk Capsules
4. Invalid Litter Dept
5. Enfilade
6. Non-Zero Possibility
7. Cosmonaut
8. Quarantined
9. Napoleon Solo
10. Catacomb
11. One Armed Scissor
After getting some MUCH needed refreshment from some incredibly well stocked vending machines (they had staff constantly filling them all day!) I head back to the stage to check out At the drive in, I must admit I only knew a few songs and was mainly just sticking around for the later bands. This was my time killer slot.
To be honest, I really didn't like them. Unlike Billy Talent and ABC's sets which flew by time wise, At the Drive In's just dragged on and on. Having compared what I heard to their studio recordings just now, their live performances are much messier, the sounds all just blur together and it just sounds like a wall of noise. Nothing stands out, apart from their hit 'One Armed Scissor' no track made me think 'this is awesome, I need to look this song up!'. Cedric was much better in The Mars Volta than with this band, it seemed like a poor performance overall. His MC kind of sucked too, comparing the areas of the crowd to his balls and pubes might work if you are All Time Low but here it just seemed, immature, tackless and probably flew over a lot of the Japanese speaking crowds heads. They should have had a shorter set in my opinion. Won't see them again
Bullet for my Valentine - Sonic Stage
1. No Way Out
2. Skin
3. Your Betrayal
4. 4 Words (To Choke Upon)
5. You Want A Battle? (Here’s A War)
6. The Poison
7. Scream Aim Fire
8. Alone
9. Worthless
10. Tears Don’t Fall
11. Waking The Demon
BFMV has been another band I haven't seen for a long, long time since I lived in the UK. I used to listen to then a lot in High School and College and was curious to see if they could still perform well. They really did! Thrashing straight into No Way Out with lots of pyrotechnics they cemented themselves on stage early. They had a solid set throughout and hearing classics like 4 words, The poison and Tears Don't Fall brought back a lot of nostalgia. I have Scream Aim Fire on my running playlist because it fuels my energy and the live version was even better. A lot of headbanging went on! Their bassist was fantastic despite taking the position over in the last year, his vocals were brutal for the screaming choruses and he had a huge stage presence.
Unusually they had a really long drum solo which I was expecting for a festival but it went down well. They had a huge number of fans in the audience and there was a lot of moshing. The entire left side became a circle pit several times. They have come to Osaka every year for the last 11 years, so lets hope they make it 12 in 2017!
BABYMETAL - Sonic Stage
1. BABYMETAL DEATH
2. ギミチョコ!!
3. あわだまフィーバー
4. Catch me if you can
5. META! メタ太郎
6. メギツネ
7. KARATE
8. Road of Resistance
9. イジメ、ダメ、ゼッタイ
BABYMETAL have finally made it to become the headline act for the Sonic Stage, they have gradually worked their way up, drawing bigger and bigger crowds each year. The entire arena was crammed full of people, many die hard fans. This was my third time seeing them at Summer Sonic and I was super happy since I had failed to get tickets for all of their 2016 shows. They have definitely grown, not just age wise but in terms of their performance, confidence and overall music. The live band were fantastic as ever, there was a distinct difference in volume and bass compared to BFMV, it was as if the organizers wanted to highlight that THIS was the main performance of the night. The bass shook me to the core and the lights were so bright it was almost blinding at times!
Su-metal's vocals have grown much stronger and she has grown into a strong front performer. No doubt having experience touring all over the globe has helped! Yuimetal and Moametal are still as energetic as ever, despite looking a lot older and more mature. The whole group has grown a lot in a number of ways. Devil horns were punching through the air and arms were raised high during the intro. I took a tiny video of Gimme Choco as I tried to catch a glimpse of the circle pit but was a little too late, then my phone died...!
There was a constant hive of excitement and energy in the audience, at one point there were two large circle pits happening on both sides. As well as the obligatory wall of death. The fun thing is, for Babymetal gigs everyone had a massive grin on their face, I saw one guy literally dancing as he ran around the pit, also the wall of death had people charging at each other but unlike western walls, people weren't out to throw elbows and smash someone over. Some metal fans might scoff that Babymetal isn't 'metal' but they really need to watch a show, sure the girls vocals might not fit the stereotype but the backing band is every bit as metal as any other well known metal band, if not more so.
Funnily, Su-metals MC was all in English, not sure why. It seemed a little rehearsed since her pronunciation is still very much Japanese but it was kind of cute. "Let us hear you...! Sing with us...!" haha. The only time they MC'd in Japanese was the give instructions for the whole stadium to do some mass coordinated mexican waves, which was pretty fun! The only downside to being in the Sonic arena was that there were no giant video screens, which considering a lot of the performance has a big emphasis on the matching dance moves, was a bit of a shame.
Overall it was a super fantastic day, I had a ton of fun and was definitely worth the money! Summer sonic is always a reliable, fun festival and I highly recommend you check it out next year!
