Seriously, not until it actually happened did I realized how much I missed a GOOOOOOD HC show.
Japan kind of sucks HC-wise, there is a whole lot of new good sounding bands but I have yet to check their lyrics and that is normally where Japanese HC fails big time. Anyway, shit didn’t bother me that much (or so it seemed like it to me) until I actually went to these UNDERDOG shows. Seriously, I could watch that band every day for the rest of my life and I would most probably never get bored of it.
Anyway, first things first: this show was NO SMORKING which is always a good thing
Asuka of course couldnt stop the urge and due to not being able to smork a fag he started smorking his ear plugs. And so his EDGE went out the window…
The club was really small again, which is a good thing, 50-70 people only, mostly BOUNCING SOULS lot because all the HC types went to the MURPHYS LAW/MADBALL gig just few stops away (I will explain later)
OK, First band we skipped. It was this major label poppy punk band called START FROM THE SCRATCH or some shit. Good for junior high schoolgirls which is most probably 99.9% of their fanbase.
Second, the band called JAYBIRD. Never seen them before but Asuka told me (as name suggests) they were shooting to be the Tokyo’s Token Entry. See the video and judge for yourself. I did enjoy their show a lot though. There’s a great chance they will become good. Mad props for “Stay Close To Me” cover :)
After that UNDERDOG. There really is no need to say anything. Just check the pictures/videos and if you live in Tokyo shoot yourself in the head for not being at this show.
Is this where Morgado gets his moves from?
After the UNDERDOG set I hung out with Richie and my bro from New Jersey, Scooter at the back of the venue for a while. I found out that MADBALL cancelled their Shibuya show because apparently they couldn’t get the guarantee so they said they’d rather sit on their arses back at the hotel than play. I personally thought that was fucking stupid. Even if they couldnt get the full guarantee they’d lose a whole day worth of merch sales. Oh well, fuck em. As Richie put it: “In the end the only ones to suffer are the kids who already bought the tickets”
So, that was the news as of 3pm of said afternoon. As I found out later from JayBil, who went to that other show, MADBALL actually did play. Changed their minds I guess?
I was actually wondering why this whole tour was so badly organized with multiple shows in different venues in the same cities. For example at the same time as the UNDERDOG show in Yokohama there was MADBALL show in Tokyo and these clubs are only like 30mins away. Also on the 30th there was this BOUNCING SOULS/UNDERDOG gig in Tokyo, Ueno and AT THE SAME TIME there was MURPHY’S LAW, HARLEY’S WAR, H2O and MADBALL in Shibuya which is on the same fucking line just few stops away.
From what they said, there was supposed to be one big show with everything at the same time but apparently the venue fell through and they had to get smaller venues and divide the bands. Chaos.
Fortunately I will get to see ALL these bands at that big arse show in Yokohama on Saturday.
There’s also another thing: Daiki and his HAVE HEART tour in the middle of all this. For example TODAY there’s a SICK OF IT ALL gig at one venue and HAVE HEART in another in Tokyo. It’s really wrecking my fucking nerves. I haven’t been to any shows in months and then suddenly they are fucking everywhere and all at the same time so you have to pick ONE and fuck the other ones. I wish they bloody checked before booking these tours so that they dont collide.
Anyway, here’s the BOUNCING SOULS. I remember I used to have one of their 7eps on tape when I was still a teenager but couldnt remember at all what they sounded like. Well, it was relaxing. Enjoyable ~
One more thing, that goes to Asuka: What’s the deal with X’ing up ONLY for the edge shows? That’s some rubbish talk dude haha :)
And back home. I wonder if these two know eachother or are just random sleeping dudes? They looked good haha
