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This Dude in Japan
Summer Sonic 2004
Yesterday I went to Summer Sonic with Hiromi and our friend Lia. Summer Sonic is a really big two day concert that starts in Osaka and ends in Tokyo. We only bought tickets for one day because they were really expensive, and lucky for us everyone who we wanted to see performed on Saturday. When we get there we go stand on the left side, because our tickets were for the left side...heh. The stage had huge bigscreens on each side so if you couldnt see the stage you could still see some of the performance. I had never heard of the first band, but they were pretty cool. Rockin and rappin with some good record scratchin. I think they were called 'Beauralis' After that a rock band started, and we used that as an opportunity to check out the foodstands and the portapotties. The portapotties had Japanese style toliets. Their was also another bigscreen on the side of a truck so that all the foodworkers could still see what was going on onstage. After the rock band...'The Lost Prophets' I think, Jurassic 5 performed for about 45 minutes. They did a good job, and the crowd was really hype. After Jurrasic five we took a quick break, and got back into line for the front section. The way the concert operated was the stage crowd was split into left and right, with each section having a front and back. After each act most people would leave from the front section, and those waiting by the gate would be let in until the front section filled up again. The reason we got into line so quick was the next act was N.E.R.D and thats who we came to see specifically. When the gates were opened it was a mad rush. I' m serious, I saw a girl get knocked over, and she looked up like who's going to help me....and nobody did. I wanted to help but I was being pulled and I was pulling my friends, and plus if you get knocked over...you shouldnt be in the rush in the first place. Hate to be mean, but hey. So Pharrell and that other black dude in N.E.R.D did their thing, and Chad was nowhere to be seen. We stayed in the front section after N.E.R.D, because right after they performed Nas had a performance. He did a lot of songs from his first album as he should, and he plugged his new CD, as he should. Kelis was backstage as a tease to anyone who recognized her because she never came right out onto the stage. After Nas perfromed some Japanese rock band performed. One new concert experience for me was that all the acts started on time. Right on time by the minute. I never seen that shit happen in America. I must go to more concerts in Japan to see if this is how it usually goes down. After the Japanese rock band .'Mad Capsule Market' I think they were called. The Beastie Boys performed. The had really cool bigscreens on stage showing videos and lights as they performed. They also did a good job of rapping over samples. They were the last act on the main stage so as they wrapped up we left. Their were three other stages, but we did not even check them out because Hoobastank was the only other name that we recognized that performed on the smaller stages. And thats pretty much that.