I’m a little slow in getting this done and I apologise for my laziness.
Punkspring this year, as it is every year, one of the highlights of live shows to be seen in Japan. For me Punkspring lasts 4 days. I know you are thinking, what? Punkspring is only for one day! Well for me it was 4 days this year.
It started on Saturday with a trip out to see Hit The Lights perform with Shane from Valencia opening. It was an intimate venue to say the least and I certainly knew a few people there as it was put on by Beyond The Blue and KickRock Music. There was a line outside for the event but I skipped past it and walked in with my friend and beers in our hands, handing over our tickets to get inside. There was an opening band that I have forgotten the name of. This is probably as I watched them from near the bar rather than near the stage. They were an all girl pop rock group and got things moving for the night. Shane on stage with just an acoustic guitar minus his Valencia bandmates was something special to watch. It reminded me a lot of when I watched Kris from The Ataris do a similar acoustic show in Tokyo a couple of years ago. Hearing the songs performed stripped back really showed the passion and emotion in the lyrics and creation of the songs. It also helps that Shane has a great voice to fit with this acoustic style and it never felt forced. It was almost like the songs were meant to be performed this way.
After an honest sounding set by Shane came the boys in Hit The Lights. HTL are playing a style of pop punk that I really enjoy. It has a bit of a harder edge to it and when done well is a lot of fun in the live setting. HTL came out from the first song and lifted the energy in the room. As this was an intimate venue everyone there felt included in the performance and could interact with the band throughout their set. HTL are a band to see live as for me that is the way most bands should be seen, pop punk is meant to be played loud and enjoyed by many.
Sunday morning came way too quickly. I was meeting some friends to drive me to Makuhari Messe at about 9.15am in Ikebukuro. Yeah I know super early seeing as doors don’t even open until 11 and bands start at about 12. I was running a little late but that seemed to be ok with the guys and we set off for Punkspring. Waited a little bit before having my first drink of the day – about 10:30am, then another before even getting in to the venue. This was to reduce the cost of the drinks I would buy througout the day, as even non-alcoholic beverages are not super cheap there. Caught up with many friends before the show started and knew I’d be seeing more throughout the day. I always manage to watch almost every band at Punkspring. I have no idea how I manage that but I do watch about 18 bands or so in one day! I can barely remember all that I saw so I’ll try just list them here. Sorry if there are some that I missed.
Secret 7 Line
You Me At 6
Hit The Lights
Fact
The King Blues – who were my favorite of the day!!!
Lostprophets
Set Your Goals
The Blackout
Gallows
Zebrahead
311
New Found Glory
The Stranglers
The Creepshow
Ok well I can’t think of any more at the moment so it would be great if you could remind me about them!
My favorite was The King Blues. I really think they won over a lot of people at the festival as at the start of their set everyone seemed a bit confused about their sound. After a few songs everyone was dancing along and throwing their hands in the air and really enjoying the more chilled sounds of them. I was bummed that they didn’t play my favorite song – What If Punk Never Happened – but I don’t think it would have really fit in the festival setting and also would have been pretty hard for much of the Japanese crowd to understand its whole meaning. Anyway they were awesome!
At the end of the day I had no money left but went out for a drink with some friends at Yamato in Shinjuku. Do you know it? You should! Beer is only 180円. It is a little bit more expensive than Alps but it is much closer to the station. Ran back to the station to catch the last train and had to borrow money from a friend to be able to buy the train ticket. What a day!
Monday – Thankfully still no work for me until Thursday so I was able to sleep and recover from Punkspring. I was going to see The Creepshow and Set Your Goals that night and needed some energy again. This show was at Harajuku Astrohall. I expected a bigger venue and crowd as for me Set Your Goals should be much more famous in Japan than they appear to be. I assume that a lot of fans were happy enough just to watch them at Punkspring though so that might explain the smallish venue. The mixture in the crowd was obvious but also great. All the Psycho kids are dressed up and there to see The Creepshow and all the hardcore/pop punk kids are there to see Set Your Goals. I could appreciate both bands, although SYG are a favorite of mine, and hopefully the diverse lineup opened up some peoples minds to a bit of a different sound. The psycho scene and the hardcore scene really could use some more people and support so hopefully they can mix together a bit more. Will there be Psycho Hardcore bands?? I guess there probably already is…
Tuesday saw another sun come up and yet another concert for Punkspring. This time it was Lostprophets with The Blackout at Akasaka Blitz. I have been going to this venue quite a few times in the past year or so and still enjoy it as it is convenient, big and seems pretty new. I don’t ming The Blackout but I have never really been caught up in their songs. For me something is just missing to connect with. The band members of The Blackout did appear to make a lot of friends at Punkspring though as they were on the side of the stage of every band that played that day. I have no idea how they managed to do that but if I was watching a band there was The Blackout watching it too. Lostprophets are always fun for me live. I think their songs are meant to be shouted by a room full of people. Their chorus’ are anthemic and I just like it. I dislike people telling me that I look like the vocalist Ian but whatever – there really is no resemblance in my mind. I like Lostprophets and I like to sing along to their songs. It was great to see them much closer than I did at Punkspring – I’m still no front row screaming fan though. As it was their own show they obviously played a little longer and changed up a few songs. Throwing in a few older songs and less famous songs that might not go over so well at a festival.
I know this has taken me a long time to write about. Sorry. I know that it is pretty brief in some sections and overly detailed in others. That’s the way I write. Punkspring will come again next year and I’m looking forward to it already! There are many other great shows to go to until then so support the local scene and the touring scene of Japan. Go out to concerts not just to festivals. Enjoy music and give back to those that give so much of themselves to you….
