The Monsters - Ro Kan Roll Tour - Japan 2005

Monday, 23. May - Wednesday 25. May

Take-off Zurich – 5 people on 3 different planes – that’s the way to do it nowadays! After 12hrs, arrival at Tokyo’s Narita-Airport. First of all, it was time to collect our freight (amp/cymbals/trigger) from customs. After about an hour of visiting one office after the other and struggling with the language as English is not very popular in the airport we finally managed to get our stuff thanks to the very helpful airport staff. Back in the terminal we met Tibu, Beatman and Janosh. As you get quality cymbals and backline at every club you play please travel light when playing Japan.

On the train and into Tokyo’s Ikebukuro District, where we checked into our hotel – a traditional Japanese hotel, take off your shoes, grab a kimono, futon on the floor and fill the tiny rooms with our baggage. Met the people from the Sazanami Label with Lurker’s help. They organised the whole tour for us. As all places are in japanese and two bars with the same name in the same area we struggled at first to find our meeting place. Thanks to modern technology we made it in the end. Met U1, Tetsuya (twice), Gaku, Eri and the rest, can’t remember their names... As for Japanese restaurants; take off yer shoes when entering the place, put on yer slippers, take em off again at the table and sit on the floor wearing socks. If you visit the toilet, you put on yer slippers, change into the toilet slippers, have a piss, change again and back to the table... Back in our rooms we had a wee bit of trouble for being too loud, no surprise with these paper walls and the sake we had!

Cured our jet lags and hangovers and ventured into the city. Shopping for a drum skin we experienced the subway and the feeling of this massive city. Found an area full of music shops, even a left-handed guitar shop! As it was the beginning of the rainy season we equipped ourselves with plastic umbrellas.

The next day we got picked up to do our radio interview at Radio Barks, which is one of the biggest internet radios in Japan. You can check out the interview here: http://www.barks.jp/bow/. One thing we learned so far; in Japan it is absolutely necessary to have business cards!! After the radio show we drove to Koenji where the Sazanami Label is based. With the people from Sazanami – they released our Japan CD „Hide&Seek“ – we went to Shinjuku to eat Sushi (incl. crab brain)...

Thursday, 26. May (Chiba - Look)

The first gig!! We were all a bit nervous about this - would anyone come? Loaded the equipment together with „Das Boot“ and „Mad Man“ into two busses with navigation, A/C and powered curtains. Sound check at Club Look in Chiba. Raised a few eyebrows as we were doing the Monsters-Routine-Soundcheck... Apparently the Japanese are used to a certain level of volume. Local bands don’t take their own sound engineers with them. All clubs provide professional engineers, checking every detail and at a volume that our Swiss „SUVA“ would get on their knees and pray!!!!!!!!! I don’t even want to mention the PA-Systems in this country – amazing, stagehands included!

We played a set with „Howling Guitar“, “Das Boot“ und „Nine“. The first band started at 6:30pm and the gig was over at 10pm. Unusual for us, but very common for Japan. A rather good thing as after the gig, all bands and promoters go for a meal and a drink, more drink than food to be honest, and these Japs CAN drink! We were a wee bit nervous at first but relaxed into a good set with Scarlette Fever providing a Geisha Strip....

Friday, 27. May (Shizuoka - JamJamJam)

As we had to drive for 4 hours, we had an early start. The first time we drove along the seaside and caught a glimpse of Mount Fuji through the mist. Cool club, an even better PA-System and soundcheck was due at 3pm. We played with „Das Boot“, „Dildos“, “The Qo’nos“, “Fabulos Pharaos” and “Fat’s Ot & The Royal Saloon”. After the gig we went to a traditional Ryokan for dinner with Mr. Death and Geisha-Pussy. We sat in a big room with loads of people unwrapping gifts from Geisha-Pussy (domo, domo, domo) drinking sake and enjoying our sushi. After midnight we were told to move on to the dorm to continue our drinking. Whatever happened after that, I have no idea... The bottles were big and green, the sunrise in Japan is beautiful and it comes in very handy to be sitting on the floor when you suddenly feel the urge to sleep.

Saturday, 28. May (Tokyo - UFO-Club)

The good thing about Japanese showers is that you can actually sit down while having a wash. There are people who didn’t even manage that, but that is another story... Our driver „Mad Taka“ was still a bit under the weather driving us to Tokyo. After the soundcheck BeatMan and Janosh went to „Barnes Home (since1985) Record Shop“ to sign some CDs and merchandise. The rest of the band went for some Ramen (Soup). Lurker, Pino, Imre were all part of the crowd. „Volume Out“, “Das Boot“, “Rathole“ and “BoRock1“ were all playing that night. The best concert so far and even the toilets were dirty! Food, drink and arm wrestling were to follow (Switzerland 3 pts. Japan 0 pts.)

Sunday, 29. May (Gifu - Bravo Club )

Drove to Gifu, together with „Goggle-A“. They actually made this tour possible and we spent the rest of our time in Japan together. The club itself was located on the 3rd floor of a 3-storey amusement hall. Jan went surfing and took the dog for a walk, as did BeatMan but failed... Tibu and Pumi killed a gazillion of zombies and monsters, while Janosh tried his luck playing baseball.

Everything went pear-shaped that night; even BeatMan’s microphone was live. „Wild One“, „Tedd Drunk“, „W.L.H.“ and „Goggle-A“ were playing as well. „Goggle-A“ is a superb live act, great showmanship and danceable music. We were looking forward to be touring with them!! Later on we went to a bar owned by „Wild One“ drummer Johnny. After a lot of food and drinks we spent the night in single rooms, just like real Rock-Stars!!!

Monday, 30. May (Kyoto - Muse Club)

On the way to Kyoto we stopped en route at a Buddhist temple, where Beatman drank the water for a long life and the rest of us had our hair smoked to make us wise men...

In Kyoto we visited a record shop which works together with the Sazanami-Label and we were thrilled to see the „Hide & Seek“ CD completely sold out. For that reason we wrote a message to our fans that the CD will be back in stock soon (in Japan it is very common for bands to write messages which are put into the CD rack).

The „Muse Club“ is situated on the 3rd floor, „Muse Studio“ is on the 4th floor and the backstage room is on the 5th. A tricky thing if you have to go down two floors through the studio in to the club being rather intoxicated... the club itself was very well equipped, including an electric stage curtain! „Goggle-A“, “Chelsea Girl“ (a rock band going slapstick – cool!), “Johnny Castro Oil“, “Jack in the Box“ and “The Soap“ were all playing that night. After the show? Yes, you guessed it, food and drinks and back to the hotel where a whole bunch of schoolgirls were staying, all in their uniforms... a grown man’s dream comes true!!! Oh, and the garden had a huge pond with millions of fish, good place to relax. (Ed: Yeah right!)

Tuesday, 31. May (Ube - Duo-Club)

The next morning we were on our way to Ube, a small city by the sea. The club was situated in a residential area and reminded us of „Pit’s“. Merchandise and backstage was out in the open, so we had to change in the cars. After the soundcheck we went to the port, which turned out to be an industrial port, ah well, never mind it had ships... “Goggle-A“, “Bye Bye My Love“ and some other band were on the bill that night. Sake and some food and back to the hotel after that, where we were having a laugh throwing stones into the water. Janosh had to uninstall a lamp, as it never went dark???

Wednesday, 1. June (Fukuoka - Keith Flack)

In the morning we had to do a photo session with the hotel staff, as tourist are not very often stopping in this area. After that we were on our way to Fukuoka the southern most point on this tour.

Fukuoka is located on the island of Kyushu where you have to cross the largest bridge in Japan, where we also ate some Fugu, but saying “No” to the offered whale meat.

Upon arriving at the club we were dumbstruck as the building itself was constructed in Gaudi style. During soundcheck the transformer of our trigger broke, but Master U1 lent us his – thanx a lot! By the way, Japan only has 100Volts, so the US transformers don’t really work there.

That night we witnessed the power of the Japanese Ro Kan Roll Ladies. „The 50`s High Teens“ were really rawkin and so did “Goggle-A”. We had a good set as well, Jan had to get a few crazy boys offstage at one point. After the show we had a photo session with two BeatMan-Imitators, smoking like the man himself on his Reverend cover and they even dropped their pants in the classic “Burn my mind” stylee. We also met Koby, a Swiss bloke from Thun holidaying in Japan (thanx for the pictures). The after party went on for a while as we had our day off the coming morning…

Thursday, 2. June (Day Off - Fukuoka)

A relaxing day ahead of us, shopping and sightseeing in Fukuoka. Car dealers on the 7th floor, and yes, even the cars were on the 7th floor… Trash shops selling action figures, bondage starter kits and life-size women’s legs as pillows…

Late afternoon we started the 8-hour trip to Osaka. After an endless drive we got to Osaka late at night, thanks to our drivers! The hotel was in the middle of Osaka’s Red Light District. 9 fingered Jakuzas cruising the streets in blacked out limousines and a lot of noise all night long!

Friday, 3. June (Osaka - Rock Rider)

A hard day’s work starts with us doing the washing… And food was essential, so we checked out Japan’s 2nd largest city. A lot of very cool cars are roaming the streets in Osaka, all made by “Mitsuoka”. They basically take the design of a classic like a Jaguar MkII build it smaller and put it on a new chassis, really cool!

Played the gig with „Goggle-A“, “Johnny Gun“, „Mistels“ and “Cyclone“. After the show we met Rockin’ Jelly Bean, an illustrator who made a poster for us in the past. Together with him and the bands we drank a lot of sake into the night…

Saturday, 4. June (Kobe - Black Beat)

The mixing desk in the Black Beat Club is located above the stage, providing us with a rather strange soundcheck and Pumi with a view of the balding Monsters.

All around the club the streets are scattered with little shops and cafes, consisting of a roof, 2 walls, 4 chairs inside and 4 outside. This is where we settled after soundcheck to have a proper meal. BeatMan already had dinner and thought that two meat skewers each would suffice… in the end we had 42! Not mentioning how many Beatman had…

For the first time we didn’t play last on the bill, “Goggle-A” were headlining, so we had the chance to see their whole set. What a fantastic band, check them out the next time they come to Europe or America!!! Another highlight was “Electric Mama”, all we can say is “White Stripes” get lost!! (Ed: I always said they are a crap band!!!) Japanese bands generally are technically brilliant and do possess a lot of energy and just love playing, always perfectly styled on- and offstage. Instead of paying ridiculous amounts of money to see a reunion band, book a holiday in Japan and check out these local bands, well worth it! „Milkteeth“ und „Six Bullets“ also played a great set, so we had another reason to go a bit overboard with the sake and beer…

Sunday 5. June (Nagoya - Oys Club)

Nagoya - Expo05. Not that we saw anything of it, but the shops were open on Sundays and we kept ourselves busy browsing the record shops. Back at the club, it dawned on us that we are facing a tough night…

A lot of people were already outside the club including Family Dead. A bit later we spotted Family Kaneko with Tiger and Dragon – the youngest Japanese Mosters fans, kitted out in their self printed little Monsters shirts! Autographs everywhere, they do love us over there!!

The gig went well, we shared the stage with “Goggle-A“, “Eight Men“, “Kamakiri Buzz Noise“ und „Bussyoung“. Later on we partied Nagoya style with table grills and innards from some strange creatures and, yes you guessed it; sake! Tibu had a blast with the chop-sticks (Ed: He usually takes his own cutlery with him).

Monday 6. June (Hachioji - Rips)

On the way back towards Tokyo, one of the busses – the Nissan, to be precise – gave up his service with a loud “Bang”! So we were able to experience Japanese road recovery… but first, the damn thing had to be pushed up a hill… the garage where we were towed into informed us, that there is nothing that can be done to fix the vehicle, the bus was well and truly fucked. After renting another bus we made it in time to the show.

The Rips Club is another highlight; club on the 5th – backstage on the 6th floor… with great views! Tonight was more like a “couply” night; Janosh’s love Yuko was there, Noriko’s boyfriend, Gaku’s girlfriend plus the two stalkers from Switzerland, Lurker and Pino. „Billy The Kid“, “Sister Glass Circle“, “The Young Man Psycho Blues“ and of course „Goggle-A“ were all part of the bill. Soon after the last feedback of BeatMan’s guitar the club staff started swarming in and began cleaning… they didn’t just clean the cables and wires, they even polished the monitors and….. ….the microphones?!?!?! (Ed: Jeez, I can imagine their faces…)

Tuesday, 7. June (Sendai - Enn)

It had to come this far…. En route to our northern most concert in Sendai, Janosh got paler and paler and developed a fever – something to do with the raw(-ish) innards? What were we supposed to do? One man down in the bus asleep, BeatMan with a medal stuck on his chest saying, “I’m drunk”, well, well…

We still couldn’t decide what to do, as Janosh slowly turned into a zombie. 10 minutes before “Goggle-A” was due onstage we decided to do a “Reverend BeatMan” show and get onstage immediately. The crowd was slightly confused at first, but after hearing him preach and witnessing Tibu’s unbelievable percussion solos they went ballistic. Before our impromptu show „The Babies“ und „Giro No Mori” were on the bill.

Because of Janosh’s incurable tropical illness, Pumi was staying in a private home and experienced Japanese hospitality first hand… thanx to “Goggle-A” for the mattress (Ed: whatever that means?)

Wednesday, 8. June ( Tokyo – Shelter)

Two things happened this morning; we saw the biggest Buddha statue and Janosh was sure to be playing the last gig. Did he just say the last one? Ah well, everything has come to an end…

The Shelter Club is located in Tokyo’s Shimokitazawa-District, where you find one record shop after the other. Another signing session was held in “Disk Union”. Before the show we met Seiji and Toru from “Guitar Wolf” telling us they’ll continue playing after Billy’s death (R.I.P). A new bass player has been recruited and he’s supposed to be looking “supa bad”, can’t play bass tho’… that’s what makes this band sooo cool!

Played again with “Das Boot” and „Sister Paul“, a GlamRockBand starting their set with “Blowin’ in the wind”… A lot of people we met on this tour were in the audience. Before we went onstage, people started cheering our name. Despite being ill, Janosh and BeatMan put on a superb performance and the kids started storming the stage and screaming for more, we did one encore but due to the sick boys we had to call it a day after that.

The after sow party was held in the club… with all our new and old friends. Sadly that night ended way too soon but, who knows? Maybe we’ll be back?

Domo arigato, ozgare, sayonara and umtschi bye bye!!

Big props to all the bands we played with!!!! T’was fun innit!!!!

First of all: Goggle-A, Das Boot.
Bo Rock 1, Sister Paul, Chelsea Girl, Volume Out, The Portugal Japan, The 50’s High Teens, Young Man Psycho Blues, Milteath, Electric Mama, W.H.L., Tedd Drunk, The Wild One, Howlin Guitar, Nine, Jack In The Box, Bye Bye My Love, Cyclones, Mistels, Johnny Gun, The Six Bullets, Akaneiro, Switch Trout, Eight Men, Kamakiri Buzz Noise, Bussyoung, Billy The Kid, Little Kiyoshi, Sister Glass Circle, The Babies, Jiro No Mori, Qo’nos, Fat’s Ot & Royal Saloon, The Faboulous Pharaos, Dildos, Rathole, Johnny Castro Oil, The Soap and all we forgot to mention, you know who you are…

Spezial Thanks: Noriko (domo, domo, domo!), U1 (SakeMasta), Eri (the most unbelievable voice on drums!), Gaku (the smartest frontman), Tetsuya (the man that never sleeps), Jolly (the driving merch-man disana), Mad Man Taka (also a gentleman), Scarlette Fever (the Geisha from Bormeo), all at Sazanami Label (you made it possible), ACE, Mr. Dynamite & Mr. Soulman, Sonnyboy, Kick, Mr.Dead & Geisha-Pussy, The Kaneko Family, Lurker, Pino, Koby, Mr. Fuji, Yuko, Yoko, Miki, Miku and Miko, Chris1, Chris2, all Promoters, Fans, Radios, Record Shops und all the rest... God bless Sake! Merci, merci, merci!

Thanks to our sponsors: Pro Helvetia, Stadt Bern, Kanton Bern, Suisa Foundation

Fu** that cheap pics... i wanna see the real Tourpictures from Japan

Nothing better to do?? read the story from the 04 europe tour or the 03 south america/usa tour