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Diamond Head in Japan Blog Star-date: early December 2007.. We are in the middle of the Thin Lizzy tour when I receive an e-mail from Geoff Gillespie regarding a potential show in Japan... Geoff is our contact in Japan for our label 'Dingwall' and he and I had been corresponding for sometime regarding a show in Japan.. However it was becoming apparent that this was not going to happen this time round as the album had been out too long for us to do a promo show in Japan and we had discussed the potential for a show on the next album (which we are in the very, very early stages of putting together) and all seemed quiet on the Eastern front until the e-mail I received.. Geoff sent an SOS e-mail asking if we could do a show on Sunday the 17th of February... At first glance I was absolutely gobsmaked... and giving it the old rebel yell.. My folks thought I'd finally gone loopy.. Then I came down to earth and realized Nick would be in Vegas on vacation... Oh shit...So I politely replied to Geoff after speaking with Nick that the show would be a no go due to Nick's vacation. He had had the vacation booked for several months and was now passed the deadline for re-arranging the trip... Geoff sent an e-mail back explaining the situation with the promoter and how the show came about..The e-mail was very detailed and at once I could see the importance of the show... I spoke with Nick, explained the situation and sent him a copy of the e-mail.. The ball was now in Nick's corner I had done all I was asked.. We still had several dates on the Thin Lizzy tour to do and it was left at that..After a couple of days Nick said that he had spoken with this wife Anna and that we good do the show if they could somehow re-arrange their vacation.. With this piece of news I was once again rebel yelling...We were going to make this show happen by hook or by crook. Japan is one place that Diamond Head and I have never played ..We almost did it a few years ago; but that fell through... After the last Lizzy show at Hammersmith we had confirmed the show and were looking forward to the new year.. When opportunities come your way and you have all your ducks in order if you are to capitalize on them.. We had just completed the Thin Lizzy tour and the band was really firing eight cylinders.. We were extremely tight and all were going in the same direction. We had had a successful year and had recorded an album that we were extremely proud of.. The fact that Anna had agreed to re-schedule her vacation was another good sign that this was meant to be... I flew back to the US after the Hammersmith and waited for instructions from Geoff. Geoff said that someone from the Zak Corporation would be in touch. With the show less than eight weeks away the rush was on..We needed photos for work visas and all paper work filled out and all this had to be in Tokyo by the December 26th.... We're now into the new year and I receive my paperwork back from Japan.. I now need to get my passport sorted and a trip to the Japanese consulate in New York was needed. Brian sorted everything out in the UK with a trip to London.. Brian and I were now in constant communication with Geoff and Yumi from Zaks. E-mails were flying back and forth regarding flights, hotels and back-line. I sent Yumi a request for back-line and a picture of my drum set up and once all had been sorted the countdown began. Brian,Abbz,Eddie,Nick and Anna flew from London.. Zaks had graciously offered to fly Anna out to Tokyo as a thank you for re-arranging their vacation.. I was flying from Newark New Jersey..We both left on Friday the 15th and landed on the 16th. Unfortunately we were not going to arrive in Tokyo at the same time. I tried to correlate our arrival but there was no way I could arrange it with the flights. Yumi met the guys and Anna late on Saturday morning at Narita airport and drove them to the hotel where they checked in and met Geoff and Nobu our label manager, who after a short time gave them a whirlwind tour of Tokyo.. Yumi then drove back to the airport which was a good 50 minutes away to meet me we then drove to the hotel which was in the Akasaka part of the city and was a very swank part of town.. I checked in and was told that there was going to be a production meeting with the PA, lightning and back-line guys for the show and that everybody would be back shortly... The hotel was very nice, however the rooms were on the small side but they were compact and bijou. The rest of the guys along with Anna and Geoff arrived back and we gave each other a hug.. This was the first time we had seen each other since December 13th at Hammersmith. We headed to the small cafe situated next to the hotel and proceeded to meet with everybody regarding the show... The meeting took about an hour or so and the time was getting close to 7-30pm and we were starting to feel hungry.. Geoff and Nobu had arranged for us to eat at a local restaurant and we said goodnight to Yumi and the crew and headed to the restaurant. The air was full of electricity and excitement for tomorrows show.. You have to understand how stoked we were..We were in Tokyo Japan.It was Roy of the Rovers stuff The food was good the local beer fabulous. We must have been in the restaurant a few hours as it was close 11-30pm when we finally left..And would you believe it there was a fan outside who had heard we were there and had waited at least an hour for us to to leave ( how polite). Needless to say we graciously obliged him by signing all the things he wanted signing.. We made our way back to the hotel..It was time for bed.. I didn't sleep much that night due to time-zone difference and excitement and the morning soon came around. I was up early as we had a full day ahead. Yumi had arranged for us to meet in the lobby at noon for us to head to the venue (Shibuya O-East ) to checkout the venue and the back-line.. Brian also had an interview with Burrn Magazine scheduled. When we got to the venue all the back-line was set up.. The guys had done an absolutely marvelous job and I only needed to to tweak the drums..The venue was spectacular..We were told due to noise abatements we could not make any sound until after a certain time. Once we had checked the gear Geoff arranged for us to have a look around the city, while Brian conducted his first ever interview in Japan. Geoff took us down to Shinjuku. This part of town was heaving with bodies..It was absolutely amazing..Eddie as usual hit the Bass guitar store where we left him while the rest of us headed into an electric store for Nick to buy a gift for his son.... The part of town we were in is featured in the movie 'Lost in translation' and on the Scorpions Live in Tokyo album (Tokyo Tapes) with that famous photo on the back which was their version of the Beatles Abbey Road cover. This album was one of my favorite albums as a kid and here I was walking across the very same crossing, I had to pinch myself. This was my first time in Japan and it was to play a headlining show at the Shibuya O-east venue.. After carousing the shops Geoff gave us the signal that it was time to head back to the venue for a sound check. When we got back everything was ready for us.. The back-line crew had even arranged Brian's picks in the shape of a flower. The japanese crew were absolutely fantastic, totally professional and extremely polite. After sound-check it was time for a snack. Yumi had arranged some sushi for us (me really) as nobody else ate the stuff along with sandwiches beer, water and of course tea.. We were all feeling on top of the world and in fine fettle. We gave our merchandise to Yumi who had arranged someone to sell it for us (we sold everything)..The doors where opening and it was an hour before show time and we were starting to go through our pre show mantras. Geoff couldn't believe how relaxed we were..I think we were a little nervous our set was going to be 90 minutes, our last set was 45 minutes. We hadn't played together since the last show at London's Hammersmith two months ago and we had had no rehearsal but the adrenalin was pumping and we ready to give it the berries. However we had all done some pre-production on our own and as always I said "if the train comes off the tracks keep going and I'll meet you at the station" The intro tape was rolling, the hug took place and to the stage we went. within no time at all we were playing the last song in the set.. It was amazing, we were so tight and together, we were all running on pure adrenalin and emotion .. If there was any floor in the show it would be a couple of tunes were a little too quick and I'm being very analytical here.. All our body clocks were saying it was Saturday morning but here we were on stage Sunday evening in Japan.. The crowd was in a raucous mood and were really cheering for more. Yumi came and told us that it was okay to go back, there was a curfew and everybody was a little concerned about time. We hit the stage again. I thanked everybody concerned for the show in a half American/Midlands accent and sounded totally stoned.. But all I can say to that is I was totally in awe of the occasion and so proud of the band.. We laid into the last two songs and concluded our set to tumultuous applause. Everything about the show was fantastic. The sound was phenomenal and the lights were amazing. The amount of cues that they caught was unbelievable..You would have thought they had been doing our show for years.. Thanks guys and girls. We left the stage and quickly changed to meet and greet fans.. Brian was inundated with CDs, albums etc the smile on his face spoke volumes..We all signed what needed signing and I even signed a couple of Rekuiem CDs which I had helped write, record, mix and co-produce. I had invited a musician friend and his wife(Mako and Kyoki what a beautiful name) to the show that I had worked with in San Francisco who had since become a close friend. I hadn't seen him in six years and it was great to see him, he was so impressed with the show that he was speechless and had a tear in his eye.. Yumi arranged some venue swag for us T-shirts, hats etc and we were much obliged. After the meet and greet it was time to head back to the hotel for a quick change as Zaks had arranged to take us out for dinner. It was close to midnight by the time we left the restaurant in a somewhat inebriated state. We parted company with everybody and decided to have a walk around Akasaka however we couldn't find anything open and headed back to the hotel.. We all had to be up early for the flight back to the UK..I was going to stay and have a vacation for a week and was flying back on the Saturday. I got up and had breakfast with the guys. There were fans in the lobby it was incredible.. Yumi arrived at 9-am to take Brian,Eddie,Abbz, Nick and Anna to the airport..We hugged, loaded the van with guitars and bags and they were off to the airport for a 12 hour flight back to London. We had pulled it off..A great show,a school boy dream come true and a great time. I and the band would like the thank the following people for making our Tokyo show such a memorable time and possible: Geoff Gillespie Nobu and Ikeda San from our label (Dingwall) Yumi and the Zak corporation. All the crew ( Back-line, PA and Lights) who were absolutely brilliant. Glenn Williams and Anna.. Peace from DHQ Stay tuned for some of my Tokyo vacation and a jam with legendary guitarist Kyoji Yamamoto (BowWow and VowWow) |