Summer Sonic 2009 Preview

By Jonti Davies

It's that time of year again, when we all start to prepare for a long weekend of hot sounds, chronic aches and sunstroke. A three-day festival of international music split across two of Japan's hippest cities, Summer Sonic lands in Osaka and Tokyo on Friday, August 7th and parties on through till Sunday the 9th. Tokyo and Osaka's respective schedules are ordered a bit differently because, you know, it's unfortunate but scientists have yet to successfully clone Beyoncé. Still, most Summer Sonic acts will appear in both cities over the course of the weekend. Just not at the same time. So select your destination, buy your tickets, read this guide, check out the pretty pictures and don't forget to pack several tubes of that sunblock. Have a good one!

osaka

The Osaka festival takes in five locations within a walkable radius, centralized as they are on the Maishima Sports Island. There are two bridges from the Osaka mainland, so you can leave your rowing boat at home - though if you are planning to make the journey by train, the closest you'll be able to get to Maishima is Sakurajima Station via the Sakurajima Line after changing at JR Nishi-Kujo Station. You'll then need to sit out a stuffy 15-minute bus ride; the alternative is to take a city bus direct from JR Nishi-Kujo, which will take around 35 minutes.

Either route will ultimately lead you into the epicenter of Summer Sonic. There you'll find the Ocean Stage, for international megastars (and My Chemical Romance); the Sky Stage, for random rock; the Sonic Stage, for leftfield rock; the Dance Stage, for beatmeisters and disco-people; and the Park Stage, for minor artists and leftovers, with whom the excellent Jack Peñate has this year been rather unfairly lumped.

friday, august 7th

Booty-shaking highlight of the party? Friday: the Ocean Stage: the impossibly beautiful Beyoncé. I was there to see the pandemonium of Daft Punk's "pyramid performance" at Summer Sonic in 2006, but Beyoncé's show might just top that if the masses of orange-skinned teenage girls go as crazy as I imagine they will. Other Ocean Stage "highlights" on Friday include Lady Gaga, who is rated highly by Japanzine's Doug Breath, a man of infamously poor judgement, but significantly less so by anyone who actually listens to her music. Platinum-selling b-boy Ne-Yo will be there, too, and so will dull Brits Keane. Plus, check these two veteran Japanese acts: Elephant Kashimashi, who were pretty big in the '90s and sound like a Tokyo version of Ulfuls, and Unicorn, who were big in the '80s and made their name by singing about d-cup boobs. Woo!

If, like me, you thought the Sky Stage, named as it is, would be reserved for summery, light-as-Air pop bands, you were, like me, dead wrong. Limp Bizkit are the biggest name to be avoided here (as Emily so profoundly puts it, "they suck ass"), though you might also wish to ignore Cavalera Conspiracy (nice tattoos, chaps!), Enter Shikari (a UK outfit who are clearly not half as extreme as they think they are), or Cancer Bats (charmed, I'm sure). The one saving grace of the Sky Stage is the presence of Ninja Tune drum 'n' bass-pushing hard rockers The Qemists. I'll be sure to give 'em an audio glance as I walk to buy another ¥500 paper cup of Asahi.   

For my yen, the best line-up of Osaka Summer Sonic's first day is on the Sonic Stage, where the bill is topped by The Flaming Lips - probably without Yoshimi, but you never know - and Sonic Youth. You have to see Thurston Moore live to fathom how ridiculously tall he is. He's a damn fine axe-man, too. And that's not all. Scottish legends Teenage Fanclub and The Vaselines will also appear on the Sonic Stage, supported by an overdose of youthful variety in Brooklyn's superb Grizzly Bear, upbeat Australian rockers The Temper Trap and their psychedelic compatriots Tame Impala.

Shuffle on up to the Dance Stage and you'll find Kid Sister, a poor lady's M.I.A. Not awful, just inferior. But otherwise, it's uppers all the way. Solange, aka Solange Knowles, aka Beyoncé's cute little sister, should probably cover "Family Affair". And then there's soul singing Londoner VV Brown, who makes music that's near-perfect for hot, sticky days. Finally, check N.A.S.A., the New York/Sao Paulo DJ duo with whom Japanzine's very own Daniel Ostrander did chinwag a couple of months back. In that interview, N.A.S.A.'s Squeak E. Clean doffed his sombrero and suggested their Summer Sonic performance would be a "multi-media show" with "visuals" and "dancing aliens". A space opera, then? Only one way to find out for sure.

The last (and least) area is the Park Stage, which looks about as appealing as a three-week-old egg mayonnaise sarnie. Bizarre Ukrainian "gypsy-punk" outfit Gogol Bordello will be there. Um, OK. 1970s funk legends War will be there. Er... Big in Japan (small everywhere else) singer-songwriter Scott Murphy will be there. Uh-huh! And jumpy, California-based electropop dudes Iglu and Hartly will be there. Actually, these guys are pretty funny. So that's the Park Stage! Thank you and good night.

friday's must-see act in osaka
Give me a "B", give me an "e", give me a... Yes, it's Beyoncé. Who else could it be, really? 

saturday, august 8th

Saturday's Ocean Stage looks more like the "Dead Sea Stage"; I mean, how do you follow Beyoncé, other than with a really good search engine? "My Chemical Romance" is not the answer, though they certainly have the "21st Century Queen" thing nailed. Nine Inch Nails? They're proficient and immensely talented... but not really the sort of thing any balanced person would want to listen to in the sunshine on an August evening in Osaka. Ditto Japan's own Boom Boom Satellites. Then there's Paramore. Emo something. Admirably young and angry... Repeat for Boys Like Girls, only without the vitriol. And there's more tiresome screaming from Saosin. So it comes to this: The most interesting act on the Ocean Stage on Saturday are aging-yet-unpredictable Japanese rap-rockers Dragon Ash.

Over on the Sky Stage, the trendies are in town! I'm not a fan of Razorlight or Kasabian, but OK, they do have real stage presence and know how to get the crowds moving. Downers: NME faves The Enemy and Red Light Company; give these ones a miss, unless you're just too wasted to walk away. Oh and Katy Perry is also due on the Sky Stage on Saturday. She's bound to look the part, but, like Lady Gaga, it's just a shame about her muzack. Things should pick up as soon as Parisian four-piece Phoenix arrive with their stylish, danceable rock groove.

I reckon the clever thing to do on Saturday, is to split your time between the Sonic, Dance and Park Stages. The Sonic Stage is headlined by the one and only Richard D. James. Yes, ladies and gents, that's Aphex freakin' Twin! Recent Youtube footage says the great facial contortionist will be sitting at a desk or standing in a DJ booth, and not looking particularly interested, while the thousands in front of him go banana-mental. Also on Sonic are Mogwai, who I like but don't particularly fancy outdoors in midsummer; Danish "indie stadium rockers" Mew (thumbs up!); Northern outfit 65daysofstatic, the grimier cousins of Hot Chip; and precious whisperers Kyte, with their equally soporific touring mates Schools Of Seven Bells. And finally, Mercury Rev. From Yerself Is Steam through to 2002's All Is Dream, the Rev were probably my favorite band in the whole wide world. Then they just lost it. But Jonathan Donahue is still a charismatic frontman, and live they're always pichi-pichi. So show us what you can do, Rev! Play a 45-minute version of "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" and all will be forgiven!

Only four acts lined up for Saturday's Dance Stage, but there's something for everyone. Soulwax, for fans of hi-energy Belgian schmaltz (all of us, right?). Trip-hop legend Tricky, for those who want to trip and hop back to the Nineties. Girl Talk, for disciples of sampledelica. And Datarock, for Norwegians. Nifty!

You can catch more lively, uptempo performances on the Park Stage, where Jack Peñate leads the way. Which reminds me. In the run-up to this year's Gaijin Sounds competition, someone out there thought it would be funny to submit a CD containing two of Jack Peñate's songs, ripped straight from his debut album. And, OK, it was funny. Two of our otherwise faultless panel of judges were duped, and thus Jack found himself briefly flirting with a placing in the Top Ten. Even though he lives in London. And has probably never read Japanzine (lucky him). And doesn't even know what the word "gaijin" means. Along with Mr. Peñate on the Park Bench - sorry, Stage - are smooth Japanophiles Tahiti 80; local gals Puffy AmiYumi, whose stage-name variation here indicates they will be playing their eigo material; tasteful alt-country chick Jenny Lewis; earnest J-rockers Rock 'a' Trench; and Suga Shikao, who would be a spit for hadaka geinin Tamura Kenji if "Tamu-Ken" would indulge us by changing his curious hairstyle to match.

saturday's must-see act in osaka
AFX. The Tuss. Caustic Window. Richard David James. Aphex Twin, man! Bet he'll have a well trippy light show, too!

sunday, august 9th

Ah, Sunday. The last day of Summer Sonic. You will either be completely knackered or wish that the show could go on for another week. But it can't, so you'll just have to make the most of the 9th.

Sunday's Ocean Stage looks like a washout, with Linkin Park, Hoobastank, Placebo, Mastodon, Hollywood Undead and The All-American Rejects doing justice to that last band's name. I'm going to give that stage the widest possible berth, even though the lineup there also includes unintetionally funny Japanese rock duo B'z.

The prospect of Sunday's Sky Stage is inifintely more appealing to me, though I must admit to being swayed by civic pride. Brilliant ska band The Specials top the bill here, and in spite of the Summer Sonic website's spurious claims that the band formed in London, I can assure you that they in fact got it together in my hometown of Coventry (the "Ghost Town" referred to in their biggest hit). I've even met one of them, though I can't remember which one, and admittedly that ain't much good when it's time to namedrop... Anyway, that's The Specials: living legends, and not from London. Implausibly, they share a stage with Elvis Costello and The Imposters and Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. Young Scottish "singer-songwriter" Paolo Nutini, Sweden's popular-in-Europe five-piece Mando Diao, bland Australian popstress Lenka, and likeable Japanese ska/rock/jazz unit Ego Wrapping' and the Gossip Of Jaxx complete the stage. So bonus points for them.

Nu-rave pioneers Klaxons and Brazilian rockers CSS both play on the Sonic Stage on Sunday, which I guess has something to do with the not-very-interesting romance between one of the Klaxons and CSS's lead singer. Anyway, they're both excellent, vibrant acts that you'd kick yourself for missing. Which can't be said of style-over-substance mediocrities Ting Tings and The Horrors, nor of self-indulgent hi-power weirdoes AA= (whose name means "all animals are equal", obviously). Little Boots is decent, though, and she's been moving in all of the right circles, even enlisiting Hot Chip for production duties.

There's a reggae vibe to Sunday's Dance Stage, thanks to Luciano. Somehow veteran New Wave couple Tom Tom Club have also found themselves on the Dance Stage, though I'll be more interested to see young Brits Metronomy do their ironic-dance thing, or French electro-peddlers Yuksek and Birdy Nam Nam do their best to live up to a Jean Michel Jarre-Daft Punk-Justice lineage.

And then there's the Park Stage, which complements Luciano's Sunday show with performances from Bermudan reggaeman Mishka, "backskank" specialist Natty, and unlikely-but-surprisingly-hip Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu. Japan's own Beat Crusdaers and Kotaro Oshio will also be in the Park.    

sunday's must-see act in osaka
The Specials! The Specials! The Specials!  
               

tokyo

Summer Sonic's Tokyo version is spread across eight stages, all located in Makuhari - either at the Messe or at Chiba Marine Stadium. Just take the Keiyo Line to Kaihin-Makuhari Station and walk from there. To keep things simple, where there's Osaka-Tokyo repetition I'll direct you back to the Osaka text.

friday, august 7th

The Marine Stage in Tokyo on Friday is exactly the same as Osaka's Ocean Stage is on Saturday. Summary: big, dirty, metal sounds dominate; black leather jackets mandatory. And Friday's Mountain Stage is pretty much the blueprint for the Saturday's Sky Stage in Osaka (except for Razorlight's omission from the Mountain Stage, as Johnny Borell and chums will show up in Tokyo on Sunday). 

Friday's Sonic Stage runs with the same line-up as the Osaka version of the Sonic Stage does on Saturday, led by Aphex Twin. However, there is a Tokyo-exclusive zone here called Midnight Sonic, which revives the Sonic Stage late in the evening for some candle-lit extra-curricular activity. Tricky will be there to keep you company, as will Yoshinori Sunahara and his plastic airport music, Tha Blue Herb (to keep things dope towards midnight), and local psych-rock legends Yura Yura Teikoku.

Friday's Tokyo Dance Stage is the same as its namesake in Osaka on Saturday, except that Tricky - who, as we've established, is part of Tokyo's Midnight Sonic area - is replaced with Texan electro clowns Ghostland Observatory. But as with the Midnight Sonic thingy, Tokyo does get a bit of something extra in the form of the Diesel-sponsored Diesel:U:Music Stage, which is a postscript to the main Dance Stage and features five acts who will only appear in Tokyo: 2 Many DJs, the Belgian duo who pioneered the whole mashup thing, World Champion deck gymnast DJ Kentaro, Kitsuné glam-disco-punk trio Heartsrevolution, plus Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! and Amwe.

Tokyo Summer Sonic people have their chance to see Jack Peñate at the Beach Stage on Friday, which also features two other bands who will appear on Osaka's Park Stage the following day: Jenny Lewis and Tahiti 80. Popular 18-year-old Japanese jazz musician JuJu will be here, as will guitarist Caravan and Alanis wannabe Fukuhara Miho (OK, maybe that's a bit harsh, but you get the idea). This bunch will only be playing in Tokyo.

Other than Beat Crusaders and Suga Shikao, the rest of the Island Stage line-up are Tokyo exclusives. There's sexy "half" Tsuchiya Anna (who should probably stick to acting), Wagner Love, Totalfat, Never Shout Never, Sliimy, and Nothing's Carved In Stone. So that's a pass.    

friday's must-see act in tokyo
Jack Peñate - he's brilliant.

saturday, august 8th

The Marine Stage on this day is the same as Osaka's Sunday Ocean Stage, so we don't need to go through that again. Also, Saturday's Tokyo Mountain Stage is exactly the same as the Sky Stage in Osaka on Sunday (make sure you catch The Specials!).

Saturday's Sonic Stage here features an identical line-up to its namesake in Osaka on Sunday, led by Klaxons' glo-stick party. Tokyo's main Midnight Sonic addition is Lady Gaga, along with exclusive shows from locals Meg and Vola & The Oriental Machine.

The Dance Stage, too, is a twin of Sunday's Osaka Dance Stage. It is, however, appended by a late-night show called "Planet Of Sound", which brings three Tokyo-only sets: one from Ravex (a mini-rave, no doubt), another from Nakata Yasutaka (of the insanely good Capsule), and a mashup from Mixhell.

Three of the reggae acts from the Park Stage on Osaka's last day of Summer Sonic will appear on the Tokyo Beach Stage on Saturday - namely, Matisyahu, Mishka and Natty - and they'll be joined by a Tokyo-exclusive performance from Japan's queens of ska, Ore Ska Band.

Canadian folk four-piece Patrick Watson and The Wooden Arms are another Tokyonly act. They'll be on the Island Stage, along with J-indie outfit the band apart, UK fashionistas Golden Silvers, po-faced J-rockers te', and Sweden's The Durango Riot.    

saturday's must-see act in tokyo
Get your glo-sticks and pills (aspirin) ready for Klaxons!

sunday, august 9th

Sunday's Marine Stage is a repeat of Friday's Beyoncé-starring Ocean Stage in Osaka, except that Lady Gaga is replaced with Razorlight and two additional bands are drafted in: "epic"-sounding hard rockers Mutemath and popular Australian twin sisters The Veronicas (great if you're a 14-year-old girl).

The Mountain Stage is Osaka's putrid Sky Stage, only with extra mascara via Five Finger Death Punch and Japan's Maximum The Hormone. What can you say? Happily, the Sonic Stage on Sunday is a repeat of the Sonic Stage line-up in Osaka on Friday. It's a real good 'un and includes The Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth. Ditto the excellent, N.A.S.A.-led Dance Stage line-up, which replays Friday's Osaka Dance Stage.

Then there's the freak show, for want of a better term, of the Beach Stage, which bring across four seriously odd bands from Friday's Osaka Park Stage and supplements them with more of the same: Okinawan indie band Mongol800, Rock 'a' Trench and J-pop crooners Kimaguren.  

Finally, on the Island Stage, you've got Scott Murphy and Puffy AmiYumi (discussed in the Osaka section) grouped with Kings Of Leon lookalikes Bring Me The Horizon, German teenie-boppers Aloha From Hell, and average stuff from In Case Of Fire and knotlamp. And that's yer lot!

sunday's must-see act in tokyo
Beyoncé, again. Before she goes home and you never get another chance to hold up a "MARRY ME!!!!!!" placard somewhere vaguely in her field of vision. 

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