Back from Tokyo last night - awesome city, great gig, good times.Â
Not many performance details to dwell on - 60/70 mins for the set cuts out solos, intros, (most) extensions, Pushit/Intension, segues... so much so that Adam had to quick-step to his Midi to play about 6 notes before cutting into fortysix&two(?) - that was it for the whole set. Disappointed the (relatively) new jam was absent, but to be expected and no big deal. Highlight was Stinkfist - where it breaks down at the beginning of the extension and Justin winds things back up again is pretty special... and for what it's worth, the confetti was gold and red this time - seems to have been green in AU/NZ(?). Post-set there were a few fans decked out in their black metal Ozzfest costumes fingering though it all on the floor looking for Jnr's setlist thing.
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The venue itself was something that could easily double as an Airbus production hanger - large, rectangular...um... metallic. Sound was great all over. I was just about on the middle barrier, Justin's side, about 10 back. The pervious poster who stuck that pic up must have been literally within a 1m radius of me - small world.Â
Security was all over phone use (except him/her, it seems), but barely anyone had them out in the first place which was pleasing.Â
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To my right there was a group of about 8 lunatics viciously pushing each other around for almost the entire gig. I don't know what it's called... death moshing?... something spastic. What actually possesses someone to do this at a Tool gig? It's beyond me. Aside from the collateral damage, it must be nearly impossible to focus on the spectacle on stage (I can only assume), thus leading me to think these people are better served sticking Tool on their headphones and running around outside shoulder-charging inanimate concrete poles for 70 mins. Rant over. Well, almost... while things were being set up on stage with the venue lights on before the peculiar grating of Dir En Gray was about to start, one of the crew (who looks almost exactly like BBCs Mark Sandall - http://er.bsysmail.com/AEM/Clients/BBC0 ... 03x152.jpg) stood bang centre front stage and proceeded to skillfully insert his finger into his nose, pick it, and then eat whatever he collected. I couldn't give two hoots about this usually, but amusingly in Japan doing this is the cultural equivalent of standing on the steps of the Opera House, pulling down your pants, squatting at 45degrees, ass facing a crowd, and shitting infront of approx 10,000 people. I had a laugh.Â
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Rynne was taking pics up and down the centre lane most of the time, right next to me at one point - didn't realise it was her till post concert - blonde hair got me. Junior was at the back enjoying a beer and a chat to some crew afterwards. I hung around a little while with the intention of revealing my mysterious Tool blogging identity and saying hi, but he was occupied chatting away for a while and it seemed a bit of a goofball thing to do. Next time eh.Â
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Really enjoyed it, had a great view, totally worth the trip.
Posted: Tue May 14, 2013 11:30 pm
by hellboy
Both Junior and Rynne are pretty approachable in my experience. Â If the offer presents itself in the future, don't feel bad saying hello.
Posted: Thu May 16, 2013 10:13 am
by ziggy23
my ribs are still aching
Posted: Sun May 19, 2013 7:53 pm
by JamesDavid4th
i spoke to junior after the set, trying to get a setlist. he said he wasn't given one for the show. nice guy
VH1 CLASSIC ROCK RADIO REPORT
"OZZFEST JAPAN A HUGE SUCCESS"
Japan rocked this weekend thanks to the first-ever Ozzfest Japan. The two-day music festival drew sold-out crowds of 20-thousand fans both days to a venue outside of Tokyo. The audiences saw sets from Black Sabbath, Slash, Tool, Slipknot and dozens of other groups. Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager said in a statement that she is “thrilledâ€with the success of the event, adding, “The fans really loved the extraordinary mix of international and Japanese artists. Since we had such a great reception, we’re already in dialogue about a 2014 Ozzfest Japan.
Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 4:00 pm
by hellboy
ziggy23 said
since we had such a great reception, we’re already in dialogue about a 2014 Ozzfest Japan.
Great news for Japanese metal fans. Â I didn't think the lineup was amazing outside of Tool, but I don't imagine there are many Japanese metal festivals of this size.
Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 7:14 pm
by ziggy23
 I didn't think the lineup was amazing outside of Tool
Dir En Grey was a piece of shit, other bands as well. But that's just my opinion.
Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 11:03 pm
by inequitude
ziggy23 said
I didn't think the lineup was amazing outside of Tool
Dir En Grey was a piece of shit, other bands as well. But that's just my opinion.
Agreed re: Dir En Grey. Apparently the lyrics are profoundly clever... can you imagine?
I thought if you took it with a grain of salt, Stone Sour and Steel Panther weren't bad (sans ranting to the crowd). Corey Taylor was interesting to see live - super powerful vox.
The sound was great in most places inside but the venue was shit - imagine an enormous school gym with only little concrete areas outside to go sit/chill. If they do it again it would be nice to have it outdoors'ish... some grass. 0m queue for drinks all day was impressive.Â
Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 5:10 am
by ziggy23
[youtube][/youtube]
Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 5:23 pm
by N.Y.H.C.
ziggy23 said
every one of this dude's videos are crystal clear. I can smell Justin's beard.
Posted: Sat Jun 08, 2013 6:59 am
by ziggy23
inequitude said
ziggy23 said
Â
I didn't think the lineup was amazing outside of Tool
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Dir En Grey was a piece of shit, other bands as well. But that's just my opinion.
Agreed re: Dir En Grey. Apparently the lyrics are profoundly clever... can you imagine?
I thought if you took it with a grain of salt, Stone Sour and Steel Panther weren't bad (sans ranting to the crowd). Corey Taylor was interesting to see live - super powerful vox.
The sound was great in most places inside but the venue was shit - imagine an enormous school gym with only little concrete areas outside to go sit/chill. If they do it again it would be nice to have it outdoors'ish... some grass. 0m queue for drinks all day was impressive.
Steel Panther were good, i don't like such kind of music at all, but this band has a good sence of humour (even their jokes about dicks and vaginas seemed to me a little bit ... predictable?), but at least they made the whole audience cheer and smile for the first time during the whole day after all these japanese metal samurai bands=) i remember the band MUCC, they were good too, but as for the Stone Sour - i don't know, they were tight and strong, but this music is just not for me i guess, it's some kind of a teenage rock and i'm not into this at all, but one moment i liked about the Corey set was when he started to sing the "Nutshell" by Alice In Chains, and then he dropped it after the 1st verse, what a fuck, it sounded really not bad at all.
