Japan Newcastle City Hall 1982. 
By 1982 Japan were popular enough to command two shows at Newcastle City Hall. Support came from Sandii And The Sunsetz, who were on their debut tour of Britain, and were a five piece Japanese band. My enduring memory of this gig was a simply mesmerizing version of “Ghosts”. David Sylvian sat centre stage on a stool, just pure cool. Japanese guitarist and keyboardist Masami Tsuchiya performed with the band on this tour. Sadly Japan were already disintegrating and the band split shortly after this tour. 
The tour culminated in six sold-out nights at London’s Hammersmith Odeon; these were their last UK shows. These final Hammersmith concerts were recorded to produce Oil on Canvas, a live album and video released in June 1983. Set list: Burning Bridges, Sons Of Pioneers, Alien, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Swing, Cantonese Boy, Visions Of China, Nightporter, Canton, Ghosts, Still Life In Mobile Homes, Methods Of Dance, Quiet Life, European Son, The Art Of Parties, Life In Tokyo, Fall In Love With Me. Now David Sylvian is another guy that I really must see again, if and when he next plays in the UK.
Archive for the ‘Japan’ Category
13 Jul
Japan Newcastle City Hall 1982
12 Jul
Japan Newcastle City Hall 1978 and 1981
Japan Newcastle City Hall 1978 and 1981
The band Japan first came to my attention when they supported Blue Oyster Cult at Newcastle City Hall in June 1978. There was quite a buzz about this new band at the time, reports portraying them as heavily influenced by Bowie, The Dolls and glam. To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed by their performance that night. They seemed at the time to be all image, with little substance in terms of the music, which was pretty ramshackle punk/new wave. David Sylvian played out his best David Johansen poses, and they did have a quite fun version of “Don’t Rain on my Parade”. But the sound was poor, and they were no match for BOC, who were at the height of their success. I also recently read that Japan supported Jim Capaldi and The Contenders on his UK tour which took place in October 1977. 
Now I saw Jim Capaldi around that time at Newcastle Poly, but I’m afraid that I don’t remember seeing Japan. By the time I saw Japan again, on the “Visions Of China” Tour in 1981, they were a totally different, and very impressive band. They had released their fifth and most successful album Tin Drum, which featured the beautiful and haunting “Ghosts”. Japan were amazing at the 1981 gig at Newcastle City Hall. David Sylvian and Mick Karn were both excellent front men, and I was simply transfixed when they played Ghosts. Supporting Japan that night were Blancmange, who went on to further success themselves. Setlist: Canton, Swing, Gentlemen Take Polaroids, Alien, Talking Drum, Visions Of China, Quiet Life, My New Career, Ghosts, Cantonese Boy, Methods Of Dance, Still Life In Mobile Homes, European Son, The Art Of Parties, Life In Tokyo, Fall In Love With Me, Canton (finale).
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