Concert etiquette

I am going to a J-Rock concert in Kyoto in November. What is the etiquette to attending concerts in Japan? Also, do they sell concert tour goods (t-shirts, etc) at the front door like they do here in Canada? Anything I should be prepared for? Is it unusual for Gaijin to show up at J-Rock concerts? As a female attending this concert solo, will I feel uncomfortable or will anyone even notice? Thanks!

"What is the etiquette to attending concerts in Japan?"

Pay attention to the stage, no cameras or recording material allowed, no smoking, no flames (flame-less lights for waving are usually available in the venue), no PET bottles. In huge halls, the seats are usually fixed and no rushing towards the stage, while in smaller venues it's often all-standing.

"do they sell concert tour goods (t-shirts, etc) at the front door like they do here in Canada?"

I don't know about Canada, but they sell merchandise usually both inside and outside the venue. However, at popular concerts there may be long queues. Try to show up hours ahead or be prepared to queue until your last train.

"Anything I should be prepared for?"

Don't forget to buy your return train ticket on your way to the concert, or else, you might have to wait hours queuing with the crowd on your way back! You might also be aware that unlike foreign artists' concerts in Japan, at a lot of J-rock concerts the fans shout or wave all at once at certain parts of the songs. Watch everyone else and enjoy doing the same!

"Is it unusual for Gaijin to show up at J-Rock concerts?"

It depends on the artist.

"As a female attending this concert solo, will I feel uncomfortable or will anyone even notice?"

Well, I'm a female who often attends (often masculine) rock concerts solo, and in Europe I was usually one of the very few if any Japanese attending, but I'm okay with it. I guess it depends on the person. But I have to say that not many people talk to strangers in concerts in Japan, so don't worry about it if no one cares about you. Btw, a lot of J-rock bands have an extremely high percentage of female fans that sometimes I wonder if males might be uncomfortable:)

Thanks, Uco! I was worried about the return train back to Kyoto for the Nara concert (I'm staying in Kyoto) however I have a 2 day JR Kansai pass so I don't think I"ll have to wait long to get a train back (I hope). And my hotel in Kyoto is near the Centennial Hall (about 1 mile away) so I think i'll walk it back. Hey, are the concerts 'live' or do the singers lip-sync? I wondered about that since I heard somewhere that the bands usually just pretend to play while it's actually the soundtrack you're hearing. Is this true?? I know they do it over here in Canada for bigger groups like the new Van Halen tour etc.

big concert is done without the help of sountrack, whith is important if things go wrong and for general background (when not possible to play all tracks live).

"I know they do it over here in Canada for bigger groups like the new Van Halen tour etc."

You're kidding me! I do think that a lot of bands domestic and foreign use recordings upon TV appearances, and they do use some instrument samplings on live concerts only if they find it difficult to perform the overdubs they did on their albums. But it's hard to believe that they're not actually singing on a real hall with a big audience.

Yes, that's what I heard. A friend of mine is a concert promoter/booker and when I told her I was going to see Van Halen she let me know the scoop. It's not totally lip-sync and air guitar, but it's a good portion of it. Makes you wonder what you're hearing when you go to a concert nowadays.