J's On Fire Summer Tour 2012

I will be in Japan (specifically Tokyo) for four nights and five days (from the U.S.) end of August, leaving September 4th. Since the final of J's On Fire Summer Tour will be happening on September 2nd at Shinkiba Studio Coast, if any of you have attended any of J's concerts, can you please let me know how long the concert might be (just based on past experience. I'm not sure how different the final is from the other shows of the tour, so I'm hoping someone who has been to J's live shows can tell me)? I will also need to figure out how late the transportation system runs from Studio Coast in order to determine where I should stay during my four nights five days visit (I read that there's a bus that goes to Shibuya from Studio Coast. I don't know how late the trains run from the Shinkiba Station, so I'm still researching those schedules). Now the Sogo Tokyo website has listed July 7th as the sale date for tickets. How quickly do these tickets sell? I am aware that for J's three day circuit in May, O-East has sold out. Will it be better to go through a middle man or do I just wait until I get to Tokyo to buy the ticket? I don't care where I'm situated, I just want to get in. While I saw Luna Sea in Los Angeles in 2010, J doesn't do a lot of backup vocals, and the chances of his solo act ever coming to the U.S. is 0%. Maybe in 1997 I would not have bothered to watch, but now he has such a great voice (in the Luna Sea for Japan A Promise to the Brave concert, when he did the backup vocals at one point for Time Is Dead, his lower, powerful voice blended so well with Ryuichi's!) that I feel I will really regret it if I don't go while I'm there. And like some of the others who asked questions here, I don't speak Japanese (just some very basic expressions and I might manage to struggle with it, except the different levels of politeness will be difficult for me, having heard more of the informal rather than formal conversations). I'm hoping, however, that I can connect with others, like during L'Arc~en~Ciel's concert at Madison Square Garden where the fans I connected with, despite the language barrier (we did not speak each other's respective languages), were beautiful Japanese women who did not speak English (I am female, btw). Yet, we managed to connect because of a common interest (I read on other sites about keeping a notepad to communicate?). My other question: is it offensive to wear a Luna Sea shirt to the concert (the one that was part of the VIP package in Los Angeles was of a fabric that is very cool and good for the summer)? I'm not a member of FC PYRO, so I don't have the PYRO shirts like the regular attendees of those live shows do. Any help/advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Wow, crazy BLOCK O' TEXT :-)

Let's see... I am not a fan of LUNA SEA (though I think J is a sweetheart and I like SGZ's solo work) so I can't specifically answer any questions about the music. However, as I am going to Japan in June/July myself and while there will be attending a couple of BUCK-TICK's shows, I totally understand your feelings :)

Getting tickets may be tricky if you don't know anyone in Japan or any Japanese. Usually it is easiest for Western fans to get tickets through the fan clubs - that's what I did for B-T. If they DON'T sell out before you get there (and I don't honestly know how popular J is as a solo artist in Japan), then your best bet would be trying to buy a ticket from the venue, or asking a friendly local to help you buy one at a Lawson ticket machine. I'm going to go ahead and recommend an article on Not Greatest Site here, as it has a ton of useful info from a Westerner who has lived in Japan for some time. The site is largely dedicated to BUCK-TICK but this article is a general one about going to gigs in Japan. You can find it here: https://sites.google.com/site/lyricsyndrome/articles/features/concert-etiquette
If that link doesn't work, go to http://notgreatestsite.net/ and look for the article on Concert Etiquette.

I'm going to take a flier and guess that no one will be offended by your wearing a Luna Sea shirt. You can always buy a J shirt when you get there and change, if you want to :)

I hope this helps a little - good luck with the tickets and hope you have a great time in Japan!

Oh I apologise, I didn't answer your access question. You can find out a bit more about access to Studio Coast here: http://www.tokyogigguide.com/en/livehouses/venueevents/154

Possibly the webmaster may be able to help you directly if you mail them.

Also, I have been told that in general in Tokyo, rock gigs are timed to allow attendees to travel home by train, and so often start earlier than you might be used to (say 6.00 or 7,00pm) and finish around 10-10.30 such that no-one is forced to miss the last trains around midnight. Usually there is no support act, but probably a couple of encores and maybe at a Tour Finale there will be special guests.

Also more info on buying tickets: http://www.tokyogigguide.com/tickets

OK I really am done now. Honest :)

Thanks, UKTraveller. *sigh* It seems there's a lottery type thing going on from 5/8 to 5/13 if I'm not mistaken (through his website). I guess I'll have to wait for the general sales then contact a middleman or shopping service. I don't care if I have to pay four times the price (without commission, shipping, etc.) or where I'm situated. I just want to get in. (And he sang But You Said I'm Useless during the three night circuitT_T)

Yes, I got my tickets for BUCK-TICK through the fanclub lottery - and was extremely lucky to get all three dates I applied for (including the finale night where D'Erlanger are also on the bill). Fanclub lotteries and lotteries in general are a weird concept to me but on the either hand I suppose they are fairer than the first-come first-served chaos of getting tix for popular shows in the West.

But anyway, I do know of people who have missed out on fanclub tickets in the past but managed to pick up tickets instead on Yahoo Japan or Noppin.com. Just make sure you don't end up with a ticket that is "fanclub only" where you would have to show ID.

If you can't buy direct and don't have a Japanese friend you can use agencies like Celga.com or similar to shop on auction sites for you. There's a fee involved but I guess you won't mind that if you really want to go and can budget for it.

I really hope you get the ticket. BUCK-TICK aren't the only reason I am going to Japan (I wanted to visit there ever since I saw SHOGUN on TV as a kid) but getting tickets to their shows did prompt me to do it NOW and I know that it'll make the trip extra-special.

Well, at least, the tour schedule is very clear in that it lists two Blitz shows, one general and one FC Pyro (if I'm not mistaken. I'll have to look at it again). The minute I see FC Pyro only, I know it's an exclusive fan club event. Though honestly, I am very tempted to do the lottery, if it really is up to the 13th.

And yes, the lives are not the only reason for going to Japan (Tokyo is actually a short visit before my real destination, which is Manila. Last time I was in Tokyo was when I was nine, so that was a long time ago, back in the seventies). It was when I was disappointed in the available tickets for L'Arc~en~Ciel's Waikiki Shell concert that I decided to do this (at Madison Square Garden, I was five rows from ken!). I said, "If I'm going to end up with a lawn ticket and pay thousands of dollars to travel to and stay in Hawaii, I might as well just go to Japan and watch one of J's shows in the On Fire tour." But it was after saying that that I realized I should do it! After all, VAMPS might come back to the U.S., based on HYDE's words of "We'll be back." Chances of J doing a solo in the U.S.? Zero. I might as well just go there to watch his live show. The final seemed to be the best timewise, since September 3 is a U.S. holiday and I am off August 31st, which means I would not have to apply for a lot of leave.

Well, you'll have so much fun, and I know I will, too. J's final, however, would be an added bonus and would make the trip extra special if I can get in. (*giggles* Speaking of a J shirt, I don't think I can wear something like that to work [I wear my Luna Sea one to work]. I would end up getting fired if people saw WUMF on my bod^^)

Yes that sounds entirely plausible - BUCK-TICK sometimes do "Fan club only" gigs mixed in with the regular gigs (though not on this particular tour I am attending). They're the tickets to avoid if they come up for sale because most fan clubs are very hot on making sure that you ARE a fanclub member and check ID and membership cards against your ticket. However, if it's not a strictly fan-club only gig, you can pick up tickets in auctions at will, even from fans who bought them via the fanclub. if that makes sense :) Just make sure you know which date is the general admission gig.

I have never been to Japan at all, despite wanting to go for the longest time. I just decided last year that since it was B-T's 25th anniversary tour and the likelihood of them ever playing in the West is low to zero, I should get off my behind and finally go, for both the holiday and the gig. I didn't actually expect to win three tickets when I entered the lottery - I only hoped for one of the three I applied for. But I am not complaining!

I will probably end up buying too much merchandise in the probability that this will be the only time I get to see them, but that's okay with me. At least I will have done it and it's one band off my list of "really want to see" that I can tick. It will be especially welcome in the light of the fact that the David Sylvian tour in the Uk I was looking forward to earlier this year was cancelled, and I have yet to see him live at all.