The Killers concert in Nagoya Japan

[japancar]

Just saw The Killers in concert here in Nagoya. Good venue, nice and small, so me and a mate (from rugby) made it to the front of the hall next to the stage. Being the age that I am, I moved after the first song (guess I'm getting too old to be bouncing around).

Good concert overall. Lots of energy from the singer, and really cool to be close up and see the band. A lot of fun to hear all the songs I hear on the radio/MTV, but had no idea on some of the others they have. I think their famous stuff is awesome, but their not-so-famous/well-known stuff is just ok. This is a band that hits it out of the park, or strikes-out.

And, the concert was short; they started late at 6;15pm (concerts in Japan usuall start early, especially when not on a Friday/Saturday) and finished at 7:20pm. I had a couple of brewskis with some Canadian friends we ran into at the concert, and was home by 9pm...

As with any small-venue concert, my ears are still ringing...

[Maxt]

Did any Japanese know who they were?.......
I was at Expo last year, for the sumo bout, right after that , they announce international singing star performance,so the crowds kinda hung around.
Then the music starts and they announce Alanis Morrisette, after about 20 seconds of her, the place empties and she is standing their singing to a couple of Japanese retired folk and a few Russians that seem to know who she was..
3000 spectators to 8 or 9 in 20 seconds, that had to be a new record for a North American performer in Japan.

[japancar]

Originally posted by Maxt
Did any Japanese know who they were?.......
I was at Expo last year, for the sumo bout, right after that , they announce international singing star performance,so the crowds kinda hung around.
Then the music starts and they announce Alanis Morrisette, after about 20 seconds of her, the place empties and she is standing their singing to a couple of Japanese retired folk and a few Russians that seem to know who she was..
3000 spectators to 8 or 9 in 20 seconds, that had to be a new record for a North American performer in Japan.


It was a mixed croud of Japanese and non-Japanese. Maybe 10%non-Japanese. The Killers get a lot of radio time here. English music is popular.

As for the Expo, I was also at that event in April 2005. You must have been talking about the afternoon show that was very low-key (you're right, not many people. but I was there!). Alanis Morrisette played an acoustic set. Her main concert was that evening, and I had a VIP event at the Canadian Pavillion that day, and we all were escorted over to the Concert for VIP seats. But, the Expo Dome was maybe half full. And, it was a free (well, you had to get into the grounds) concert. Amazing, and all paid for by Canadian taxpayers...thanks guys!

[Maxt]

Yeah, it was the afternoon show we saw. When I was working we listened to local fm pop station, they played the same Eminem song at least 3 times an hour, if it wasnt eminem it was Christina A. After awhile I tuned into Japan folk music just for something different so I didnt feel like hanging myself.
What did you think of the Canadian pavillion. I really thought it was a complete let down to be honest, they show you a movie in one room, then move you to another special theatre, and show you the same movie with a few more edits. The images they showed skipped most of the country, it was either NWT, Toronto or Montreal.
When people talk to me there, they all ask if I know Bryan Adams...lol...

[japancar]

Originally posted by Maxt
Yeah, it was the afternoon show we saw. When I was working we listened to local fm pop station, they played the same Eminem song at least 3 times an hour, if it wasnt eminem it was Christina A. After awhile I tuned into Japan folk music just for something different so I didnt feel like hanging myself.
What did you think of the Canadian pavillion. I really thought it was a complete let down to be honest, they show you a movie in one room, then move you to another special theatre, and show you the same movie with a few more edits. The images they showed skipped most of the country, it was either NWT, Toronto or Montreal.
When people talk to me there, they all ask if I know Bryan Adams...lol...

Ya, the local English radio station is pretty much half-Japanese. The non-Japanese DJs all speak Japanese (several Canadians of Japanese decent --David Yanase and Shane Kosugi, and another couple of Canadian guys, Rick James and Jamie Davis, who are the best of the DJs). Anyway, ya they play stuff over and over again.

I thought the presentation of the Canadian pavillion was great, but the content sucked moose shit. The government was trying to sell multiculturalism without even getting close to it. The presentation was of the auroras, and then the second half was about some people of ethnic diversity. I liked the content of that part, but it was totally lost on the Japanese. They wanted to see Anne of Green Gables, the Rockies, etc...not something serious like multiculturalism. They generally don't understand it because Japan is so homogenious.

The pavillion was one of the nicest for a building, and the VIP room was nice (the American was much better though, and the UK was a tiny lunch room). The pavillion tried very hard to promote Canada, and I thought the staff did an excellent job. I knew many of them (a few I went to university with), and by the end of the Expo I got to know more.

The Expo area is now back to its original state as a nature park. Its still busy on weekends since the park is family-oriented. My family and I have been back a couple of times, and both times I felt like I was missing the Expo. It was like when a favourite house is knocked down and not replaced...kinda leaves me missing the past.

[Maxt]

I walked Green road from the Linimo to work everyday when i was there in November, yeah its amazing how much earth they are moving to put it back to a natural state. I cant believe they recycled pretty much the whole expo. But its better than it being a burden on the tax payers , wasnt it last year that they announced that the expo 1967 in Montreal was finally payed off. I think Nagoya was scared of that happening to them so they decided to just terminate it once it was officially done.
The US pavillion was very good, as were the major European countries. Some of the tiny middle asian countries did a great job considering they are dirt poor. I had to laugh at India's pavillion, it was basically a flea market, and China's was an infomercial about their expo, instead of being about just China. Yeah I don't think people really understood the multiculturalism angle, my in laws there who are of course all Japanese, were dissapointed in it. They kept asking me when they were going to show Alberta, and I kept saying , maybe next, maybe next maybe next.. The closest we got was a still shot of a combine in Saskatchewan and some livestock.
My strongest memory is buying 2 tiny palm pizzas from the Little Italian vendor hut, and being charged about 22.00 Cdn for it..

[japancar]

Originally posted by Maxt
I walked Green road from the Linimo to work everyday when i was there in November, yeah its amazing how much earth they are moving to put it back to a natural state. I cant believe they recycled pretty much the whole expo. But its better than it being a burden on the tax payers , wasnt it last year that they announced that the expo 1967 in Montreal was finally payed off. I think Nagoya was scared of that happening to them so they decided to just terminate it once it was officially done.
The US pavillion was very good, as were the major European countries. Some of the tiny middle asian countries did a great job considering they are dirt poor. I had to laugh at India's pavillion, it was basically a flea market, and China's was an infomercial about their expo, instead of being about just China. Yeah I don't think people really understood the multiculturalism angle, my in laws there who are of course all Japanese, were dissapointed in it. They kept asking me when they were going to show Alberta, and I kept saying , maybe next, maybe next maybe next.. The closest we got was a still shot of a combine in Saskatchewan and some livestock.
My strongest memory is buying 2 tiny palm pizzas from the Little Italian vendor hut, and being charged about 22.00 Cdn for it..

Actually, I have the scoop on the "real" recycling...most pavillions were not recycled as much as Expo claimed. It was all hidden to make the Expo look good. This is coming from someone on the "inside".

I liked the Swiss pavillion the best, being interactive and frankly ingenious. The worst was Laos (it looked like a grade 8 science fair with the cheap booths). Although they did make it a little better later. There were several disappointments, like The Phillipines, Beligium, Austria (it was a snow slide--mocking toboggoning on the Alps) and Cuba (it was a rum and cigar bar really) and a few surprises like Turkey and Slovakia. China was a promo for their Expo, and India was good on the first floor and a flea-market on the second. Romania was a show, and then the musicians trying to sell their CDs to the crowd. Russia was good, and really large. It had a lot of info on Russia history and accomplishments. The Andes pavillion didn't even open...and Egypt was mostly a curio shop with hugely over-priced junk (which I bought :barf: ).

[Anton]

I personally love the Killers and like their non-mainstream stuff much much better especially from Sam's town. Great to hear you had a good time.

[tsi_neal]

sorry for the thread hijack.. but max hopefully you see this, ive been trying to send you a PM for a few days now but your mail box is full. Can you clear some space for me, thanks :D

[Delta]

Originally posted by Anton
I personally love the Killers and like their non-mainstream stuff much much better especially from Sam's town. Great to hear you had a good time.
I agree man. The non-mainstream stuff is wicked. Maybe because it's not so overplayed? Bones was good before it came out.

[japancar]

Originally posted by Delta

I agree man. The non-mainstream stuff is wicked. Maybe because it's not so overplayed? Bones was good before it came out.

You have a good point. There is a lot of over-play. I guess since I've never heard of their other stuff, I was resistant to enjoy it. I should have taken a more positive attitude. I'll have to get some of their non-mainstream songs and give them a listen. Thanks for the suggest.