Summer Sonic (Osaka Revisited)

I'm writing this just 2 days after returning from Osaka for the third time, to see the massive rock/punk/metal/techno-fest that is Summer Sonic. This was in the works for weeks, and it lived up to every expectation. There were four of us - Christine from Geos, Tash from Nakatsu, and at the last minute we were joined by one of the new girls in Beppu, Rachel. She just came in from New Zealand, and you'll surely hear more about her.
We left on the 11th, and took the ferry from Beppu to Osaka overnight, which was a first for me. It was massive, and had all sorts of comforts. We drank some beers on the deck as the sun went down, then went down to the restaurant, where we played cards till bedtime with some random Japanese guys who chatted us up and bought us drinks and ice cream. They spoke no English, but by practicing my broken Japanese I figured out they were truck drivers based in Osaka, and we managed to teach them to play Asshole just fine.
The next morning (shamefully early, I might add) we left the ferry and found our way to the apartment of a local English teacher who was putting us up (or putting up with us) for the weekend. After grabbing some more sleep we woke up around noon and began making our way to day 1 of Summer Sonic. When we arrived there by train we could hear the music thumping from 2 stops away, and after getting inside we wasted no time in sorting out what we wanted to see. Rachel ended up meeting another friend of hers and doing her own thing, which was more or less metal and punk. Chris was basically the same. That left Tash and I to see the rock and techno, so of we went.
First came the Kooks, and despite having heard almost nothing of them before, they were a really nice surprise. Then came the big one for me for that day, the Arctic Monkeys. My friend James from home had turned me onto them a while ago, and I like them a lot. Apparently so did half the people in Osaka though, because the line was enormous. It was worth it though, and I ended up hearing so much amazing new material that I went out and got the CD right after.
After that we changed stages, going outside to see Muse. They were good, but I'm not a huge fan - I pretty much knew them only for the cover they did of "Too Good to Be True". The picture is from that, only because the indoor ones didn't turn out very well. Then it was back inside for DJ Shadow, and I enjoyed him. He kept bringing out guests to sing with him, but I think they were expecting more of a reaction from the crowd. They probably didn't realize that the Japanese are a bit more reserved - they tend to sit at the edges of concerts sometimes, rarely jump or scream, and mosh pits are typically a no-no. I noticed this can bruise North American egos, but try not to take it personally guys.
To round out the evening we saw Massive Attack, and although I was never a huge fan before, they won me over. We were exhausted by then and were sitting on the floor ourselves at this point, but the music was chill enough to warrant it. After leaving we were swept up in the rush for the train, as thousands of people choked off the streets. We got lucky though and beat the rush, ending up back in downtown Osaka just 45 minutes later. We dined on some exquisite sushi, had a few drinks, and staggered off to bed.
The next day we decided to start late, because there was not so much we liked going on in the morning. Christine left early to go see some metal band, while Tash and I did some shopping and had a leisurely lunch before making our way there.
For us, there were only 2 bands on the books for that day - The Charlatans, and the BIG ONE, one of my favourites from university, Daft Punk. The Charlatans were great, another pleasant surprise, but I do have one criticism. Like the Kooks and Arctic Monkeys, these guys were from the UK, and as such the accent got laid on pretty thick. You guys should keep in mind that most Japanese kids have trouble getting regular English, and when you're talking in Cockney slang at 95 miles an hour, they're not going to have a fucking clue.
With Daft Punk though, not a problem. The language of crazy beats and laser lights is pretty universal, and they were usually good enough to flash the words on a 30-foot screen behind them as they went. The crowd went INSANE. The auditorium was packed with thousands of bodies, all sweating, cheering and dancing, despite the fact that we were crammed in tighter than Dolly Parton in a B-cup. Tash and I had an amazing time, and managed to snag Chris on the way out just in time to beat the rush again.
We got back downtown still charged up from the show, and decided to go for dinner and all-you-can-drink. It was the perfect cap to a perfect day - dinner was delicious, and we did indeed drink all we could. After, we actually tried to hit the same Absynthe bar I had been to before with LeeSean, but it wasn't meant to be. They were closing just as we arrived, and we got chased back to our friend's apartment by the rain. Sometimes you just have to take a hint, so we went to bed, to rest up for our excursion to Nara in the morning. That's a whole other story of course, so I'll save it for next time.