Friday, September 24, 2010

Live in JAPAN!!!! Part 1


John Oates - Big Bam Boom Tour
2011 is bringing along with it some great news for Japanese Hall & Oates fans!  Daryl & John will be heading to Japan for a 5 date tour at the beginning of the year.  They'll be making stops in Osaka, Aichi and Tokyo after a 5 year absence.  Although John has had solo gigs in Japan as recently as 2009 it's obviously been quite some time since the fellas have performed there as a duo. 

Japanese die-hard fans are already chomping at the bit for the opportunity to purchase tickets to these shows.  Daryl & John have long been a popular band in Japan.  Their introduction to this country and it's pop-loving culture was via a 5-date tour in February of 1980.  Hall & Oates travelled to the east numerous times in the 1980's including a 7-date tour in 1982, a 9-date tour in 1984, 8 dates in 1985 and perhaps most well known, the 9-date ooh yeah! tour in 1988.  The band continued to tour there through the 90's and early 2000's.  Both Daryl and John have toured there numerous times on a solo basis as well.  


Tour book from the 1980 Japan Tour.
 One of H&O's frequently played venues happens to be the Nippon Budokan Arena, better known more simply as "Budokan".  This arena is located in the center of Tokyo and was originally built in the 1960's for use in the 1964 Summer Olympics. I should also mention that in 1966 the Beatles were the first music act/concert to appear at this arena.   

Back to the 80's...Daryl and John spent a slew of time there and also appeared in countless Japanese magazines and television specials.  They were on the cover of the popular Music Life magazine 3 times and were featured in many issues.  United States magazines typically used official press photos and tended to recycle the same images over and over.  The photo spreads found in these Japanese magazines are unparalleled.  You seriously can't find anything even remotely close to this in the US.   


A Day With Hall & Oates

One interesting spread published by Music Life was entitled "A Day With Hall & Oates".  It featured numerous photos and comments from the band backstage prior to one of the gigs while on the Big Bam Boom tour.  The pictorial gives fans a rare glimpse as to what happened behind the scenes back in those days.  Of course, these pics were taken prior to the concert....there really is no telling what went on after the show!  Even still....these types of shots are not even remotely like anything ever printed in the US....at least not that I have found. 

The photos show band members chatting before the show, John Oates stretches and checks his appearance in the mirror, and Daryl sips on a beverage while relaxing on the sofa.  Check out Daryl's perfectly coiffed hair, Charlie De Chant's wild suit and John's painted-on leather pants! 





John & GE check out an acoustic guitar.






Daryl signs autographs as John checks
himself out in the mirror.