"Night of Spasm #4"

On the 26th on June, I took the noontime Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo. I arrived at around 3:00 PM at Tokyo Station and immediately noticed that it was as hot and humid as it was in Osaka. I transferred to the Yamanote line to go to Shinjuku. I figured I'd kill some time before meeting Bob and Eriko at their place. This was my second trip to Tokyo in a week so I was pretty comfortable riding the trains by myself. I wanted to do some record shopping at Los Apson before the show and the first time I went there, earlier in the week, the place was closed.

So I found a coin locker to stow my stuff while I walked around Nishi-Shinjuku. I found Los Apson again, thanks to the map that Bob drew for me last time, and guess what? They were closed again... Fuck. Is this the Japanese work ethic that American businesses are so afraid of? Nah...they must be learning the American slack ethic.

Went back to the station to get my shit from the locker and catch the train to Takadanobaba (try saying it 3 times really fast) and I couldn't find the locker... Damn train station is so fuckin' big and all of the coin lockers look the same. I wandered around the crowded station looking for about 30 minutes until I found the coin locker company's office and luckily the attendant was in. I asked him where the locker was in my broken Japanese.
He said that it was inside the turnstiles... Duh.

Got my shit and got on the train to the XOME(rhymes with "home") house. Had some coffee at the Doutour coffee shop near Bob and Eriko's place. Gulped down the Joe(large regular, not the American watered-down stuff), ate some anpan(sweetbread-like pastry with sweet red bean filling), and smoked a cigarette(Winston). Got to Bob's and luckily they were there...

Sat around for awhile while Bob worked on his set-up for the night's show. He just bought a new toy, a Roland sampler. He was busily feeding mangled sounds from CDs into it, while we drank mugicha(cold barley tea) and smoked, did a lot of that there...
Endo called to ask if I had arrived yet. Said to be at the UFO Club by 8:00 PM for sound check. He said that Andy Bolus from Evil Moisture and Rudolf from Runzelstirn and Gurglestock were going to be there tonight performing with Shortwave Radio Suicide, a noise super group made up of K2, MSBR, and Government Alpha. I grimaced, Rudolf again? That was strange since Evil Moisture was supposed to play a show in MSBR's hometown, or so I had read on the Cult23 mailing list, and considering Endo's run in with Rudolf in Taiwan at the Broken Life festival a few years ago and the drunken Swiss performance artiste's reputation, I figured there'd be trouble...

After a crowded train ride to Shinjuku and a transfer to a local subway we were at Koenji. Just a short walk to the UFO Club, which is conveniently located next to a Family Mart(a convenience store chain). We were unfashionably early, got there before everyone else arrived. We filled out band info sheets: group name, members, guests, and stuff.

Set-up my gear and did a short sound check, I hadn't performed in over a year so I was looking forward to playing. I packed a 12 pedal set-up on to a small TV tray type table which was quite a feat, a tangle of patch cords and wall warts.

After the sound check, we awaited the arrival of other acts and the audience. I was finally going to get to meet Fumiyuki Nagura of Mo*Te in person, after trading tapes with him for a few years. Not only that but I was going to meet Pain Jerk, K2, Crack Fierce, and T. Mikawa, some of my favorite artists! A harsh head's wet dream, I know a couple of people who would have given their left nuts to be here (hi Soddy and Joe Lombardo!)...