Kyoto and Osaka Wild Styles

no time to blog what with all the rocking and eating and train-taking over here, i'm a few days behind.... we played Kyoto on Thursday in a tiny underground place called Metro, completely unrelated i can tell you to the Chicago venue of the same name...reminded us of some of the sweatier clubs we played in Brazil. crowd took a few songs to warm up, as did we, but then got moving and was great. i don't remember the setlist anymore from this night but i know that we played "100,000 Fireflies" in the encore. speaking of encores, in Tokyo we realized that "Hyper Enough" seems to be everyone's favorite song here, so it is an encore staple now. what's funny is they cheer the loudest during the song not when the chorus comes around but when the guitar hook happens.

also in Kyoto -- the best sushi ever. it's Kyoto-style, which is an ancient version different than the modern "Tokyo-style". see picture above of one of the best things i've ever eaten -- Saba (Mackeral) sushi, Kyoto style with Kombu seaweed wrapped around the outside. you unpeel it and eat the seaweed later. incredible.

Osaka is known for its gluttony and "crazy" crowds at rock shows and we experienced both. the fans at Fandango last night from the minute we said "konban wa" were nuts and it made for a really fun show. they have the monitors strapped to the stage with an elaborate system of trusses for a reason. Osaka set from what i can remember:

Why Do You Have to Put A Date...
Seed Toss
Learned to Surf
Art Class
Let It Go
Mower
The Popular Music
For Tension
Detroit
Late-Century Dream
My Noise
Driveway to Driveway
First Part
Precision Auto

encore:
Throwing Things
Slack
Hyper
Like A fool
Cast Iron

on to Nagoya via fast fast train!