For the second year running I went to the Summer Sonic music festival in Chiba where fortunately the predicted rain and thunder held. Those who went to the previous day to see the likes of Metallica and Daft Punk were less fortunate!

I have commented on the differences between the Japanese and English crowds before (wearing towels around the neck, the strange location, no crowd surfing, no sitting on shoulders, cleanliness & patience between songs etc) so there was no culture shock for me this time as I knew what to expect.

The festival starts at 11:00 am which is a couple of hours ahead of most festivals so I gave the early bands a miss as I only really wanted to see three bands. Beforehand I was a little worried that two of these might clash but luckily that was not the case.

This year I was on my own which isn’t as bad as one may think as Summer Sonic is in the city and thus has no festival spirit and atmosphere meaning it is purely about the music. Lying around on the concrete floor in an exhibition centre doesn’t have quite the appeal of its grass counterpart though that didn’t stop many people!

Being alone also meant that I didn’t have to worry about losing anyone when the crowd surged back and forth. However, I did meet up with one of my students and her friend on the way to the festival but we all soon went our separate ways as we wanted to see different bands.

The main stage was at the baseball stadium which I went to a couple of months ago to see Japan’s most popular sport. My Summer Sonic ’06 experience bagan at the other stages indoors at Makuhari Messe which was probably a good idea as there was no chance of topping up my sunburn while I was inside!! I actually thought I was watching We Are Scientists for my first act but I realised afterwards that I was at a different stage and had actually been watching another band!

After that I saw The Kooks and latest British musical press darlings Arctic Monkeys where the crowd did surprise me actually as they went absolutely bananas for them, and I inevitably got stood on many times as I battled for survival.

As the evening came I moved outdoors and walked over the main highway to the stadium’s Main Stage where I met up with a student friend of mine to see the final two bands on the bill.

Muse were a band I’ve wanted to see live for a while as I’ve heard great things about their live set, and I wasn’t disappointed as they put in a rocking performance full of energy with the music doing the talking. Quite literally actually as frontman Matt Bellamy never once addressed the audience with the drummer doing that instead which was a little bit strange and different from the norm.

Headliners Linkin Park were up next and I only just averted disaster as they entered the fray.

Someone behind me trod on the back of my trainer and it came off! I just about managed to slide my foot into it and was able to drag it back. Moments later I could finally put it on properly to great relief. Phew! That was a problem I could have done without as I was already sweating buckets. It was all a far cry from the Glastonbury festivals that I’ve have slummed my way through … from the, erm comfort of my living room!