Thursday, December 20, 2007

Honeysweeper Tour Report - Final(?) Update

Photo taken 11/17/07 West Hollywood - Key Club by John Wayne Maioriello

UPDATE 1/14: This is more than likely my final update to this post. Whew! As always, feel free to let me know if there are any show reports out there that I've somehow missed (or that haven't been written yet), but I'm no longer going to be actively searching for more. I think you've got plenty to get through here as it is. This last update has one new show report from Osaka as a parting gift.

I will do this same thing for future PUFFY shows and tours, so don't think this was just a one-time deal. PUFFY's next scheduled show is at Green Power Live 2008 on February 19, so I'll be posting whatever I find on that as well (in a new post). And of course, any future tours will get another post like this one.

Don't forget to take a look at PUFFY's own official Honeysweeper blog (in either English or Japanese) for their own running report from the road. Ami has also now posted her thoughts about the overall tour (again, in English and Japanese).

Continue on for the the full show report extravaganza and the North America set list.

If you've got a tip on a show report you've found around the net, or you want your own linked here, you can also leave a comment or send me an email.

Since I couldn't attend any of the North American shows myself this year (I'm an East Coaster), I thought the next best thing would be to compile all the Honeysweeper tour show reports I can find into one post. The Japan reports are obviously mostly in Japanese - if you're an English-only speaker, you can try running them through an automatic translation service like Google Language Tools. Reports from the US shows are mostly English.

And if you haven't already, feel free to read my own past show reports from Irving Plaza in NYC 2005, and the River to River Festival in NYC 2006.

I'll put this post back at the top of the homepage as each show concludes and new reports get added.

Without further ado:

10/19/07 Tokyo/Shibuya C.C. Lemon Hall (渋谷C.C.Lemonホール):
10/26/07 Hiroshima Club Quattro (広島クラブクアトロ):
  • Shigeo Naka's blog (PUFFY's tour guitarist) (Japanese) (日本語)
10/27/07 Fukuoka Drum Logos (福岡ドラムロゴス):
  • Shigeo Naka's blog (PUFFY's tour guitarist) (Japanese) (日本語)
  • Minamin's blog (Japanese) (日本語)
11/11/07 Vancouver, BC Richards on Richards:
11/13/07 Seattle, WA Moore Theater:
11/15/07 San Francisco, CA Slim's:
11/16/07 West Hollywood, CA Key Club:
11/18/07 Anaheim, CA House of Blues:
11/25/07 Sapporo ZEPP LEAGUE "Doubleheader" Tamio Okuda vs. PUFFY:
12/01/07 Yawatahama Lyceum (八幡浜市文化会館):
  • None found! Let me know if I've missed any...
12/14/07 Nagoya Diamond Hall (名古屋ダイアモンドホール):
12/16/07 Osaka Namba Hatch (大阪なんばHatch):
12/19/07 Tokyo/SHIBUYA-AX:

By the way, the Zepp Doubleheader is not technically part of the Honeysweeper tour, but as it falls right in the middle of it and has generated its own share of show reports, I may as well include it.

Here's the North America set list. Figured I'd post it as it differs a bit from the Japanese list. (From Cerahbes and others)

Boom Boom Beat
Nagisa ni Matsuwaru etc.
Kimi to Ootobai
Kichiburu Motion
Tokyo I'm On My Way
Youkai Puffy
Radio Tokyo
Closet Full of Love
Jet Keisatsu
Joining a Fan Club
Teen Titans
Oriental Diamond
Circuit no Musume
Red Swing
Mogura-like
Basket Case
Hi Hi

Encore(s):
(Rock 'n' Roll Radio)
Asia no Junshin

The first encore was not played at all dates. It also sounds like Asia no Junshin closed one or two shows, with Circuit no Musume being the encore.

I waited to post that until the NA tour was over - they didn't want the Japanese set list posted (I guess just for the sake of surprise), so I figured the same might be true here.

Check back soon after each show for updates. I can't promise I'll be glued to my computer screen immediately following each date, but I'll post new links as soon as I can!

Photo taken Seattle 11/13/07 by Kevin/rise888 - used with permission

4 comments:

  1. My family and I went to the Seattle show, and had a fantastic time.

    We had never been to the Moore Theater before...it's a classic live performance theater with high ceiling, chandalier, red velvet curtain, etc. Great venue for the show - perfect size and feel. We were in the 5th row, mere yards from the stage.

    As one blogger mentioned, the Seattle show sported a very eclectic crowd. I myself am on the older side (well, not THAT old, although the concert was my birthday present). I felt perfectly at home.

    Puffy jumped right in with a rockin' tune from Honeycreeper, and really never slowed down from there. This was a ballad-free zone...

    Most of the time, the band played such a faithful reproduction of the songs that you had to check to make sure you weren't listening to the CD. Just like with recorded Puffy music, the numbers were precise and expertly performed.

    The audience was fairly hyped throughout. About the time they were slowing down, Puffy jumped in with some audience participation on the Teen Titans theme. That revved the energy right back up again.

    I've never been to a Puffy concert before, and I noticed they have an intriguing stage presence. They tend to pace/walk/dance up and down the stage in a sort of slow, rhythmic motion, with Ami and Yumi alternating. They didn't move out of their zones much - I think Ami and Yumi swapped sides only once or twice. On songs with a snap ending, Ami would hop up in the air, stomping out the last beat. You could tell they were having fun, as were all the band members. Onstage was all smiles and energy.

    Most of the music was from Honeycreeper and Splurge, but there were some songs from previous albums sprinkled in, and even a cover tune.

    Puffy made us work for the encore. I'm not sure how long we were clapping and screaming, but it was a while. And well worth it - I was really hoping to hear Ajia No Junshin live!

    Now, on merchandise - it was critical to walk away with Honeycreeper (not available here in the States yet). With it, I got an autographed placard, honest to goodness signed by Ami and Yumi personally. Excellent! Be sure to bring cash - they didn't take credit cards at the merchandise table...

    Can't wait for the next time they get to the Northwest. What a fun night!

    And a side note - Honeycreeper is a wonderful album - great addition to my Puffy music collection.

    Peace...

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  2. Thanks for the report, TechGuy! I posted a link directly to the comments section in the post above so people can read it.

    It's both torturous and fun for me to read through all these - on the one hand, I'm totally jealous, but on the other, I'm sort of living vicariously through all you guys. It would be worse if I'd never seen them before, but as it is, I'm just remembering how I felt the first time I saw them and imagining some people must be feeling the same way now...

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  3. Amazing show in SF! I went in as a fan but I now have a serious Puffy obsession. Someone out there has high quality photographs from this show and I would really like to see them. A guy right in front of me (maybe 15 feet from the stage) snapped away through the first handful of songs. When threatened by security he displayed a badge so I wonder who he was photographing for? Hope they turn up soon so I can relive the experience and continue feeding my unhealthy fixation.

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  4. gendo:

    Alkulp, the same guy who got me the autographed shirt in the post above this one, said he saw a similar guy in LA and it was actually a Sony photographer. (He actually talked to him.) So those are probably publicity photos that he was taking. You may or may not ever see them - they seem to just bank a lot of photos from their shows and then bring them out for things like the 10th anniversary book.

    I was like you when I first saw them... I was a casual fan before (owned a couple of their albums), but look at me now :) They are an amazingly good live act.

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