KARLA TALLAS - REPORTS WITH GOTTHARD IN JAPAN | Page 10

WITH GOTTHARD IN JAPAN!
TOKYO: September 5 th , 2012
– September 7 th , 2012
We finally landed at Tokyo Naritu airport after
a long and tiring flight, shortly before 9 a.m. Tired,
but happy and full of expectations. A couple of
minutes after our arrival, we had a chance to
meet’n’greet the band for the first time. The first
day is planned as the arrival and relaxing day
without any bigger plans. Only a short meeting
with the management and the band in the
evening in the hotel to introduce ourselves and
make some plans for our report.
The first photo shoot is planned for the 6 th at
1 p.m. in front of the hotel. The situation isn’t easy
for us, nor is it for the band. For us it’s our first time
in Japan and it’s not easy to arrange the best place
for a photo session. We all took it easy for the
first time and walked around the hotel, with the
Museum of Art nearby. The other thing was to get
used to each other and find the best way forward
for our collaboration. The most important thing
for each of us was to capture the best in every
moment. Of course, the most important thing for
the band was absolutely the show, as they always
emphasized.
At the same time, UNISONIC was arriving to the hotel
with their crew. Both bands had already toured
together in South America, appeared together in
the same European festivals, they’ll be continuing
in Japan and the tour will go on to Russia, and then
the whole European tour will follow before the end
of the year. From the beginning it was clear the
tour would happen without any bigger problems,
because the atmosphere between the 2 bands
is carried out in a friendly spirit and you can’t feel
any kind of animosity between them.
This was also the day of the first show, when it’s
necessary to check how everything will work
out. After half an hour of shooting photos, the
band heads straight away for the soundcheck.
The venue for the first 2 gigs is the same and it’s
called Shibuya-AX. Both of the bands have 1 hour
for soundcheck before every show on the Japan
tour. GOTTHARD is the first up, and UNISONIC
was chosen by the Japanese promoter as the
headliner. At first, I was quite surprised to find this
out. GOTTHARD is a band with a long history and
10 albums. UNISONIC is a band with just 1 album.
I asked myself why UNISONIC then? The answer
was more than clear after the first show and
writing 2 names is more than enough to explain
it all: Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen. Two icons
of rock music who are treated by Japanese fans
Even if both bands had different record labels,
this package has some connections in between.
First of all, they have the same management. Also,
they both started a new era approximately at the
same time. Kai Hansen joined UNISONIC in March
2011 and a couple of months later, in November,
GOTTHARD announced the name of their new
singer.
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