KARLA TALLAS - REPORTS WITH GOTTHARD IN JAPAN | Page 16

WITH GOTTHARD IN JAPAN! OSAKA: September 8 th , 2012 We all are arriving to Osaka shortly after noon. The venue is just next to the hotel, which makes all the situation very easy and comfortable. Everybody seems to be tired today, I would say it’s the impact of jetlag. No special plans for today except the show, and as I had mentioned before, we are also concentrating more on UNISONIC today. The Grand Cube venue has a couple of surprises for us. For the first time we have a chance to see a typical venue for Japan, which is very different comparing to European venues. First of all, the venue is a part of a big complex of buildings and shopping centers, not a separate place which is on the ground floor. The Grand Cube can be found on the fifth floor. Shibuya-AX in Tokyo was the only venue we saw in Japan which was its own separate hall. The Grand Cube had one more specific place. This venue is probably multifunctional and is used for shows as well as for theater performances. You have seats in the audience, exactly like you’re in a theater. We were walking around, trying to absorb its atmosphere and thinking about the upcoming evening and the contrast between the venue and the rock music which is going to play the main role right here tonight. Compared to other shows, there’s another difference. The show time for the first band GOTTHARD is at 5 pm – a really unusual time to start. can’t feel any pushing or fighting for a place during the shows. You can see the discipline of Japanese people not only during the shows, but everywhere you go, on the streets, at train stations.... What I liked the most is that these people really care. If you have a problem on the street to find your way, there’s always somebody who notices you without asking. Even if they don’t speak any other language, they’re always trying to help somehow. Only one thing which was quite strange for us was the bad information service for tourists, especially in the subway, but we always solved everything without any bigger problems thanks to the help of the people around us. The night after the show in Osaka was planned by a Japanese promoter and both bands were invited for a dinner and to spend some time with those who were responsible for the 5 great nights with GOTTHARD and UNISONIC. While the guys were having dinner, we moved to the one of the most famous rock clubs in Japan, called Rock Rock. You can hardly find a band name who’s performed in Japan and hasn’t visited this place. A small, tiny place, but really great. If you can see the fans being very concentrated during the shows, coming to the place like this, you can see everybody dancing around and really enjoying the party. One hour later, the members of both bands were joining us in the club. They can finally enjoy the party a little bit more because the next day is a day off. The Japanese fans are very disciplined, everybody takes a seat and you can’t hear any noise before the show. When it’s show time and the lights are going down, everybody is standing up, but not leaving their places. This is also a big difference compared to Europe. You 16