The Hives were the main reason that Stephen wanted to attend PunkSpring 09. He was checking the band’s tour dates to see when they would be coming to town again, and saw that they were playing in Japan, called me up, and the rest has been documented elsewhere in the blog. Needless to say, when The Hives took the stage at PunkSpring 09, Stephen was right up front.
When the band came on and started playing the crowd, as expected, went nuts. The crowd was moving around, back and forth, up and down, and generally having a good time. About two or three songs into the set, Stephen reached over and tapped me on the shoulder – a rather good accomplishment considering that the part of the crowd where he was stationed was in great motion. Not that my area wasn’t moving, but I had purposefully chosen a less volatile section to enjoy the band after having one bad experience already.
As it turns out, there was a reason that Stephen had reached over and tapped my shoulder – there was a very small (relatively) Japanese girl right in front of me. I am 6”1’ and this girl was so short that when she reached up her hand didn’t even reach my chin. I immediately backed up so as to allow oxygen towards to mid-level of the crowd as well as just to give her some space.
This girl was crazy, and in a good way. She kept at least one hand up at all times and was constantly in motion. As soon as any sort of gap opened up, she moved right up. This was smart as it allowed her to be much more stable against the crowd and let people know that there was a person there.
Another person behind me was doing his best to give this girl some space and watch out for her as much as I was. Together we worked to keep her from getting crushed. I even lifted her up at one point so she could see. As long as the music was going she was constantly moving, a blur of activity. It was apparent that she was very much enjoying herself.
After The Hives finished their set Stephen came over and asked her as well as he could with his limited Japanese if she was alright. She was confused at first, but after a moment understood his intent and confirmed that she was indeed, quite alright.
The Hives played, as all the bands did, a shorter than normal set. This isn’t much of a problem, really, because this is simply how festivals work. What Stephen and I had hoped for, however, was that The Hives would spend a little less time on their normal between song banter and more time playing songs. Instead of a solid hit-filled set jam packed with songs as all the other bands did, The Hives simply played as normal, only for a shorter amount of time.
This brings me to what I think is wrong with most festivals, PunkSpring 09 being no exception. I would have been fine with one less band on each stage allowing for the other bands a little more time to perform. I enjoy seeing all of the bands at one go, but I also enjoy the full concert experience and think there is room for the two to meet.
Sum 41 was the last band to play, and Stephen and I stayed away from the crowd and actually close to the exit. PunkSpring 09 ended about 10:00 at night, well before the trains stopped running. We weren’t terribly concerned with this, since our hotel was a block or so away.
Instead we tried to find a bar or restaurant. The problem was that this was a much more commercial district, so late on a Sunday evening most establishments were closed. We found a place that was open, got some food, wound down from the day, and took stock of our trip as a whole. After this we headed back to the hotel, went to bed, and the next da we went to the airport for the return trip home.