“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Andre Gide
Co-ordinating a special 3 way split CD of new and up and coming Sydney talent + more soon
2nd May 2025 – I think this just ended up with the Pay Colour release. I’m not sure which other bands I was talking with at the time but as is often the case, plans change, bands break up etc
Astro Can Caravan artwork arrived
we sleep for 2 whole hours before having to get up, load the car and head back to the airport.
after much messing around checking in, everything is finally sorted and we wish each other well and say our goodbyes – all hopeful that we will see each other again soon.
limited express (has gone?) made it safely back to japan where they will tour the release of their 2nd album ‘makes you dance’ in january/february.
if our ideas and plans come to fruition they’ll be back here in march/april 2005.
thanks to everyone who made this ‘special show time!’
look out for a live cd and dvd from the tour
They later posted this message to their website (translated from Japanese):
“Limited Express (has gone?) has returned home safely!!!.
The Australia/New Zealand tour was a great success, if I may say so myself (of course, it wasn’t easy…). We did 4 shows in 2 days, slept next to a ton of ants crawling from the ceiling to the floor and down the walls, and had a bit of a fuss at customs. We were supposed to start at 9 o’clock, but we didn’t mind starting at 10:30. But anyway, it was a great success.
We did 2 to 4 shows in each city, and the last day of all the three cities we went to (Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington) was SOLD OUT, and all the CDs we brought with us were SOLD OUT!!!. The reason for this is probably the power of word of mouth and the high interest people in Oceania have in gigs. Australia and New Zealand are not well known at all, but they have a solid music scene, and the networks of newspapers, radio, etc. that support it are really well developed, and it was an eye-opener for me.
There are many times when people who came to see our live show want to say, “Come on my radio show tomorrow.” And there are a lot of people who came to the gig after listening to it. There is always something like a local music newspaper. I thought that was amazing.
Australians are looking for Japanese bands. I really felt that. When we went, everyone talked about the friction that caused them to come two months ago. We will definitely go again. Japanese bands should go there more and more.
Thanks to Shaun, Kyoko, Robby, Kieran and Chrissie!!!”
frequency lab with grey daturas, hit the jackpot, vincent over the sink
waiting waiting waiting at the airport – finally a customs guy finds us and wants to know why jj, yukari and koji have equipment with them – i just tell him they were recording before and have come back to sydney for one night before flying back to japan.
eventually limited express (has gone?) come out and we sheepishly load up the car and drive into the city to frequency lab.
we take everything up and vincent over the sink start pretty soon after – these two guys are great but we only get to check out a couple of songs before hunger calls.
we make it back to see hit the jackpot who are another wonderfully simple band – playing with a complete disregard to anything at all – they’re cool! i’m running around wondering if everything will be ok as the place fills – it looks to me as though the equipment is ropey and the drumkit will fall apart but it’s all there is…grey daturas manage to crank everything up a notch and chris on sound manages pretty well with the noise.
the place is packed now and no one else should be allowed in but it seems the place is getting more and more full as people squash right up to the microphones. a 10 second soundcheck and limited express (has gone?) special show time begins once again with ‘free style riding’ and ‘aloha!’
the grins are wide on everyone around and people are climbing over each other to get a view. the enthusiasm is running both ways as the band crank up the tempo, heat and intensity. jj makes his way into the audience during stop-go and yukari during tiger rock.
limited express (has gone?) finish special show time with another crazy run through ‘talk to me, all right’ and a ripping version of spy which disintegrates into a squall of noise before a jj jump to full stop.
the audience won’t let them go though and beg for more so get treated to a beautiful rendition of ‘drawtoborn’ and another quick run through ‘free style riding’ after which jj and yukari get carried through the crowd to rapturous applause.
everyone is happy!
everything is good!
limited express (has gone!).
jj – “thank you sydney audience! thank you punk rock! we are rock and roll! certainly we will come here again”
yukari – “it is no problem, language or different country, music is great!”
koji – “tonight we rose to the occasion and the last show of the tour was a great show”
restful day today, took a trip to the top of brooklyn hill and saw the views from the windmill. a huge blue still day.
down to the beachfront to have lunch in the sun. the sea was calm and we watched for dolphins, but got side-tracked by great food. it was beautiful to be a bit out of the city and yukari, jj and koji all seemed to enjoy the space.
had a nap when we came home and when jj and koji got up, they went and did skipping with the children on the footpath. koji is very good at skipping.
we went down to the cross bar for sound check at 7pm; it went quickly and smoothly and then went for turkish food for tea.
blow up dolls were on first, at times sounding rock and at other times early 80s influences came out. they have tightened up considerably since the last i saw them, and a few brave audience members got the dancing going.
the users were next, popular around wellington at the moment after the release of a recent cd, this group appealed to large parts of the crowd. at times crampsish, and at other 1960s rock & roll infused trash rock, a very slight and tight set.
the audience had swollen considerably and the room was now looking really full. by the time limited express (has gone?) took the stage, the room was packed. many people who came to the tuesday night had returned to see them again. it was an impressive sight for the middle of the week. it was a hard set though; the band had several technical problems that had developed since sound check. yukari was having a lot of problems with her pedals and jj was breaking strings. but from an audience perspective you couldn’t tell that there were difficulties. the performance seemed even more intense and powerful than the previous night. yukari still has a sore throat but this did not seem to hinder her efforts.
halfway through the set, jj announced that they were going to donate a portion of the money they made from merchandise to the local anti-bypass action group. yukari, jj and koji all were interested in this local issue and felt they would like to help somehow.
the show reached its conclusion with huge energy, the audience calling for more, more. yukari took the mike and explained that all their gear was now broken and they could not play anymore, but asked the audience to remember them and come and see them when they next come this way.
a lot of merchandise was sold after the show, the tzadik album ‘feeds you’ was sold out, the single, tenzenmen albums, and t-shirts were all being bought as well. although it was hard for the band, it was a fantastic finish to such a short visit. i’m sure many will remember them and will anticipate and look forward to their return. i shall.
koji – “last night was last gig in new zealand . i was very excited for many people coming.”
jj – “i regret because our last night show was not good. i wanted to play more exciting show. so I would like to come again new zealand certainly!!! ps – we appreciate wonderful kierans family!! thank you so much.”
yukari – “they took us to go around in daytime. very happy! because I can got clean air and nice nature view! on stage, i had some troubles, but I enjoyed so much!”
1994ever 