It’s Saturday, January 20th, 2007 and we all meet in the hotel cafe for breakfast. The mighty buffet has a selection of mostly western fare; scrambled eggs, rice, bacon, sausages, french fries, yogurt, muesli, french toast, hard boiled eggs, juice, soup, good coffee and espresso. However there are also some more Japanese selections like seaweed salad, miso soup and mackerel. The place reminds me of a French style cafe with octagonal tile floors and small tables.

Everyone is in good spirits as we pile into two very small vans with all of our gear and luggage. The drive today to Okayama is a long one, 5 hours. It doesn’t take long before we stop and try to rearrange the packing order, “stretch a leg” as Volker says. Paul’s new laptop has a camera with a house of mirrors function, so we wind up passing the hours making funny faces and photos that are later made into comics thanks to a new software program.

I shift over to the super cramped van with John and Sam. We try to read while swerving through mountainous highways dotted with a series of tunnels that make reading nearly impossible. We talk about the new Iron and Wine album which upon listen with computer and headphoniums sounds amazing. Both Paul and I played on a few tracks and the fully realized recordings are truly impressive. Sam really has a knack for not only delivering incredible vocals and harmonies, but also is bad, as in bad ass, at the building of rhythmic and melodic parts.

We arrive in Okayama to find the club John Bull is part of a boutique clothing and design store. It’s interesting to see how scenes in communities like this are coming together combining different avenues in art scenes, fashion and technology which reminds me of a shop in Paris called A.P.C. which sell blue jeans and have a record label and performance space. Like A.P.C. John Bull has a gallery and bar where they can have installations, have DJ’s and live music. We all have a great time here and the mood is high.

The people who work here are all very nice. They offer a spread of chips and salsa, sandwiches and drinks. We sound check and then head back to the hotel. Jetlag is kicking in strong. Sam, Sarah and I rehearse in their tiny little hotel room for a few songs before starting to get extremely drowsy.

Leaving the cocoon state is hard to do, but we manage and pull up to the club noticing there is a mobile hamburger/hot dog trailer parked out in front of the venue. Very Tucson. I wonder if they have green chili. We climb into the venue to catch the very exciting support band, Cyclops Marine Corps Band. They are a hearty bunch. Remind me of San Fransisco/Hamburg harbor hard core eccentrics.

Iron and Wine play mostly new tunes including one written a few days before at the airport. Some of the kids sit down on the clean wooden floor. The whole place is fairly new. Just built. Very modern and stylish. The night turns out to be one of the best Japanese shows ever. We are floating on a cloud of post-Lemurian Pacific Rim positive vibrations, either that or really good red wine and kitkats.

The night is full. Lots of the audience and staff want to say hey. I head back to the hotel and am asleep the instant my head hits the pillow. Tomorrow we venture to Kyoto for a day off…I dream about wandering through the temples and gardens there and becoming one
with the rake and broom. Zen Rock Gardeners.

-Joey Burns