Obviously I’m not very diligent with my posting after leaving Nagasaki it was off to Tokyo.
Tokyo is less of a travel blog and more of the personal side of the journey. Once I arrived and checked in it was time to meet some folks in the Prince Park Tower lobby. Some familiar faces were floating around; Carl, Howard, Richie, Ed.
Two guys named Chris were there to meet up with Keri and Brandi and then the four of us were off, local beer drinking. Apparently Chris and Chris worked for a larger beer company in Japan; one of them is opening a brewery next year.
No idea where we went but do recall the first place was doing a tap takeover of beers from Hong Kong and Russia. We tried a bunch of beers, probably way too many and moved on to another place, then another place and maybe it was the 4th place we tried fried chicken asses. That sounds strange and of course Kelli and Brandi didn’t try them (pescatarians, they had fish) but the asses, you guessed it, taste like chicken.
A good night of drinking, with new & old friends, prepping for day/night two. During the day and each of the days it was just a bit of wandering taking it easy, grabbing a couple of beers, some conveyor belt sushi, Kit Kat factory, some shopping with Jenn and Shannon etc. And of course KK putting his stickers all over Tokyo; he even found one he posted two years ago.
I mentioned in The Journey Begins Keri owns Aces & Ales and is opening a brewery. He and the Devilcraft folks did two collaborative beers, Dawn of Madness (in reference to the Night Ranger shows) and Bang Bang Berry which is a sour beer; I was calling the Danger Danger beer. So night two was the DevilCraft brewing release event.
We arrived at DevilCraft and it was a bit crazy. People turned up excited to see Keri. It was just Keri, Brandi and I on arrival and the fans were loving it. Jack, Brad and Kelly arrived and then it got a bit insane. I ended up playing security for a bit with fans reaching in to get things signed, asking for pictures, etc. It calmed only slightly and Jack and Kelly left, Eric arrived and it started all over. Definitely a successful night for DevilCraft and Keri Kelli.
If you get to Tokyo, like great beer, and might be missing some Chicago style pizza, get over to see the folks at DevilCraft. I have no doubt the folks there will welcome you in and make you happy. If they put that special tuna poke pizza on the menu it’s a winner!! Special thanks to Jason, Mike and the DevilCraft team for the awesome beers and their hospitality throughout the time in Tokyo.
Having been to Tokyo a few times I didn’t feel the need to really sight see during day. As for the nights, 3 of the next 4 were filled with Night Ranger; we even included a little celebration for Eric Levy’s Birthday.
I didn’t bring gear to shoot concerts but had a camera so took some pictures. You can see some of them throughout this page and in the gallery below. It was strange to shoot as these fans waited 2 years since the previous visit. Being in peoples way is always a little awkward but this just seemed moreso. Regardless, I played with my settings and took some shots.
October 5th was Akasuka Blitz, October 7th and 8th were Hitomi Memorial Hall. The fans were awesome, many of whom went to all three, as well as the meet & greets. The bands energy was amazing which is saying a lot when you think that each of these shows were sets that exceeded two hours.
October 6th, we had a bit of a rough day. Actually the day was great!! We couldn’t get to the rugby game at Tokyo Stadium and the weather was on and off. Brandi, Keri and I decided to grab some lunch and watch the All Black (NZ) game. Basically we spent all day/night drinking, eventually joined by Ryan, Rich and James. Everything would have been ok had we just not gone to Geronimo Shot Bar. Basically the deal it whoever bangs the drum buys shots for everyone in the bar (it’s buyers choice). Needless to say we had an interesting mix of shots topped of with Keri Kelli, hitting the drum, spending over $300 and us drinking something they claimed to be Tequila. Let’s just say I’d advise against that in the future, James was smart when he did the Irish exit, it was a rough 7th.
All in all it was an amazing time. There were a couple of moments that were somewhat sad and emotional without our brother Todd. He sort of made the trip as you can see below (red circle); thanks to Ed for the picture
Lots of love for TBoy in the Night Ranger camp; you can’t help but feel it. Big thanks to Howard, Ryan, Ed, Carl, Steve, James and of course Jack, Brad, Kelly, Eric and Keri. Also a big shout out to the ladies Brandi, Jenn and Shannon. Thanks for all the love and a great time
Look forward to seeing you all soon.
More pictures of our time in Tokyo below and don’t forget to check out the Night Ranger Website and get out to a show!
For the Night Rangers it was off to Osaka and for me it was a 1:20am flight to Vietnam
