There IS a God! A Nice Day Out at Summer Sonic with The Specials and Friends 29年ぶりザ・スペシャルズ見に行きました　大興奮した！

日本は頭のおかしい人も自由に外出できる社会なんだよ。Me getting airborne with excitement. I did that quite a lot on Sunday. To commemorate the occasion, Sasha wrote this Haiku:

国代えて
言の葉変えても
今日この日
誰ぞ思うや
故郷は近し

空中浮遊注意！
Appropriately, Elvis Costello later sang "(The Angels Want To Wear My) Red Shoes".

Back in the day. Them rude boys.　29年前のスペシャルズ

I hadn't seen the Specials for 29 years. They had lost none of their energy and passion. I yelled "Terry, give us a smile" and he almost did. Songs were brilliant, audience too. Naturally, I went as mental as humanly possible. Especially to "Do Nothing". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vte2mtO80ck

あの時代で若かったね〜！私も！

取り憑かれたように踊り狂っていたら、ネヴィルがステージからほり投げた、メンバー全員サイン入りシャーツが事も有ろうに俺の頭を直撃！
横取りしようとする周りのならず者との必死の争奪戦に勝つ！

They all signed Nev's shirt, and he threw it into the front row where I was so busy dancing like a lunatic that it came as a surprise when... it hit me in the head. I had to have a bit of a dust-up with two outlaw Japanese youths to retain it (we all made up afterwards, but then the guy with dyed blonde hair stole my pork-pie hat off my head).

I am now the proud owner of Coventry's answer to the Turin shroud.

Some people said I should frame it behind glass, but I'd rather wear it and feel like Terry Hall. I am still humming "Enjoy Yourself" 48 hours later. I also have an idiotic ear-to-ear grin plastered across my ugly Yorkshire mug.

The rain stopped before The Specials came on, and it got steamy Japan-summer humid. After the band played "Too Hot", Neville said "It's hot", and I yelled back in my best rude boy Jamaican, "Specials TOO HOT!". I swear Terry cracked a minor smile.

This is me after the rumble for the shirt! 'Fickt nicht mit der Raketenmensch!' as someone used to say.

And the signatories are:

Terry Hall　テリー・ホール What can you say about old Grumpyface. He's a real gentleman and I love him. After he had thrown his shoes and socks into the audience (glad I didn't get those), he pondered "How am I going to get home now?"

Lynval Golding　リンヴァル・ゴールディング I love the man, too.

Ronny Radiation aka Ronny Byers　ロディー・ラディエイション http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roddy_Radiation

John Bradbury aka Brad　ジョン・ブラッドベリ

Sir Horace Gentleman aka Horace Panter　ホレース・パンター

And the shirt owner himself is Neville Staple
シャーツのオーナー　ネヴィル・ステイプル http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neville_Staple
I remember Nev climbing a giant speaker stack at Bradford St George's Hall back in 1980, then he stage-dived into the Mosh Pit (neither of those phrases had been coined at the time, I believe) where he was somewhat miraculously caught by a sea of Rude Boys and Girls off the Bradford Council Estates. Average age must have been 15. They were young but they were seriously 'ard.

On the undercard were the very excellent:

Elvis Costello　エルヴィス・コステロ
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpprOGsLWUo

He played this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTU0yom69dE&feature=related
"...such a lot of fools trying to anaesthetise the way you feel"

and Joan Jett　ジョーン・ジェット
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry9ppgHPzks&feature=PlayList&p=2C9A75F9D3B75908&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=2

She's a naughty one. The boys and I were somewhat disappointed to discover she's gay. When she sang "Do You Want To Touch Me There?" we had all assumed she was singing it to us personally. And as for my reaction to "Fetish", well, I'll leave that to your imagination.