Japanese review
The two shows I attended (in Tokyo & Osaka 2nd night) were full. I'm afraid I can't remember the exact setlist, but I've heard from other fans present that the band had been altering it slightly every night throughout the Japanese leg of the tour, and on some nights they played "Space Truckin'" instead of "Lazy". As the set I had seen in Tokyo included "Lazy," I was hoping that they would play "Space Truckin'" on the second night in Osaka (and someone told me that they had played "Lazy" the night before), but they didn't. And on some nights they have apparently played "Ted The Mechanic," but I missed that. Oh well.
In all cases they opened the show with "Woman From Tokyo" but I suppose this was only for Japan. And they played "Fools" at both the shows I saw. The others I remember off the top of my jetlagged head (I've just flown back from Japan to Germany) were "Any Fule Kno That," "Fireball," "Watching The Sky," "Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming," "Smoke On The Water," "Perfect Strangers," "Black Night," "Highway Star," "Hush"... (not in this order.)
The band also appeared on the TV programme "News Station" on 25 March where they played "Smoke On The Water." A friend taped it for me but I still haven't seen it...
Other than that - well, the audience in Tokyo was very quiet (they often are) but the Osaka crowd was much more heated, and at least the front half of the audience kept standing up throughout the show (which doesn't always happen.) Another thing: I was appalled by the bad manners of the fans who gathered at the hotels to get autographs and take photos with the band members. They just didn't have any consideration for the other guests at the hotel! A friend told me all hard rock/heavy metal fans in Japan behave like that, but I think they should realise that it reflects badly on the artists, not to mention the effect their behaviour has on the hotel staff's tolerance level!
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