tcs finally hit the stage to play this sold out solo show in a small (200-300 people) tokyo club. the band rehearsed for almost an hour before the show and were nervous and excited for the show to begin, as this was their first concert since nov 1996. grant (new bass player) and stevie (new keyboard player) were especially nervous as this was their first show in the band. tcs played for about 60 minutes and after the encore, the crowd continued to cheer for tcs return to the stage. john came out and said “i’m sorry but we have a new bass player and keyboard player and they can’t play that many songs right now, and frank has a sore throat.”; then, everyone came out (except frank, who wasn’t feeling well and had already returned to the hotel) and signed autographs for the crowd. from what I have heard, the band sounded great and seemed to be having a lot of fun, and the new songs are ‘mellow’. frank didn’t play guitar at all, which is interesting since he had played when they toured in 1994-1996. we’ll see if he plays in any of the shows in japan, my guess is that he won’t. john sings in capitals, hammer time and a boy and a girl, usually is sung by frank and john at the same time, and the rest of the songs are sung by frank.

tcs played a sold out show at club quattro in tokyo, where they last played on sep 21-22, 1996. the opening band for this show was japanese band sunny day service (sds). sds was the opening band for tcs in 1996 as well. by all accounts, the show was great and better than the night before, and once again, frank did not play guitar, so it looks like this will be the setup for the rest of the shows.

tcs played another sold out show at club quattro. while tcs are the headline act, i think a lot of people are there to see sunny day service (sds). for the second night in a row, sokabe from sds told the crowd that tcs are the best band in the world! northern bright was the first to perform and for a cover of small faces’ “song of a baker”; they were joined on stage by tcs’ manager, george, who sang vocals. sokabe joined tcs on stage for “snow”, which is a harpers bazaar cover that tcs and sds recorded together at shabby road back in mar 1998. this song was not released (until dec 1999), but was played on sds’ radio show last year. sds and northern bright joined tcs on stage for “only tongue can tell”. this show is said to be the best of the three so far as tcs really seem relaxed and like they’re enjoying themselves. now it’s time to head into the studio.

tcs played a sold out show at bayside jenny’s in osaka. the club was ‘packed’ and it’s estimated that there were around 1,500 people there. the opening bands for this show were again northern bright and sunny day service. once again, tcs’ manager joined northern bright on stage for a cover of small faces’ “song of a baker”.

tcs played the final show of their brief japanese tour at drum logos in fukuoka. the opening bands for this show were again northern bright and sunny day service. by now, we know the routine: tcs’ manager joins northern bright for a song and the other bands join tcs for a song. sokabe actually sang backup on “co-stars” and guitar on “snow”. tcs’ tour was considered a huge success and special thanks go to northern bright and especially sunny day service for all of their help to make this tour a reality and for making tcs’ stay in japan a memorable one.

tcs took a ferry over to dublin for this show and spent the afternoon with radio dj donal dineen, recording two sessions that would later be broadcast on radio (“leave me alone” and “usually”). the band debuted one more new song (“what women do to men”) and spent the night chatting with fans until closing time. it woud be almost a year before the band would play in concert again.