JAPAN: LAND OF THE RISING SUN..

Our departure from Abu Dhabi was on time, and the flight was a good one. But, Lord, it was long. Ten hours of sitting and another change in our biological clock made us all a mess!! I guess Jet Lag doesn't affect some people, but it surely did make our camp tired and confused. Luckily, we had a couple of days off.  Chuck and I were then 14 hours off of our home time in Georgia. Calling home became a challenge. On arrival, we were met by the usual throng of Japanese fans. They are always anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Rolling Stones. We immigrated into the country with no problem and all boarded our transportation to The Peninsula Hotel in Marunouchi District which is adjacent to Ginza. Shopping and restaurants abound in that area as it is hub for the transport system and also the Imperial Palace and Gardens are very close.

Plastic Food Menu

What?

Unfortunately, the weather was so bad the whole time we were in town that we never ventured out to the gardens. We were fortunate on our last tour to be there during the Cherry Blossom Festival. What a lovely, lovely time we had.

View of the Imperial Gardens and Palace

This time we had cold, rain and in the end as we were leaving, snow. At any rate, Chuck and I did hit the streets in search of good food which was just outside the hotel on every block. There was the new shopping street ?? which had all the usual designer shops and a few more local haberdasheries. We found Enoteca that had a wine outlet and also a restaurant that we liked. Our most favorite seemed to be Bangkok Kitchen serving Thai cuisine in The Brick Building. Morning Glory was on the menu!!! I loved it. The vine was cut up in 3 inch segments and ended up looking like green beans without the string. The greens were something like spinach but hard to explain. They had sauteed it with oil, probably lemon juice and some small segments of red and green peppers...not too much. We also ate at the Grill Ukai and the Pizza place downstairs. All the large high rise buildings have several floors of restaurants. The basements usually housed the drinking and more common type of restaurants: sushi, yakatori, Indian, tappanyaki......etc.......
Upper floors had more elegant and high end eating establishments. We liked our neighborhood very much as we hardly ever had to catch a cab and walking was interesting.

Le Muste de Cartier

One of my first missions was to go to Cartier and get me a watch band. I had that awful time in Paris, and I knew that I would not be so poorly treat in Tokyo. They were more than wonderful, and I got a wonderful brown alligator band for my Tank Watch. Appropriate for a Southern girl who has alligators on her property...It was very enjoyable seeing all the changes that are occurring in Japan.

Madelines just like Paris!

In our former years it was impossible to translate or even communicate verbally, but those things are changing rapidly as it is in the rest of the world. All the shops and restaurants had at least one and sometimes all persons speaking English. Once we found our places to shop and eat, we felt at home. If we could just get our time frame together. At first, we slept until Noon which meant nothing the first couple of days. But, we knew we better get ourselves together!! The shows in Japan are at 7pm with a 9:30 pm curfew which meant that I had to leave the Hotel at Noon to go to the Tokyo Dome.

www.rollingstones.com/.../14-on-fire-first-night-back. The core band didn't have to leave for a while, but the costumes and personal grooming rooms have to be set up. Also, the dressing rooms have to be tended. All Others had to be there by mid afternoon for sound check. The reason for the early time is that the 50,000 people attending the show all have to take the train/public transport to get home. Since the Japanese are such an organized culture it is very import for them to file out in consecutive order from the show. The Dome is a rather outdated structure having been built in the 88's (The Big Egg).http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/ When we went there in l989 for The Steel Wheels Tour we played 10 sold out shows and were there for almost a month. That would have been roughly 500,000 people. This time around we would do 3 shows totaling 150,000. During the stay it was baseball season, and there were 3 games after our first show and prior to the  It was a bit chaotic backstage..First night there was no proper room for Caroline Clements Makeup chair and set up.

Caroline Clements

She is the Zen Mother for the band and has been with them since the Steel Wheels tour. She is a tremendously wonderful person, and I have enjoyed being her assistant during the shows. Each member has a turn in her chair to get a groom.
A few resist it, but all in all a powder and brush is a good thing. Isobel Work's Wardrobe was also without walls so all the cases were just set up in a large area which included the curtained area for Meet and Greet.

Bobby Keys and Isobel Work

The Dressing Room Head Heather Kjollestdal and her assistants Lindsey McGoran, Dominic Park, Martha Heckman and Tori Tanner are all lined up across the right side of the room looking like judges in American Idol.

The Backstage Crew

In other words, the middle room
is a mad house. To the far end of the building are the dressing rooms for Ronnie, Mick Taylor, Lisa Fischer and Keith..the side closest to the stage includes Band 1 (Chuck and Darryl) and Band 2 (Bobby Keys, Bernard Fowler, Tim Ries and Matt Clifford). The building was like an ice box...hard to warm up. So, there was a lot of coming and going. Ronnie's room seemed to be the hub of activity. Sally loves Backgammon and she has a running challenge with Bobby Keys and Chuckie Klapow (Mick's Choreographer)

Chuckie Klapow, Rose Lane & Chuck

Charlie is in and out as well as Mick Taylor. Lisa is doing her zen thing across the hall. Keith and Patty are feeling lagged and I think fell asleep on the sofa.. Mick and Charlie are placed on a different level. And, catering is 2 floors up and across the building. Bummer. The VIP Guest Area is totally on the opposite side of the arena which is a long way plus you have to go through the audience to get there. Doors open at 4:30pm so if Chuck is to make it across the arena he needs to do so early.

To all of that add the fact that catering is on the other side of the building 2 floors up. So much back and forth....
Well, the show goes on with huge accolades from the audience. It was a success. Now, back to the hotel