Summer Sonic Sells Out

Summer Sonic, the rock festival that took place simultaneously in Osaka and Tokyo August 11-12, sold out in both cities: 40,000 people per day in Osaka and 60,000 per day in Tokyo, or, more exactly, Chiba, a suburb of the capital.

It was the hottest weekend of the year so far, with clear skies and temperatures up into the 90s, so it was just as well that four of Tokyo’s six stages were indoors, with the air conditioning going full blast.

It was an almost perfect festival logistics-wise, with few bottlenecks and only Cyndi Lauper’s set at the Sonic Stage closed because of overcrowding.

The headliners were the Black Eyed Peas and Arctic Monkeys, who made their second SS appearance in as many years.