Summer Sonic

Summer Sonic (サマーソニック) is a rock festival that occurs every August in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. It is Japan’s largest urban rock festival, and generally takes place over two days on a Saturday and Sunday. It is organized by “Creative Brand Production.”

Summer Sonic has been an annual event since 2000. At first it was in Osaka and Fuji-Q, but quickly moved from Fuji to Tokyo due to the mounting popularity. Summer Sonic plays at both Osaka and Tokyo simultaneously. All bands playing at Osaka on a Saturday will play at Tokyo on Sunday and vice versa, so one can buy a two day pass at either location and still see all of the bands that arrive.

History

2000 marked the first of the Summer Sonic festival. By 2001, the shows took place in Yamanashi, Chiba and Osaka. 2002 saw a tremendous increase in the number of individuals attending the concerts, so the festival moved to much larger exhibition halls to accommodate the ticket holders.

By 2006 there were over 186.000 people that attended the concerts and a great deal of additional bands and artists came. In 2007, 200,000 people total attended the concerts.

Summer Sonic hosts for a number of International artists including Coldplay, Green Day, the late James Brown, Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas and Guns and Roses. It’s international exposure has made Summer Sonic one of the most popular venues for Western artists.

2008 Summer Sonic

The 2008 Summer Sonic festival, which takes place on August 9th and 10th, 2008, is expected to be one of the largest of all of the past Summer Sonic festivals. The 2 day Tokyo Tickets were sold out long before the concert dates. Some of the headliners include:

• Panic at the Disco
• Alicia Keys
• One Republic
• Coldplay
• Lost Profits
• New Found Glory
• Sex Pistols
• Death Cab for Cutie

External Links

• 2008 Summer Sonic 08 Information Page
• Summer Sonic Information Page (Japanese)