The Offspring
Oct. 9&10

Catchy pop-punk-rockers The Offspring kick off a short seven-date tour of Japan with two nights at Zepp, Osaka (incidentally, singer Dexter Holland, a quali-fied pilot, will celebrate the end of their world tour with a nine day solo flight around the globe!)

Since their humble beginnings as a high school punk band way back in 1984 the Offspring have certainly reached headier heights than they could have imagined possible with eight albums and over 32 million in sales to boot.

Their latest offering is a Greatest Hits album cover-ing their career with Columbia Records (they signed to Columbia in 1997). No doubt their live set will be show-casing this hits collection so if it's commercial catchy punk rock that you're looking for (such as Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)) then that's what you're going to get, and there's nothing wrong with that!
The Offspring are a group of guys that set out to play music they love and have a good time, twenty years down the road and nothing has changed. They are simply a great band that never fails to disappoint the paying punters.

Zepp Osaka
Time: 17:00 • Enry: ¥7,500
Tel: 06-6233-8888 • Punk/Rock

Super Furry Animals

Oct. 20

There are two very good reasons to catch this gig at club Quattro, Osaka on October 20th (if the fact that it's the Super Furry Animals playing live isn't reason enough in itself). Firstly, it's nine years since the Super Furry Animals last visited Japan so don't expect another chance to see them appear in the near future after this visit. Secondly, it's the last date of their autumn tour and we all know how bands seem to lift themselves a notch or two on the last night.

Super Furry Animals are one of those bands that just won't go away. Their following has always been cult rather than commercial and I think they like it that way (the proceeds from their 1996 single release

The Man Don't Give a Fuck all went to Steely Dan after they used an SD sample on the track, plus let's not forget that their first album was sung entirely in the language of their homeland -— Welsh). And even though they picked up the UK's NME award for the Best New Band in 1999 they've never ventured the mainstream commerciality that could have given them a top ten chart hit.

But putting all of that to one side, 2005 seems to be the Furries' big year. They've released their seventh studio album Lovecraft in August, have had a busy UK tour, done the Summer Festival circuit and there are rumours of a US tour to round off the year.

So what's the new album like, what can we expect to hear this time around? Well, Furries singer Gruff Rhys had this to say, 'It's quite a slow, mellow album, a different vibe, that's just where we're at right now', which just goes to show that with a change from some of their past poppy and more upbeat releases they just like to play the music how they feel.

Club Quattro
Time: 19:00 • Entry: ¥6,000
Tel: 06-6281-8181 • Pop/Indie

Speedometer
Oct. 21&22

The UK's premier funk band is coming to Japan and they've certainly come a long way since clawing their way around the small club circuit of South East England back in 1999.
To give credibility to their self-acclaimed title of being at the top of the genre, in such a short life span, Speedometer have already worked with such funk legends as Joe Quarterman and Billy Wooten.

The band released their first single (Soul Safari) in 2000, which along with several other releases thereafter was quickly snapped up in its limited numbers. 2003 saw the release of their debut album This is Speedometer Vol.1, which has now been followed by This is Speedometer Vol. 2.

If you like heavy deep funk fused with serious soul, complimented by Latin grooves then don't dare to miss Speedometer at the Blue Note.

Osaka Blue Note
Time: 18.30/21.30 & 18.00/21.00 • Entry: ¥4,300/¥6,300
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Funk

Tom Scott & The LA Express

Oct. 31

To say that Tom Scott is a man of many hats would be an understatement of major proportions. Composer, arranger, producer, musical director and not to mention saxophonist, it seems almost as if he's done just about every job possible in the music industry.

With a recording career spanning four decades and twenty-five solo releases he's picked up no less than twelve Grammy nominations and two Grammy awards. As well as his own solo output his CV of the people that he's worked with reads as a who's who of the industry. He's played guest sessions for such nobility as Pink Floyd, Frank Sinatra, Thelonius Monk and Elton John to name but a few.

His film score credits include Conquest of The Planet of The Apes and he'll be forever remembered as the man behind the Starsky & Hutch theme.

Beginning his career playing Big Band Jazz in the late sixties Scott went on to form his very own band LA Express, which became one of the most successful pop-jazz groups of the seventies.

Tom Scott's renowned natural talent on the reeds meant that on his last solo recording outing New Found Freedom (2002, Higher Octane label) he was easily able to call upon a plethora of world famous guest musicians from a variety of genres.

But getting down to the bottom line, Tom Scott is a consistent multi-talented saxophonist and although he's toyed with and ventured in and out of a number of styles of music he always seems to come back to what he does best, smooth jazz.

Osaka Blue Note
Time: 18.30/21.30 • Entry: ¥7,000/8,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722 • Jazz

Live Listings October

10/1
Dorlis @ Club Quattro Osaka. 18:30. ¥3,500 Tel: 06-6281-8181.
10/1
Masaki Ueda @ Blue Note Osaka. 18.00/21.00. ¥5,500/¥7,500.
Tel: 06-6342-7722 Jazz Blues.
10/2
Kururi @ Never Land. 18:00. ¥3,990. Tel: 0742-27-5840.¥3,990 Rock.
10/3
Sim Redmond Band @ Blue Note Osaka. 18:30/21:30. ¥4,300/¥6,300 Tel: 06-6342-7722. Acoustic Rock.
10/4 & 5
K'DO @ Blue Note Osaka. 18:30/21:30. ¥5,400/¥7,400.
Z06-6342-7722 Special Unit.
10/5
Aimee Mann @ Club Quattro, Osaka 19:00. ¥6,000 Tel: 06-6281-8181 Female Vocal.
10/6
n flo @ Namba Hatch, Osaka 19:00. ¥3,500 Tel: 06-6233-8888. Rap/Pop.
10/7
AI @ Namba Hatch, Osaka. 19:30 ¥4,200 Tel: 06-6233-8888. Pop.
10/8
Salyu @ Big Cat. 18:00. ¥3,300
Tel: 06-6535-5569. Pop.
10/9 & 10
The Offspring @ Zepp Osaka. 17:00. ¥7,500 Tel: 06-6233-8888. Punk/Rock
10/10
Wayne Wonder @ Blue Note Osaka.
18:00/21:00. ¥7,000/¥9,000.
Tel: 06-6342-7722. Reggae/R&B.
10/11
Fanfare Ciocarlia @ Club Quattro, Osaka. 19:00. ¥6,000 Tel: 06-6281-8181. Gypsy Brass.
10/12
Jia Peng Fang @ Blue Note, Osaka. 18.30/21.30. ¥5,000/¥7,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722. World Music.
10/13
Keith Emmerson @ Osaka Koseinenkin Kaikan Kejuitsu Hall. 19:00. ¥7,000/ ¥8,000 Tel: 06-6532-6301. Rock.
10/14
Eric Johnson @ Club Quattro, Osaka. 19:00. ¥6,800 Tel: 06-6281-8181. Blues.
10/15
Linda Lewis @ Blue Note Osaka.
18:00/21:00. ¥6,000/¥8,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722. Soul.
10/17
Keith Jarrett @ Festival Hall. 19:00 ¥8,500/¥9,800 Tel: 06-6231-2221. Jazz.
10/19 & 20
Malta @ Blue Note Osaka. 18:30/ 21:30. ¥5,500/¥7,500 Tel: 06-6342-7722. Sax Jazz.
10/20
Super Furry Animals @ Club Quattro. 19:00 ¥6,000 Tel: 06-6281-8181. Pop/Indie.
10/21 & 22
Speedometer @ Osaka Blue Note. 18.30/21.30 & 18.00/21.00. ¥4,300 /¥6,300. Tel: 06-6342-7722. Funk.
10/22
Count Basie Orchestra @ NHK Osaka Hall. 15 00 ¥6,500/¥8,000. Jazz.
10/24
The Rebirth @ Blue Note, Osaka. 18.30/21.30. ¥4,300/¥6,300
Tel: 06-6342-7722. Jazz Funk.
10/25, 26 & 27
Bobby Caldwell @ Blue Note Osaka 18:30/21:30. ¥12,000/¥10,000
Tel: 06-6342-7722. AOR.
10/26
Kotaro Oshio @ ShinKobe Oriental Gekijo 18:30. ¥4,500 Tel: 078-291-1100. Guitar.
10/28
The Alfee @ Kobe Kokusai Kaikan Kokusai Hall 18:30. ¥6,300.
Tel: 078-231-8162. Rock.
10/28
Taro Hakase @ Kyoto Kaikan
Daiichi Hall. 18:30. ¥6,300
Tel: 075-211-0261. Violin.
10/29
SWV @ Blue Note Osaka 18.00/21.00. ¥7,000/ ¥9,000 Tel: 06-6342-7722. R&B.
10/30
Neurotica @ Big Cat. 19:00: ¥2,700 Tel: 06-6535-5569. Rock.
10/31
Tom Scott & The L A Express @ Osaka Blue Note. 18.30/21.30. ¥7,000/8,000 Tel: 06-6342-7722.

LIVE Section compiled by HWJ