Buck-Tick's Tour Cycle: A Rough Guide

Last updated: April 2015

Over the past two years, we’ve received an increasing number of inquiries from newly-minted overseas Buck-Tick fans, asking us if we know a way for them to come to Japan and see Buck-Tick RIGHT NOW.

The short answer is: no, we don’t. Buck-Tick work very hard, and being a major label band and all, mounting tours takes a whole lot of planning. Venues that size usually need to be booked at least a year in advance. Plus, just because they’re not touring doesn’t mean they’re not hard at work, and even when they’re not at work, the sad fact of the matter is that half the time, Mr. Sakurai is simply too busy using one of those sticky rollers to get cat hair off his goth clothes to answer of my texts.

So, if you can’t come to Japan and see Buck-Tick RIGHT NOW, when can you see them? The answer: it depends on their tour cycle.

So what is this tour cycle, you ask? Basically, Buck-Tick operate on a two-year cycle, which, based on their movements over the past decade, goes more or less like this:

Month 1. SINGLES, part 1 – Buck-Tick release a single. The single generally comes with a limited edition and a regular edition. The limited edition includes some goodies and costs a bit more money than the regular edition.

Month 2. SINGLES, part 2 (optional) – About 1-2 months after the first single, Buck-Tick release a second single, usually in several editions, as above.

Month 3. ALBUM – About 1-2 months following the final single, Buck-Tick release a new full-length studio album. Just as with singles, there’s usually a limited edition and a regular edition. The limited edition includes goodies and costs more money. But save your pennies, because next thing you know, it’s time for the…

Months 3~6. HALL TOUR – Hot on the heels of the album release, Buck-Tick will embark on a national hall tour. For more info on the specifics of hall tours, read this article. Based on past touring patterns, it seems that the hall tour usually comprises about 30 shows, with seven or so in the greater Tokyo area (including west Tokyo, Yokohama, Yokosuka, Chiba, and Saitama), two in Osaka, one or two in Nagoya, and the rest scattered throughout Japan. Most shows are held on weekends, except for shows in central Tokyo, which will usually be held on weeknights due to the difficulty of booking Tokyo venues. These days the tickets cost a whopping 8000 yen, plus fees on top of that, so start saving your money now! The tickets will be sold by lottery through the fan club 3-4 months in advance of the tour, and the tour itself usually lasts for another 3-4 months in total.

On the hall tour, ALL shows are seated shows. Seating is assigned randomly but good seats always go to fan club members—however, just because you’re in the fan club doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a good seat, it just means your chances of getting a good seat are a lot higher. There is no way to ensure that you get a good seat to any show on a hall tour, short of buying your tickets secondhand on auction. However, we do not recommend this - the management has been cracking down on auction sales lately and if they find out you bought your ticket on auction, it’s possible you will be prevented from entering the venue. Ticket Camp sales are anonymous, but there is still a risk, and resale tickets tend to be priced higher than the original price, because re-sellers are out to make money.

Anyway, even if you get a seat far from the stage and can’t see the band members very well, the show will still be fun—hall tour sets and lighting displays are lavish spectacles in and of themselves, and the music usually sounds better at the back of the hall than at the front. But it’s important to remember that in all likelihood, if you attend a hall tour, you will NOT be close to the stage. The band members will be far away. Bring opera glasses.

Months 7~10. LIVE HOUSE TOUR – About 1-2 months after the end of the hall tour, Buck-Tick will usually embark on a live house tour. For more detailed info on live house tours, read this article. Usually the live house tour is shorter than the hall tour, comprising 10-15 shows, concentrated in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Sendai, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka, with 2-3 other locations (e.g. Sapporo, Naha, Kanazawa, Kumamoto, etc. If you don’t know what we're talking about for fuck’s sake look at a map of Japan, Google Maps are free for everyone.) As with hall tours, most live house shows are held on weekends, except for shows in central Tokyo, which will usually be held on weeknights due to the difficulty of booking downtown Tokyo venues. The tickets for live house shows usually cost about 300 yen less than tickets for hall tour shows, but at live house shows, all attendees are required to pay a 500 yen drink ticket fee at the door. Lately Buck-Tick haven't been doing that many standing shows, but that doesn't mean they won't start doing them again in the future.

In principle, all shows on live house tours are standing room only, and fans are admitted to the venue in the order of the line numbers listed on their tickets (ticket number 1 gets to enter the venue first, followed by number 2, etc.) Like seating for hall tours, line numbers for live house tours are assigned randomly, but the low numbers always go to fan club members – however, even if you’re in the fan club, that doesn’t guarantee you’ll get a low number. On the other hand, even with a high number, it’s usually possible to get quite close to the stage at a standing show. Therefore, there is really no point in spending lots of money on auction for a ticket with a low number, and in fact, we actively advise against it, as the fans who forked over the big bucks on auctions during the Metaform Nights or Anarchy tour were identified and blocked from entering the venue (this really did happen, we witnessed it personally. Ignore our advice at your own risk).

As with hall tours, live house tour tickets will be sold by lottery through the fan club 3-4 months in advance of the tour. Unlike hall tours, due to the fact that live house venues are usually quite a bit smaller than hall venues, it is nearly impossible to get tickets to a live house tour through general sales. If you want live house tour tickets, either become a Fish Tank member yourself or make friends with a Fish Tank member and get her to buy you a ticket.

Live house tours usually last for another 2-3 months in total. Live house tours tend to be more minimal on the stage effects than hall tours, but unlike hall tours, at a standing tour, it’s possible to move and dance freely.

Months 7~10. FISH TANKER’S ONLY TOUR – For the past several tour cycles, Buck-Tick have held a Fish Tanker’s Only tour (fanclub only tour) concurrently with the general admission live house tour, or, in the case of 2008 and 2017, as a standalone tour. Basically, the way this works is that some of the live house tour dates are only open to Fish Tank members. Usually there will be 4-5 Fish Tanker’s Only dates—two in the greater Tokyo area, one in Nagoya, one in Osaka, and possibly one in Sendai as well. In the event that the Fish Tanker’s Only tour is interwoven with a regular live house tour, tickets for the Fish Tanker’s Only tour will go on sale through Fish Tank at the same time that the general admission tickets go on sale.

The main difference between general admission shows and Fish Tanker’s Only is that to attend Fish Tanker’s Only, you MUST be a current member of Fish Tank. Each Fish Tank member is only allowed to apply for a single ticket to each Fish Tanker’s Only show, and the tickets are non-transferrable, meaning that if you become unable to attend the show at the last minute, you can’t just give your ticket to your friend, even if she is also a member of Fish Tank.

Why not? Because to gain admittance to a Fish Tank Only show, you have to present both your Fish Tank ID card and another form of photo ID, which for overseas fans means either a passport or an Alien Card (zairyuu card). For overseas fans, nothing else besides a passport or Alien Card will be accepted, so take heed! The door staff check the ID cards VERY carefully. Beyond the ID requirement, Fish Tanker’s Only shows usually include special programming (see these live eports for examples). Beyond that, the set lists tend to be slightly different from the set lists at the general admission live house shows, and heavier on the older, less well-known songs. Aside from that, a Fish Tanker’s Only show is basically just a regular Buck-Tick show, but more exclusive.

Month 7. LOVE & MEDIA PORTABLE MEMBERS-ONLY SHOW – For the past few tour cycles, Buck-Tick have held a single show especially for members of Love & Media Portable, the Buck-Tick mobile web service. Love & Media Portable membership is entirely separate from Fish Tank membership, meaning that you can be a member of Love & Media Portable but not a member of Fish Tank, or vice versa. To our knowledge, Love & Media Portable membership is currently only open to people resident in Japan who own web-equipped mobile phones, meaning that fans overseas cannot join. Tickets for the Love & Media Portable members-only show are sold through Love & Media Portable, and members are required to present their phones for inspection at the door of the venue. If you are not a member of Love & Media Portable, you cannot buy tickets or be admitted to this show…but as it’s only one show every two years, it’s hardly worth crying over.

Annually, December 29th. THE DAY IN QUESTION – Every year on December 29th, Buck-Tick play a show at the Nippon Budoukan, located near the Imperial Palace in downtown Tokyo. If December 29th falls during a tour period, as happened during the Razzle Dazzle, Yumemiru Uchuu and Arui wa Anarchy tours, then the show at the Budoukan will be a sort of tour finale, including all the songs from whatever album the band are promoting at the time, plus a few from the back catalogue and probably some golden classics like “Just One More Kiss,” “Moon Light,” “Aku no Hana,” etc. If December 29th falls during a period where the band are not touring, they will hold a Day In Question event, usually with a short accompanying tour, generally 2-3 dates besides the Budoukan. Past destinations for the Day In Question mini-tours have included Hamamatsu, Hiroshima, Kooriyama, Sendai, Morioka, Nagano, Osaka, Yokohama, and Sapporo. The band seem to enjoy changing it up from year to year, so expect the destination cities for the DIQ mini-tour to be different each time.

The main difference between a Day In Question and an album support tour is that at the Day In Question, the band will play old songs from their back catalog that they rarely perform at other times, so if you like to hear rare oldies, the Day In Question is the show for you. Also, many Buck-Tick fans who don’t normally attend other live shows will turn up for the DIQ without fail, so the event has a special kind of festival atmosphere. On the other hand, the Budoukan is such a big venue that it’s basically impossible to get a good seat. Even if you end up in the center of the front row, the band members will still be quite far away. The fancy lighting, sets, stage effects and projection screens do a pretty good job of making up for this, but if what you want is to see the band members up close, don’t expect you’ll get the chance at the DIQ. Bring opera glasses.

For first-hand accounts of some past DIQ shows, read these live reports:
The Day In Question 2008
The Day In Question 2013.

Annually, June~September. SUMMER FESTIVALS – Many music festivals are held in Japan throughout the summer, and Buck-Tick have occasionally been known to perform at one or several of these, including Summer Sonic, Fuji Rock, Rising Sun Rock, Inazuma Rock, and others. Buck-Tick do not play summer festivals every year by any means, but they do it with some regularity.

Festivals take place outdoors, so when attending a festival, consideration for the weather is a must. Japan is very hot, humid and sunny during the summer (SUNSCREEN!), and rainy as fuck during the spring and autumn (RAINCOATS!) You will either be dripping in sweat or dripping in rainwater, we guarantee it. Depending on the setup, you may or may not be able to get close to the stage – some festivals operate on a block system where you’re only eligible to stand in your given block, whereas others are completely open and you’re free to stand anywhere. However, due to security considerations, fans are generally kept at least 10 meters back from the stage, so don’t expect to be up close and personal with the band members here.

Festivals can be fun and crazy and a selling point in their own right, but at festivals, each band will usually play for no more than about 40 or 50 minutes, and tickets are expensive (usually at least 10000 yen for a one-day pass), so unless there are other bands besides Buck-Tick who you want to see perform, we do not recommend festival lives as a destination for overseas fans—it’s simply not worth the money and hassle.

If you're curious, check out some live reports of summer festivals here:
Buck-Tick On Parade 2012 [Part One] [Part Two]
Kishidan Expo 2013
Lunatic Festival 2015

??? SPECIAL EVENTS – Sometimes Buck-Tick will perform at special events/tours outside of their usual cycle. The festivals they held to commemorate their 20th and 25th anniversaries are prime examples of special events hosted by the band, as are At The Night Side 2012 and Toll’s 50th birthday extravaganza, but sometimes the band will perform at events hosted by other people, such as the Music & People Festival hosted by Ongaku to Hito in 2011, the Dedicate to Gang 451 festival hosted by Kishidan in 2013, and 69 Wars hosted by Mucc in 2014. For the most part, the timing of these events is impossible to predict, so if you’re coming from overseas to see the band, it’s not worth planning around unless you can make your plans on relatively short notice. Anytime Buck-Tick plays a show together with other bands, their set list will be shorter, usually about an hour, give or take, depending on the event.

Months 12~20. VACATION TIME – By the time the band finish with their cycle of single release, album release, hall tour, standing tour, and Fish Tanker’s Only tour, they’re completely exhausted and in need of a good vacation. Plus, soon they will need to embark on composing and recording material for their next album, so they can start the whole cycle over again. Usually, the whole cycle from single release through to the end of the standing tour will last between nine and eleven months, depending on the number and timing of single releases. When it’s all finished, the band will usually take a break from touring and releases for between six and nine months, though they may come out of hibernation briefly for guest appearances, solo performances (e.g. Toll & the Blue Sky), summer festivals or other surprise events. You may desperately want and hope for the band to tour during their vacation periods, but don’t worry… they won’t. When the band is on vacation, it’s your chance to start saving your money and planning your adventure to go see them when they’re ready to get back on the road.

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So there you have it: Buck-Tick’s tour cycle, in a nutshell. However, this is really only a general guideline based on their recent behavior, so please don’t take it as gospel. Just because they’ve done things this way for years doesn’t mean that they won’t do things differently in the future.

While we think it’s very unlikely that they would ever launch a live house tour before a hall tour, for example, there’s always a chance that special events (e.g. festivals) or unforeseeable circumstances (e.g. earthquakes) could shake things up (no pun intended). In 2006, 2008, and 2017 they launched standalone Fish Tank Only tours without doing general admission tours at the same time, and most of their 2012 tour schedule was devoted to special events in honor of their 25th anniversary. The various members have also been known to do solo activities (most recently Schaft and The Mortal). The best way to find out what the band will do next is to follow our updates on The Blog-Tick Phenomenon.
 

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