Rainbow Japan Tour 1978 Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - January 21 & 22, 1978 The Tokyo shows were full of contrast. The first night was short and hurried with no encore, but on the second night all the stops were pulled out, and Rainbow really rose, with excellent solos from Ritchie. Cozy's solo seems to go down really well with all the crowds in Japan, and is becoming the highlight for many. David Stone went down better than Carey, for reasons beyond my comprehension, and half the audience were unaware of the change in bass player! Rainbow Fan Club Japan - January 1978 Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - January 21 & 22, 1978 I went the day before, on the 21st, and I remember the audience rioting because there was no encore, throwing folding chairs everywhere, and the Budokan was in chaos. Feeling disappointed, my friend and I were about to head home when we saw tickets for the next day on sale, and we bought them for the arena. That day, we were in the front row on the first floor, but somehow we were getting an arena seat was lucky. And so, I was able to see the show at the Budokan for two days in a row. The live show on this day was a complete contrast to the day before, lasting about three hours. I went home completely satisfied. Then, I woke up in the morning news reporting that a college girl had been crushed to death at the Sapporo concert. Even though the concert was still going on, the lights were on and and a shot of Ritchie playing was shown. Back then, people were able to rush right up to the front of the stage, even resulting in a tragic accident like that. Security became strict after that. The ticket price was 3,800 yen. Koyama Koichi Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - January 22, 1978 This was hands-down the best concert I've ever been to. On this day, the start was delayed by about an hour due to a malfunction of the sound equipment. The venue was filled with clapping, stomping, whistling, and the Budokan's famous flyer airplanes flying around, and the excitement just kept building. Finally, the lights went down and the show began! And guess what?! Before Over the Rainbow started, Ritchie came out alone and played guitar like crazy. And then, finally, Over the Rainbow began, and the moment the intro to Kill the King started, the Budokan literally exploded. Everyone around me was screaming. The drum solo by Cozy, 1812 was so cool it gave me goosebumps. After 1812 where only the snare drum is played, is when Cozy goes offstage, then comes to the front of the stage with the snare drum and performs a stick-throwing routine. During the guitar smash in "Do You Close Your Eyes," the guitar (specifically the body) that he threw up got caught on the rainbow arch. Ritchie tried to pull it down but gave up and switched to his next guitar. After the show, the guitar hanging on the rainbow arch looked so really cool and made a lasting impression on me. Segap Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - January 22, 1978 It was the first concert I went to as a third-year junior high school student. I watched from the front of the second floor, and the computer-controlled rainbow effect was amazing. The guitar smashing at the end was just as rumored, and I was very satisfied. I've been to many concerts since then, but the best is the live performance on that day. RYU-cs5st Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - January 22, 1978 I was there. I was in middle school at the time. Ritchie had some equipment issues, and while waiting for the equipment to be fixed, I remember Ronnie, who couldn't speak the language, using the lights to keep the crowd excited and keep the time going. Sokou Budokan, Tokyo, Japan - January 22, 1978 I've seen all of their Tokyo shows, including the extra ones, since their first visit! There was a sound problem that day, and I think Ronnie and Cozy were trying to somehow resolve the situation. Even from the second floor, I could clearly feel Ronnie's dedication. It really showed what a great guy he was. That's why the tragedy that occurred in Sapporo a few days later was so heartbreaking. Matchanmasu Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Yonin Bayashi were the support act for Blackmore's Rainbow's Sapporo concert. There is a recording of it on YouTube. I was there, too. I was in my third year of junior high school. That day, a 19-year-old woman was crushed to death at this venue. Deep Purple, and by extension Ritchie Blackmore, were incredibly popular in Sapporo at the time, and even at my junior high school, rock fans would debate who was better, Jeff Beck or Ritchie Blackmore. At that time, popular international bands rarely came to Sapporo, so I imagine even fans who weren't particularly Ritchie fans came to the concert. Even when advance tickets went on sale, there were long lines of people waiting all night, and there were many long-haired high school and college students carrying Stratocasters. Since I was still in middle school, I couldn't possibly line up all night the day before tickets went on sale, but my friend's sister got me tickets, and my friend and I were able to see the show on the day. We had good seats, about 15th row from the front, slightly to the left of the stage. The opening act was Yonin-Bayashi. Mitsuru Sato, from Martian Road in Sapporo, had filled in for Morizono after he left the band, and his first album since joining had just been released in October of the previous year, Printed Jelly, so this was also Mitsuru's triumphant return to Sapporo. When I was just starting middle school, I was a hard rock fanatic who loved Purple, but by this time I had become a progressive rock fan, and I was completely captivated by "Nasu no Chawan Yaki," which I heard for the first time. I was amazed to discover that such a band existed in Japan. Later, when I became a high school student, I started copying Yonin-Bayashi myself. After Yonin-Bayashi's performance, there was a long interval, and the audience was getting quite impatient. The venue was a sports center, so the arena seats were made of folding chairs. A group of what appeared to be high school students behind us couldn't wait for Rainbow to come on, kicked our seats vigorously with their feet, threatening us with, "You guys, move to the front when Rainbow comes out!"Yonin-Bayashi The moment the opening song, Over The Rainbow, started playing and the stage lights came on, the entire audience stood up, luring us to our feet as well, and soon after, an avalanche of people surged in behind us, knocking down the folding chairs and quickly pushing us to the left side of the stage in front of the PA. Listening to bootleg recordings from that day, even before Over The Rainbow started, as the tuning sounds were being heard, you can hear a number of angry shouts like, "Sit down, you idiots!". The performance continued, but I was pushed aside by a large, foreign-looking roadie-like man in a ten-gallon hat, who told me, "No!" I looked back from the left side of the stage, and saw several people being carried out on stretchers to the left side. They continued playing for a few songs, but then stopped midway. The house lights came on, and the organizers came out and gave a few-minute speech saying that they couldn't continue on stage if things continued like this. The performance resumed with the house lights still bright. I remember the atmosphere being oddly somber. I also remember that during the customary guitar-smashing performance at the end of the show, Ritchie threw his Stratocaster, but it got caught in the rainbow arch and wouldn't come down, so he pulled out his spare guitar and started smashing it again. After the concert, I called to go home, and my dad said to me, "Are you okay? Someone's died!" The breaking news was already on TV before the show ended. That's when I first learned that someone had died... Since nothing like this was mentioned in the organizers' speech, it seems that everyone in the audience watched the concert to the end without knowing. It was a shock, a glimpse into reality... The incident was also featured prominently in the morning paper the next day (although the article did list the opening band as Cosmos Factory...). A certain guy who attended this concert as a high school student also watched it, saying that he watched from the back second floor, while the only ones in the front seats were confused, he apparently watched from behind with a sober look on his face, saying, "Oh dear, they're going crazy." Also, the advisor of my high school's literary club recounted that, during a club activity, one of our students was tasked with writing something on the theme of "death," and that his friend's daughter had died at a rock concert, and that his friend, the father, said that every time he passed by the venue, he wanted to set fire to it. Also, after I started working in Tokyo, someone I met through work complained to me that the Kanazawa show had been cancelled because of this incident and that he hadn't been able to see it. mooninjune69 - You Tube Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 I also went to the concert in Sapporo. We lined up at the ticket office in November of the previous year, starting at night. I'm ashamed to say that I have no memory of Yonin-Bayashi. If they had played "Ichitoku Sokuhatsu," I might have remembered. The next day, my teacher asked me, "Did you go to the concert yesterday?" and I answered, "No, I didn't go." The scene of the Stratocaster getting caught on the truss of the Rainbow arch during the final guitar smash is memorable. I heard that before the concert, Blackmore had become a big fan of Sapporo beer. That is sad. I had Cozy's Ludwig frayed drumstick. rsnowman230 - You Tube Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 I was there too. I experienced the horror of a stampede. It's so sad. Fortunately, I wasn't injured. I arrived at the venue early and waited outside, and I remember hearing Richie playing blues at full volume. After the opening act, Yoninbayashi, finished, the time until Rainbow's performance felt incredibly long. Everyone was excited. Suddenly, the venue went dark, and a wave of people surged in from behind. My friend and I held on tight, trying not to let go, but then our hands slipped away, and I was powerless to do anything on my own. I knew I was in trouble, so instinctively, I found the wall safer, and desperately made my way to a safe spot near it. I stared blankly at the stage. Suddenly, Richie stopped playing, and an attendant said, "Please stay calm. Please sit down." I vividly remember Richie looking down and not moving for the first minute or so while the attendant was speaking. Narunaru Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Rock goes mad, female student died It's close to about 5,000 fans for a performance of a British rock guitar group open, the audience became a bit too enthusiast, and the female college students were overwhelmed, eight people were slightly injured. With the arrival of Rainbow, the girls were fainting. The main reason seems to be the lack of control of the young audience due to the lack of venue preparation. About 5,000 people were in the venue during the performance of the British rock group Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow at Nakajima Sports Center in Hokkaido, Chuo-ku, Sapporo. The concert started at 6:30 pm, and the Japanese group Cosmos Factory played first, followed by Rainbow from around 8 o'clock. They arranged folding chairs on the first floor and on the surrounding second floor. After Cosmos Factory there was a break for about an hour. Around 8:00 pm, once the hall lights disappeared, suddenly the crowd rushed to the stage. About thirty guards who were in the foreground turned back and it became a mess. Rainbow reached its peak when the first song was performed. The people just became scissors and started to collapse. There were only lights on the stage in the venue, and the audience was in the dark. Hundreds of people, swaying in the venue, then fell like a heavy pile, in the middle of the sixteenth row from the front, in the middle of the venue. During the performance of Rainbow, Kaiichi Gakuen Junior College student Junko Kawaharada fell, she was carried away and left by ambulance, but died after arriving at the hospital. It seems she have died from suffocation due to chest compression. Eight people such as Miyanomori, a junior high school second grader, and Satoichi Ando (14), were injured too, and were taken into the waiting room of the sports center. They were taken to hospitals in the city. According to “Kyodo Fudahoro” (President Katsuo Takeda), who planned the performance, the organizer took off the chairs in the first half of the stage before the Rainbow performance started. I immediately fell into a state of panic. The performance of Rainbow was as it was, but in the front seats where the audience was confused and some started to collapse, folding chairs and shoes were scattered. The fallen women were carried one after another on a stretcher. This was the first concert that was noisy like hard rock. Students boys were hired as guards. On the day of the show, they were only giving a brief attention a short time before the performance. It kept going as planned. I felt like I could only at the look of a young audience. At the venue, the Sapporo Minami station officer asked for the performance to be interrupted many times after the beginning. It was said that he had hired approximately 130 security guards, who were modestly confined to parking, and cautioned the fans not to stand up even if the performance started with a microphone. However, after the performance of the support-act was over, a break was made without notice how many minutes it would take, and it seemed that the audience's misunderstanding was causing confusion. Not only from the city of Horo, there were fans but also some enthusiastic school students who came from the town of Heido north by train for four hours. Rainbow was in Japan from the 10th of January, starting from Nagoya, to Osaka, etc. and continuing their tour. Sapporo was the 12th show of the tour. Asahi Shinbun, Japan - January 28, 1978 Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Newspapers, Japan - January 28, 1978 Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Tokyo Fan Trampled A 19-year-old girl was crushed to death at a Ritchie Blackmore concert in Sapporo, Japan. Before Blackmore even got a chance to play a note, 7,000 fans rushed the stage in anticipation, trampling many in the 10-foot distance between the front of the stage and the first row of seats. Ten to 15 other kids were reportedly treated for injuries. "We weren't aware that anyone had been hurt until the police came backstage about halfway through the show," said Blackmore's manager, Bruce Payne. "They convinced us to continue playing to avoid a riot. It was the craziest crowd I've ever seen. We cancelled the next day's concert, and for the rest of the tour it seemed like the police outnumbered the audience." Michael Duffey, Philadelphia Daily News - March 16, 1978 Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Youth Dies at Japanese Concert Sapporo, Japan, Jan. 28 (Reuters) — A student was trampled to death and eight were injured here last night when screaming fans stampeded at a concert by a British rock group, Rainbow, About 1,000 people in the audience of 5,000 ignored warnings from stewards and stormed towards the stage. The police are questioning the promoters of the concert about the accident. New York Times - January 29, 1978 Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Stampede of Fans Fatal to Girl, 19 A crowd of 2,000 screaming fans stampeded during a concert of the British rock hand Rainbow in Sapporo Friday, crushing a 19-year old girl to death and injuring several other persons, police said. They said the crowd rushed at the band shortly after the popular British group, led by Ritchie Blackmore, began playing at the Winter Sports resort on the Northern Island of Hokkaido, about 600 miles north of Tokyo. The concert was part of a two-week tour of Japan. Police identified the girl who was killed as Junko Kawaharada, a college student. One of 150 guards posted in and around the Sapporo Sports Center where the concert was being held said that minutes after Rainbow began its performance the mob of screaming, cheering, howling fans made a rush for the concert stage. "I saw some people about 17 to 18 rows from front toppled over like dominoes and then I rushed in with other guards to help restore order." The Japanese record company which sponsored the Rainbow tour said the hard rock band was enthusiastically received on an earlier trip to Japan and for this reason had been brought back. Asbury Park Press - January 31, 1978 Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Ritchie Blackmore's aggravation in Japan Bad incident in Sapporo: During a concert by Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, a girl fainted and died. The police blame the group for it. "The concert should have been interrupted," was the official statement, and Ritchie defended himself: "From the stage, I can not see if a girl faints, and then stop playing." Bravo Magazine, Germany - February 23, 1978 Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan - January 27, 1978 Tragic death of a rock fan at a Rainbow concert in Sapporo, Japan. An 18-year-old student was thrown to death when around 2000 spectators tried to storm the stage. POP Magazine, Germany - March 23, 1978 Kenmin Kaikan (Prefecture Hall), Akita, Japan - January 29, 1978 In various places, it is stated that the Akita concert two days later was canceled, but I remember that the one which was canceled was actually Kanazawa, which was two shows after Akita. I had a ticket for the Akita concert, but due to circumstances, I couldn't go on the day of the show, which was disappointing. Later, I heard about the details of the Akita concert from my friend. Ito Hiroshi