[Update, July 21] Summer Sonic’s gearing up for its second archive festival, which will be held on its YouTube channel on July 22 and 23. This time around, the stellar lineup pulls from past festivals between 2005 and 2012, so expect big names including Coldplay, Rihanna, Oasis, Green Day and more.
Day one and day two of the festival will be available to stream for just 24 hours each, so don’t miss your chance to catch your favourite artists for free from wherever you are. Streaming begins anew at 8pm each day. Here's the schedule (not in order of appearance):
July 22 (Wed): B'z (2009), Boom Boom Satellites (2009), Coldplay (2008), The Flaming Lips (2009), Oasis (2005), Sigur Ros (2012), Sonic Youth (2009)
July 23 (Thu): Green Day (2012), Nine Inch Nails (2009), The Prodigy (2008), Rihanna (2012), X Japan (2011)
***
[June 19 2020] Tokyo shops, restaurants and tourist attractions are starting to reopen, but many of the city’s most anticipated summer festivals including the Sumida River fireworks and Fuji Rock have been cancelled this year. Luckily, Summer Sonic, which had already morphed into the autumn Supersonic to avoid clashing with the now-postponed Olympics, is bringing us two weekends of past performances which we can enjoy from home.
Summer Sonic will be streaming performances from 2013 to 2016 for free, starring big-name artists such as BTS, Linkin Park, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and The 1975. Videos will be available for 24 hours on the official YouTube page, giving you an at-home summer music festival experience. Here's the streaming schedule:
June 19 (Fri) 6pm - June 20 (Sat) 5.59pm
Mr.Children (Summer Sonic 2013)
June 19 (Fri) 9pm - June 20 (Sat) 8.59pm
BTS (Summer Sonic 2015)
June 20 (Sat) 6pm - June 21 (Sun) 5.59pm
Linkin Park (Summer Sonic 2013)
June 20 (Sat) 9pm- June 21 (Sun) 8.59pm
Metallica (Summer Sonic 2013)
June 21 (Sun) 6pm - June 22 (Mon) 5.59pm
Arctic Monkeys (Summer Sonic 2014)
June 21 (Sun) 9pm - June 22 (Mon) 8.59pm
The 1975 (Summer Sonic 2014)
June 27 (Sat) 6pm - June 28 (Sat) 5.59pm
Underworld (Summer Sonic 2016)
June 28 (Sun) 6pm - June 29 (Sat) 5.59pm
Radiohead (Summer Sonic 2016)
So many music festivals and concerts have had to cancel this year, but Supersonic is expected to go ahead as scheduled: September 19-21 in Tokyo and September 19-20 in Osaka. The music festival, however, is asking for support from music fans to ensure a safe event. Organisers are planning to implement temperature checks and provide sanitisers and other hygiene items throughout the festival venues in Tokyo and Osaka.
They’ve set up a crowdfunding campaign to collect donations, which will go towards these ‘coronavirus control costs’ for Supersonic, plus costs for postponed and rescheduled concerts. Depending on your donation, you might receive one of these gifts: a T-shirt, sticker, voucher for Cafe Habana, or even have your name displayed on the official website as one of Supersonic supporters.
For advice on how to go out safely in Tokyo, or anywhere for that matter, check our guide.
More news
Japan reveals more details of its planned travel bubble
A Harry Potter theme park is coming to Tokyo
Take a look at this gorgeous greenhouse Starbucks
JR East upgrades its phone app with real-time train congestion information
No Swedish meatballs: Ikea Harajuku's cafe menu is all about flatbread