"Plug In And Hang On - Live in Tokyo" was the result of 2 shows recorded during our "Welcome To The Ball" Tour. Our record company, Atlantic/MMG in Japan, wanted to record some of the shows for a live CD, and we eagerly agreed! We used a mobile truck recording unit, basically a state of the art studio on wheels. We recorded 2 nights at Club Citta and picked the best overall performances for the CD. I remember after the second show at Club Citta the sound engineers, Geoff and I hopped on a train to Osaka and hit a recording studio to do the mixdown. We stayed up all night and finished it in 7 or 8 hours. It was definitely a rushed thing, but it had to be done. Except for our guitars, we used all rental equipment (amplifiers, drums, ect.) for the Japan tour. "Plug In And Hang On" definitely captured the excitement and energy of our live shows in Japan. I'll never forget looking out into the crowd and seeing Japanese fans singing along with the lyrics to our songs. Some of them I met afterwards, and aside from our names they couldn't speak a word of English. It was so strange. I guess they memorized the sound of our lyrics after listening to our records so many times. The people there are so gracious! The sound company and onstage crew were amazing. They went out of their way and showed us that they could do it the best! I remember showing up for our first gig at soundcheck and everything was set up absolutely perfect! All we had sent them was a faxed hand drawn sketch of our stage plot, rather messily done if I remember. And to show up and not have to touch or adjust a thing simply blew us away!! I remember meeting Kurt Cobain in Osaka. Nirvana was staying at the same hotel as us. He wasn't the most pleasant person I've met in my travels, and I must say that he needed a shower badly. At one point I saw some fans, obviously not well informed, run up to him and shout, "Vicious Rumors can I have an autograph please". It was funny to see, and Kurt looked rather annoyed. It was actually surprising to me because at the time Nirvana were extremely popular. When Geoff met Kurt he introduced himself and congratulated Kurt and Nirvana on all their success, and Kurt replied in a rather cocky tone, "Yeah, you can't escape it, it's everywhere!" Geoff was a little perturbed by this rude response and for a second there, Geoff and I thought about following him into the elevator and kicking his ass. We figured at worst we'd get some good press out of it! We quickly realized that it probably wasn't a good idea, and we watched the elevator doors close behind him.
There are so many special memories from our trip to Japan. We were filmed by Tokyo TV stations and swarmed by the Tokyo press. It was so wonderful to realize that our music had touched so many! Another memory was watching Dave at the end of our second show at Club Citta. He was so pumped up that he began smashing his bass into pieces. I got so excited that without thinking I picked up a big piece of the neck and flung it into the crowd. As it flew through the air I couldn't help noticing that one end of it was very pointed and splintered. At that point I must say that I got a bit concerened. As it turned out, it hit a fan across the face. I felt so bad after I found out what had happened. We signed posters and apologized to the fan and promoters for the unforunate accident. Luckily for us, it ended there and no lawsuits were filed. Again if that fan is reading this, please accept my apologies.
Our trip to Japan was truly an unbelievable experience for Carl, Dave, Larry, Geoff and me. One we'll never forget. Japan let us know that we'll forever be remembered in the hearts of our fans in the Orient! Thank you to all our Japanese fans for making our time there so special!