THE SAGA OF CHEAP TRICK AT BUDOKAN, 1978

“We’d received some interesting Japanese fan mail, especially these comic books. The Japanese like to turn actors and musicians into comic books – they’d have Kiss and Queen and then us as their younger brothers. We anticipated people would come see our shows in Japan, but when we got to Tokyo, we were taxiing down the runway and I looked outside and saw a commotion on the rooftop of the airport, I thought the president must be here or something. We got off the plane and there must have been five thousand there, screaming and yelling our names! Security was totally unprepared, we got chased through the airport, there was a stream of 50 cars following us down the freeway. At the hotel, they’d closed off the windows in our rooms with masking tape and sheets, with security on every exit. Everyone was in shock. We almost got thrown out of the hotel when Tom and I waved at some fans. They went mad, and ran across the road, and almost got hit by a bus. It was wonderfully exciting but dangerous and scary too. For the first Budokan gig, they sent mail trucks to pick us up, with no windows, or even seats, so we’d be incognito. Budokan was this iconic building in the centre of Tokyo, they’d had many political

Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander on excitement, danger and guerrilla hairdressing.

rallies there, and sumo wrestling, but we were the first show there since some fans had been trampled and killed at a Deep