Here’s what went down when Melbourne’s Sunnyside toured Japan last month.

From what we can see from their tour diary below, dance/funk six-piece absolutely slayed over in Japan for their debut international tour. Sure, it’s one thing to be selling out shows in your hometown where the bulk of punters are your pals, but it’s another thing to sell out shows in Tokyo having never stepped (musical) foot over there.

The chance to witness Sunnyside’s 2018 LP Body Heat and latest single ‘Coconuts’ (Bandcamp here) in all their glory live was clearly too tempting for Japanese fans, with the six-date tour fittingly wrapping at much-loved Fuji Rock Festival. It’s a pretty big deal.

Don’t just take our word for it though, check out what went down in their tour diary below, with words from saxophonist Archibald Jacobs:

“Sunnyside undertook our first ever overseas tour to Japan in mid-late July 2019; so follows a photographic recount of some of our adventures.

It took six months of planning and organising. We put our affairs in order, sub-let rooms, gained leave from work, and called our Nans. Then finally our goal was upon us. All we needed to do was get on the plane. We left a dreary Melbourne and were greeted by a steamy Tokyo, where the sweat never stopped.

Lugging our gear on packed public transport in 90 degree humidity had its challenges. A special shout out needs to go to our percussionist, Kenji who endured lugging all of his gear on a dingy trolley and with minimal help.

We gained so many friends along the way, some of whom get mentions in the photos with us. But most notably, a big thank you to our man-on-the-ground Vaughan. He was the best tour manager in the world and we want him to know we couldn’t have done a thing without him.

We played six of the funnest tour shows and were blown away by the supports both locally and from some of our mates. Big love to Osaka Monaurail and the Elle Shimada Collective! It all culminated in two back-to-back sets on Saturday July 27th at Fuji Rock Festival. Those shows were incredible and, well, you’ll see…”

1. Day 1 obligatories
Meeting Guy Perryman for an interview on his show after we landed in Tokyo. We were blown away by his professionalism. He even has the record for being the first person to DJ live on a commercial flight! Pretty cool we reckon.

2. It’s called fashion, darling
Meeting Tada, Mai, and Hide for the first time at a photoshoot. Not entirely sure what to expect by jumping right into their capable hands.

3. SUNNY SIDE:
There had already been a few serendipitous encounters with some Sunnyside bikes gettin’ round the Tokyo backstreets of Kuramae. But we were most surprised when we discovered that directly below the photography studio we were shooting at on our second day in Tokyo was the Sunny Side bar.

4. Dinner time in Tokyo
Our first day/night in Tokyo was very special, we connected to wifi, we traveled on the train with no problems, and we established a great crew. They showed us to the local beer festival after an amazing photoshoot. We’ll never forget this day, and we’ll probably never remember it as well.

5. Post 1st Show
Our first show in Japan at 440, Shimokitazawa Tokyo, exceeded all our expectations. We were told that people don’t really dance in Japan but were definitely proven wrong.

6. Our first Shinkansen ride.
There are about 50 iterations of the same photo on various train rides, but this is the one that made the cut. I’ll bet that lady stuck in the corner was wishing she had chosen literally any other seat at this point. You would have been able to smell us from the next carriage over.

7. You’ve not done Karaoke until you’ve done it in Japan
As we got to the top of the stairs of this Karaoke bar in Kyoto, everyone’s expectations were blown away as we’d just discovered late night Kyoto heaven. They even had funny sunnies!

8. Winding down (maybe not?) with some karaoke after our show in Kyoto.
“With arms wide open… Under the sunlight…” Our mantra for the tour contained neatly within the first two lines of the chorus to Creed’s Magnus opus.

9. 7/11 Heaven:
We lived, thrived, survived on 7/11, Family Mart and the occasional Lawson’s encounter. It’s where we would start our day and finish our night. Many onigiri were had. Many Pocari Sweat were prescribed as medicinal hangover relief. Many cans of Strong can were man-handled.

10. Mates
We were blown away by the quality of music from our support acts, here’s us chewing the fat with Penguin Rush after our show in Nagoya.

11. The Slog
On our way to the last tour show in Nagoya, arms were heavy after dragging our gear through public transport in the height of Japanese Summer.

12. Living small
Close quarters living for two weeks certainly had its challenges, a few snoring members mixed with late-night snacking meant not much sleep was had.

13. Our final regional tour in Nagoya called for a bowling celebration.
Mai smashed us all with heaps of strikes, and we were so proud of her. She became our new best friend, and it was extremely sad to say bye Mai.

13a. Shhhh:
We found out at the end of the tour that we weren’t supposed to talk on the train… The people of Japan really are the politest on Earth.

14. Waaaaasabi
Wholesome fun daring each other to dip anything in wasabi. Pro tip: don’t try to outdo the locals.

15. Banter

16. Our Australian manager and our newly appointed Japanese co-manager.
Good cop, bad cop, yin and yang, these two got it done. Couldn’t have done the tour without them.

17. Business Time
What a sight we must have been for these folks going about their business. Lumbering through the steamy streets with arms full of gear, making friends wherever we went.

18. PT LIFE
Yeah there was a lot of this. It was hot.

20. Crystal Palace:
It couldn’t have been a more fitting close to the tour: 11:45pm-12:30am in the Crystal Palace to a jam packed crowd seeking refuge from the pouring rain but well primed to get down after Khruangbin (DJ Set). It was absolutely pumpin’ in there and a gig I’m sure we’ll never forget. Totally out of this world.

21. Izakaya
After playing probably one of the biggest and craziest shows of our lives, we bussed down the mountain to the Izakaya for a late night debrief and some fried chicken.

22. Sunday at Fuji
The last day of music at Fuji Rock was highlighted by an amazing afro funk band called Vaudou Game… Their game was strong, the Vaudou had got us moving and the vibes were high.

23. Fuji Fun
Getting a bit wet on day three, seeing some incredible acts including Vaudou Game, The Cure, Khruangbin, and Thom Yorke.

24. A couple of dusty boys at Fuji rock.
It was hot, it was humid and we were struggling but with a little help from our new friends at Pocari Sweat we made it through. Time heals all wounds but the next best thing is a Pocari Sweat.

25. Done and dusted
The last night at Fuji Rock really did a number on Carl!

247 Confusion
The last day at Fuji Rock found myself, Sam and Todd in a very confused state, unsure of how to get off the mountain and how to make it back to our hotel. Turns out all we had to do was get on a bus!

26. The final shuttle
Us awaiting the last shuttle we were to take to Yuzawa station in the aftermath after Fuji Rock. Although it was a bit of a mission to get to Naeba Ski Resort from where we were located, the scenery was definitely a welcomed sight.

27.Love on tour
Always makes for great memories when you can be joined on tour by your partners. Alex and Ruby did a fantastic job putting up with us numbnuts. Thanks for helping lug gear darls!