When: August 9-10
Where: Tokyo Chiba Marine Stadium & Makuhari Messe and Osaka Maishima Summer Sonic Osaka Site
What: It's the Japanese equivalent of V or Reading and Leeds with a solid line-up showcasing some of this summer's regulars - The Verve, Sex Pistols, Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong - with a host of bands straight from NME's Radar and review pages - Blood Red Shoes, Johnny Foreigner, Biffy Clyro. And split over two venues. So why bother going all the way to Japan for it? Well firstly it beats getting stuck in traffic on the M1. Paul Weller makes a rare festival appearance as do Coldplay and Jesus and Mary Chain and there's a seaside village...
Tickets: 15,500-JPY (£72) for a day ticket or 28,500-JPY (£133) for two-day Tokyo tickets.
Website: www.summersonic.com
