Lenny Kravitz in Tokyo

It's funny but I've never seen Lenny play live before. The last time he was in Japan for a proper tour was 14 years ago, so now seems like a good time not to have to wait any longer.

Like I've said before most acts play on weeknights and start early. Fortunately I had two opportunities to catch his show. My new day off, or even Saturday. Unlike the Aerosmith show I had to take a day off work for.

For some reason I thought he was playing Tokyo Dome. But actually it's in a much better venue, the Tokyo Dome City Hall (formerly JCB Hall). The sound was great, and I luckily scored a first balcony seat closest to the stage.

It was a great performance. He has a lot of popular songs which made it feel like a greatest hits show. You can hear a strong Beatles influence in many of his tunes. In my mind the weakest moments were his first CD's songs ("Let Love Rule" and "Mr Cab Driver"). Some of his newer songs were so too but only because I was not familiar with them, save for the "Come On Get It" opener, which follows the great formula for his well-known hits.

He was ably supported by his backing band. It was great to see a 3-piece brass section. It's not often you see the horns come out. "Always On The Run" sounded fab. The afro guitarist reminded me a little of a former me.

In the encore he did the rounds of the hall. I said "Hey Lenny", and he high fived. Hopefully some of that talent will rub off on me.