The first pop group to ever play Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo was The Beatles in 1966, a concert that caused quite a scandal because of the auditoriums' semisacred status as Japan's premier martial-arts venue. Rightwingers protested the show but in the end the prerogatives of capitalism prevailed.
In the decade to follow, more Western artists would play Budokan, but the hallowed hall didn't really make an impression on international rock fans until the late 1970s, when a relatively obscure guitar band from Rockford, Illinois performed there.
"Before we played there in '78 and again in '79, I think Deep Purple were there, and I heard a kid got killed — the crowd went nuts and somebody got crushed," says Rick Nielsen, the guitarist and point man for Cheap Trick, from his home in Rockford. "When we played, I think it was the first time they allowed the audience to stand up. Usually, if you got excited and stood up, the guards would shove you down."
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