"We were really worried before they came over 'cos England's so s--t," says Rob Rolfe, the drummer from British post-hardcore/metal/dance fusion band Enter Shikari of their anxieties before embarking on a 2008 tour with their friends, the Japanese punk-metal group Maximum the Hormone.
"The way you get treated in England," adds bassist Chris Batten, before Rolfe continues, "The venues, backstages, hotels. We were really worried they'd be like, 'This is terrible! We don't ever want to come back here!' "
They needn't have worried, though. Despite the inevitable jet lag and the U.K.'s unique approach to customer service, the tour went off well. Rolfe explains: "We were pretty certain they'd go down well with our audience, and they loved them. And they were really funny; they learned a few English phrases." "Fish and chips," interjects Batten, confusingly for a moment, before Rolfe clarifies, "They'd just yabber off in Japanese and no one could understand a word they were saying, and then they'd just go, 'Fish and chips!' and get the audience going."