Few bands can draw a massive round of applause for 15 minutes of ambient music, but that's just what Radiohead received at the start of its Sunday night headlining set at this year's Tokyo leg of Summer Sonic.
The crowd at the main Marine Stage in QVC Marine Field was losing it well before the British band played a single note, though, whooping every time the stage lights dimmed.
Summer Sonic estimates a majority of the 65,000 Sunday attendees watched the Radiohead set, a victory for festival founder Naoki Shimizu who told The Japan Times earlier this month that this year's event — held concurrently in Tokyo and Osaka on Aug. 20 and 21 — purposely recruited more rock acts after last year's EDM-and-pop-anchored installment failed to sell out. Mission accomplished: The ballpark was so full for Radiohead that fans had to sit in the aisles.