Hey Hey INROCKERS !!!! Welcome to The Lobby, I'm coming to you today from my hometown, by the shores of Lake Erie in sometimes-sunny Buffalo, NY but you may remember when we spoke last I was in an Air B& B in Shinjuku just beginning a trip with my family back to Japan. I spent 2 weeks in Japan, most of my time spent in Tokyo, after my wife arrived with my daughter 2 weeks prior to spend dome time with her family. I had never used an Air B&B before, but it turned out to be a pretty cool way to go as we had a full kitchen and with the high temperatures and humidity in Tokyo during our stay the washer and dryer really helped too!.

We visited with friends and family, visiting some of our favorite Curry shops and markets as we do every time we return. We went to see a projection mapping show at The Sumida Suizokukan at The Sky Tree Town, I've been to many Aquariums in my decades traveling, but this Aquarium was one of the most artistically designed and beautifully presented of any I had ever seen. We also went with some friends to visit a temporary exhibit in Nihonbashi called The Eco Edo Art Aquarium, and once again it was like nothing I had ever seen before. The lighting and the custom designed tanks made the visits a truly unique experience for us.

My daughter Hana loves Shimajiro! While we were visiting my friend Jason was starring in a Shimajiro Live show so we were invited to come and see the show! If youﾕre a reader of this column you may remember that I had appeared on a Shimajiro Live internet show in Japan last year with Jason, so when I arrived we had been given first row seats for the show! We had a great time with Jason and Kiko and the rest of the cast and got to hang out a little after and enjoy some food and laughs.

We also took a day trip to Kanazawa, Kanazawa is
 Buffalo, NY's Sister City in the International Sister City Program so I have always wanted to visit. We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo Station and made our way to Kanazawa through the sweltering summer heat! We first visited Kanazawa
Castle and the Kenroku En Gardens, stopping to cool ourselves with some cold water and ice cream! We enjoyed a small tea ceremony served with wagashi in a traditional tea house on the grounds as well! We also visited the Omi Cho market and enjoyed some yakitori and also Kanazawa style Curry and Orange juice served right inside of an Orange. Pretty awesome As we left Kanazawa we bought some silver Kanazawa Style Curry dishes to enjoy our curry in back home!

We came back to Tokyo after the Kanazawa trip and saw Good Charamel Artists MOLICE perform (at a CURRY RESTAURANT yes, I Love Japan!) and also met up with our friends in Pinky Doodle Poodle as well. We got together to discuss plans as both of these bands are comingﾊto the US to record with me this month as well as perform at The 13th Annual Music is Art Festival more on that later. We did so much more on our latest trip that I just can't include in the space allowed, but as always we had a great time I can't wait to return to have more fun in Japan!

After we returned to the US and go the family settled back into our home I took a trip to LA to work on some more Goo Goo Dolls music for our new album to be released in 2016 as well as take a trip to Milwaukee for a rock show to 40,000 people at a Baseball Stadium after a Milwaukee Brewers Baseball game, I've included a shot of John and I with one of the Brewers Racing Sausages. Google it, it's pretty fun...

OK that's it for me this month, the Music is Art Festival runs this month here in Buffalo, 100s of bands from our NY area including our Japanese friends PDP and MOLICE as well as a new friend from Sapporo a producer/electronic artist Qrion. And this year, for the first time in 11 years my band; Goo Goo Dolls will also be performing at this annual free event. More on all that craziness to come in next month's edition of The Lobby. Talk soon !

Peace,Robby