Long Season '96~7 - 96.12.26 Akasaka Blitz

***Long Season '96~7 - 96.12.26 Akasaka Blitz***, also simply known as "**96.12.26**", is a live album by Japanese dub/rock band Fishmans. It was released on June 29, 2016, almost 20 years after its purported initial recording on December 26, 1996 @Akasaka Blitz.

There's reason to believe that not all of the album was recorded on December 26, 1996, as the official setlist for the concert does not include Sunny Blue or Smilin' Days, Summer Holiday. There is also significant enough markings in the song waveforms to suggest a splice in the album's tracklist. It's believed that the two aforementioned tracks, as well as すばらしくてNice Choice were recorded on a different date in the Long Season '96~7 tour. This could have been either December 3, 1996 @Nagoya Club Quattro or December 4, 1996 @Kobe Chicken George, as both concerts hold identical song stretches that aren't present on December 26th's setlist. There are significant enough cuts around the album, however, to suggest more than the identified songs being altered from the final concert (such as a notable cut at the beginning of バックビートにのっかって).

It's also theorized that Sunny Blue and Smilin' Days, Summer Holiday were legitimately performed on December 26, and that the official setlist in Fishmans Chronicle (1988-) simply got the date wrong, and that the notable splices are actually cutting out unnecessary pauses in the music or points where Shinji Sato speaks to the audience. However, this is inconsistent with formatting of albums like 98.12.28 男達の別れ and 2nd March 1996 at Shinjuku Liquid Room, both of which present their concerts in full, Sato's speeches intact (the latter album, in fact, including better quality speech from Sato and sometimes more of it than its DVD counterpart from 2005 - despite still cutting a song from the band's encore set). As all three live albums were assembled by producer ZAK, it would remain confusing why this album might have its MCs cut while the other two remain intact.

December 26, 1996 was partially broadcast on NHK TV in the 90s. The only parts of the concert originally broadcasted by the station were Oh! Crime, Go Go Round This World! and Long Season.

## Track listing

### Disc 1

1. "Oh Slime" (6:39)
2. "Go Go Round This World!" (8:27)
3. "なんてったの" (5:39)
4. "土曜日の夜" (4:59)
5. "バックビートにのっかって" (8:15)
6. "エヴリデイ・エヴリナイト" (3:42)
7. "Sunny Blue" (6:43)
8. "Smilin' Days, Summer Holiday" (5:04)
9. "すばらしくてNice Choice" (6:43)
10. "夜の想い" (7:05)

### Disc 2

1. "ナイトクルージング" (9:19)
2. "Long Season" (40:04)

## Artwork/Packaging

Full front cover, stitched together from 2 scans.Complete inner booklet, stitched from 2 scans.Back.Inlay.Disc 1.Disc 2.Lyric sheet is entirely blank with words, except for this graphic.Obi strip front.Obi strip back.
## Personnel

### Band members

* Shinji Satoh (vocal, guitars, writer)
* Yuzuru Kashiwabara (bass, chorus)
* Kin-Ichi Motegi (drums, sampler, chorus, supervisor (2016))

### Other musicians

* Honzi (violin, keyboards, chorus)
* Michio "Darts" Sekiguchi (guitars, chorus)
* Asa-Chang (percussion)
* MariMari (chorus)
* Masaki Morimoto (whistle)
* Girls (chorus)

### Other personnel

* ZAK (sound engineer, recording engineer, mixing (2016), mastering (2016))
* Masato Ono (stage director)
* Kazuroh Isokawa (monitor engineer)
* Kazuhiro Hirayama (lighting designer)
* Mitsuteru Takasugi (instrument technician)
* Toshi "HERO" Betty (instrument technician)
* Masato Kihara (concert promoter)
* Toshiya Sano (recording director, director (2016), artwork coordinator (2016))
* Akiko Ueta (artist management)
* Yoshiyuki Okuda (executive producer)
* Koreyuki Tanaka (digital archive engineer (2016))
* Kenjiro Ishida (digital archive engineer (2016))
* Eiichi Mikami (A&R (2016))
* Yuko Yamane (A&R desk (2016))
* Masanori Okamura (sales promoter (2016))
* Mooog Yamamoto (creative direction for inner photo)
* Ayako Mogi (photography for inner photo)
* Junko Ishiwata (styling for inner photo)
* Yutaka Kimura (art director (2016), designer (2016))
* Takao 'B' Shimizu (artwork coordinator (2016))

### Special Thanks

* Kensuke Kawamura
* Hiroshi Shimizu
* Katsuo Funatsu
* Hirotoshi Nonaka
* Fumihiko Oizumi

## Issues

* 2016 - **UPCY-7147/8** (CD, Polydor, Japan) - Part of reissue series Fishmans 25 - Silver Anniversary! 2016.