Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
VIVA Strange Boutique is a fantastic store located near Okusawa station in the south-west of Tokyo close to Jiyugaoka and its packed with vintage Post-Punk and Indie posters, badges, records, music magazines and memorabilia. The emphasis is very much on U.K. Post-Punk and Indie with prominent displays of the more avant-garde and DIY acts such as Alternative TV, Television Personalities, Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV. Store owner Minami, who also sings and plays guitar with her own band, She Talks Silence, designs and produces original, officially authorised merchandise for some of her favourite bands and artists such as Felt, A Certain Ratio, The Raincoats, Durutti Column, David J, The Vaselines, Primal Scream, Sparks and the Japanese band Plastics who were a kind of cross between The B-52's, Wall of Voodoo and early Talking Heads. She's had some well known visitors too, DJ Don Letts and Devo's frontman Mark Mothersbaugh have popped in to visit the store.
You can check out the VIVA Strange Boutique online store here for the full list of merchandise, as they also offer shipping worldwide. Of course, you can probably guess from the store's name, that Minami is a huge fan of The Monochrome Set and they recently invited the band over to Tokyo to headline a sold-out gig at the WWWX venue in Shibuya to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the store's opening.
There's also an exhibition space in the basement and luckily we were able to catch an exhibtion of stunning photos by the music photographer Toshi Yajima who also just so happened to be in the store, so we could have a nice chat about this work and career as a UK based correspondent sharing his photos to various publications back in Japan. He took very early photos of the Sex Pistols in their Denmark Street rehearsal room in 1976 and would go on to photograph all the musical greats such as The Clash, The Jam, David Bowie, XTC, Iggy Pop, The Damned, Japan, Morrissey, The B-52's, Devo, Paul Weller, The Specials and Kraftwerk among many others - all are featured in an excellent book entitled "Each & Every One" which was actually published by VIVA Strange Boutique. Hopefully, we will be doing a more in-depth feature on his superb pictures sometime in the future.
With thanks to Minami and Toshi Yajima. For more information on VIVA Strange Boutique please check out their web-site here and Facebook page here, they are also on Instagram.
There’s a neon sign above the bar in the Shangri-La venue in
Tokyo that proclaims “This is where the magic happens”. There have been
numerous books published on the Japanese misuse of English in their signage and
advertising – indeed on this trip I’ve seen ‘are you excited stretch hero’
outside a gym, ‘do not flash your sanitary goods’ on a toilet door and ‘no
dropping thing out of window’ on the Tokyo monorail. These signs can be confusing,
bizarre and often downright hilarious but this time, there’s no sniggering at any
poor translation as the Shangri-La nailed it perfectly. For tonight was
certainly magical – one of those special happenings when live music truly
transcends huge cultural differences, time zones and language barriers. Mick Head first came to Japan in 1985 with The Pale Fountains and it made a big
impact on the Anglophile Indie scene at the time, leaving a lasting legacy that
was apparent in the number of people in the crowd tonight that were there back
in ’85. In fact, one of my friends even bought along her original gig ticket
for Mick to sign. Now Mick is back and we were at the second of two nights with The Red Elastic Band at the Shangri-La in
Shimokitazawa, Tokyo’s less commercial and less tacky version of Camden – it’s
a lively area that’s crammed full of live venues, bars, record stores, vintage
clothes shops and you see countless musicians wandering about carrying guitars,
trying to look as cool as possible. It’s also home to probably the best ever
Punk Rock ‘n’ Roll bar ever, the Poor Cow, run by Fi-Fi of the brilliant
Japanese band Teengenerate. It’s the go-to place for touring bands to pop into
to relax after a show, King Salami & The Cumberland 3, The Courettes have
all visited and Baby Shakes told me about their love of the place in our
Retrosonic Podcast. It’s an area that’s also personally very important to me as
on my first trip to Japan in 1989, I was taken along to a superb Indie
nightclub called Zoo which was an unforgettable experience that’s stayed with
me to this day. So, to be able to see Mick in Japan was special enough but the
fact it happened to be in Shimokitazawa, made it even better.
Opening up the night was Red Elastic Band guitarist
Nathaniel Laurence with his second only solo live performance, the debut being
the night before. Apparently, he wasn’t quite as nervous to be alone under the
spotlight as the first show and he told me later, he found the experience quite
daunting and if he’s going to try out new material then the other side of the
world, far away from familiar, possibly more expectant or judgemental faces, is
probably the best way to do it. Nat, seemed rather unsure but he needn’t have
been, he did brilliantly. It was an emotionally charged performance which kind
of took me by surprise, and I could understand his concerns as when you lay
your soul on the line with such an intimate performance, it can be very
precious. Opening with “Zombie Girl” by Adrianne Lenker he also included
excellent covers of songs by Townes van Zandt and Fleetwood Mac’s Christine
McVie but it was his own songs that really shined. Nat was visibly moved on a
couple of occasions, particularly when he dedicated a song to Bill Ryder-Jones
for his support and friendship through some tough times and also before the
wonderful original song “Jaime” as he denounced the recent laws in Florida that
will suppress minority groups even more. The sadly all too short set is
received really well by the appreciative crowd. Nat has a great voice and if he
can capture that raw intensity he showed tonight in (hopefully) future recordings, he could easily carve out a spot for himself in the somewhat overcrowded
solo singer-songwriter market.
There’s
a brief respite and then the red velvet curtains are pulled back to reveal Mick and the Red Elastic Band and the first thing that hits me are the dazzling
smiles as the waves of love and affection flowed from the crowd. The band certainly
looked chuffed to bits to be in Japan. They opened with the brilliant “Kismet”,
the first track from the stunning current album “Dear Scott” and you realise
that ‘our greatest songwriter’ as the NME once dubbed him back at the peak of
Shack’s success in the 90’s, has if anything got even better as the years have
gone by. Songs like “Newby Street” from the “Artorius Revisited” E.P. and
tracks from “Dear Scott” such as “Gino and Rico” and “American Kid” rub
shoulders easily alongside the much-loved classics from The Pale Fountains and
Shack. Probably the most encouraging signs are that the as yet unreleased songs
played tonight promise even more greatness is to follow. The powerful, rocking
“Human Race” ups the tempo and is an immediate hit with the crowd. Then the emotional
nostalgia of “Shirl’s Ghost”, an instrumental teaser of which was included as
the run out track of “Dear Scott”. Tonight, we get the full vocal version with Mick
changing the lyrics to include tonight’s location “I’ve been to so many fabulous
places, marvellous stages, beautiful faces, I’ve danced in New York, Paris and
Tokyo”. It’s a beautifully evocative song. Then there’s more variety in the
unashamedly romantic “You Smiled at Me” with its Burt Bacharach strains telling
of a Parisian love affair.
Mick looks in great shape and seems visibly touched
by the reaction of the Japanese fans (not forgetting us visitors and ex-pats in
the crowd of course…), he’s wearing a Love T-shirt so it’s no surprise that we
get a rollicking version of “A House Is Not a Motel” which goes down a storm.
But the audience really goes wild during the two Pale Fountains songs “Reach”
and “Jean’s Not Happening” which are absolutely superb and spark off much
singing along and audience participation. At one point, Mick gently coerces
daughter Alice on stage to join him on “Broken Beauty”, a song they co-wrote
and there’s a touching scene when they hug as the song finishes. I think one of
the key aspects of Mick’s resurgence is the support that he is getting from
Alice and his sister Joanne, who is also present tonight, it’s a tight knit
family unit and is so refreshing to see. Of course, the Red Elastic Band
concept was always meant to be flexible with a revolving cast of musicians and
collaborators but the current, more settled, line-up seems to be an extension
of the family and the freedom Mick gives each of the band members to express
themselves creates a wonderful chemistry, particularly on stage. Too many
frontmen and women from successful bands embark on solo careers and surround
themselves with faceless session musicians – but I think fans and audiences
really respond to that ‘band as a gang’ atmosphere.
It’s a five-piece line-up
tonight, second guitarist Danny Murphy missing out on the trip due to other
touring commitments. Martin Smith on trumpet also shows off some nifty dance
moves, there’s bassist Tom Powell’s smile as he loses himself in the music,
long hair swaying (Tom's a popular guy, Mick superfan Ana once dubbed him ‘Jesus’ and another friend
commented ‘he looks like Keanu Reeves’). Then of course there’s Nat’s brilliant
guitar work and when you think he has to cover for the absent Danny and also
follow on from the guitar genius that is John Head, it’s mightily impressive. He
does such an amazing job and also adds his very own charismatic stage presence
to proceedings. Phil Murphy on drums is another key component in the success of
the Red Elastic Band as he nails the various styles and genres that snake
through Mick’s music – tonight, I’m particularly struck by his work on
“Stranger” with its Bossa Nova and Tropicalia feel and it kind of reminds me of
The Doors’ John Densmore Jazzy style of accentuating the vocals and feel of the
song. Having a supportive and empathetic record label also helps and Modern Sky
have certainly delivered with “Dear Scott”, building on the great work that
Violette did in establishing the Red Elastic Band with their stunning graphics and
beautifully designed releases. Having Nathaniel involved in the recording
process along with Bill Ryder-Jones superb production and orchestration is also
a vital cog in the wheel that also includes the stunning photography of John
Johnson – another important element that should not be overlooked and all the
pieces of the jig-saw seem to be perfectly in place right now.
There’s an acoustic interlude when just Nat and Mick play
“As Long as I’ve Got You” and “Freedom” and then Joanne joins them to deliver a
stunning performance of “Daniella” from Shack’s “HMS Fable”. There’s something
so emotional in Mick’s music – the tough looking Scouser who has battled
trials, tribulation and addiction as documented in tonight’s superb performance
of the “Streets of Kenny”, he just has this knack of gnawing at your
heartstrings and often at his shows, I find myself with a lump in the throat
and a tear in the eye – it must be the dry ice eh? I think it’s the way he wears his heart on
his sleeve, allied to a totally down-to-earth attitude that endears Mick to his
fans. I’ve seen some great shows by Mick over the years, but this was something
else, another Shimokitazawa experience I’ll always treasure. The band were
buzzing after the show, happy to meet and chat with fans, signing memorabilia
and gushing about the fact that they were in Japan. They seemed as happy as we
were and in these often cynical and jaded musical days, that’s a very
refreshing thing. Super fan Hiro, proprietor of the unofficial Mick Head Museum
(his apartment in Tokyo!) and his lovely wife Rie had made some Red Elastic
Band Japanese tour souvenir wristbands which he generously handed over to us
and it was nice to see Mick and the band all wearing them onstage. It was so
great to be there to witness Hiro get his wish of Mick’s return to Japan and he
made the most of every minute. He also stocked up on more merchandise to add to
his huge collection and to paraphrase Chief Brody’s famous line in Jaws, “Hiro,
you’re gonna need a bigger apartment…!” The only thing that could make the
evening any better was a nightcap or two at the Poor Cow so a gang of us headed
off to marvel and talk excitedly about the wonderful night that we’d all been
lucky enough to have experienced.
For Mayumi, Kaz, Kurt, Hiro, Rie, all the Mick fans we met on the night, the Red Elastic Wristband Gang, Fi-Fi and all at the Poor Cow. For more videos from the show please subscribe (for free) to the Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here. For our features on previous Mick Head & The Red Elastic Band, check out the Index/Archive. For more information on Mick & The Red Elastic Band, check out their official web-site here.
Japan is the land of the "otaku", which some people might disparagingly translate as "anorak"
or "nerd" but I like to think of it as a knowledgeable and slightly obsessive fan. So, whatever
your "thing" is it's thanks to these otaku people that I’m pretty damn sure you’ll find a bar,
restaurant, club or store and an enthusiastic owner celebrating it somewhere in Japan. For example, I’ve been to Gothic bars decorated with cobwebs, coffins and plastic bats and a Punk bar covered in vintage posters and memorabilia. We discovered a Mod & Skinhead store with West Ham scarves hanging from the ceiling and I've seen bands play in a Garage Rock venue that was the dead-ringer for London’s Weirdsville. We've stumbled across a tiny Yakitori bar called Ramone and on entrance were confronted by a small counter and walls covered in posters of Ramones, The Who and the Sex Pistols and yes we've even found a bar in a quiet residential suburb of Tokyo dedicated to that very English genius songwriter Michael Head, yes he of Shack, The Pale Fountains and The Strands.
Papa-san & Friends
The bar is intriguingly named "Sheep's Horns and Dragon's Whiskers" (Hitsuji no Tsuno to Ryū No Hige) and it's located in a unassuming back-street not far from Nishi-Magome station in Tokyo. From this bar operates a collective of musicians known as Papa-san & Friends formed initially by DJ and musician Hiro Monstera. Hiro surely must be Mick Head's biggest fan, he first saw The Pale Fountains on their Japanese tour back in the mid-80's and a few years ago enlisted the bar's owner Papa-san and a collection of regulars and friends to start a band with the intention of playing cover versions of songs from throughout Mick's career. However, they are certainly not your average tribute band as the songs are performed on acoustic guitars, ukulele, cajón and concertina. I'd been in touch with Hiro after he saw some of my recent features on Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band gigs and as we were in Tokyo he invited us along to see the band play. On arrival we are greeted by professional looking personalised gig posters that proclaim "Welcome!" The bar’s owner Papa-san is cool in his shades puffing away on a cigarette and later on as he gets surrounded by the girls for a photo opportunity he suddenly reminds me of Tokyo's answer to Serge Gainsbourg.
Inside the small unassuming bar is a large communal table and counter and around the walls are hung an impressive collection of Michael Head posters and memorabilia, some of which are rare and many designed by Pascal Blua, who’s excellent work you can see on Michael Head and The Red Elastic Band’s recent releases and posters. I notice that lots of the items have been personally signed by Mick Head too and Hiro is rightly proud as he shows us his collection. On one side of the bar, there's a record and CD player, a rack of CD's and vinyl and there's a very cool Violette Records bag and once we’ve checked all the memorabilia we are invited to sit at the large communal table. We enjoy a great meal cooked by Papa-san and loads of delicious ice cold Japanese beers, followed by sparkling wine which is in turn followed by some fine sake.
We chat and make friends with some other locals before the music starts. Hiro sings lead vocals on most of the songs and has a very cool looking ukulele. Rie expertly coaxes melodies from her concertina and adds some beautiful harmonies and backing vocals and Yoshito sits on a box like cajón, a Peruvian percussion instrument which he plays wonderfully. We each have a go on the cajón and it’s certainly a lot more difficult to master than it first looks. They proceed to lead us through a superb set of Mick Head songs including The Pale Fountain's "Thank You" and "Jean's Not Happening" with the occasional track by U2, The Smiths and Fairground Attraction thrown in along the way. Papa-san joins in on acoustic guitar for his favourite track Shack’s “Comedy” and then sings two excellent Japanese Blues songs, one of which he is hoping to release as a single.
My friend Kurt, Tokyo resident, musician and Tokyo BGM Blog editor gets persuaded to serenade us with some songs including The Cure’s “In Between Days” and The Replacements "If Only You Were Lonely", everyone joins in and sings along. Kurt and I muddle our way through R.E.M.'s "Driver 8" as best we can but quickly hand back to the experts and enjoy a final singalong before we reluctantly have to leave to catch the last train. We had a thoroughly magical evening with Hiro, Papa-san & Friends, something we will never forget and if you are ever in Tokyo and fancy a great night of music, chat, food and beers then please head along to "The Sheep's Horns & The Dragon's Whiskers". You don't even have to be a Mick Head fan...but it will sure help!
Some of Hiro's Michael Head Memorabilia
"...from Across the Kitchen Table to Desolation Row..."
Desolation Row Bar in Hida-Takayama
In the beautiful historic town of Hida Takayama nestling in the valleys of the Japanese Alps we also discovered “Desolation Row”. You would never know it was there – a tiny sign that's barely visible hangs over a door and that's about it. The name seems somewhat incongruous in such a charming picture perfect location, there’s certainly not much desolation on view in Hida Takayama that’s for sure! Ken, the bar’s genial and very cool owner is a huge Bob Dylan fan, hence taking the title of the “Highway 61 Revisited” album track as the name of his establishment. Inside there’s a counter and a few seats – there’s hardly any room to move and that’s probably because the first thing you notice is that most of the space is taken up by racks of vinyl albums. Ken welcomes you in and invites you to sit at the counter and chat to other visitors.
Desolation Row Bar in Hida-Takayama
Desolation Row Bar in Hida-Takayama
The talk quickly turns to music and Ken has an album on hand to soundtrack any conversation - for talk about the Rolling Stones we get “Exile on Main Street” and for the Sex Pistols we get somewhat surprisingly "Sid Sings". Of course there is Bob Dylan - lots and lots of Bob Dylan - including rare live recordings and bootlegs alongside the more familiar classics. Ken digs out a scrapbook to show us an article with a Japanese newspaper who contacted him to give some expert analysis in the build up to Dylan’s last Japanese tour. We enjoy ourselves so much that we go back again the next night and proceed to get very, very drunk. Desolation Row, 30 Asahimachi, Hida Takayama, Gifu, Japan.
Ken at Desolation Row, Hida Takayama
Papa-san at Sheep's Horn & Dragon's Whiskers, Nishi-Magome, Tokyo
It’s great to see guys like Ken and Papa-san content and doing something they're passionate about after long and stressful careers as Japanese “salarymen”. Long may they welcome people, encourage friendship, play their music and of course, open another bottle of beer! With sincere thanks to Hiro, Rie, Yoshito, Tacchan the Chameleon King, Chika, Mr & Mrs Matsunaga, the regulars at "Sheep's Horn and Dragon's Whiskers" and of course the one and only Papa-san! You can see lots of videos of their kitchen session gigs at Hiro's YouTube channel here.
Some of Hiro's Michael Head Memorabilia
Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band currently have a new digital jingle “Josephine” out now as a taster for their forthcoming album “Adios Senor Pussycat” which will be released in September on Violette Records. For more information on how to obtain these please check the excellent Violette Records web-site. For up-to-date news and information on upcoming Red Elastic Band live shows please check the Michael Head official site. There's also the superb Shacknet for a wealth of Mick Head related archive material going back to The Pale Fountains.
It was great news to see that The Stompin' Riff Raffs were playing a gig in Tokyo while I was there and the chance to see them in a small basement club in Shimokitazawa was too good an opportunity to pass up. After all they do rank up there among the best live acts I've ever seen and any band that can make a theremin sexy has got my vote! I first saw them play at last year's Hipsville Weekender where the enthusiastic organizers Mr A, Alex and Ade can be relied on to scour all corners of the planet to bring us unbelievably good Garage Rock bands. I've been introduced to bands from Mexico such as Los Sustos, the fabulous Autoramas from Brazil, Messer Chups from Russia and The Jackets from Switzerland to name a few. But they really surpassed themselves with The Stompin' Riff Raffs. Getting them over from Japan can't have been easy and the band were hit by technical problems on the day which unfortunately put paid to Miku's keyboards. However the young Tokyo based band continued to put in a stunningly energetic performance, Miku endearing herself to the crowd by still going through the motions of playing her broken keyboard just in case it miraculously burst in life!
Miku of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
Rie of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
So, back to the present and I'm down the front at Club Three eagerly awaiting my second experience of The Stompin' Riff Raffs. They burst onto the stage and crash straight into the Surf-Psych instrumental "Parabellum". Three girls and a guy. The girls dressed identically in sparkling 1930's style flapper dresses and Green Hornet face masks. Miku plays her theremin as though it were a guitar, twisting ear-bustingly weird yet wonderful noises from it. Drummer Saori is all smiles behind her kit and super-cool bassist Rie looks great while adding harmonies and backing vocals. Singer and guitarist Nao is a truly charismatic front-man as he throws everything into his performance. The Sonics' "The Witch" gets a good Stompin' and "Surfside Date" sounds amazing. There are elements of Link Wray, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Cramps and the Ramones in their quick-fire no pause for breath approach. One of my highlights of the night is the penultimate killer track "Horror Show", which you can hear in Episode 22 of Retrosonic Podcast here.
Saori of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
Nao of The Stompin' Riff Raffs at Club Three Tokyo
The band are all smiles and their enthusiasm is infection as the crowd go wild, there's a real sense of fun and abandonment with The Stompin' Riff Raffs. The set draws to a crazed end with another theremin-led instrumental "Ghost Train" during which all hell breaks loose on stage and everything falls apart in glorious chaos! What a show and what a band! My only complaint was that due to time restraints there was no encore so I didn't get to hear my favourite track "Linda" but I was more than satisfied. Let's hope they come back to the U.K. again very soon. You can check out more 'up close and personal' videos of the band at the Club Three Shimokitazawa and Hipsville 2016 over at our Retro Man Blog YouTube channel here. Here's a little taster...
For more info on The Stompin' Riff Raffs check out their official Facebook page here.
Tokyo based Power Pop band, The Complaints Department, have just released a new single "Walking Hand In Hand". Proceeds from sales of the single will be donated to help aid the reconstruction work in Tohoku, Northern Japan, following the devastating Tsunami. Of course, just because the tragedy of the Tsunami is now out of the news, there is still so much work to be done in rebuilding, not only the region, but people's lives and livliehoods too. The band have to be applauded for their efforts in doing something positive.
The Complaints Department is a 5-piece power-pop band, with an eclectic fusion of punk, pop, rock and anything that comes to mind. The Complaints Department came together in February 2009, and is a Tokyo-based band made up of Canadian and Japanese nationals. Each member comes with different musical interests and influences, producing a unique style of alternative music. The band often uses two vocal parts to produce a more powerful and unique vocal sound. Furious song-writing/re-writing and relentless behind-the-scenes plans are a part of TCD life. Forging ahead, the band filled in the missing lead guitar and bass sounds, and added keyboards. The Complaints Department performs live with other Tokyo-based bands, steadily building a local following. TCD concentrates on writing songs in English and Japanese to appeal to it's entire audience.
"Walking Hand In Hand" can be bought from Amazon, iTunes and CD Baby, here's the video:
Composer: Nate Gildart
Arrangementby : The Complaints Department (Nate Gildart, Ken Kishi, Akira Minakawa, Chris Lucier and Matt Rollo)
Cover Art: Stefanie Held
Mixed and Mastered by Ryo Sugawara & Ken Kishi
Here's another video of a great slice of Power Pop, recorded live in Tokyo, "The Story Of The Year".
I saw Sunset Drive at Tokyo's Ruby Room last year and was blown away by their powerful and raw good time rock 'n' roll. I bought their two CD mini-albums "We've Got To Talk" and "It's All You" at the end of the gig and they have been constant companions ever since. It's just a shame that I haven't been back and able to see them this year as I really wanted to feature them on the Blog. So the next best thing, if I can't write about them then get someone local to do it for me...! Step forward Kurt Schussler from Tokyo band The Big Nothing, who very kindly and ably, filed this report on the band's latest live show. As luck would have it, regular contributor to the Blog, photographer Paul Slattery, was in Tokyo at the time and has sent in some excellent shots of the band too.
Sunset Drive live at The Ruby Room Tokyo December 10th by Kurt Schussler
"When I saw the size of this bass amp I got really excited, but this is as loud as it goes!" Alastair shouted from the stage as he slapped the side of the misfiring new piece of equipment like a fuzzy telly. No one expects great gear from the Ruby Room, just great local rock 'n' roll. Sunset Driveblazed through such hits as "Not Alright" and "See Your Face," Alastair's vocals trading licks with Tosh's firey flying V. The bass kept the songs driving, defying the weak amplifier, bolstered by Shin's rapid drum attack.
Sunset Drive - Photo by Paul Slattery
The headlining trio played with the well-oiled authority of a band that has been together for 30 years (though they're about 25 shy of that). The band's overall sound is joyous garage rock, like a dirty Ted Leo or a slightly cleaner Jay Reatard. But they're also capable of the sweet melodies found on "We've Got to Talk" and "On Fire". This Kiwi/Japanese combo's energy does not come at the expense of songwriting. The crowd danced, as they always dance to Sunset Drive, specially prepped on this night by the fantastic grooves of the Golden Katies. Like a modern Black Sabbath, with 50% of the members and 200% of the sound, this hard rocking two-piece stirred the appetite for rock. Among the revellers were the Walsh brothers from The Watanabes, Mike from The Mootekkis and Kinlay's mighty frontman Andy.
Sunset Drive - Photo by Paul Slattery
Later on, Hiroki of thatta showed up to hang out for a DJ set. Tokyo bands love to whinge about the city's lack of a cohesive scene due to the "noruma" pay-to-play system of its live houses. For them, a night like this restores hope that DIY music is alive and well in the metropolis, thanks to bands that truly admire each other's work. It also helps to have venues like the Ruby, which doesn't charge the bands and requires punters to pay just 1,000 yen per head to see four or five bands on a weekend night. Get past the clouds of cigarette smoke and dodgy sound system and it feels like you're rocking out in your friend's basement (the one with the awesome record collection and the reliable connection). After Sunset Drive's set, before the DJs revved up the turntables, the Ruby clientele filed out into the street to watch the lunar eclipse. The shadow drawing across the vast white expanse felt more like a beginning than an end.
Tosh, Alastair & Shin from Sunset Drive - Photo by Paul Slattery
Many thanks to Kurt Schussler for the review and Paul Slattery for the photographs.
The underground Rock scene looks very healthy in Tokyo, there seems to be a good spirit and camararadie between the bands that are often mixed with ex-pats and locals. If possible, please take some time to click the highlighted links in the review to check out some of the bands.
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