Unseen And Unheard - Live Music In Japan
By MattinMotion • Apr 21st, 2008 • Category: Entertainment, The Latest
Good vibes, happy faces, ringing ears, hangovers and a subconcious reminder that I need another haircut, all stemmed from an atypical source in Japan, an evening of live music.
Japan, unfortunately, isn’t well known abroad for its local music scene and as such, does nothing to inspire foreigners to check out the live performances available to them when they arrive here. So the usual way (If at all) for foreigners to find out about these performances is to be invited by Japanese friends that are ‘in the know’. I fall into this category as well. I have one man to thank for my enlightenment about Japanese live music and that is my friend and frontman for the metal band ‘Scarlet Garden’, Kazu. Without his inside knowledge and urging, I would never have even considered going to see a local act. This would have indeed been my loss.
The evening at Kinoto in Shibuya, consisted of several bands playing an array of ‘metal’ styles and admittedly I normally wouldn’t have listened to them even if I had the songs on my iPod. However, it was each band’s performance that made the evening a success. To see the effort put in by the musicians and their followers, you couldn’t help but feel the energy in the room. This is what makes live music so amazingly enjoyable.
I’m happy to acknowledge that my own experience in this area is extremely limited, but after witnessing live local music for the first time since I left Australia, I feel the need to satiate this longing for live performances. I need to see more. This brings about my greatest dilemma, what to see, where to go and how much do I need to shell out for it?
Where do you find the info about the smaller bands and venues in Tokyo or elsewhere in Japan?
What bands and venues have you visited recently?
MattinMotion is a resident of West Tokyo, living off the Keihin-Tohoku line. He's from Victoria, Australia and is currently involved in small business development.
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Unseen And Unheard - Live Music In Japan…
A visit to a local rock show changes one person’s mind about what the Tokyo live music scene has to offer. Been to any shows recently?…
I went to Yoyogi park to enjoy Earthday event last Sunday. There were some free live music and these were good. It seems there may be some local rock shows in the huge park as there are so many lively young people there especially at the weekend. They might give you the information you would like to know.
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Miwako, thanks for the tip. Sounds like a good idea.
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Hey Matt, would love to hear more about Japanese ‘metal’ (and why the inverted commas). Any chance of specific gig reviews in the future? Go on, live out that muso journo dream. You know you want to!
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I couldn’t agree more. When I was in Tokyo, I was in a band and it was incredibly easy to book a place to play. Japan is surprisingly musician-friendly.
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Hey MattinMotion,
definitely share your experience. Was once at a 文化祭 and there a metal band called MUSTANG played it was just hilarious!!! After the first stroke the whole crowed was getting crazy and after the concert severaｌ umbrellas, shoes, cloth were collected by the guardsmen.
Would be cool if anybody whould have heard of the band or other similar concerts.
Cheers
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This is great information. One of the bands I play with is going on a little tour of Japan in August. Sounds like we’re playing @ Missions, Outbreak, Chicken Shack, Chiba, ADM, and Crawdaddy…. Heard of these places?
cheers!
B
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