Archive for August, 2005


This is starting to feel like work so September is Igor’s holiday month!

A real holiday. As in not filching around in the background type of a holiday. As in doing zippity doo-dah the whole time from September 1 until September 30th. If you got something worth screaming about drop it on the Board or, if it’s important enough, the News Submissions. Frank is pretty cluey about this stuff. He might come across as a sociopath, but he’s really charming once you get to beat him – or the other way around.

Igor’s personal favorites for this month are:
TOKYO DARK CASTLE on the 3rd (99% chance of going)
2 Bullet, Aural Vampire et. al. on the 19th (might be in Aichi then)
DESPAIR! BAAL, DEMONOID 13, & DOOMSPIDER @ JUNK CHILDREN on the 24th (totally mad and 99.9% sure I’ll be going)!!!

Lot’s of other cool stuff that’ll be in the monthly event list. Frank and Jude might pump the list with Kansai events in the days to come…

This will be the last weekly event announcement! Woohoo! Yeah! It’s gonna go baby! Score one for the slave! Okay, final party time folks… Let’s IGNITE!

One of the more lifestyle-Goth events in Japan. The event takes place in twin-level space of Shinjuku Head Power. The top floor offers diverse array of live acts, while the labyrinthine lower floor consists of a bar, exhibition spaces and some nifty craft shoppes. The ceiling’s low on the bottom floor so watch your head!

The organizer, Daybook’s Taroo, has done quite a bit of interesting stuff including a compilation CD, late-night Web TV (check Here on Thursdays and Fridays between 11 p.m. and midnight), working with a few underground bands amongst other things. Definitely worth checking out on an early Friday eve.

Event info:
Event: Toge, Toge, Tokagee from Daybook
Place: Shinjuku Head power
Address: B1, 1-34-13 Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 166-0002
Club Phone: 03-3354-7727
Date: Friday, September 30, 2005
Start: 17:30 open † 18:00 start
Price: 2,000 yen adv. † 2,300 yen @ door
Live: Proper 669, Deus ex Machina, Secret Dead Space, Ato, and more.
Exhibitions: Black Garden/Kuroi Niwa, and more

Toge, Toge, Tokagee gets underway (again!) on August 26 @ Shinjuku Head Power. Daybook’s Taroo is one of those guys coming up with funky stuff like the Android 666 event series and the cool Specimen CD compilation (I’m still enjoying mine). Taroo seems to be delving into a lot of areas with these events, creating a smorgasbord for the ears and eyes at each outing. It might not be full-on in terms of madness, but it certainly works an interesting mix of sounds for a dark soul! Fully recommended to relieve the stress of a working Goth on a Friday evening – check it!

Event info:
Event: Toge, Toge, Tokagee from Daybook
Place: Shinjuku Head power (probably)
Address: B1, 1-34-13 Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 166-0002
Club Phone: 03-3354-7727
Date: Friday, August 26, 2005
Start: 17:30 open † 18:00 start
Price: 2,000 yen adv. † 2,300 yen @ door
Live: Kara Mail, Omikuji, Kreuz Schwert, Exist Trace, Mandragora, Secret Dead Space and more.
Exhibitions: Shingguapoura, Black Garden/Kuroi Niwa, Oriental Deeva, Favril Hearz and others
Web site: http://sound.jp/daybook/
Club site: http://www.headpower.co.jp/

Yes, yes, I know. It’s not Goth, but 101A is one hot retro-rock band with awesome femme vocals (and a spot on the Daybook Specimen CD), and the samples I snarked from the other bands were very nice indeed – good selection from Nyatta. Not an event to scream to, but one for soothing the savage beast within until TDC 13 arrives! 101A are doing a few shows around the place, so you might want to check their site, if you are interested.

Event info:
Event: Web to real Too Real #01
Place: Club Chop (nr Ikebukuro station)
Address: B1, Shema 100, 2-46-3 Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo 171-0014 † Map
Club phone: 03-5951-1127
Date: Saturday, August 27, 2005
Start: Open 17:30 † Start 18:00
Price: 2,500 yen advance † 3,000 yen @ door
Bands: 101A, Anemone, Kara, and function code();.

Teenage angst kei group, Zobie Lolita will be doing Double Fuck You at ADM in Ikebukuro. ADM’s not a bad place, but the layout is a wee bit strange. The brain lubricants are cheap though and the group should be interesting to see live. There will be a couple of other live acts there – sorry, too tired to investigate or work out the English names.

Event info:
Event: Double Fuck You!
Place: Ikebukuro ADM
Address: B1F GS Heim, 1-22-1 Higashi Ikebukuro, Tokyo
Map
Club Phone: 03-3983-9387
Date: Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Start: 18:00 Open † 18:30 Start
Price: 1,500 yen adv. (+500 yen drink) † 2,000 @ door (+500 yen drink)
Live: Zombie Lolita, Miyama GT and more.

Fancying a different flavor for the night Igor hunts down some good Indy sounds in Akihabara’s Club Goodman.

Preparation
It was a tough decision, but one must accept that man does not live by Goth alone. Also, Igor is a bit of a lone-wolf type (does that mean I’m anti-social?), eager to find funky new things in the nooks and crannies of society.

Scoping the night’s events in the local sites, I discovered that some rock and punk sounds would be emanating from Club Goodman in the early evening.

Having made the choice, and with a map in one hand and 500 milles of chu-hi in the other, I trawled past the electronics shops to get to the club area.

Club Goodman
Goodman has some interesting acts and I first heard about the club when Goth-kei psychedelics, Adenosine Tri Phosphate appeared a few times in recent months (ATP scored kudos after a quick US tour earlier this year).

The club is located adjacent the Kanda River in a quieter part of the Akihabara area. Goodman’s layout was very smart with the drinks bar placed within easy reach of the entrance and lots of space for the punters to enjoy the sounds and bounce with abandon. There was nothing cramped about this place and could has a comfortable capacity of 60-70 people.

Punters
Friday’s gig had around 50+ people, which was well matched to the club’s capacity. Everyone was there for a good evening so all were dressed in street clothes and the age range from 20s to 30s. It was an easy-going atmosphere and everyone was really down to earth.

Bands
Once again I missed the opening acts (zannen), but since I only get out of work after most events start there’s not much I can do about it.

The first thing that I noticed upon entering the event space was the absence of DAT tapes. Yes, this was 100% live. There was no hiding behind electronics. Hell, all the bands had real axes, bass and even real drummers. They also had a lot of energy invested in their sets. The sounds ranged from garage punk, summer rock, some pumping pop-rock (NOT J-POP), some beat-influenced rap and more.

Nhhmbase and Core of Bells
Apologies to Nhhmbase and Core of Bells whom were finished before I arrived…. m_(_ _)_m

Inkakugoten :: Unkown
As I slooked into the main space, Inkakugoten was getting it on with energetic garage rock and punk. Led by femme vocals Madca, with screaming and funky commentary by bassist Makoto “little” Maekawa, ax sounds from Futaketa and Mikinyan (she might have a Gothic lining), plus Jun Misugi on drums, this band had a real good summer rock sound coming out. Mixing in grunge, youth punk, garage rock, plus a few classic rock riffs made for an enjoyable set. After the set, the band was very convivial and Igor was made very much at home by the band members and their friend, Shiho (who interestingly knows Goth make-up artist, Rodem) – thank you for the great hospitality guys! I would be happy to hear them again… and soon.

Passion
I have always been impressed with the bands from Osaka and Passion are no exception. Goodman described them as unpredictable (the shows keeps changing), and Passion certainly had a something sublimely cool tonight mixing up melodies with rock undertones and spitting out a some beat-styled rap poetry in the second half of the set. Definitely worth a look for some avant-guarde sounds.

Idea of a Joke
These guys were ass-kickingly good fun and worthy of the penultimate set of the night. Mixing up rock rhythms, tunes and melodies, Idea of a Joke knew how to put on a show to get the crowd bouncing. The lead singer, Atsushi Morikawa, backed his singing with some great gesticulating a la Midnight Oil’s Peter Garret (except with more control). All members knew how to turn a good set into a fun time for all – worth catching again.

All-in-all it was a great night and Igor must declare the experiment a success. The bands were good, the sounds fresh and the people very friendly. If you have a bit of an appetite for hearing some Indy bands you might want to check out BadBee, a resource for general underground/independent acts.

If you’re overdosing on electro-beats and mixed noises are becoming tiresome, then you might be looking for some raw, raging live sounds. This weekend, Urga in Shinjuku, offers metal, more metal and extra metal for those looking to get into something loud!

Igor’s got an inkling to check out Friday’s acts so he can imprint his skull with some fresh vibrations… if only he can get hold of some ear plugs. [UPDATE: Changed my mind - some interesting stuff going on at Goodman/Akihabara]

Seven bands each night plus a DJ from hell. All just 1,500 yen adv/1,800 yen @ door. Not for the mild of heart (don’t say I didn’t warn you), but if you’re a JD kind of dark soul or just love raw adrenalin, you’ll be up for this one 2B sure.

Again, don’t forget the ear plugs.

Urga site: http://www.urga.net/

We got quality dark events going on everywhere this week (except Nagoya, alas). Special hails to Jude from Sins of the Flesh (check the renewed site!) for delivering the latest Osaka/Kobe gig news!

It’s Obon week in Japan, meaning that the spirits of the dead are about, ostensibly to visit relatives but who could pass up the chance to scare the bejeezus out of a few passers-by during the night. It’s also a good week to be a night-stalker with five events to get you in the mood for talking with the dead…

Kobe, Osaka and Tokyo have events this week and they all look to be good quality stuff (technical term). Partying Tokyoites can enjoy a total night at Aoi Heya on Saturday with a double header starting at 7 p.m. and going to 5 a.m. or so. Meanwhile Osakans can enjoy the Midnight Necropolis night from 10 p.m. Jet Pepper Tower comes in from West Japan to hit Tokyo’s Chop on Thursday (good place, great bands). And Kobe scores an evening with local alternative group, Psycho Dream on Tuesday. ’tis a good time to be dead.

Cruising Ikebukuro? Then check JET PEPPER TOWER tonight @ Chop!