Nariki,
via email: can
you come out Friday night? A friend's band is playing.
Me:
Where do I meet you and when!
So
we meet up at Yodobashi Camera, a big bright store near the east exit
os Shinjuku Eki. I've already picked up L'arc's Ark, La Feerie's
La Berceuse, and, in apologia for yesterday's malicious anti-Japanese
rant, Madeth Gray'll's Lucifer, brand new -- my first such
purchase in, like, a decade.
Already
waiting with Nariki is Yuuji, which is a cool surprise -- and he cut
his hair! -- and Sato-san, a bespectacled forty-ish dude. Turns out
he managed Edison (the influential punk store which gave rise to Like
an Edison) some years back. A few minutes later, Jeff, seven years
in Japan, joins us, and we're on our way to Urga.
Urga
is located in the heart of Kabuki-cho. Kabuki-cho is Tokyo Sex Central,
with plenty of "Gentleman's Clubs". Lots of chicks in tight
clothes, lots of signs featuring chicks in no clothes at all, or in
various uniforms. Very distracting stuff.
I
had one brief encounter with a hostess outside her club (we just accidentally
made eye contact while i was walking past, and she said something
in Japanese, I don't know what but it was really cute and really humble,
and hence really wonderful sounding, and my jaw dropped and eyeballs
popped out like in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. I managed to sputter out
a Scooby-Doo-ish "Errh?!" before crashing into a group of
salarymen. Rico ...suave!) Other than that, I didn't delay
the group too badly, and we make it to Urga halfway through the first
band's set. Only Y600 to get in -- not the Y2500 I was expecting.
AND that includes a drink. Mo' diggity!
The
first two bands are horrible (one was named "Harpy Gets the Surprise"
for christ's sake), and I grow concerned, thinking maybe I should
have headed out with Cameron to see Ash and Kaggra and Despair's Ray
at AREA. But the third band, S.O.L., is very good. Tight, good songs,
cute headbanging girl bassist with loooong blonde hair, cool Bowie-esque
lead singer with that heroin-chic look (a la Sugizo). They're quickly
followed by the headliner, Zeus Machina, with Zin on vocals. He's
a chick! I mean, a guy! But seeing him on stage you wouldn't have
been so sure. The songs were heavyish and focused, with some computery
stuff in the background, and I dug it. (Witchcraft was their
coolest number.)
After
the last band, most of the place clears out, and we stay for the
after-show party. Y2000! But it turns out to be worth it; free munchies,
bottle after bottle after bottle of Sapporo, and some of the musicians
were friendly enough to talk too (moreso as the night and the beer
wore on) Had one cool discussion with Zeus Machina's bassist (or
was he the drummer in S.O.L?! -- I was a few sheets to the wind
by then) about how L'Arc and X Japan's music is rock, but the lyrics
are very traditional Japanese; so much so that he didn't think of
them as rock bands. I guess he filed them closer to enka or something.
Entrusting point of view, I suppose... I had never thought about
the lyrics from that perspective very much, but they do tend to
be more on the poetic side. I just always thought of them as plain
good -- most rock bands have such shitty lyrics they make me regret
having ears.
Another
interesting thing: a
lot of people, band members and audience members alike, were excited
to hear that there had been a "copy band" in New York (Lo/Rez)
doing L'arc, Luna Sea, etc. That was kinda gratifying and cool; forging
new boundaries and all that, I guess.
And
it turns out Jeff is starting a record company with a few friends.
He's an audio engineer by trade, but came to Japan seven years ago
teaching English like every other white guy here. We talked a lot
about marketing Japanese bands in the U.S., and about websites, and
about how hard it is to find a vending machine in the this damn city
(harhar).
One
last tidbit: this club, like Narciss, had a really nice clean floor
-- I guess because most people sit down on the floor between acts.
Around
3, the place started to empty. Last trains are at 12:30 or so, so
I don't where everyone thought they were going, but they went, and
so did we:
Yuuji
(to bartender kid): Are there any manga-kissa around?
Bartender:
This is Kabuki-cho! (Of course there are, where else could all the
drunks go before the 5am trains start rolling!?!)
Saying
goodbye to everyone, me and Yuuji strolled a bit, hampered by my excited
pointing to all the hostess club signs, which resulted in each establishment's
hawkers descending on us:
Hawkers:
"Nice Japanese girls inside! 20% off!"
Me:
"Oh? Coooooool!" <thumbs up sign>
Yuuji:
"Ah! No no no! No thank you!"
The
area was surprisingly crowded for Tokyo at 3am, mostly with drunken
bodies lying everywhere, several nearly naked. And there were miniskirted
women, and costumed women, and costumed guys (bleah!) and the whole
vibe was like a mini Mardi Gras slowly winding down.
We
made it to a manga-kissa (also very crowded) by 4 or so, checked email,
surfed a bit, and left at 5pm, bright sunlight hitting our eyes (the
sun is up well before 5am here, at least during the summer).
Caught
a local train home, a nice easy ride -- on the TRAIN OF THE DEAD!
(see below)
Admired
my new CDs along the way and polished off another chapter of Leonard
Scott's The Hill (purchased for $1 at Book Off). Not a terrible
book, I guess, but he's no Le Carre! Thanks to a Pocari Sweat I was
sucking on, I was pretty well sobered by the time I got home, which
was good, since Kayo's parents were up already (it was 6am)! And I
promptly sat down and typed this!
7:13am,
time for bed!
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