Ska Show in Shibuya
Wednesday night, I had the privilege of attending a Less Than Jake (aka: LTJ) show in Tokyo's Shibuya area. I've been following LTJ for about 12 years now, which reminds me that I'm getting old. Anyway, I found out that they were coming to Tokyo about 3 months ago and worked out a deal with the greatest wife in the world so that I could head up there... I went solo since unfortunately we didn't have a sitter on hand for Josh - and Nicki's not a huge fan of the band anyway.
I took two hours off from work at the end of the day so I could head home early and get ready for the show. I threw on a pair of jeans and my old Avail shirt to support my hometown music scene, then headed up to Shibuya. My destination was a club called Shibuya-O, so with my internet-printed map in hand, I made my way to the train station... destination Tokyo. The doors to the show didn't open until 6PM, and after I had gotten a quick bite to eat near Shibuya Station, I started walking towards Shibuya-O with about 45 minutes to find the place. I'm glad that I got to Shibuya early. I started walking for probably about a mile and a half, then reached a place that was no longer very reminiscent of a "bar/club/entertainment area". So I turned around and headed back towards the station. Along the way, I found a koban (neighborhood police station) and asked the attending cop, "Shibuya-O wa doko desuka?". His reply: "Go up here, take a left." Perfect English. Sure enough, the koban was right on the exact corner that I needed to turn left to find the club. I was there a few minutes later, downed a Red Bull from the AM/PM across the street, and headed towards the doors of the club.
Within the blink of an eye, I had paid my 500 yen drink ticket charge, grabbed a cold beer, and sat down in a comfortable spot to people-watch until the show started. Suddenly, I heard someone behind me say, "Cool shirt, man", referring to my aforementioned Avail t-shirt. I started talking to the dude and found out that he and his wife were from San Diego and they had met at San Diego State - small world, since Nicki and I were most recently from San Diego and I attended SDSU for grad school.
As it turns out, a Japanese ska punk band was opening the show. So promptly at 7PM, I got my first taste of a band called Kemuri (link is in Japanese). I gotta tell you, I was seriously impressed with these guys. They're a seven piece act that includes guitar, bass, drums, lead singer, and a horns section - they all hail from Japan, but their songs are mostly done in English. They played very tight live, so well that I bought one of their CDs, called "77 days". The guy that I met before the show bought a different CD and we agreed to burn copies for each other and exchange them soon. Which reminds me... I still have to do that. In the meantime, I can't stop listening to my Kemuri CD, it's that good.
A couple of beers into the show, the Kemuri set was over and Less Than Jake came onstage. As always (this was about my 5th or 6th time seeing them live), LTJ played a great show and were full of energy throughout. As was the crowd, which was predominantly Japanese and still singing and dancing along in perfect rhythm. I'm pretty impressed that a relatively small named band has made such a hit with their Japanese fanbase. Good for them.
After the show, I went upstairs to the nearest rest room to drain some excess baggage before my long train ride home. When I started heading back downstairs, I noticed one of the lead singers of LTJ, Roger, standing there signing autographs for a room full of adoring fans. But the masses started to part (fortunately) as I walked towards him. So I told him that I didn't have anything for him to sign, but I wanted to thank him and the band for coming out because it's rare to see cool Amerika-jin bands over here for a reasonable price. Silly me, I forgot to mention that I had been following them for over a decade...
But he probably wouldn't have wanted to be reminded of his age, either.
I took two hours off from work at the end of the day so I could head home early and get ready for the show. I threw on a pair of jeans and my old Avail shirt to support my hometown music scene, then headed up to Shibuya. My destination was a club called Shibuya-O, so with my internet-printed map in hand, I made my way to the train station... destination Tokyo. The doors to the show didn't open until 6PM, and after I had gotten a quick bite to eat near Shibuya Station, I started walking towards Shibuya-O with about 45 minutes to find the place. I'm glad that I got to Shibuya early. I started walking for probably about a mile and a half, then reached a place that was no longer very reminiscent of a "bar/club/entertainment area". So I turned around and headed back towards the station. Along the way, I found a koban (neighborhood police station) and asked the attending cop, "Shibuya-O wa doko desuka?". His reply: "Go up here, take a left." Perfect English. Sure enough, the koban was right on the exact corner that I needed to turn left to find the club. I was there a few minutes later, downed a Red Bull from the AM/PM across the street, and headed towards the doors of the club.
Within the blink of an eye, I had paid my 500 yen drink ticket charge, grabbed a cold beer, and sat down in a comfortable spot to people-watch until the show started. Suddenly, I heard someone behind me say, "Cool shirt, man", referring to my aforementioned Avail t-shirt. I started talking to the dude and found out that he and his wife were from San Diego and they had met at San Diego State - small world, since Nicki and I were most recently from San Diego and I attended SDSU for grad school.
As it turns out, a Japanese ska punk band was opening the show. So promptly at 7PM, I got my first taste of a band called Kemuri (link is in Japanese). I gotta tell you, I was seriously impressed with these guys. They're a seven piece act that includes guitar, bass, drums, lead singer, and a horns section - they all hail from Japan, but their songs are mostly done in English. They played very tight live, so well that I bought one of their CDs, called "77 days". The guy that I met before the show bought a different CD and we agreed to burn copies for each other and exchange them soon. Which reminds me... I still have to do that. In the meantime, I can't stop listening to my Kemuri CD, it's that good.
A couple of beers into the show, the Kemuri set was over and Less Than Jake came onstage. As always (this was about my 5th or 6th time seeing them live), LTJ played a great show and were full of energy throughout. As was the crowd, which was predominantly Japanese and still singing and dancing along in perfect rhythm. I'm pretty impressed that a relatively small named band has made such a hit with their Japanese fanbase. Good for them.
After the show, I went upstairs to the nearest rest room to drain some excess baggage before my long train ride home. When I started heading back downstairs, I noticed one of the lead singers of LTJ, Roger, standing there signing autographs for a room full of adoring fans. But the masses started to part (fortunately) as I walked towards him. So I told him that I didn't have anything for him to sign, but I wanted to thank him and the band for coming out because it's rare to see cool Amerika-jin bands over here for a reasonable price. Silly me, I forgot to mention that I had been following them for over a decade...
But he probably wouldn't have wanted to be reminded of his age, either.
posted by Unknown | 7:35 PM
4 Comments:
Nicki, you are definitely the BEST wife in the world -- Hubby needed to have a Shibuya adventure! Mike, great post; I really felt like I was diving into the downtown clubs on that one!
I had never heard of LTJ but you inspired me to do a You Tube download...they have tons of videos on there and they're awesome! A new fan is born...
Rey, glad that you like LTJ. It sounds so cliche to say this, but I really like their older stuff more than their newer stuff. I haven't listened to their brand new album in full yet, but the samples that I heard on their website just weren't all that impressive to me. But they rock live... regardless of what they play.
Mike, I'd be mad at your for coming into town without telling me, but I was so sick that day I couldn't have crawled out of bed, never mind made it to Shibuya.
My buddies are bugging me about when I'm heading to the PX. I guess we need to make that happen soon before I get beat up.
I have to admit I am jealous. Sounds like a great time.
As much as I love family time, I think it is important that each parent gets some alone time with no spouse and no children...a way to recharge their own batteries. Alan and I try to do that for each other...granted when ever we get back from our alone time, we always say to the other "I wish you had been there...you would have loved it. LOL"
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