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Next Tokyo visit, next week!

October 12, 2012 by

I take off for Tokyo next Friday…and am getting excited!

It has been 11 months since I was last there, unlike when I used to go 2 to 3 times a year. Last November I spent 9 or 10 days there and here’s a little recap of the highlights.

Shopping!

I bought this now favourite jacket of mine, a teal feather jacket from gal brand Sly – seen here with Issey Miyake Pleats Please lurex top and multi cross necklace from Black Peace Now.  I’ll be wearing another Pleats Please top I bought in an upcoming outfit post, but in bright aqua.

Sly Japan, Issey Miyake, pleats please

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Filed Under: Alternative Fashion, Blog entry, Japanese Fashion, Outfit posts, Tokyo nightlife, Travel Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tokyo Clubs & Events August 27th to September 4th

August 12, 2010 by

I always start to plan my nightlife soon after booking my flight, and this is what’s coming up in my next jaunt.

(If you’ve just started reading, I go to Japan twice a year to soak up the culture, check the gothic fashion, sample the food and nightlife, and catch up with old and new friends).

August 27th – Gothic Bar Heaven

Run by D’s Valentine, it’s one of those clubs where there are very few foreigners, so while it can be a little more daunting than, say Midnight Mess or Decadance, it definitely is authentic, by Japanese for Japanese.
Something I’ll miss the fortnight before, but sounds great is the Artism Festa – a 2 day extravaganza bringing together the people and sounds of all the various artism nights – Gothic Bar Heaven, Classic Alamode, Decora Alamode, Tokyo Cyber Monster and Club Theatic. Bands include GPKism, Calmando Qual, Suicide Ali, Velvet Eden, Iruma Rioka and the Cabinets!! (The Cabinets are a punk band with a sweet lolita as their singer)
The latest Alamode magazine no 7 is also out – must grab a copy while I’m there:
Check out GBH and the other clubs, events and publications at artism.jp
August 28th – Grim Rock Stomp
GRIM ROCK STOMP Vol.4 “HOLE”

Featuring the bands: GRAIS, CRACKS, THE PRISONER, and my fave ＋13th MOON＋ (Singer Nao)

DJ’s:
DJ/MIYAKAWA(THE PSYCLOCKS),BAKABILLY,MASUMI(Dr.Martens)
 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLc28hC9-xw]

And at the very end…

4th September all Punk festival – Shibuya Crash
as mentioned in this post.

4th September – Tokyo Dark Castle

And then on the Sunday I’ll be packing and heading back to Oz. In between these though, be sure I’ll be shopping (and checking out the latest trends), hitting some hotspots, interviewing some designers and bands and generally finding out what’s happening in the Tokyo alternative scene right now. As I always say, stay tuned!
What places would you go, if you visited Tokyo in the next few weeks? What would you like to see me cover in the blog?
Filed Under: Clubs, Music, Tokyo nightlife Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

After Tokyo Dark Castle

July 13, 2010 by

Another post from March 09 – after pulling an all-nighter at Tokyo Dark Castle, I stumble into the light and interview people…

Bear in mind we’ve been drinking for 6 or 7 hours, and it’s 6am. So we’re drunk and silly 🙂 I’m with Utarou and Miki from Baal, Nao – singer from deathrock band 13th Moon, Sisen, assorted TDC regulars and Chihiro in the background.

Miki has a touching message at the end for Dom, Karl & Amelia, saying “we need you back in Japan”. Aww…


After Tokyo Dark Castle
http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=55586512,t=1,mt=video
trashtastika | MySpace Video

If that doesn’t work on your pc, here’s the link:
Chatting with Nao & Sisen after Tokyo Dark Castle

And here’s the link to the Harajuku one, where we walk down Takeshita Street and meet Sisen at Takuya Angel.

Harajuku
http://mediaservices.myspace.com/services/media/embed.aspx/m=55592113,t=1,mt=video
trashtastika | MySpace Video

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Club Walpurgis – dark alternative Gothic night in Tokyo. Sisen, 13th Moon, Bella Lune.

March 25, 2010 by

Last Saturday night was Club Walpurgis, at Aoiheya in Shibuya.

It definitely had the character of a goth club back home – but it was much smaller. The music was authentically goth and deathrock (with a few exceptions with regards to other 80’s music), and while the decor was dark, the atmosphere was great. The main thing other than the music was the chance to catch up with the “Usual Suspects”.   

Such as Sisen (I don’t do V fingers for just anyone, you know).
Sisen is off back to the US in Aprl, then to Russia in May with the Tokyo Decadance crew – busy boy!
And the gorgeous Akie. Perhaps I’m wondering where I put my drink…
My lovely friend Naohira (yes, of 13th Moon)
And Michael, here with Akie and Sisen (yep, that’s an Angelspit shirt)
And I met new friends such as Setsura – she organises and performs at events such as the upcoming Komm Zu Mir, on April 17 – a Gothic/Fetish/Theatrical night with Buto.

There were also some members of US group Bella Lune, Fuchsia and Hurley, who were really nice, and who are playing at Midnight Mess this Saturday night.

I met quite a few new great people, but left my camera in the bag as the beers started flowing so have no new photos to regale you with this time. But the various peeps will be at Midnight Mess this Saturday night, I’m sure, as will my camera…

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More upcoming Tokyo punk & goth gigs. My great big Tokyo itinerary – clubs and bands galore.

February 10, 2010 by

So I’m off to Tokyo again in a month – woohoo!

Last year I went for 3 weeks and had the BEST time (see my post on the Wild Rover punk festival here and Tokyo clubs here).   But onto this upcoming trip.  As usual music and clubs form the skeleton of my itinerary, with fashion, friends and sightseeing all fleshing it out, as it were. This time it’s just over 2 weeks, from ~12th to 28th March.

 So this is how my dancecard is looking (actually it looks like a lot of club posters).

13/3  King of Evil 13 gig (and possibly Decadance?)

Starring:
 Baal (I’ll be doing a post shortly on this band, who are great people to boot), Auto-Mod – of Tokyo Dark Castle fame, P.I.M.P and Destruct System, as well as DJ’s Raveman (from Aural Vampire, also here), and nAo12xu (from 13th Moon –  on whom I did a post earlier)

Unfortunately I won’t be there for March 6th, but for those who are, remember the next Tokyo Dark Castle:

14/3 Theatic Alamode Sunday 4.30 – 10pm

With the usual  array of bands, performers, dancers, DJ’s, it is also the Alamode Magazine Vol.06 Release Party.

So I’ll be picking up the new Alamode Magazine. The previous one looks like this (with friends GPKism on the cover):

20/3 Club Walpurgis

This isn’t a Visual Kei type gothic club in the way the others are, but is definitely one that plays alternative music, probably much closer to what I hear in clubs at home. It began in Shinjuku in 1983! So it’s pretty bleeding authentic.

Every Saturday was UK Alternative Positive Punk Nite.
Every Sunday was UK Alternative Hyper Kitsch Nite.
Every Wednesday was Psychedelic Nite.

 

The resident DJ’s and what they play: 
  • Zinny Aerodinamica (GOTHIC/UK/US/GERMAN PUNK, THROBBIING ELECTRO, DARK FRENCH WAVE, BATCAVE & More/a.k.a.ZIN：Vocalist of ZEUS MACHINA, ROMEO MIRROR, Madame Edwarda)
    (Mixture of Gothic & 80’s Dark Pop & Underground Negative/Positive Punk, GLAM)
  • Sato M. (WAVE, POSTPUNK & More/Ex: UK Edison, Paranoia Night)
  • Naoto (BATCAVE, DEATHROCK, INDUSTRIAL, GLAM & More)
  • TAIZO (GOTHIC/GOTH, COLDWAVE, FOLKLORE & More)
  • NARIKI (POST PUNK, 80’s Goth ) Ex: Phaidia, Coma, Mephisto Walz: a Christian Death side project

This will be a first for me, and I can’t wait!

22/3  Wild Rover – Monday from 3pm

Paddy Punk, here I come! See my earlier post on the Wild Rover festival.

26/3  Gothic Bar Heaven – Friday night midnight til 5am.

I don’t think I’ve been to this club before either, but it’s run by D’s Valentine, who also runs Alamode.

27/3 Midnight Mess – Saturday night midnight til 5am.

Maya and the MM crew are fantastic, and I know I’ll have a fab time.

On top of that, Japan Fashion Week is 22-28 (not that I can attend – could I crash something?), and Hanami should happen around then as well.

The last Sunday I was there last year saw a HUGE number of Hanami parties/picnics happening all over, and especially in Yoyogi Park.  Sisen invited me to the Decadance Hanami party last year, but when I arrived I was too late, and he and Takuya were going back to the shop, and Adrien was filming his big dolls for the next event. Next time, gadget!

I’ll fly out Sunday night the 28th, very tired from all the clubbing, probably hungover, and definitely with too many clothes and boots stuffed in my bag!

Do you know of anything on in that time that I should get myself to? Anything you’d particularly like to see pictures of ? Let me know, and I’ll pencil it in 🙂

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