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?
I feel like I'm missing out! I wish to go there! D:
Wow you are a lucky duck! Do you speak any Japanese? I use to be such a Japaniphile; we could talk for hours about Japan!!
Say hi to Ken (GPKism) for me! He use to be a very close friend of mine before he became big in Japan! I'm hoping I can get a Tokyo stopover on my next trip home to Atlanta in January.
Christine
RDM – it really is a magical place. Do save up sometime and make at least one visit there – you won't be disappointed!!
Chritine – I do know Ken and he's such a sweetie, isn't he? I speak very little Japanese, as the courses always start early in the year when I'm over there! I've done some self teaching with DVD and a book, but do need to do a course one day.
Yep, we could talk for hours, I'm sure, and that would be amazing if you could get a stopover there next year 🙂