When the venue makes the band -- Stellar Ballroom vs. Liquid Room

by liza

I kicked off 2010 by seeing two fierce, female-fronted bands I've wanted to see for a long time: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, on Jan. 16 at the Shinagawa Stellar Ballroom, and Gossip, at Liquid Room in Ebisu on Feb. 8.

I was really stoked to see both shows but man, the venues made for two totally different experiences, even though the two bands really have a lot in common. Karen O and Beth Ditto are lauded for their fashion sense and are both really refreshing and raw in the pop landscape of generic cookie-cutter types. Both bands' guitarists are great too, really cutting and unhinged.

The Stellar Ballroom seemed like a special place to see a band like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It has a standing capacity of about 1,800, which isn't too bad. But outside they were letting people in by ticket number, and moving very slowly at that. Crowds of people were still waiting to get in at the show start of 7:00pm, and it was freezing outside too!

The main floor was very flat, and it seemed like the stage was quite low, making it difficult for anyone stuck behind a tall person or not in the very front to see. Here's about my best view of it.

More gripes: only 2 lines open for booze or drinks (really long ones too!), no opener. I mean it was good seeing them and all -- they played a few tunes off their debut EP which I was happy to hear. But honestly? I kind of wish I had saved my money.

Gossip, however, were a different story! Liquid Room is about 900 capacity, and I think maybe my favorite venue in Tokyo. No opening act here either but WOW! Were they great! Beth Ditto sounds amazing live. I really think Rick Rubin overproduced their last album and really lost a lot of Ditto's vocal range. She sounded a lot more soulful at the gig, with growls and whispers and squeals. It seemed like members of Tokyo's gay community of all ages turned out for the show and it was a really nice crowd. She even came out into the audience after the show and took pictures with people.

Unfortunately I didn't get an iPhone cam shot of my view, but I found a real photo on the promoter Smash's magazine site. It's pretty much just as I saw it, from sort of midway/toward the back of the venue -- pretty great, huh?

I left that show feeling happy and hot and tipsy -- what a difference a venue makes!

LITE, Boris, Cro-Magnon, nenem @ LiquidRoom, June 12th

by colin


After a rather lengthy walk around the lovely Ebisu gardens and Yebisu beer museum I made my way to the LAUNCHPAD event at the Liquid Room. The Liquid Room is a popular live house in Tokyo and considered to be one of the city’s best. Tonight’s LAUNCHPAD bill included a healthy dose of some of Japans finest trend setters - Nenem, Cro-Magnon and LITE, with Boris headlining the night.

As usual, the gig started on time with the first band of the night walking onto the stage to zero applause or acknowledgement. It was early and sunny outside, so they probably had expected a small crowd.

Nenem are a 5 piece that make some incredibly well crafted songs with bizarre noise samples and guitar rhythms that would grab anyone’s attention. People seemed immediately engaged in their set with songs blending into one another and lots of surprises thrown in randomly for good measure. A really great sound to the whole set I thought. An incredibly skillful guitarist armed with an large selection of effects lead the band and seemed to orchestrate the other members with his nodding head. The performance and sound were both absolutely flawless. The keyboardist positioned himself centre-stage and rightly so; superb talent like his just can't be ignored.

Next up was the brilliantly trendy Cro-Magnon. A Tortoise meets New Order type mash-up which the smallish crowd completely lapped up. The trio appeared quite confident throwing ominous stares out to the crowd. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand and moulded us into their dancing puppets with ease. The addition of a cowbell, drum pads, some pitch shifting tools and a guy busy tweaking knobs on his Korgs really made this more memorable than your average gig. Really enjoyed this even if it leaned a little on the eighties side.

It was time for LITE and I was genuinely pumped for it. I knew LITE quite well and I like their stuff a lot. They were one of few Japanese bands I was quite crazy about before I left for Japan, so I was very excited seeing them play on their native soil. I caught them on their last Irish tour in Dublin’s intimate Whelans venue where they played to about 80 people, mostly people who went by themselves and had nothing better to do on a Monday night, and the average age was 25. Tonight was much different. They were playing on their home turf to the most diverse crowd I had ever seen at a gig. Some people were as young at 18 and I saw some borderline granddads floating around too. Marshall stacks and an impressive drum kit were wheeled onto the stage, which was quite the contrast to the ram-shackled setup they had when I saw them in Dublin where they had presumably rented the gear or borrowed it. Even with that gear they performed one of my favourite Whelans gigs to date. Again, taking to the stage to not even the slightest clap or a "woo!!," LITE broke into a killer rendition of "Ef". Probably my favourite LITE song and they were in top form. The crowd started to roar and it was obvious that most people were here to see them, including a spattering of foreigners. LITE have travelled the world quite a bit now and I am not surprised they have foreigners coming back for seconds. What I like about LITE is that they are not about costumes, gimmicks, fake moustaches, fancy back drops or dry ice. They are the real deal. A scarily talented bunch of guys who play complicated guitar compositions with ease and I'm pretty sure every guitarist that was present tonight felt a little inadequate after LITE's set. I certainly did. The small banter with the crowd was completely not understood by me but they sounded incredibly grateful to be playing the gig and to be acknowledged in a scene that is saturated with rock music. The crowd applauded politely and the crowd pleaser "Human Gift" got a well-deserved airing, transforming the crowd into a flailing limb frenzy. A brilliant band and I cannot wait to see them play with Adebisi Shank on the 15th July in Super Deluxe. The set was over after about 7 songs and I contemplated giving Boris a miss as I was on a high. But I stuck around and I really regret it.

Quite the contrast to LITE's incredibly accomplished and engaging set, Boris performed very loud (I have heard nothing like this since My Bloody Valentine at last years Electric Picnic; I was genuinely scared) drone, psychedelic, stoner rock. They have the long hair, double neck guitars, a sweaty bare-chested drummer, reverby vocals and an overused dry ice machine to go with it all. Their equipment set up was beyond ridiculous and it was just not needed for a 900 capacity venue that was only half-full (many left after LITE's set). It's acceptable to see this at a stadium but not in a venue this small. Enormous Orange PAs dominated the back of the stage towering over the band. The drummer sat on a podium with a huge gong glimmering behind him. I was waiting for heads to spontaneously explode around me during some of their over-the-top self indulgent "wall of sound" efforts. The skill is certainly there. I have no doubt about that but for me Boris's set is 100% style over substance unfortunately.

More photos of LITE:

J Mascis, Liquid Room

by dan

My first Dinosaur Jr experience was the Reading festival in 1991. I remember a sunny afternoon laying on my back in a field, listening to J send those ragged glory solos up to the skies. After that, I picked up a few of the records, but never saw him live again until now. This isn't a gig as such, but a piece of promo for the soon come new Dinosaur Jr album. So first off, we stand around for an hour listening to a playback of the record. The playback environment is always a bit strange. There's a crowd of people standing looking an empty stage, listening to a set of songs they probably haven't heard before, and clapping and cheering at the end of each one. Who are they applauding? That stage is still empty. I still get confused when people clap and whistle at the end of a movie, so this is double freaky to me. Weirdness aside, the record sounds pretty good. If you never got on with Dinosaur, this isn't going to win you over, but if, like me, you always had a soft spot for them, you'll be happy.

The J Mascis who comes on stage at the Liquid Room looks a lot different from my festival memories. The hair is still long and straight, but all over grey now. He's a bit podgier in the face, and wearing the kind of owlish glasses last seen on Jonathan King, as well as an Adidas tracksuit jacket over a Discharge t-shirt. Not a combo likely to be repeated on your average high street anytime soon. But he can still play guitar. I was a bit dubious that this was billed as an acoustic show, because, well, you know, what's the point of Dinosaur Jr unplugged?

Maybe J had the same worries. I can't see his feet, but he must have an army of effects pedals down there. There's loops, echos, delays, and massive, massive distortion, all coming from this middle aged man sat on a plastic chair with a wooden guitar. He doesn't speak much to the audience (did he ever?), but just rifles through his catalogue, playing the likes of "Thumb", "The Wagon", and "Freak Scene", with a ferocity and volume that give the lie to the visual impression of some old hippy campfire session. It's great.