Headlining was the debut of the movie Garage Rockin' Craze (all about the wild Tokyo garage and rock n' roll scene) and the 5.6.7.8's, celebrating their 30th Anniversary. Some of the other bands on the bill were King Salami & The Cumberland Three (England), The Howling Jaws (France), Stompin' Riffraffs, Texaco Leatherman, Mellvins, Tokyo Cramps, The Minnesota Voodoo Men and so many more over two nights.
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| The 5.6.7.8's |
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| The 5.6.7.8's |
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| Cecilia, Yoshiko from The 5.6.7.8's & DJ Misty |
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| Yoshiko from The 5.6.7.8's with Cece & DJ Misty |
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Mr. Death!
We also wasted no time checking out lots of other rad night haunts like Club Heavy Sick, Poor Cow (owned by Fifi from the band Teengenerate!), Bamboo House, bars in Golden Gai, JBS and so many more. We ended our trip with one final outing to Studio Himawari where we did karaoke to a backing track as well as to live electric guitar and sax thanks to the husband and wife bar owner duo.
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| Club Heavy Sick with Cece and Mr. De |
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| Fifi & DJ Misty at Poor Cow in Shimokitazawa |
After spending a little over a week in Tokyo, we headed to Osaka to see the bright lights of Dontonbori and meet James, DJ and owner of Night Beat Records
While in Osaka, I was invited to guest DJ along with James and The 69 Donuts at a rad bar/cafe called The Buggy.
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Night Beat Records w/ "staff" Phil Spector
Before heading back to Tokyo (and ultimately home), we went to Hiroshima and Kyoto which was both bustling AND peaceful but entirely magic. Getting to see a real Maiko perform traditional dance, drinking Japanese craft beer at bar F.S.N. (with the nicest owner imaginable) and visiting the thousands of red gates on the mountain at the Fushimi Inari shrine made for some of the most memorable days on the trip.
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Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island
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Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto
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Finally, after a long flight we had a couple of days to spend in Chicago and along with eating deep dish pizza and overlooking the city from the John Hancock Tower, it was very important to visit Chess Records! Located at the famous address 2120 South Michigan Avenue, the studio still remains open as a museum today (it was unfortunately closed when we went!).
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| DJ Misty at Chess Records in Chicago! |
I got back to Toronto a week ago today and have finally kicked the jet lag so that I can party here again proper. I will have heaps of really fun gigs coming up so keep your eyes and ears open!
