Rock the House

Rock the House

Tokyo's live house music scene is set to go global

By

Bo-Peep at Heaven's Door

Bo-Peep at Heaven's Door

The scene began to expand rapidly in the early ’80s, with the opening of pivotal venues like Huck Finn in Nagoya. These live houses were modeled in large part on New York’s legendary CBGB, the birthplace of the Ramones, Talking Heads and many other bands from the punk and New Wave era. Yet there were—and still are—many differences between Japanese live houses and their counterparts abroad.

“Live houses are something unique to Japan. The way of enjoying music is different” says Hideki, guitarist of Tokyo-based band Howling Guitar before a recent show at Heaven’s Door in Sangenjaya. Hideki and crew have played at live houses around Japan, and have twice appeared at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, giving a new perspective to their experiences at home.

“In other countries, bands play in bars. Some people are there for the music, and some are there because they want to drink and there is no other place to do that at night. If they like the music, they stay. But if they want to see a famous band like Motley Crüe, they go to a big stadium, buy a ticket, see the show, and then go home. So you have to think of a live house as a stadium, where everyone is there for the music. Only a live house is much, much smaller.”

“And because they are much smaller, we have no money,” adds Howling Guitar drummer Akira.

Indeed, playing the live house circuit could hardly be described as a lucrative venture. “The fact that we can never make money is what I would like to see changed,” Hideki says with a sigh. “If we don’t invite a lot of friends and sell a lot of tickets, then we have to pay out of our own pockets.” He’s referring to the widely-disliked noruma system, which requires that each band meet a ticket sales quota or make up the difference in cash. It is not uncommon for a band to put their all into a performance only to find themselves afterwards scraping together upwards of ¥30,000 to pay for the privilege.

“Real estate is expensive in Japan, and this makes live houses expensive,” Akira explains. The fact that bands must pay to play also drives up ticket prices to the region of ¥3,000 per show, much higher than cover charges at comparative venues in other countries.

“I feel bad having my friends pay that much to see us play,” complains Takkan of veteran Tokyo punk band Crispy Nuts. “In other countries, you could probably see Madonna play for that price.”

Live House 101

With hundreds of live houses and thousands of bands in the Tokyo area, it can be difficult to know who to see and where. Here are a few places to start:

  • Juice (www.juicemusic.com), a free monthly magazine listing schedules for live houses across Japan, available at music stores
    and venues
  • Most groups have profiles and post schedules on Myspace.com. Explore the Friends list of the bands you know to find new acts
  • Acts seen performing outside the south exit of Shinjuku station or in Yoyogi Park are often advertising upcoming shows. Be sure to pick up a flyer
  • Metropolis concert listings and the website Tokyo Gig Guide (www.tokyogigguide.com) are also valuable sources of information