So after doing some extra work I left around 9:30 and grabbed a nice dinner. Oh...just so there is no confusion, I was by myself the whole night. I had one friend that was interested in going, but he bailed at the last minute. It will become clear later why this was no big loss.
In order to kill some more time I decided to walk for a while towards Ebisu. It was fun to see some interesting things. Like the guy above. It looked like he was trying to stop people from stepping on him.
His frown worked on me. I stepped over him as I bought myself a refreshing drink from the vending machine he was guarding. Everyone has a job to do, who am I to knock his. I hope someone puts him up-right again soon. I am not his frown will dissuade everyone. Near HamamatsuchÅ station I ran into something else that was worth taking a picture of.
In all my years here in Tokyo, I have yet to visit Tokyo Tower. I mean, I usually avoid touristy places...but no one can avoid them all the time. I wonder when I will finally have to get up close and personal with this icon. I like this photo for the repeated image of the tower in the sign. Almost artistic wouldn't you say??
So my even after all my lollygagging I was still early. Why can't I ever learn cool people are always late? I am always the loser that is waiting for the doors to open, like I have nothing better to do with my time. Little did they know that I had had to seriously KILL about 3 hours. Maybe that's why people have friends, to help kill time. I will have to look into that.
I was a bit worried about a line and even availability of tickets. But one look at the photo above and you can see I worried needlessly. That was around 11:25pm. I saw both headliningDj's being dropped off. I gave both a head-nod. That's about as friendly as I get.
As you can see it was Drum & Bass x Dubstep Warz. I am so over badly spelled words, but that is another story. I loved the organization of the event. I hate having to guess who is playing and when the next Dj is up. Problem solved. I checked this picture on my camera many times through the course of the night.
As I sometimes do, I took some live notes while I was there. And this time I have pictures to add to the fun. Sadly, usually my notes are snarky and fun, but this time I having too good a time to take notes about the few things that rubbed me the wrong way. So, without further ado, let's get into it.
11:40 - In early as always. As I type this I am leaning against the wall..and every time there is a low bass my vision gets blurry. I likey. And I have only been here for 10 mins. A nice welcome.
11:45 - One brave soul is bouncing around slightly to the ever increasing beat of the dub. The other 10 people stand & stare. (I was sitting on the side in this little alcove. The first Dj was Rilla, just in case that means something to anyone.)
11:48 - Recognize my 1st track. Damn...it sounds a lot better on a big system. Crying sirens mixed with a climbing growler. Really nice mix. (A confession; it was my first time to heard dubstep on a proper system. I have been in my headphones for way to long, but it was my first time out.)
11:57 - Getting ragga in here. Maybe 50 people on the floor. Lots of non-Japanese. (It must have been almost 50% non-Japanese. I was a little surprised, but not overly so. Lot's offoreigners living in Tokyo.)
12:08 - I'm up and bouncing to the beat. It's too go to be ignored. First "club kid" sighting. All loud greeting and shouting and hugging and shooting the sky. (This is not the early 90's NYC club kid...not this is just a kid who spends a lot of time at clubs and has club friends. It may sound like sour grapes, but I assure you it's not. I have no need to make a spectacle of myself. I strive to be unspectacular.)
12:12 - New DJ...still dubstep. Nice deep rolling stuff...but not the kind that puts you to sleep. It's the move your ass kind of stuff. People on the floor. Don't like the all bent over forward dancing. Not a fan. (This seems as good a time as any to say this, people come to clubs for many reasons; to dance, to meet new/old friends, to find a sex partner, to drink, to do drugs, by mistake, etc. I come for one reason, to listen to music. So it is no big loss to go alone. It might even be a blessing. I was able to come and go as I pleased.)
12:24 - Breaking News: The ante has been upped...we are now going faster & more electro. And even as I type this in my phone, we are getting ragga again. Who knew the Japanese were such fans of the Jamaican flavor?
12:29 - Holy f*ck that was a sick beat. Damn here it comes again hyper-kinetic beat extraordinaire. (At this point I was making my way from the side-back area to the front. As in my old rave and club days, I need to be directly in front of the speakers when the it's time for the proper business. Once I went up there I didn't change again until I left.)
12:59 - Really good music. I had to take a break and enjoy it...be in the moment. Who knows when this will happen again. On a bathroom trip I took a peak at the other room. ...weak sounding jungle, not a good scene. (It was then I realized the whole D&B versus dupstep thing, they were being played simultaneously and I was in the dubstep room. Ahhh...the mental arithmetic it took to figure that one out!!!)
1:04 - Benga has taken the stage. But then left again. And know he is back and we all give some love to Dj Goth-Trad. I think I will write more later. I am at the front and the bass is try to vibrate my fillings loose.
1:07 - My bag is off. It's serious now.
1:23 - A warbler like I have never known. Holy damn. (The air coming off the woofers was like waves washing over me. I am sure it was doing my ears no favors...but I can never step back from the bass. I need my chest rumbled every so often.
1:51 - A monster track. Both arms in the air.(Briefly)
2:15 - Grime in the house. Things got close to being boring there for a minute...now we are back in business.
And then it got too good to even think about writing anything. For that 30 minutes it was just one amazing track after another. It was sick. And then before 3am it was NU:Tone's turn on the decks.
He got some fresh lighting and I was ready to enjoy some drum & bass after an evening of dubstep. But, I was not feeling it at all. It was ok. But not good enough to keep me there. It was time for me to call it a night. So I did. After a long taxi ride home and wonderful shower I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow at 4am.
Here are 2 clips I found of the night. Strangely they are of the same moment out of a 2 hour set. I guess because it is when Benga dropped his most famous track "Night".
First from the chaos of the floor.
And then from the stage.
Because I can never be fully satisfied and I always need to complain about something. I have this complaint: no one played my current favorite track. Which granted, is a bit old...it is so good I thought some one my play it. Oh well. Here it is for you to enjoy.
 | True Tiger - Bare Face What |  |
 | ||
 | Found at bee mp3 search engine |  |
To see all the pictures I took that night click HERE. Eagle-eyed viewers will see me in one pic. Happy hunting.
Later
