Liquid Room, Shinjuku

I’ve been enchanted by the band [Clammbon][1] since I saw a commercial for their newest single while in Japan two summers ago. Today was the first chance I’ve had to see them live, and I’d been looking forward to it for some time. Thing is, the ceiling repair dude kept calling me and saying how he was going to be a bit later than he expected. He did this all day, until it was time to go to the concert, and he hadn’t showed up. I called Tets’s mom and she told me to go ahead to the show. I did, and made it just in time to pay a freaking ridiculous amount of money (plus mandatory drink charge) and catch a few Clammbon songs. They were brilliant, and bassist Mito-san announced that they’ve got a new album coming out in two months! That’s dang good news. This is not a photo of Clammbon, though. I wasn’t sure of the photo policy, and didn’t see anyone taking photos until after Clammbon was done. So this is a photo of the headlining act of the night, Rovo. They’re considered “trance-rock”, and they seemed to me like a young, Japanese, instrumental King Crimson. That’s a very, very good thing. I came right out and bought their CD. I also got myself a Clammbon shirt, which doesn’t say Clammbon on it anywhere. I can’t wait to start explaining it to people who ask. The event was held at Liquid Room, pretty much the premier concert venue in the area. It’s on the 7th floor of this ramshackle building in what’s just about the shadiest area you’ll find anywhere in Japan; you go up this staircase that’s literally saturated with graffiti, and there’s this whole full-fledged venue up there. It’s neat. The event was to celebrate the Liquid Room’s 8th anniversary, so they’ve got all sorts of relatively big time acts going this week. I saw a flyer for some show with DJ Aphex Twin, which is _very_ suspicious. [1]: http://www.clammbon.com