I heard there was an event at a club & lounge in Ginza called Sabaku no Bara (“Desert Rose”), so I went along. LAVA, a DJ who plays Latin-tempo music I really like, was on the lineup, so I was really looking forward to it.
This is a local DJ.
Not bad at all. But since the headliner hadn’t come on yet, it was mostly pretty ordinary stuff.
At last, the great LAVA himself takes the decks.
Or maybe I should call him an ojisan ^_^
His performance is cool, too.
Looks like a lot of fans showed up. People were going crazy taking commemorative photos. Hearing music live that I’d only ever heard on CD is a whole different kind of thrill. Good music really is best heard like this.
Midway through, a sax player comes out.
…but he doesn’t get to do much and heads back off. The sound system wasn’t really good enough for live playing.
I’d originally planned to catch the last train home if the music was boring, but once I heard LAVA’s set that thought vanished completely. Plus, before midnight there were a lot of middle-aged folks around, but after 12 the ones who were leaving left and the crowd turned over all by itself. Even a few model-ish girls showed up. From here on it’s party-people time, and things get wild. I’m very much in favour of this kind of vibe. No need to think twice: go, go, go till morning! The night in Ginza is only just beginning~
The third act is MITOMI TOKOTO.
At a glance he looks Western, but apparently he’s Japanese. He’s not as skilled as LAVA, but honestly this is what’s trendy right now. House is a popular genre in Japan, after all. The more I listened, the more great tracks I heard. So I bought his mix CD later too, but it falls way short of the live set, sadly.
This is roughly what the atmosphere was like.
It seems they keep the entrance fee cheap and make their money by pricing drinks high. The cheapest one was 900 yen… The atmosphere was nice, so there seemed to be some guys and girls trying to pick each other up, but I just came to listen to music and have fun, so I had my one free drink and stayed right in front of the DJ booth the whole time.
Reception
Neat, isn’t it? There was a dress code… hmm… I just ignored it for now. Next time I should dress properly before I go…