Jangly j-pop double header of the week - advantage Lucy

Last year I went to Tokyo with my lady, and we wanted to see some small local gigs to try and get some local flavour. After scouring the thoroughly useful Tokyo Gig Guide website, we found a small gig with 4 bands we'd never heard of playing on a night we had nothing else to do.

Buying gig tickets in Japan is weird. We got ours by finding a Lawson combini (convenience store) in Asakusa near where we were staying, then using instructions printed out from the internet, we used their bizarre interactive machine. Entering the correct code brings up the bands name, then you have to select the venue and date you want, then enter in your details and phone number etc. THAT bit we blagged :D This then prints out a voucher which you then take to the counter, where the nice lady (or man presumably, but it was a lady in this instance) scans the voucher and prints out your tickets. VERY strange, but ever so Japanese, and it was a mini adventure just doing that!

Off we popped off to the gig, half an hour outside Shinjuku station in the suburbs of Tokyo , and after a really cool wander through some twisty little streets packed with arcades, Mister Donut emporiums and various eateries, we found the venue. We almost missed it though, due to a street festival taking place right in front of where we needed to go! What a day to forget the camera.

Anyway, I digress. The first band were terrible, an American guy and a bunch of Japanese kids playing really wanky sub C86 crap. Second lot on were an acoustic trio, with percussion performed by a woman sitting on a box and hitting it, occasionally adding in some chimes. They LOVE chimes it would seem - we kept seeing them after that. They weren't bad, although the English lyrics made me laugh "I love my job, although my job is hard" ^_^

Next up came advantage Lucy, and things took a dramatic turn for the better. A four piece, who it turns out have been going since the mid 90s, they were totally my kinda thing. Jingly, jangly, shimmery soft indie pop, with plenty of 60's overtones and cool guitars all round. Me likey.

I've not yet been able to track down an album, although I think there's some on ebay so i might just have to stump up the cash, but here's a video with two songs on it, both of which are lovely. So enjoy, or else.

Oh yeah, the last band on were fucking shit. Worst female singer EVER. Someone clearly had no ears when they decided they could release an album and headline the gig. Mad, mad fools.

Still, never mind, the evening ended fantastically with another wander through a delightful Tokyo suburb, in blissfully cool drizzle, and a stop off at Mister Donut for some honey and Strawberry Glaze, and a few Custard mucky ones for Jodi. Yay!