OSAKA VISUAL KEI BARS, LIVE CONCERTS & MUSIC STORES. BAR ROCK ROCK, CUTE JROCK HEAVY METAL BOYS AT BAR MOONWALK.
How about a run-down of Osaka’s best Visual Kei joints? There’s a large Jrock / VK music store in Shinsaibashi’s Big Step building (it’s the Visual dot on my Osaka shopping map). At the entrance, you can pick up free flyers plastered with the faces of your favorite Visual rockers.
Last May, Deluhi and Mix Speaker’s Inc were well-ranked in the Top Ten. Their Tokyo concert proved that they could deliver live as well (you can read my full show review here).
The Vambie demonstrate two cute new Asian poses.
Kansai is also home to several head-banging bars that blast Visual Kei music. In my new CNNGo article, I write: “When bands tour Osaka, they frequently stop by Territory, DJ Taiki’s occult shop in Shinsaibashi. Then they might walk around the corner to Moonwalk, a bar that pumps Marilyn Manson and Japanese glam metal to a young, heavily pierced crowd.”
Yukiro and I randomly found Bar Moonwalk after we left DJ Taiki’s haunt. We saw a sign that said “All drinks 200 yen” — and then glimpsed the eyeliner-smeared bartender above (named Kouta) – and that sealed the deal. Kouta is the bassist in a new Visual Kei act, which also has a Swedish member. Even though the band hasn’t even started rehearsing, he’s got the look down. And just like Fu-ki, he brought over free drinks… three shots, for all of us!
Osaka’s most famous hard rock / heavy metal hangout is Bar Rock Rock; Alice Cooper and Motley Crue are among the celeb customers. And don’t forget Midian, run by the ex-member of BLOOD: “Like a Goth Elvis, vocalist Fu-ki is alive and ominously wielding an ice pick behind the counter of his Bar Midian.” (You can see photos and in-depth directions to Fu-ki’s bar here).
Come read the rest of my CNNGo article about Osaka’s rock bars here. Please rate and “Like” it so that CNN will publish more articles about Visual Kei and boy-on-boy antics.
Wahh, my Scottish Fold’s fancy outdoor playpen featured on the Catio Showcase blog! “This isn’t the kind of catio for rambunctious cats, but Basil Farrow is quite well-mannered (no jumping or escaping), plus he is always supervised on his catio, I’m assuming by his bodyguards.” That’s about right…
Have you been to any of Osaka’s Visual Kei bars or record stores? Which bands would YOU rank in your top ten? Thanks for supporting my CNNGo article with a Like.
Japanese Word of the Day: Goumon = Torture
Song of the Day: Malice Mizer – Beast of Blood
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 11:24 pm and is filed under Nightcrawling, Scottish Fold Kawaii, Visual Kei + Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
