Brother, can you spare a yen?

Last week I went to my first-ever big show in Tokyo -- The Pixies at Zepp Tokyo. I got nothin' but love for the Pixies, but what I don't got is much knowledge of their work. I dig 'em when I hear 'em, but I've never really tried on my own to learn the Way of Pixies. My husband, however, is a screaming, raving, drooling Pixies fan who had somehow managed never to see them live before this show, so it was a big event in my household. I'm not at all qualified to review the show itself, aside from saying the Pixies defy age and rock mightily, so let's talk instead about something I do have plenty of experience with: Going to shows, in general.

First of all, going to a show in Japan requires a bank loan. Tickets, even at a club show like this one, average probably about $65 each. We're not always talking about huge bands here (the weird thing is the actual huge bands -- say, U2 -- are around the same price, which actually makes them kind of a deal or at least on par when compared to Stateside prices). Cake, for example, is coming to Tokyo in March. I saw them in Asheville, N.C., a couple years ago for maybe $18. Here, the tickets for a Cake show are $58, plus drink ticket (more on that in a sec). I don't know what White Stripes tickets are going for in the US of A lately, but here in January the tickets for them are $65, plus drink ticket. If I had to guess, I'd say the band Clap Your Hands Say Yeah are working Stateside clubs for maybe $12-$15, no? Here they're $55, plus drink ticket. I can't blame the bands (if they even have a say) for the high ticket prices, though. Flights to Japan are damn expensive, and hotels are crazy pricey, especially in Tokyo, so I know exactly where that money's going. Plus, you won't pay less than $7-$8 for a "cheap" bottle o' beer here, so those rock star drinking binges are especially budget busting. (Not sure on drug prices, but I can ask Ryan Adams about it next time he's in the 'hood.)

Now, about this "drink ticket." See, when you get to the venue they take your ticket at the door, just like anywhere else, but then they herd you into a line -- which cannot be dodged -- for buying a drink ticket. Price depends on venue, but at the Pixies show it was $5. So you pay your five bones and are handed a special coin. Then you get to stand in another line (wheeee!) to hand over your coin in exchange for a drink -- beer, a small selection of simple cocktails, bottled juice or tea, or bottled water. The point of this, I don't know. But it is the way of things. It cannot be fought, so you have to factor it in to your ticket budget.

The effect of the high ticket prices, even if the price tag is justified, is to make you waaaaay more picky about what shows to attend -- which is why this one was my first even though I've lived here more than a year. In the States I would routinely go to shows for bands I knew little about, because most of the time you're only out $10 or so if you're unimpressed. And there were seasons of decadence, especially when I lived in DC, in which I would go to at least one show a week, sometimes more. Not financially prudent, even at those prices, but really not bankrupting with a little budgeting and mac-and-cheese eating factored in. Now, I can only make the most excellent of excellent shows. The White Stripes, who I've been dying to see live for years now, are coming in January and I would go in a heartbeat -- but I can't because the date conflicts with prior plans. Peh. Tegan and Sara, same night, same conflict. Bah! Cake will be do-able in March, though. Now, in that same January-to-March time span, there are I'd say six other shows I would like to see, but they just don't make the cut for what I'm willing to spend $65 on. It's a pity, but there's reality for you.

As for getting the tickets when you do decide to splurge on a show, there is no such thing as Ticketmaster. Tickets are sold a variety of ways, but most commonly at convenience stores (which are EVERYWHERE) through an ATM-like machine that I'm pretty sure charges no service charge at 'tall. So easy. Unless you can't read, like me. But luckily I have kind Japanese friends who help me. Another interesting custom for Japan shows is the early start time. Doesn't matter what day of the week it is, or how hip the club -- the shows start at 7 p.m., sometimes earlier. It's nice because you know you can make the last train home, but I have to admit it was weird seeing someone like the Pixies start so early. That's probably earlier than they wake up when they're touring in the States.

One day, when I have attended more shows (so ... after I win the lottery), I will do a highly scientific (if by "highly scientific" you mean "beer-drenched") study of Japanese concert crowds in comparison with American concert crowds. At the Pixies show, it was too loud for any yappity-yaps who might have been in attendance to yappity-yap, so I cannot yet draw the conclusion that Japanese crowds are more respectful (I do admit I have that hypothesis, however, based on what some American friends here have told me about their Tokyo concertgoing experiences). I did see a lot of cell phones, but they all seemed to be used for camera purposes, not yapping. One delightful aspect of a Japanese crowd I can comment on? Here, unlike most anywhere else, I am of average height, so there was a much lower risk than normal of some big, tall jerkface standing right in front of me and entirely blocking my view of the stage. Me being me, of course, a moderately tall dude (with extraordinarily tall hair) did manage to find me, but he was far enough in front that I could see around him from time to time. Woot!