TOKYO GIG PICKS (JUNE & JULY)

June and July are the worst months of the year for gigs in Tokyo. The reason? Simple - Fuji Rock and Summer Sonic. Those massive events come at the end of July and in August and bring a shitload of foreign bands to these shores. With Fuji it's an out-of-town thingee, while with Sonic there is one day near Tokyo and one day in Osaka. 

But just as the sea goes out before a tsunami strikes, so the same thing kinda happens in the gig world, a couple of months before Fuji-Sonic things just dry up, unless you like J-Pop and K-Pop (and I don't). 

Also, Fuji-Sonic is a shit way to experience a band you are interested in -- stuck in a field or a baseball stadium with a lot of dumbasses who don't know what they're watching, feeding that vibe to the performers who then just go through the motions with a sound set up that is probably pissing them off as well. Also, not enough toilets.

No wonder the international music scene has been on the slide here in Tokyo for 20 years. 

So, given the dearth of good gigs to pick from, here are my picks for the next two months (and I'm really struggling)!!! 

JOHN BEASLEY AND EL TRIO

Jazz genius John Beasley -- with Cuban bassist José Armando Gora and Latin jazz drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernández will -- will take to the stage at The Blue Note to deliver some hot electric Latin jazz fusion. El Trio do two shows a night on the 15th, 16th, and 17th of June. Beasley has performed with Miles Davis, Chaka Khan, Steely Dan, and others, and was the music director of "International Jazz Day" as Herbie Hancock's right-hand man. Price: ￥8,800-12,100 (Ticket info) 

MIKE STERN BAND

For my next pick, I'm staying at Blue Note for the Mike Stern Band. The dude was in jazz rockers Blood Sweat & Tears, but don't hold that against him, so was everyone. He also collabed with Miles Davis, so Stern brings plenty of high quality musical luggage with him. Two sets on the 1st and 4th of July. Price: ￥9,000-12,300 (Ticket info) 

FAIRGROUND ATTRACTION

Only a band with balls of steel would come to Japan in the pre-Fuji-Sonic slump on their own. That band is soft-skiffle folk rockers Fairground Attraction who broke up in 1989 only to reform this year (a bit like the Soviet Union under Putin!). Eddi Reader has probably still got a great voice, even if she does look like a large ginger tent now. Already all the gigs in Tokyo are sold out, so prices will be whatever the scalpers say they are. 27th June Shibuya Club Quattro and 2nd July, Hulic Hall Tokyo. (Ticket info)