Kobe/Hyogo Live Houses

• Varit     Varit is quite impressive. Bigger than most, it looks good and has really good facilities: lockers, an upstairs to see the well-lit and well elevated stage from, real stage curtains, an adequate number of toilets...the list just goes on. It was love at first, um, hearing for me because the first time I walked into the place I was greeted by 'New Rose' by The Damned. I felt very welcome, and the DJ (probably Cherry Bowie, he's one of Kobe's greatest treasures) just kept on playing great stuff all night. Of course, he's not a permanent fixture and the second time I went there the music wasn't as exciting (well, it was just as exciting onstage) but damn it made a great first impression. The main fault with Varit is that it's a single beer bar and that beer is....Budweiser. Dear god what were they thinking? The staff are very nice though, and I felt bad about questioning the beer. No re-entry either. Kechi. They also don't seem to like people hanging around after the show's over and have the BGM cranked too high for conversation and start hustling people out pretty quickly.
  Anyway, it's no sweat finding it. The site is good and the map is excellent. The street names are even in Romaji. If you want the landmarks in English, Varit is between a Don Quixote and a Lawsons. The railway station at bottom right on the map is the Sannomiyas. Don't tell me from good grammar, I'm an English teacher. So it's a bit northwest of the various Sannomiya stations.
  And here it is, although the last time I went to a sold out show there they let us in through a different door, around the corner past the Lawson's and it wasn't well signposted, so be warned. On the plus side they also made the front of stage area non-smoking for the day.




Varit.



• Star Club     Star Club's great. Pretty standard setup and facilities. Fairly small. Well elevated stage. Allows re-entry. And although they're not actually a non-smoking venue if the crowd gets above a certain size they go non-smoking for the night, for safety's sake. So you never get stuck in a dense, heavy-smoking crowd as happens so often at other venues. Way to fucking go! Kirin Ichiban on tap and Super Dry and Heineken in cans. Two toilets. The map on the website, which has a reasonable amount of English on it, is pretty clear but in Japanese. Walk northeast from Sannomiya station along the north side of the JR/Hankyu railway lines. That's the mountains side, not the sea side. It's not long after the Lawsons (other side of the road) and it's opposite a Harley place. It's red, which makes it easier to find, and there are a couple of photos on the website but here's another for good measure.




Starclub. Even managed to get one of the Hankyu trains into the shot.



• Merseybeat/Backbeat     Merseybeat is tiny with an interesting atmosphere. Very cosy. The bar is on a different floor and has Kirin on tap. On the first floor of the same building is Backbeat, another live house. Backbeat is a bit larger and the bar is on the same floor but it's pretty budget-style too. The one dunny is just outside the door and there tends to be a bit of a queue. The websites have a fair bit of English but they're slow to update their schedule. I found the map a bit hard to follow and actually found the one on the Star Club site (which also shows how to get to Merseybeat/Backbeat as well as Star Club, in case you thought that was a bit of a non sequitur) easier to understand. The sites all link to each other so I won't double up this time around. The only advice I can give on top of the maps is that Merseybeat/Backbeat are on the same street as Daiei as you leave the clump of railway stations in Sannomiya. The building (viddy well my brothers and sisters) is diagonally opposite a 7/11 conbini.




Backbeat/Merseybeat



• Kobe Blueport     A reasonable-sized place. Only been here a couple of times but enjoyed myself. Asahi in cans and Kirin on tap. I was beered up from a previous gig the first time I went, so I'll offer this word of warning. If you should happen to follow my example and arrive at this place semi-tanked be very careful. The ticket desk is right at the edge of the top of a steep flight of steps. I nearly went arse-over-tit down them as soon as I arrived. The stage is only very slightly elevated so I guess if very popular bands play there (the ones I went to see are relatively unsung) visibility could be an issue. Nice website with lots of English and the map is entirely in English and incredibly easy to follow.




Blueport by day.




• Beta (Himeji)     The map on the website is a little deceptive, as well as being entirely in Japanese. Well, I got confused anyway and was expecting it to front onto a park. In fact it's pretty easy to find as long as you know that it opens onto the shopping arcade that runs parallel to and just to the right of the main street that leads from JR Himeji station to Himeji castle. It's almost at the end on the left, about a ten minute brisk walk from the station. The photo below might help. It's downstairs on the right. Beta is a pretty small place. One toilet. Very limited bar facilities and it's Kirin Lager only and you get it in a waxed paper Coca-Cola cup. At least it's real beer I guess.




Beta




• Kobe 108     108's website is still a tad mechakucha, dispensing with fiddly details like coherence and chronological order. On the plus side the lower of the two maps is very readable (the link to it is in Japanese, though) and I found 108 easily. It's on the block just west of Star Club (see above, and i.e. closer to Sannomiya station) opening on the opposite (southern) side of the JR/Hankyu railway lines. It's nice and has been remodelled recently, and the new door is close to the old one which is now a takoyaki place. The stage is about 30cm high, if that, so visibility is a bit of an issue even given the smallish size. The lighting isn't bad but it's not bright enough to get good photos. Not with my shitty little camera, anyway.
  Pleasant staff. Only one toilet. The compulsory drink ticket is only 300 yen and that will get you a can of Kirin Tanrei. Fork over an extra 100 yen and you get Yebisu, which is a much better deal than most places. And they allow re-entry. Not as smoky as it was.




Kobe 108




• Taiyo to Tora     Another live house under the JR/Hankyu tracks in Kobe! If you chuck a breadroll (you'd have to bring your own. I don't think they do food) from Taiyo to Tora you might hit 108 (same side of the tracks, a bit further up) or Star Club (other side, further yet) if you've got a good arm and a bit of wind assist. They've made an effort to make Taitora stand out though. The plastic ivy on the outside is repeated in abundance on the inside and decorated with a bizarre collection of toy animals. Including penguins. The toilets (one of each but doesn't really matter) are designated "mesu" and "osu" letting us know that the patrons are all animals too. It's small, capacity 250-piki, and nice. 60cm stage. Interesting lighting. Good sound. Re-entry is allowed and the stamp is super-cute. The beer is Asahi Super Dry, Heineken or Corona (no lime though, so Mele wins that round) with your drink ticket and the staff are nice. They have a great website with lots of English and an excellent map. I got a lot of nice, clear photos using flash but this is what it's probably going to look like when you approach it. Blurry musicians/punters may vary. Smoky.




Taiyo to Tora




• Helluva Lounge is great. I can't believe it's take me so long to get my arse there. Certainly not because it's hard to find. It's right near the intersection of Ikuta Shinmichi and Tor Road. Just up the road and around the corner from Varit. The photo below really could be more helpful, but that shiny bit right near the entrance to Helluva (it's in the basement) is part of a big stainless steel arch marking Tor Road.
  Nice place, nice staff, great atmosphere (metaphorically. It's a bit smoky) with full marks for decor. The standard livehouse painted concrete is supplemented with panels of rather boro-boro but still charming Japanese brocade. I love the stage. It's not very high (no biggie, Helluva's pretty small) but there are lights under the floor which give a really cool effect. The toilet, also, is a work of art. There's only the one but it's worth queueing for. The floor is covered in river pebbles!
  Re-entry is allowed but please don't hang around near the entrance. People seem to congregate on the other side of the road or around the Lawsons that is within spitting distance.
  I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember which beer they have. m(__)m




Helluva Lounge