Osaka Kita Live Houses

• Fandango     The famous King of Live Houses is my local live music venue and one of my favourite places in all of Japan. It's in Juso Honmachi about 10-15 minutes from where I live, depending upon how functional I am at the time. They have some really good bands there, and the staff are the coolest.
  Suntory Malts in cans, Yebisu black in bottles (currently Guiness because of supply problems) and Magnum Dry on tap. Try the pizza. Crunchy, cheesy goodness I tells ya. Kouichi behind the bar speaks English and if you tell him what you like he'll tell you the best nights to go along. He also puts the website up in English as well as Japanese. It has up to a month in advance but usually not much further unless for a special gig. The music is very varied and usually good. The map is pretty good but some landmarks are a little out of date and I had a bit of trouble finding the place. The simplest way is to go out of the west exit of Hankyu Juso then up the covered mall to the big intersection. Cross straight over into 'Friendly Street', another covered mall, and keep going until the second intersection. There's a Lawson's on your left and across the intersection there's a mobile phone shop. Turn left at this intersection and keep going along the same road after it goes through a crossroad and doglegs to the left. You'll be surrounded by girly bars and there's a liquor store with a pink sign on the right. Fandango is a shortish way down, on the right. Matching the decor, which is sort of rock-n-roll-post-apocalyptic-bunker style, the door is fairly chunky and distinctive. Please close the latch behind you once the bands have started playing otherwise the sound leaks out and they have trouble with the locals. Also, although they allow re-entry, please don't just hang around near the entrance. Go for a stroll. Fandango really do have stroppy neighbours. When you see this you've found it.




Fandango.



• Live Square 2nd Line     In Fukushima, just west of Umeda. Another good place. It has friendly staff, cheap lockers and enough toilets. Heineken only. It was a bastard to find and I got lost doing so, although I have to admit to getting lost reasonably readily in Japan. That was back when the map was in English but inaccurate. Now it's very accurate and useful but comprehensively in Japanese. You won't even find it on the site if you don't know how to read any Japanese. Shit. How to help... OK. Walk north from JR Fukushima eki, past the Mr Donut, under the highway overpass and under the railway overpass and turn left. Keep walking west and keep your eyes peeled. It may also help to know that 2nd Line is actually under a railway line. If the bands aren't playing you can hear the trains going overhead. Very atmospheric. The website is great with lots of English but there's no picture of the front of the place which would make it easier to find. So here you go.




Live Square 2nd Line.



• Rain Dogs     In Umeda. Rain Dogs is smallish with a nice feel to it. It has a second floor that you can watch the stage from which is cool. Kirin Ichiban Shibori on tap and Heineken in cans. The site is OK and the map is reasonable but all in Japanese. It's easy to find though. Just head up Hankyu Higashidori Shotengai until a bit past where the roof stops. When you see a real estate agent, "Home Home", on your right turn right. The photo should help.




Rain Dogs.



• Musica Japonica     I like this place. More like a cafe than a bar, with a cosy, relaxed, hippyish sort of atmosphere. The staff are friendly and don't seem to mind having shitfaced musicians draped all over their furniture way into the small hours of the morning. It's the only live house I've been to with an official closing time of 4am. They serve some nice food as well as a good range of drinks. Not a place to see hardcore but good for acoustic gigs. The website is dead stylish and the map, in Japanese, is easy to follow. If you just keeping going along Hankyu Higashidori Shotengai past Rain Dogs until you get to a T-junction then turn right then left and keep going you'll see it. It's opposite a junior high school.




Musica Japonica.



• Shangri-La     Well, fuck me sideways - this place has chandeliers. Chandeliers!! Nothing says total class like skidding on spilled Guinness on highly polished floorboards and landing on your arse under sparkling crystal! Shangri-La is really rather lovely with two ladies toilets and two bars as well as the two chandeliers. It also has a pretty large, well-elevated stage with nice red curtains although, for my own reasons, I don't especially approve of curtains. And despite the loveliness of the decor it doesn't cost any more than your average livehouse, either to enter or for drinks. Bargain. Smoking or non-smoking seems to vary with the gig. No re-entry.
  Kirin Ichiban on tap. The map is good although pretty kanji-laden, and as you can see from the photo you're unlikely to walk past without noticing it's there. It's on the same north-south running street, on the opposite side, as the Umeda Sky Building and it's just a bit south of the Family Mart near the entrance to the underground walkway that leads to the USB from near Yodobashi Camera. Just a warning...there is major construction in the area at the moment and the entrance to the walkway has moved. And it's now only signposted in kanji thanks to the powers that be being parochial pricks. Follow the signs that say "地下道" or just follow the bulk of the pedestrian traffic.




Shangri-La



• Vi-Code     Another live house that's situated under railway lines. The map on the website is in Japanese but if you realise that it's sitting under Hankyu Nakatsu station, on the east side of the tracks, and notice that it's opposite a park, it's pretty easy to find. There is a photo of the front on the website but I'll pop one up here for good measure. Vi-Code is smallish, with a well-elevated stage (about 60cm I guess) and good lighting, so you get a good view from anywhere in the place. The beer is Kirin Lager on tap and Ichiban Shibori and Heineken in cans. They do snacks but not meals. Three clean toilets.




Vi-Code



• Akaso     Akaso gets a whole lot right. It's a nice, new, medium-sized place with a high stage, decent lighting and great sound. The floor has split elevation allowing great visibility and the day I was there it was non-smoking. The signs don't look permanent though so that might not always be the case. Your drink ticket gets a decent sized cup of draft Malts and you can pay 600 yen for a can of Premium Malts or 500 yen for Magnum Dry. That is actually pretty weird. It's a bit like having Coopers Pale Ale for 6 bucks and Pabst for 5. In fact Magnum Dry isn't even beer, it's a low-rent happoshu.
  The only flaw in the Akaso experience is that if the place is pretty full the women's toilet facilities are inadequate and the queues are really long. So...if you really don't want to risk missing out on some great music while you wait in line...the guys' toilet has three urinals on the right hand side and then at the end is a cubicle with a toilet just as nice and functional as the chicks' one. And they're probably going to be too gobsmacked/too polite to do anything about it if you just waltz in and use it. True.
  The map is mostly in Japanese. The easiest way there is to go up Hankyu Higashidori shotengai until you get to Shinmidosuji and turn left then keep going until the Tsutaya and turn right just after that. Continue until you see this on your left-:




Umeda Akaso



• Howlin' Bar     Howlin' Bar's a nice place. They have a lot of live shows there but it's usually open as a bar even when they don't. They seem to go for bluesy and acoustic shows and the sound system is good but not deafening. The "stage" is unelevated but it doesn't matter. This is a place to sit comfortably, enjoy some beers and some good grub (I recommend the omrice) and enjoy good music, not mosh. The beer is draft Yebisu for 600 yen and entry for shows is usually really cheap. The BGM is great and it's the sort of place you might want to go even if there's no live show that night. Nice staff.
  It's in Tsukamoto, north of the Yodogawa and a bit west of Juso. Take the west exit from JR Tsukamoto station. It's only marked in kanji but it's the exit with the McDonalds sign. Hang left at the first street (not the little shopping arcade, the proper street) and it's a really short way up it.




Howlin' Bar



• TH Hall, unlike all the live houses above, isn't actually in Osaka City, it's in Suita. Out in the 'burbs. But it's really close to Kansai University and the whole area, and the livehouse itself, has a great vibe. The staff are nice. Re-entry is allowed. The drink ticket is a standard 500yen but after that happoshu and soft drinks are only 300yen. The beer is Kirin Ichiban.
  It's a biggish place, maybe holds 300+. The stage is large and elevated 50cm. Lighting and sound are fine. Cool decor. Smoking allowed everywhere. Two western style ladies loos.
  The website is mostly Japanese, including the map and the Google map they link to, but TH Hall really is ridiculously easy to find. Hang a left from the exit of Kandaimae station on the Hankyu Senri Line and just keep your eyes open. It's on your left, opposite Futaba bowling alley.




TH Hall