wah’s Summer of Music: Part 2

Posted On November 21, 2025

After a longer than expected delay, wah’s Summer of Music continues! Read on below about the great time I had at Sakamoto Shintarō’s show at Liquid Room this past July.

Sakamoto Shintarō – July 16th, 2025@Ebisu Liquid Room

I’ve seen Sakamoto Shintarō live three times, and each time I go, it feels a bit weird. Yes, I know he was the front man for one of Japan’s most legendary psychedelic rock bands, which for some reason gained mainstream clout both within Japan and around the world. But despite this rep, whenever I listen to his solo stuff, I feel like I’m listening to a tiny little band that only I know about. 

Of course, this illusion fades immediately when I try to get a ticket to one of his shows. Earlier this year, hoping to get a ticket for Sakamoto’s July show at Liquid Room in Ebisu, I entered into the ticket lottery… which naturally ended in failure. I then tried to get tickets as they went on sale… but this of course also ended in failure^[1]They sold out roughly 0.5 seconds after going on sale. I tried, but my clicking finger wasn’t fast enough.. Ultimately, like every other one of Sakamoto’s shows I’ve been to, I had to scalp the tickets. That said, it wasn’t that bad this time around. Last time I paid around 40,000 yen (fees and all) to see him play outdoors at Yaon in Hibiya Park. Thankfully, this time I got to see him and his band at half that price. Liquid Room happens to be the venue where I first saw him play back in the pre-Covid before times, so grabbing tickets for this show years after the pandemic has subsided felt like things had come full circle. 

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As I arrive at Liquid Room, my illusion of Sakamoto’s band as a small little indie outfit is once again shattered when I try to get into the venue. At the time of the show I was working in Ebisu, at an office that was just a short walk away from the live house. With the show opening at 7pm and starting an hour later, I opted to drop by the local public bath to loosen up before the show, and arrived at Liquid Room at around 7:40pm. To my surprise, the floor was already packed with maniacs. Sure, I had a vague idea that this would happen since the show was sold out^[2]If it wasn’t sold out, I wouldn’t have had to scalp tickets!, and also because two hours prior I stood in a long line to buy a t-shirt sold exclusively at the show. But still… Sakamoto Shintarō is just this weird old man who makes music that sounds like something you’d hear at a Hawaiian resort in the depths of hell–why do other people want to listen to him? In short, it’s so weird that so many people have… good taste? 

Anyway, it was a great show! 

…however, beyond that it’s hard to write about Sakamoto’s performances. The reason why I’ve avoided writing about my experiences at his shows up until now is because there’s not much to say about them. That is, besides saying “it owned.” As a holdover from the Yura Yura Teikoku days, he doesn’t talk to the audience aside from introducing the band, and in general just puts on a very technically proficient and groovy show^[3]Also spooky. His shows are spooky as all hell.. While I love Omokage Lucky Hole for the legit musicians that they are, they are also subculture goofballs, so they give you something weird to write about each time. Meanwhile, Sakamoto Shintarō is just a straight up talented musician, with very little buffoonery on display. 

But this time, as part of this series, I’ll try to write up one of his shows!

The group took to the stage in silhouette with a psychedelic pattern morphing behind them as they launched into a funky rendition of Dōbutsu Rashiku / Like an Animal, and proceeded to put on groovy takes on other fan-favorite cuts. Of note, Shisha Yori / From the Dead made creative use of a rubber chicken during some of its instrumental breaks… so perhaps there was some lovable buffoonery to be had! 

The band put on a handful of heavy re-arrangements of Sakamoto’s portfolio, keeping things smooth, with spooky lighting to match. They stretched out a number of songs, and many times Sakamoto would just close out a song by shredding on the guitar, per his old Yura Yura Teikoku days. The group went hard on Kamen Wo Hazusanaide / Mask on Mask, extending what is a short and funky piece by dropping in some deep and ghostly explorations on Sakamoto’s guitar. The song closed with an extended saxophone solo from Nishiuchi Tetsu, with lights flashing on and off at levels that would probably be considered unsafe in some countries. 

Amongst Sakamoto Shintarō’s oeuvre of solo work, one of my favorite songs is Gimu no You ni / Like an Obligation, which has lyrics that are dark and oppressive, but the composition is smooth, mellow and jazzy. However, each time I’ve seen the song live, he’s approached the performance differently. At Yaon, he leaned heavily into the piece’s oppressive nature, laying it on thick in both the instrumentals and vocal delivery. This time, he leaned into a more mellow delivery–perhaps suggesting that the obligations we have as adults can’t be helped, and we should just run with it–or maybe he just wanted to play a cool song, who knows. This time he gave his guitar solo a light Spanish tinge, and provided deep and spacy accompaniment to Nishiuchi’s sexy sax during the instrumental break. 

He also dropped three (!!!) new songs during the show–Ojiisan e / Dear Grandpa, Anata no Basho wa Arimasuka? / Is There a Place for You There?, and Ghost Town^[4]In the time since I drafted this post, Ojisan e and Anata no Basho wa Arimasuka? have been released digitally. The songs will be included in his new album, Yoo-Hoo.. Of the new tracks, I really enjoyed Anata no Basho wa Arimasuka–it’s thick in Sakamoto’s signature “lounge music from hell” vibe, weaving in some wispy jazz flute while the bass and guitar hit deep notes, plunging you underwater as you wonder, “where exactly is my place?” The other songs are good too–I enjoyed the glib nihilism of Ghost Town, and Ojiisan e was nice and flippant, but a bit too up-tempo for me.

The lighting guy at Liquid Room kept the vibe ghostly, rarely showing us the band as they actually appear, dousing them in colors that match the songs, and many times just opting to show us their silhouettes… as such, next time I need to jump in earlier to get closer to the stage. If I’m paying tens of thousands of yen for these tickets, I better damn well see every single finger movement on Sakamoto’s guitar, even if it’s in shadow! But maybe next year–I’ve maxed out my allowance to use on expensive scalped tickets for now.

For those interested, the setlist is below.

• Dōbutsu Rashiku / Like an Animal
• Shisha Yori / From the Dead
• Mechakucha Warui Otoko / Extremely Bad Man
• Oni Taiji / Purging the Demons
• Ojiisan e / Dear Grandpa
• Anata no Basho wa Arimasuka? / Is There a Place for You There?
• Gimu no You ni / Like an Obligation
• Kamen Wo Hazusanaide / Mask on Mask
• Yūrei no Kibun de / In a Phantom Mood
• Anata mo Robot ni Nareru / You Can be a Robot, Too
• Nama de Odorō / Let’s Dance Raw
• Kobune / Boat
• Kimi wa Sō Kimeta / You Just Decided 
• Disco tte / Disco Is

Encore

• Monogatari no Yō ni / Like a Fable 

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Lastly, I’d like to talk a little bit about why content here kind of came to a screeching halt over the past few months, despite me being more consistent than usual this year about updating the site. Usually I don’t care to explain why I’m not updating this site, because it’s usually just due to my work schedule, or there simply being a lack of things to talk about. Also, I figure the two people reading probably don’t care either! However, this year my work got chill enough where I could start really dishing out posts, so I was hoping to finally start posting on a somewhat regular schedule. 

But turns out work was a bit too chill for the powers that be, resulting in me and many other colleagues being laid off. Being used to the stability of employment in Japan, it was a first for me. I won’t say exactly where I was working, but it was a western game developer with a business office in Japan–which should narrow it down. And with no games coming out, there’s no money to pay senior employees of the company, I suppose. Thankfully I was saved by Japanese labor laws, which meant I got a decent exit package. And ultimately, I managed to find a new gig that starts soon. However, because of this, it was kind of hard to focus on writing posts! I’m not sure what my new job will bring, but going forward I hope to continue being a bit more consistent about getting posts up. There’s also a podcast I recorded last year (!) that I need to edit and upload!