In a hidden corner of almost every major city there is a grotty club that serves as rock 'n' roll's nerve center, a place where a talented band with a good idea can be catapulted to indie-rock notoriety. In New York, it was CBGB; in L.A., it was the Whiskey, or maybe Spaceland; and in Tokyo, for the last 10 years, it has been Shimokitazawa's Shelter.
Yes, there are more fabulous venues -- Milk, for one -- and certainly Loft, Shelter's sister club in Shinjuku, has been influential. But as the long list of groups playing at this month's anniversary celebrations attest, no other club has consistently locked into the musical zeitgeist in quite the way Shelter has.
Shelter has been a steadfast proponent of garage rock, from the stylish sounds of Jackie and the Cedrics (Oct. 12) to the raw, full-throttle frenzy of Guitar Wolf (playing at a special Shelter party at Zepp Tokyo Oct. 14). Teengenerate, one of Tokyo's first garage-rock exports, was a regular, and the group's newer incarnation, Firestarter, returns to the venue on Oct. 21.
But Shelter also welcomed music that fell outside the strict boundaries of punk or garage. Seagull Screaming Kiss Her Kiss Her (Oct. 10) frequently brings their psychotic blues there. Fukuoka's Number Girl (also Oct. 14 at Zepp), arguably one of the most important Japanese indie bands to emerge in the last few years, got their first Tokyo gigs at Shelter. And skacore band Snailramp is doing a rare small-club show there on Oct. 21.
Though many groups that have gone on to bigger venues will be returning to Shelter over the next month, on any given evening a local Shimo band will nervously take to the stage to play what may be their first gig. In the end, it is finding and nurturing the talented among them that has made Shelter such a living part of Tokyo's music scene.
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