The new year is starting out with a slew of potentially great gigs throughout the country.
The most anticipated of these is probably Patti Smith and her Band's seven-city tour, which starts in Sendai on Jan. 22 (Sendai Rensa; 7:30 p.m. start; ¥7,000 in advance; 022-256-1000). The singer-songwriter's shows should be great in and of themselves, but as an added bonus there will also be a charity drive to raise money for Aoba Gakuen in Fukushima, an orphanage that houses children who lost their parents in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.
Smith is known as the "Godmother of Punk," and if you're looking to continue the spirit of punk then the hip-hop heavy Death Grips show in Tokyo on Jan. 31 is a good bet (Shibuya WWW; 7:30 p.m. start; ¥4,800 in adv.; 03-3444-6751). The California duo were named 2012's Artist of the Year by Spin Magazine and were recently dropped by their record label after leaking their own album for free on the Internet in an apparent protest.