Sticker shock
Tokyo is an expensive-ass city. I knew that before I moved here, and I’ve learned to adapt … mostly by not thinking about it, just looking at yen differently than I would dollars if I was living in the States. For instance, I would never, ever pay $8 for a can of Budweiser — in fact, I would expect a 12-pack for that price. But I’ll think nothing of dropping 800 yen for a can of Asahi. If you sell it to me for 700 yen, I’ll marvel at the savings. It doesn’t even freak me out anymore that sometimes I’ll pay more for my drink than I will for my meal.
But sometimes the difference slaps me in the face.
I was aimlessly wandering through Tower Records in Shibuya last month when I came across a display for Death From Above 1979. The video looked cool so I slapped on the headphones … only to be assaulted by the killer tunage these two guys have created. Amazing stuff … and I’m always happy to find a new band I like, since I’ve turned into a grumpy old man as far as new music is concerned. (No, really — fuck the Strokes.)
Imagine my happiness when I learn from my concert-listings site that DFA1979 are coming to Tokyo! Rock on. I even remember thinking “Wow, and tickets are only 5,000 yen — cheaper than usual for a show!” Then I paused. And I thought. Five-thousand yen … that’s $50 right now. For a new, relatively unknown band. “Unless maybe they’re really big in the States …” So I look up their U.S. gigs, and they’re playing for $8 — the price I will pay for one beer when I see them for $50.
Ouch.
sid world headquarters
