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Tokyoblu Press
Tokyoblu
M8 review (October M8)
Our VK nights returned
to Edinburgh this month for the Tokyoblu fourth
birthday party on Friday 25th August for the Tokyoblu fourth birthday
party
at club Ego in Edinburgh, as parties go, this one had all the makings
of
being a monster and it certainly didn't disappoint even the rain
held off
long enough to let the clubbers get indoors.
Tokyoblu has its roots firmly planted in the house music camp, but
it's far
from your average house night. Built up steadily over the last four
years,
it's easy to see why Tokyoblu continues its rise towards being one
of the
hottest nights in the country. Friday night began with John and
Iain
Tokyoblu playing out their famed fusion of disco, Latin and African
infused
beats, jackin' Chicago house and electro accompanied by the much
admired
Pepe Santamaria on percussion.
As more and more clubbers entered the ballroom upstairs at Ego the
gasps and
excited exclamations could almost be heard over the music. The room
had been
transformed with all four walls covered in enormous banners depicting
a
detailed city scape, skylines, rockets, pyramids, stars and moons
outlined
in luminous paint whilst from the roof hung enormous inflatable
shapes, as
if in space. Add to this some seriously quality vjing across two
large
screens either side of the room and the overall effect was stunning,
you
really felt as if you had walked into a different galaxy.
Not content with all of this it seems that Tokyoblu are determined
to give
their crowd as much entertainment as possible and after a couple
of hours
the next treat arrived onstage. Enter the Tokyoblu band, a seven
piece act
made up of two vocalists, one male, one female and both with amazing
stage
presence, a guitarist, bass guitarist, drummer, Pepe on percussion
and John
Tokyoblu on decks. The band performed a 45 minute set entirely of
original
Tokyoblu music which like their DJ set seems to encompass many diferent
genres of house music all with the express intention of getting
the hands in
the air.
As the first bars of the perennial favorite, the extremely funky
'Beautiful
Infatuation' blasted out across the floor the crowd went off. This
continued
through-out the set as the band barely let the crowd pause for breath
with
highlights being funky electro stomper No Reason and ska houser
fake
solutions leaving the crowd wanting more well after they had left
the stage. The amount of effort that went into this night was clearly
appreciated by
all and included a courtyard replete with fire dancers and a great
fun
backroom with four decks and laptops going off in unison to create
the
perfect party atmosphere, plus FutureB fusing the likes 'Lost in
Music',
Sylvester’s 'Do you wanna funk' and Thomas Andersons 'washing
machine',
alongside the equally excellent Niall McKervey and Little Grooves.
All in all, a great night out and with this level of performance,
I think
birthday number 5 is a sure thing.
M8
Magazine May 2006
Spinning
their renowned musical imprint of Latin, vocal, disco and
electro-etched house, DJs John Hutchison and Iain Gibson have built
up one
of Scotland's hottest club-nights - Tokyoblu. On Friday 5 May the
renowned
party returns to the Edinburgh club scene in the 550-capacity, multi-layered
club that is The Venue. Supporting the duo on the night will be
Pepe
Santamaria, Niall McKervey, Parus Major and Little Grooves. Also
on the bill
are the captivating seven-piece Tokyoblu band, who will be playing
nothing
but original music that has been written especially for the night.
Get down there early.
'The
Dirty Dozen. M8 cherry picks 12 unmissable club nights in May'
Daily
Record Fri Aug 5th 2005
Tokyo
offers a whole world of difference.
Tokyobu has been the success story of the Edinburgh club scene over
the past few months. The
monthly event at the Venue in Calton RD, is packed out with clubbers
eager to sample the anything–goes music policy. Achieving
cult status on the back of local djing talent and bursting with
ideas and neglecting to book the mercenary big names has made Tokyoblu
one of the buzz clubs and it will be celebrating its third birthday
this weekend. Promoter John Hutchison thinks a main ingredient of
the club’s success is the desire to keep it as fresh now as
they were the night it opened to 70 people. He said things have
got a bit too predictable in club land so we try to recreate the
feeling of how new and exciting it was when house music first took
off.
With a daring, eclectic musical strategy that takes in everything
from funk to house soul to disco, Tokyoblu is refreshingly unique.
John said we have all been to clubs a million times and we want
to add to just the basic experience of sticking a DJ on.
“Although we’re a house based club, I’ve not been
anywhere that plays the variety of music in one night that we play
in our main room.”.
Another major asset in Tokyoblu’s armoury is its own in-house
band, a nine man carnival of sound whose reputation and size seem
to grow every month. John said “the band is working really
well for us. People are really appreciating the live music again.”
Edinburgh is the first to appreciate Tokyoblu’s blueprint
for a clubbing experience but John reckons the house scene could
benefit from it’s innovative ideas.
David
Pollock, the List
'The
whole thing about Tokyoblu is the atmosphere' expalins co-founder
and Dj John Hutchison. we want to give the people something that
they've never seen before, not just the guy in the corner playing
tunes, we want to unite the club scene with the live music side
of things.' As mission statements go, it's been peddled before,
but what sets the Tokyoblu boys apart is the uniquivocal success
with which they achieve their aims.
Ostensibly
a residents driven DJ night - albeit one of drivingly superior quality
and a real sense of excitement - Tokyoblu has noticably evolved
from early beginings in Ego's Cocteau lounge to its current two
level
extravaganza at the venue via the adition of Hutchisons resident
house band (also named Tokyoblu). Incorporating diverse styles like
ska, latin, african abetted by the obscenely talented percussionist
Pepe Santamaria, Hutchison compares the outfits style to Basement
Jaxx or early Groove Armada.
'Whether
we're Djing or playing live the whole thing is that we don't just
stick to one style and take the night up and down. I don't want
to use a
word as corny as "journey" but we play the best of every
style, we just keep people up, and everyone's going mental at the
end of the night. It means I get strange llooks when I'm buying
records mind you, becuase I'm going right across the rack but it
makes perfect sense to me. Believe us, one night at this dazzling
club and it will to anyone.
Preview
from Bite Magazine (June 05)
Every
so often something comes along that stands out from the crowd…
Something that’s a little bit different which gets tongues
wagging with a
hint of excitement and maybe just a wee bit of anticipation.
Celebrating
their 3rd birthday in August, Tokyoblu is one such landmark.
Having built up a healthy following across central Scotland with
a series of
quality club nights and big name supports, Tokyoblu’s flagship
club has
built up a reputation as being one of Edinburgh's hottest underground
party's with a friendly, mixed and very up-for-it crowd. A venue
change in
the middle of last year saw the club head to the Venue in order
to
accommodate their blossoming live aspect and burgeoning crowds.
At
the heart of the club is the full seven-piece Tokyoblu band complete
with
a set of funky original tunes written especially by Tokyoblu and
Edinburgh
based producer Nigel Ross. Reactions to the band, who see another
vocalist
join their ranks this month, have been excellent with comparisons
already
flying about to Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx. This bodes well
for the
outfit who's debut single is due out at the tail-end of the summer.
This
follows on from one of their tunes featuring on a recent M8 CD with
a
distribution of over 40000 across the UK. Back this up with Tokyoblu
DJ's
John Hutchison and Iain Gibson and their trademark fusion of disco,
latin,
Chicago and electro house, ace percussionist Pepe Santamaria, a
host of top
notch backroom DJ's, visuals and full decor through-out.
Preview
from Notion Magazine July 05
Just
shy of their 3rd birthday party in August, Tokyoblu have been making
a
huge reputation for themselves across central Scotland with a series
of
rammed club nights and high profile supports.
Their club is hailed by many as Edinburgh’s hottest underground
party with a
friendly, mixed, vibrant and very up-for-it crowd and after moving
digs last
year to the Edinburgh Venue in order to accommodate their blossoming
live
aspect the club has grown into what can only be described as a two
floor
extravaganza!
Featuring a full seven-piece band, also called Tokyoblu, at the
heart of the
club playing an original, upfront and very funky set of tunes written
especially by Tokyoblu and Edinburgh based producer Nigel Ross for
the club
this is a night which stands out in the originality stakes. Main-room
DJing duties fall to Tokyoblu DJ's John Hutchison and Iain Gibson
whose fusion of disco, latin, Chicago and electro house always gets
the
party started. Also expect to see ace percussionist Pepe Santamaria,
a host
of top notch backroom DJ's, visuals and full decor throughout. With
comparisons already flying about to Groove Armada and Basement Jaxx
the
future is indeed looking bright for the outfit who have their first
single
due out in August.
Get down there early on July 1st to see Tokyoblu, the Dj’s
and percussion.
Room 2 will play host to Spider, Brett King and Little Grooves,
making this
not to miss.
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