Metal, Wa-Lolis and a Night Off [Roll of 28 (8)]

Inviting, right?

Not a great picture, I snapped it in a hurry on the way up and cameras were banned inside. Still, you get the idea.

Man-person and I really needed a night off, and a friend very kindly baby-sat for us. It's the first time since Tiger came that we've been able to be alone together and we wanted to do something that might remind us of who we used to be before life revolved around Doraemon and Kamen Rider. So we headed out to Beppu to check out Phantom Bar & Decadent Territory (AKA the heavy metal bar). The first thing we saw when we opened the door was a collection of severed limb Halloween decorations, followed very quickly by a sea of dresses. We'd managed to turn up during what they called a gothic event, but was actually more EGL (predominantly brolitas and wa-lolis). Hence the no camera thing.

We squeezed into a corner, made a bunch of new friends who very kindly cheered for our bad singing when the karaoke started, and generally felt more relaxed and welcome than I have for a very long time. That's the beautiful thing about subcultures; they transcend dominent-cultural differences. All we had to do was stand still long enough for the owner to check out the names on our tour-shirts and we were embraced with open arms. The bar-keep made the man-person agree to a duet but sadly our last train home was stupidly early and we had to run just before it came on. We'll definitely be back, next time we can wrangle baby-sitting, and next time I'll have some good pictures I promise! In the mean time, here is the song they didn't manage to sing.

PS There was an AKB48 poster in the toilet. That really made the place, to be honest.