VENT Tokyo — Local services in Tokyo

This is a medium sized club for Tokyo with a pretty high standard for quality techno music. Crowd is a generally good mix of Japanese and few foreigners (maybe 10-15%? ). Easy to strike a conversation. There is a bar area with more lounge/minimal style and a main room + sitting area. I have a very good opinion of their DJ selection. They keep quality up there, no doubt about it. Not commercial “EDM” at all. Sound system is better than average in Tokyo and more than enough for the small size of main room. I’ve never seen a long line to get in, I generally show up a bit after midnight and it fills up from there. Bring ID or you won’t get in regardless of age. It’s dumb but that’s just how it works in Tokyo (Japan?) The staff is hard at work keeping the place clean so putting a drink down a discovering it’s missing happens... a lot. On the up shot bathrooms are numerous and sparkling clean. Drinks are not strong and cost 800¥. I usually get at least one or two...

On the "serious" side for a club-with the music generally being more minimal techno. Good DJs and good-enough lighting with an above average sound system.

Drinks are standard for a techno club in Japan ranging 700 for a bottle of water, 1000 for a standard cocktail, 1700 for a premium mixer/vodka redbull, and 500 for mixed nuts.

The staff is professional and quite nice but the crowd can vary and some tensions can arise due to the mix of "tourists" and harder techno fans (can be a bit snobby/judgemental at times but there are a lot of cool techno fans as well). There are lockers to store your items for 300 as well as a smaller room/dance floor where smoking is allowed which does make the whole place smell a little of cigarettes. No photos are allowed and this is quite...

Saw some class rominimal here from Praslea who did about a 4hr set. I’d read the sound system being lauded here so was keen to hear it but severely disappointed. Was not loud enough all night. It was so quiet you could easily have a conversation anywhere on the dance floor. If they pumped it up it would have sounded great no doubt. The staff were legends though and the bar was well priced. Also I noticed a lot of foreigners who were obviously only there as they’d heard it’s one of the city’s premier clubs but this bought a weird vibe. Like minimal obviously not for them. And I constantly saw foreigners breaking the no camera rule and staff having to deal with it. However the locals there were too cool and welcomed me to their afterparty around the corner at speakeasy...