ABSTRACT
The event at Yellow highlighted in the opening quotes once again serves as a portal for understanding the geographic, physical, and sonic spatial contexts for the performance of the scene. The descriptions of the event at Yellow reveal that the location in Tokyo, the structure and nature of the performance space itself, and the background sounds fi lling the room all inform the ultimate performance and quality of play in the scene: with its hard to fi nd location, the dirty bar used as a backstage area, unusual construction of the stage on a fl oor intended for dancing, and rare DJ spinning dance music not typically connected to a hardcore event. The reviewer comments that the “unusual atmosphere” made him or her feel “rather cozy,” establishing
the mood for the performance to come. Both the concert review and backstage narrative serve the purpose of placing the performance of the bands in context, describing the location within Tokyo, the particulars of the clubturned-livehouse, and the musical sounds that intersect to provide a space for the performance of hardcore that night. Space, thus, refers to not only the actual physical sites that inhabit the scene, but also to more abstract locations, such as the sonic space, as well as the imagined space of the scene in totality, that both inform and are informed by the quality of performance.1
