A true Tokyo icon returns with its most treasured guest

Ten years ago, to the day, Tokyo lost one of its most famous nightclubs when Yellow shut its doors, but it went out in style. After welcoming any house legend you care to mention from Frankie Knuckles and Derrick Carter to Kerri Chandler and Larry Heard, the club bowed out with a marathon 30 hour set from one the DJs most intimately related with the Space Lab Yellow party – Francois K.

A world-class DJ and producer for longer than nearly anyone else in the game, Francois K has been instrumental in many of dance music’s great epochs, from disco to house and beyond. He was there when the Paradise Garage and Studio 54 ruled New York in the 80s, and then re-wrote the rulebook all over again when he helped launch the Body & Soul parties in the 90s.

Now he’s returning to Tokyo ten years to the day that Yellow closed, to help commemorate the legendary club. In keeping with the adventurous spirit of Space Lab Yellow, and indeed Francois K as a DJ, he’ll be joined by Yoshinori Hayashi. The Japanese artist is one of the brightest and most unusual talents to emerge in recent times, fusing together otherworldly tapestries of rhythm, found sounds, instrumentation and other sonic matter. Beyond his releases on Going Good, Jinn and many more, Hayashi brings his wayward spirit to DJing, fusing danceable forms and other more esoteric sounds with a graceful yet unpredictable approach.

Maintaining the original spirit of Yellow, Tadashi Yabe from the now-defunct jazz funk project United Future Organization will also be appearing. Alongside him are Japanese techno and trance legend DJ K.U.D.O. aka ARTMAN and Francois’Wave Music affiliate Toshiyuki Goto. The three DJs were all regular fixtures at Yellow during its peak years, so they’re sure to faithfully conjure up the atmosphere of the club. Completing this special occasion is a photo exhibition by Meisa Fujishiro, whose latest photographic documentary 90 Nights has put that very period on the map again. It all heightens an expectation for a memorable night that joins the dots between today’s musical landscape and what has influenced it.

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