For nearly 45 years, Bauhaus has answered the age-old question, ‘What if a bar was run by musicians who all shred really, really hard?’
As you walk into the Roppongi venue, you’ll pay for your ticket, be shown to your seat, buy a drink from the bar, and before you know it, everyone you just interacted with will be absolutely crushing it on stage. It’s kind of like a plush rock n’ roll lounge bar where the staff are the stars of the show.
The bar has a menu of over 200 classic rock and pop tracks that the staff know like the back of their respective dexterous hands. And, as you’re seated, you’ll be provided a copy of the track list and a piece of paper to write requests on.
The room has around five booths, 10 tables, and some of the most elaborate production you’ve seen for a venue of its size – think huge columns of smoke, lasers, and crystal-clear sound. They’ve got a pretty good food and drink menu, too, with pizza, buffalo wings, nachos and signature cocktails.
Each night features five 30-minute sets, with just the right amount of banter and crowd engagement in English and Japanese. If you’re into any classic rock or pop from the last five decades, you’re pretty much guaranteed to hear more than a handful of your favourite tracks.
Despite the ostensibly corny nature of the whole premise, Bauhaus manages to pull it off without coming off as cheesy. It knows exactly what it’s doing and manages to do it with all the earnest flair of a 10-minute extended ‘Free Bird’ solo.