Tokyo Joes(Bangkok) Review by Werewolf

Posted by werewolf | Blog, Reader Submissions | Posted on October 8th, 2007

A few months back I went to Soi 24 for a night of music at Tokyo Joes Blues Bar, and was surprised to find it closed. I was pleased to learn later that TJs had simply moved to a new location on Soi 26 (opposite the Tara Hotel ).

On Sunday I met a friend at the new location to check out the new venue. Tokyo Joes new location has a comfortable brick and wood interior, with a roomy stage and good sound system. Most nights professional musicians take the stage around 9:30 , but on Sundays there is an open jam that is advertised as starting at 5:30.

I arrived at 5:30, but the music didn’t actually get started until close to 6:30. Not to worry – I hadn’t had dinner, so I checked out the food menu. There was a pasta special; for 180 baht you got a plate of spaghetti and a glass of wine. I ordered the meatball spaghetti, and was pleasantly surprised to get a good sized plate, with a half dozen large meatballs, flavorful sauce, shaved parmesan cheese and grated dried parmesan on the side. The red wine was good quality… all in all a very good value at 180 baht.

My friend showed up about 6:15, just in time for the music. The first set was 4 Thai guys, and while the music wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. In spite of TJs appellation as a Blues Bar, the music was jazz, with a guitar, bass, drums and sax. After a 20 minute break the same guys came back for a second set and they seemed to find their groove. The guitarist took it up several notches, and the sound was great, with several solos by each musician on stage. At one point a fifth guy took the stage with a second guitar and changed the tone of the music by playing a couple of cool and talented solos, then left the stage as quickly as he had shown up.

During the break between the second and third set there was a complete changeover in musicians, with all the Thais leaving and a bunch of Ferang showing up with their instruments. By this time I was feeling pretty happy, having shared several pitchers of Singha with my friend.

I met Jeff, the very tall fellow who runs the bar. He had a North American accent, but I don’t know if he is American or Canadian. We had a disagreement over a minor issue which was my fault, but which also put me in a foul mood so it seemed time to leave as the third set began. My friend, who hadn’t had any problems decided to stay, because he was really enjoying the music and the mood. Jeff seemed normally to be a very nice guy, so if you go into the bar please introduce yourself and give him my best.

Pitchers were 250 baht and seemed to pour about 3 mugs each; the total bill came to about 2,800 baht, so we made a fair dent in the keg.

All in all, Tokyo Joes is a great option for a night out. A long walk or short motorcycle ride from Phrom Phong station, with a simple but comfortable décor, good service, free live entertainment, good food, decent drink prices and open 7 days a week, Tokyo Joes is worth a visit just about anytime.

Tokyo Joes has a simple website: http://www.tokyojoesbkk.com/

9 comments
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9 Responses to “Tokyo Joes(Bangkok) Review by Werewolf”

  1. Andy says:
    October 8, 2007 at 5:52 pm

    ….reminds me of the Saxophone Club at Victory Monument….does anyone know if that still exists?

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  2. bkk22 says:
    October 8, 2007 at 6:20 pm

    Last I heard a few months ago it was still open.

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  3. the-adventurer says:
    October 8, 2007 at 8:47 pm

    I was actually at Saxophone on Sat night, first time in at least 8 months. Have also been to Tokyo’s. I would say the quality of the muso’s at Sax is far superior as a general rule but I still enjoy Tokyos.

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  4. Combover says:
    October 9, 2007 at 12:53 pm

    Anyone heard those Thai Beat A Go-Go CDs? 1960s Thai beat combos thrashing Thai language versions or rip offs of popular American tracks of the time.

    Look here for details if you haven’t heard them.

    http://www.amazon.com/Thai-Beat-Go-Go-Vol-1/dp/B00064X80Y

    It’s great stuff, but I’m wondering if these kind of bands still play anywhere around Bangkok. Would love to hear them. In Ho Chi Minh, there are Vietnam War era bands who are playing again after 25 years of being underground.

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  5. Anthony says:
    January 4, 2008 at 8:37 pm

    As a Bangkok long time resident, a guitar lover and blues lover in particular, I have been a good customer of Tokyo Joe’s over the years.

    It is indeed a great venue in Bangkok with no other places really matching up for the friendliness of the staff and the authenticity of the music. And I agree Saxophone definitely displays better gigs but when it comes to living the night, TJ comes first. And I have spent some of my best nights in Bangkok in good company at TJ.

    But I have to stay, prices did go through the roof since TJ moved. It could be a gracious cause for survival but I expect my prime underground venue to remain affordable. And today it has unfortunately reached my budget limit. So I sadly go there only once in a while now.

    TJ, if you hear me, not all your customers are rich expats. We love you and need you. Keep your rates reasonable. And bring new blues blood in, it keeps the place alive.

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  6. Dukebocks says:
    February 25, 2009 at 12:25 am

    As of Feb 2009 Tokyo Joes had closed down. A quote from another website went like this <> That’s too bad. Guess they didn’t follow Anthony’s advice about keeping the place alive by bringing in new blues blood.

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  7. Dukebocks says:
    February 25, 2009 at 12:33 am

    Here is the quote that got missed out above “Tokyo Joe’s went the same way as so many other bars owned by musicians with no business acumen that are run mainly to provide themselves with gigs that they would not otherwise get.”

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  8. sideshowBOB says:
    February 25, 2009 at 12:39 am

    my guess is TJ will be on a long list of many places that wont survive the wwff, the airport mess and the political morass we call thailand. not sure I would be so hard on the place.

    View all comments by sideshowBOB

  9. Blues Fan in Bangkok says:
    August 21, 2009 at 8:26 pm

    I watched TJs fall apart over its short life in Soi 26 – never knew it in its earlier location, unfortunately.

    Some of the above comments are harsh, particularly the ones about management setting it up purely to give themselves gigs, which was neither fair nor particularly true. The Soi Dogs (with manager Jeff up front) were probably the most successful draw in the bar, almost always filling most of the seats on Fridays and Saturdays.

    Sometimes the jam nights were brilliant, but often they were far from great. The sometimes host’s songs all had the same identical melody, and he was monotony personified.

    I think the real problems the bar had were simple economic ones. Costs were too high, and revenue never great enough to see the bar break even across the month (never mind that on some nights it was surely making a LOT of money on the night; I suspect that average sales never met the monthly bills).

    The town (and the Bangkok blues scene) is a lot poorer for it closing down. I hope that rumors of it coming back to life are more than just rumors.

    View all comments by Blues Fan in Bangkok

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