Yuyake Lamp At Heaven's Door

The Heaven's Door in Sangenjyaya is known as a hardcore club, its bathroom walls coated with layers of graffiti, and its employees covered with tattoos. So it was a surprise that it was where mellow piano pop group Yuyake Lamp did their first gig of the year.

Yuyake Lamp, which is Orange Plankton minus pianist Yuki, is due to release their first single in March, and several video cameras filmed their show, maybe for a promotion video. Neither Orange Plankton nor Yuyake Lamp ever exploded in popularity, but things may be looking up for them in 2007: several of their songs have been used in TV commercials, and one tune is being played as background music at ski slopes across Japan. A movie director is producing Yuyake Lamp's single--no doubt he's one of those of us who became smitten by the group's sublime melodies and vocalist Yumi's singing, which is soft, but as intensely emotional as any hardcore singer that headlines the Heaven's Door.