History
"It started as a dream. A vision, a calculated realistic reflection of a new era for a new generation, the Digital generation."
Juliana's, or to be precise Juliana's Tokyo, was a "British" discotheque that operated in Shibaura, Minato ku , Tokyo, Japan in the 1990s. It became famous for its dance platforms on which otherwise shy office ladies would strut their stuff while dressed in sexually flattering club wear called "bodycon" or "body conscious" style . The Club was designed, produced and operated on behalf of its Japanese partners by Juliana's Leisure Group which was owned in turn by the British leisure services group Wembley PLC and Nissho Iwai Corporation.
Well the Club was finished, the investors money more than spent. The staff had been selected and were busy training. The DJs were adjusting to life in Japan. The stage was set for a roller coaster journey in the middle of the Japanese bubble economy. No one knew quite what to expect when we started. Sure the Club looked great and had a distinctive flair but how would the Japanese people take to it?
The Club interior was an eclectic mix of styles which when combined with the stunning murals and specialist wall finishes used throughout ensured that even if empty of people, there was always plenty to look at in the Club.
Opening its doors officially on the 15th of May 1991, the Juliana's team started working their collective magic. The technical team tidied up the installation and almost immediately began the task of modifying equipment to suit the newly identified needs of the operation. The DJs and creative team not only worked at Juliana's Tokyo itself but also began the important task of networking around Tokyo, establishing what people really liked and wanted and seeking out all the current hottest nightspots in Town. Other club managers continued putting in place and refining the operational controls and procedures that would ensure we would satisfy our customers when they came.
Why was it called Juliana's anyway?
Well , according to Tom Vaughan who started Juliana's with his brother Oliver, the Company was so named after their good friend Juliana Noel who was the eldest daughter of the Earl of Gainsborough.
Using a Girls name then was all the rage with Anabelles, Angeligue's and Samantha's being the names of popular clubs in London at the time. (circa 1967).
The name Juliana's was then used at many of the Clubs operated by the Company around the world. Each one becoming part of the Juliana's family and sharing DJs, music and video software, management and technical support. These services were provided to the Clubs from one of three regional Julianas offices in the UK, America and Singapore.
Most of the Julianas Clubs were located in exclusive Five Star Hotels around the world, but there were a few standalone operations. The big developments for Julianas were Barcelona, Istanbul and of course Tokyo.
The first year
The first year was spent getting to know the place and more importantly getting down to the professional business of running a Nightclub. From the start Gary was pushing his dream and setting out goals that seemed so lofty that frankly at times we wondered if he was on the same planet.
As each small goal was reached another one was set for us to try for. DJs came and went as we tried to find a core nucleus of people that understood what we were trying to do and had the skills and personality to get us there. As the Club grew more and more successful everybody's roles changed and got more and more defined. More staff were taken on as individual roles grew and the lines of responsibility became clearer. Parking a few VIP cars at the weekend is one thing but parking a never ending stream of expensive vehicles very night is something else. As the numbers attending the Club increased each operation team worked harder and harder expanding as finances became available.
Juliana's money
Juliana's Tokyo was a cashless Club. Rather than have tills (and cash floats) located everywhere, we operated a simple drink ticket system at all the Food and Beverage outlets in the Club. Tickets were then exchanged at the bars for your drinks, with a Beer being two tickets..
You got your first book of tickets at the entrance when you paid your entrance fee and when you had used those up you could purchase more at the retail desk. Being British of course we just had to have tickets printed to resemble Britsh Pound Notes.
Juliana's Tokyo - USEN broadcasting
Taking the sound of the Club into people homes every night by broadcasting on the Japanese USEN cable network did not require much technically as all we had to do was hook up a live feed from the DJ booth into the cable modem. It did mean however that DJs had to be careful when speaking on the microphone. The fact that the Club was broadcasting directly into peoples homes across Japan was something. This was a foretaste of the use of the internet which many clubs use today to stream their material direct to people.
Road Rave Review 93
Taking Juliana's Tokyo on the road around Japan with the Road Rave Review in 1993, was a major task. The DJs, Dancers and our small technical team all traveling mostly via Shinkansen across Japan. The technical equipment traveling by road to the various venues to set up the Lighting and audio system not to mention the almost mandatory Dance stages for the customers.
The tour covered Sapporo, Hakodate, Niigata, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Fukuoka. It gave us all a chance to really see Japan albeit each place only briefly and to meet some wonderful people. It also allowed each town to see what the Juliana's experience was all about. I like to think that we did give everyone that came a time they could remember.
The schedule was always the same. Arrive at the train station at whatever town we supposed to be in and immediately arrange transport for everyone. Creative types to the Hotel to rest and for the techies immediately off to the venue to check the set up and get things ready for the stars of tonight's show.
Normally everything was fine but setting up a temporary DJ booth so that the Bass did not affect the turntables could be tricky, at least until we had the sound crew transport a few blocks of concrete everywhere we were to appear to weight things down if need be. Another worthwhile trick we learnt was to use half a tennis ball as an anti vibration mount for the turntables.
Juliana's Tokyo - live shows
These shows more than our increasingly routine live events in the Club took up a full day. Each time it involved disrupting the Club throughout the day with the running of a myriad of cables for additional lighting, audio and video cameras from outside the main entrance into the DJ Booth or sometimes above it. It also involved setting up numerous midi keyboards, drum kits and other instruments on the stage in addition to any extra lighting or special effects that were required on stage.
The as the live acts arrive with their managers and entourage, DAT tape or CD backing tracks are handed over and each act given a chance to run through so we see cue points and arrive at the optimum setting for the equipment. All this going on while the rest of the staff are going about their duties of stocking the Bars etc and generally getting ready for the evening.
Finally when the last act is happy, set and cue lists are confirmed marked up and copied, the live mixer markings are written down and a final check undertaken of the communications system between the DJ booth, live mixing desk, lighting operator, stage operator and follow spot positions. With final instructions to the DJs to touch nothing unless one of the technical team is there, we retire briefly to get something to eat before the show begins.
Show time. With a hurried Good Luck everybody resounding in my headset, the lights dim and the MC begins working the crowd. As the DAT track cues up and begins playing the Stage erupts into life and we are off.
Each show had its own problems and as we grew in experience we learnt how to make life easier for ourselves. Spare radio microphones plus wired microphones as additional back up. Spare DAT and CD players in the booth already wired up. Plans A, B, and sometimes C for when things don't go to plan. Brad working stage left persuading, cajoling and sometimes bullying people to be in the right place at the right time. Me I was either behind the Live desk in the DJ booth or up in the follow spot position.
As well as the communications headset, it became standard to have a walkie talkie as well to talk directly to Brad. This was backed up by a laser pointer, if all else failed I could contact someone visually to get them to put their headset on and talk to me.
The numerous live events produced in the Club every month featuring such artists as Praga Khan, 2 Unlimited, SL2, The Prodigy, TRF, MC Hammer and many more.
Once the show was over, the customers departing happy and the rest of the team seeming to be up in the VIP Bar congratulating themselves on a job well done, the technical team began the task of breaking everything down.
All DAT and CDs returned to the relevant managers - Check
All rental equipment accounted for and packed away ready for collection - Check.
All our additional equipment in the booth re cased and stored - Check.
Stage area clear of equipment and risers stored - Check
All cables checked, coiled and stored away - Check
All external video cables and equipment removed - Check
Live mixer controls set to zero - Check
Hand the booth back to the DJs, final check around the Club for anything left behind, say sayonara to the rental guys and see their trucks off the premises and finally a few beers in VIP before its home to bed and get ready for another day. I wouldn't have had it any other way. I was able to put in practice a lot of things I had only learnt in theory and also learnt more than I could ever have been taught. many of the contractors we used for these shows became friends and often gave us valuable insight into just what was possible in Japan and how Japanese people might view some of our ideas.
Juliana's Live - TV Show
This was just like our increasingly routine live shows but with even more external equipment. Often the entire bridge above the DJ booth was taken up by fixed HD camera positions and even more cables snaking down the stairs and out of the Club to the Outside Braodcast vans parked beside the entrance.
Within a few days Matt Taylor would be back with the rushes from the latest show and then finally we could set the timers on our VCR's and watch ourselves on television. How cool did we feel.
Other Juliana's Clubs in Japan
As well as Juliana's Tokyo itself, there were three other Clubs operated by us in Japan. "Keynotes" which was in the Portopia hotel in Kobe pre dated Juliana's by a number of years. It was never a Rave type Club but under the direction of Alan Gibson and Masa, it provided a sophisticated 5 star entertainment experience. In the Green Tower hotel in Makuhari in Chiba was yet another 5 star hotel type Club. Although again the style nothing like Juliana's Tokyo both made use of all the skills and dedication of the Juliana's staff to address the needs of their audience. The third Club in Japan was "Xy" in Osaka, where David 3D Ward opened. The Osaka crowd loved the energy but the vibe was different from Tokyo with a much harder edge to the music and the decor.
The Last Day of Juliana's Tokyo
9am and I am trudging up the stairs outside the Club to the Office and already there is a gaggle of people waiting by the main entrance to the Club. Mrs O;Gawa informs me that these people are indeed already queuing for the final night of Juliana's Tokyo.
The rest of my day is spent setting up the equipment for the stage show, the live music performances and seeing to the requirements the video and TV crews that are now occupying the walkway immediately above the DJ Booth. The day passes quickly and outside the hum of generators and OB vans fills the air accompanied by the sound of more and more people waiting for the final evening. By the time we break for something to eat and I get a chance to walk back to my apartment for thirty minutes quiet, the queue to get in stretches all the way to Tamatchi station. The crowd is good natured with some familiar faces amongst them. Club staff walk up and down the line thanking customers for the patronage and there are moist eyes amongst both staff and customers as they say their goodbyes.
Leaving my apartment, I again take the short walk back to the Club. The queue is no shorter in fact it now goes all the way into the Station. Policemen are now patrolling along the crowd but everything is polite and good natured.
We decide that the best thing to do is to run multiple sets. Fill the club run through our performance and then clear the Club to allow the next crowd a chance, otherwise we will be having the longest goodbye in History. I ask myself why didn't I think of doing just that anyway. Who would have thought that we could have affected so many people so much that we could have filled a stadium to capacity on our final night.
As I near the Port Bowl building I can see Mr Shibata, Mrs O'Gawa and the rest of the Office staff outside the Club doing a roaring trade selling just about every piece of merchandise we have ever made from some hastily erected stalls. They can hardly keep up with the trade and their smiles tell me they are enjoying every single minute of it.
The Party itself is a blur as far as I am concerned, there's just so much to do. DJ sets, live performances, stage changes. Brad and I end up communicating by laser pointer and headset. There is just no way you can force your way through the crowd between the stage and the DJ booth. Above the booth the bridge is alive with cables and cameras all snaking their way to the outside broadcast equipment parked alongside the main entrance. Then when its all done, clear the Club and start again.
The crowd just do not want to go. We are on our fourth encore after a full nights work of continuous power sets, every record has been played and played and we've said our last hurrahs but none of us feels tired. In fact just the opposite. As the final arrigato gozaimashita, sayonara dies away, we bring the lights up once more and begin encouraging the crowd to go home and please take care until we meet again.
The staff all hang around talking, saying goodbye to their regular customers and each other and generally making light of the fact that the closure of the Club will leave a big hole in all our lives. Even with all the House lights up the Club still looks exciting at least to me.
Finally only Juliana's Tokyo staff both past and present plus a few well known friends and customers are left. The TV cameras have been switched off and the trucks containing the stage equipment are mostly gone. Now its just us.
I don't quite know who suggested it but someone simply said how about a party for us now. That was it, a hurried conversation in the DJ booth, a glance towards me and Naitoh for general agreement and we were off for yet one more ride of the roller coaster that was Juliana's Tokyo.
The Bars were now empty, It looked like everyone present had at least as many drinks as they could possibly want. The final Stage was set.
John Robinson and David "3D" Ward once more took control of the booth. I was left to run the video side and the extra lighting equipment. Having patched the Fairlight, cued up the Kaleidolight effects unit and positioned the video cameras to my satisfaction I waited with a lump in my throat. Then in partnership with the rest of the entertainment team the lights were dimmed one more time to give our own family a night they could remember forever.
Rank, nationality, job title it no longer seemed to matter. Everyone just wanted to say goodbye to our home in a fitting manner.
I forget now which track we launched with but it had to have been a signature techno number. Just dimming the lights caused a frenzy amongst the staff as they realized what was going on and as one they seemed to run onto the dance and the stage to take up positions so often occupied by our customers.
I won't bore you with the story of the whole evening but I can remember eventually leaving the Club at 7 am and being amazed at the brilliant sunshine outside. Somewhere during the evening I had lost my shirt but it didn't matter. We had said goodbye to the Club, the staff and our customers properly and with a style that no one could ever take away from us.
Footnote:
On arriving home at Bay Court at the end of it all I was amazed to discover that one of the TV crews had come back to collect their equipment in the early hours of the morning astounded to see the Club in full swing and had decided to broadcast live that morning so not only did we make the evening news but also the breakfast bulletin.
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