To help out with the costs involved with a three-week hospital stay and brain surgery, the friends she’s made in Beijing are rallying together and hosting a party at Lantern on April 6. Dubbed Party For The Awesome Miao, all of the ticket sales will go towards hospital fees, and you’ll get to dance to some of the best names in EDM - DJ Weng Weng, Elvis.T, Chozie, Patrick Yu and Saul D.

More Info: http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/events/106393/
I might not be the biggest fan of electronic music but those guys have their work cut out for them and Miao is leading the charge with smile, even from her hospital bed!!! and that is Rock n Roll.

To quote my friend Alex, 加油Miao

1- How is post Beijing life treating you and what’s been keeping you busy now that Red Rock is out?
Post-bj life is great. Mellow. Very not rock and roll, really. But nice. My wife and I own a house and a dog and a backyard and it’s great. I work as a publicist for Harbourfront Centre, a cultural organization and venue on Toronto’s waterfront that hosts all kinds of festivals, events, exhibitions, dance/thatre performances, concerts, etc, most of which is free.

2- I’m curious.. What made you decide to write the book? Was there a sort of Eureka moment or was it a long process?
The short answer is that Earnshaw Books put out a call for writers. I answered it. The longer answer is related to that feeling I think many expats have, which is, I have a perspective that is worthy of getting out into the world. I knew that the story of yaogun was one that ought to be told, and I didn’t want someone else to be the one to tell it. Once I started writing, the eureka moments happened over and over every time a Yaogunner told me about how rock and roll changed their lives.

3- I had to read Red Rock twice to just begin digesting all the information in there. What kind of feedback have you gotten from outsiders about it and does that differ from any feedback you might have gotten from the Chinese?
The problem I have is that Chinese people can’t read it yet. Only Hao Fang has read it and when he told me he thought it was good, I was so relieved and honoured — I really didn’t know how he was going to feel about it. But the Chinese reaction is very important to me, because it is a China story, so I look forward to hearing from more people here. I was really surprised at how well some critics and people back home reacted to it — the blurb quotes I got from people really blew me away, and that says to me that yaogun has a chance outside of this country.
Any plans to to get the book translated/published in China then?
Absolutely, yes, I want to see it in Chinese, and so do a lot of people here.
But going from that on to having a Chinese translation is something very different.

4- The Jon Campbell I met years ago was a Musician/promoter. Today’s Jon Campbell is a writer. Is that a fair assessment and if so, how are the two different?
It took me a long time to call myself ‘promoter’ even when what I was doing was promoting. Partly that’s because I didn’t come from a music biz background and I didn’t know what that meant. Partly that’s because I did so much more than what a promoter does — I learned, after having done it for a while, that back home, there are several different people that do the things I was doing: The booking agent, the tour manager, the road manager, the promoter. So ‘promoter’ sounded limited. I was always a musician, and one thing I’ve learned is that I’ll always be a musician. But from very early in my China time, I always considered myself a writer first and foremost. There’s only one Jon Campbell, though.

5- Your name came up in a conversation a while back and the consensus was: ” Never thought he’d be the one to leave China”. Hind sight 20/20, now that the book is finished, are you still OK with that decision?

I understand why people say that about me, and there was probably a point in time when I figured I would be in China forever. But leaving when I did was definitely the right decision. I love Beijing, and I loved living here, but I am so happy living in Toronto. To the point where it’s nice to see Beijing again, but I’m also really psyched to get back home to Toronto.

they're coming back to the scene of the crime on tonight

6- Back to Red Rock for a second… seeing that you were such an integral part of the scene, how did you manage to stay so objective? Did you skip over the 2000s because the bulk of your involvement was in that era?

I wouldn’t say I skipped over the 2000s; I write about what was going on all the way up to pretty much last year. I didn’t focus the whole book on the 2000s, though — despite the fact that my intial plan was a book about the scene in the 2000s, because I was there. My assumption was what I was seeing was the most amazing/exciting/important time in yaogun’s life — of course it was: I was there! But the realization that the path TO the 2000s was a fundamental part of what makes yaogun yaogun meant that serious energy had to be put toward showing what got us TO the 2000s. I was objective — as much as was possible — because I wasn’t telling MY yaogun story, I was telling THE yaogun story.

7- This one is a bit redundant because clearly the book covers it. you seem to be going the extra mile in trying to put that crowbar separation between Yaogun and Rock. I’ve read your reasons on the book but could you explain the major difference for the readers briefly, especially from a non-geographical perspective?

Yaogun is not simply a chinese word for rock music, and yaogun at its best is not simply rock music that comes from China. Yaogun is the music that was created as a result of the special circumstances created by China’s journey through the last thirty-odd years. Rock music came into China from the outside world, but within a few years, had been taken in and processed and what came back out again was something very different and it’s something I can hear, but it’s not something easily put into words. But I know it when I hear/see it. Yaogun embodies that to which rock and roll used to aspire because the people that originally took to it were influenced and attracted both musically and philosophically by rock music, and took that idea and created yaogun. Choosing yaogun is choosing a way of life, and it’s a way of life that most people in China, to this day, cannot conceive of. It still means something to make that choice because society tells you that you don’t have a choice.

8-Word Association: for each of the following, write the first thing that comes to your mind

- Cui Jian: Underappreciated.
- 2 Kolegas: niu
- Wu Hao & Kang Mao: Happily Down.
- Dai Qin: Proof that rock can change lives.
- Yaogun: Rock and roll’s future.
- D-22, MIDI, Modern Sky: Too soon to tell.
- Black Cat Bone: RandomK(e)

9- Cui Jian was the flag bearer of Socialy-aware Yaogun for years, Xie Tian Xiao won’t touch that flag with a 10 foot pole. I read an interview with Kang Mao where she said that the time for Yaogun to carry a heavy message is over, at least from her perspective. It’s all about entertaining nowadays. Where does Yaogun stand in modern day China?

As I said in question 7, the choice to yaogun says a lot more than any lyrics can. So there is still a message. There is a great moment in the documentary Down where kang mao is addressing a festival crowd in the outskirts of Changsha, and says, in a nutshell, imagine if a ton of people loved yaogun like you do — you, in this case, being a crowd of people there for cui jian who have never seen a live rock show before —- what a great country China could be. Entertaining is not, in and of itself, necessarily bad. It’s just about the motivation for what you’re doing. Subs has a line “Please don’t waste this music”, and that makes a lot of sense. If you’re not ‘socially-aware’, you’re not playing yaogun. Nobody’s coming right out and telling people what to do, because, for one, that’d be dumb, and for two, that’s just lazy. Yaogun is asking questions, it’s never being satisfied with the status quo, just because it’s the status quo.

10- Is Red Rock the legacy of your relationship with China or is it just a beginning?
This is only the beginning. There’s more where this came from, for sure.

Big big thanks to Jon for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions… I had a few other but he had already addressed a lot of my questions in an earlier interview the guys over at Shanghai’s Layabozi:
http://layabozi.com/2012/03/jonathan-campbell-spreading-yaogun-recalling-rocks-quest/

Catch Jon during his tour of Beijing at the Following:

Friday Night March 16 8:00pm Pop Up Beijing @ the Bookworm

Friday/Saturday night, 1:00 AM Black Cat Bone Final Show @ 2 Kolegas

Saturday March 17th 4:00 pm Chinese Rock Panel @ the Bookworm w/ Hao Fang and Nathaniel Davis

More about Jon and Red Rock over at
http://www.jonathanwcampbell.com/

Well, since Jon is coming for a visit as part of the Bookworm Literary Festival to talk about his book, Red Rock, -the quitters retirees slackers good folks that made up hell raising, bourbon and white russian guzzling bloozers- Black Cat Bone will take out the suits from the old closet, put a little deodorant or baby powder on them and head over to 2 Kolegas friday night for the farewell performance they never gave.

This will happen after the regularly scheduled show with Devils at the Crossroad, Flaming Heat and End of the World

So, the flyer says it all….. This.will.be.rough……

Don’t forget Jon’s talk at the bookworm Saturday March 17th at 4:00 pm. He will be joined by music critic Han Fan in a talk moderated by Nathaniel Davis of Split Works. It’s a joint Jue Festival & BLF event.

Fast forward a few years, things have changed and it’s apparently time to waive Voodoo Kungfu goodbye as their frontman and musical soul, Li Nan is headed out to Berklee College of Music. The announcement was made through his weibo account also announcing a farewell tour sometime this spring. Here’s hoping it’s a grandiose and befitting celebration of a unique monster. All of Voodoo Kungfu’s tunes are now available for download on their douban page for personal use and hopefully not for abuse.

Voodoo is one of the most interesting acts still and Li Nan definitely had a lot to do with it. I’m sure something will come out of his time stateside! You can also follow the band on weibo for some interesting tidbits and historical facts that Li Nan has been posting lately about the music, logos, makeup, influences etc…

http://weibo.com/voodookungfu

I don’t think many people will understand how special of an artist China is losing… I’ll refers you to this slightly outdated, but nevertheless relevant, interview by Gary Temple for City Weekend a few years back:
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/the-beat/voodoo-kungfu-and-the-coming-dark-age/

Up from the abyss, thirty-stories high, Voodoo Kungfu rises in a blood-soaked cry. But this is not your father’s metal band—this is a new demon, hissing of a dark new age, of truth and transcendence in this life. Brainchild of visionary vocalist Li Nan, Voodoo Kungfu comes to this year’s Midi Festival soaked in venom and ready to feed.

couldn’t have said it better if i tried!

Get the songs here:
http://site.douban.com/voodookungfu/

I’m just really hoping that in the farewell tour, they bring back the orchestra side of the band to make it a thundering memorable goodbye! They should go out on top as one of the most interesting acts to come out of the mainland.

Now, ArtSpace China, courtesy of the University of Sydney, has gone ahead an published their own interview with the Feng lady while she’s touring down-under with NovaHeart. and it’s a good one: Helen touches on the current Chinese music scene, GLBT and more.

http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/artspacechina/2012/02/nova_heart_helen_feng.html

Some choice quotes:

[The Music Scene in Beijing] It’s huge – it’s getting bigger and bigger. And although it is starting to split out into different genres there is still a lot of crossover. There’s kind of a roots punk scene, and a metal scene, but in the end people just hang out with each other.

or

China is an independent culture, and people get that. It’s not Hong Kong, because Hong Kong was a British colony. And it’s not Taiwan – Taiwan basically became an outpost for the US military, like Korea. And so even though all these cultures supposedly hold onto more traditionalism than China, what they didn’t hold onto was an idea of country and state. I don’t think Taiwanese people feel this mass feeling of country and state. They feel like they got kicked out of their country and now they have the US looking after them! They don’t have this sense of self.

and much more…

It’s definitely worth a read even if you don’t agree with all she says!

Well, one of these people is leaving us and it’s quite a sad thing in my book… a big loss: Michelle Dai, who has brilliantly held the post of Live Music Editor at The Beijinger, is leaving the job and the city in pursuit of other adventures!

I still remember when Michelle first made an impression on yours truly, with her live music roundup that covered the reunion of giants (he yong, cui jian, etc…)

Earlier this week, while I was having dinner in a restaurant in Gui Jie, He Yong walked in and sat at the table right next to ours. All of a sudden I felt my heartbeat accelerating. In order to explain my feelings to my friend – a financial journalist who has close to zero interest in rock music – I said: “Imagine if the ex-managing director of China Citic Bank just randomly walked in and sat down next to you.”

More than 15 years ago, in the spring of 1994, three men – He Yong, Dou Wei, Zhang Chu (aka “The Three Heroes of Mo Yan” 魔岩三杰 ) – released hugely significant albums at the same time. Later that year, they went on tour to Hong Kong along with Tang Dynasty. That concert is still considered a milestone of Chinese rock music. In the same year, Cui Jian released his third album, Balls Under The Red Flags. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call that year the climax of rock music in China. Too bad that the milestone probably marked the end of a highway. There have been many long discussions about whether the rockers walked further and further away from Chinese people’s impression of rock music or the struggle against “the powers that be” sealed the fate of rock & roll in China. It didn’t take much time for rock music to go back underground.

Why am I repeating all these clichés? Because all the abovementioned rock stars (except Dou Wei) and nine other bands and musicians are likely to set another milestone tonight at Workers’ Stadium at the Rock Heroes’ Concert. The roster also includes names like Xu Wei, Wang Feng, Black Panther, Pu Shu, Zheng Jun, Shuang Zi from the mainland; Qi Qin and Xin from Taiwan; and Huang Jiaqiang (Beyond) from Hong Kong. If Dou Wei were to show up (as some rumors insist he will) along with Luo Dayou from Taiwan, and if Huang Jiaju, the former lead vocalist of Beyond, were to be resurrected for a single evening, tonight’s stage would feature practically everybody who has had an impact on Chinese rock music in the past 20 years.

In any case, you will be able to see Luo at the Greatwall Tanglewood Music Festival. And I was so curious about the rumor of Dou Wei (and Faye Wong?!) presence at the Rock Heroes’ Concert that I screwed up my courage, turned to He Yong at the next table, and asked him if it was true. He denied it.

This is still one of my favorite pieces of hers… it’s got personality, personal story and good/solid background knowledge!As the year went, Michelle’s coverage of the music scene got better with each article, each post and each interview and I’ve learned to seek and respect her opinions…. now, I’ll miss them. I’ve also enjoyed the brief conversations we’ve had about music, tattoos and other random blabbers.

Thank you Michelle! Here’s wishing you the best of luck and success for your future endeavors…

Keep on Rocking!

The first set of answers came indirectly from good friend Kaiser Kuo on his goodbye column that you can read here:
http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2011/11/03/Auf-Wiedersehen-Ein-Beijinger-Says-Goodbye

This saturday, a very distinguished panel of what i consider knowledgeable China Hands will gather at Capital M at 4 PM and dissect Beijing’s Soul, if it’s got any… Danwei’s Jeremy Goldkorn, David Moser, Kaiser Kuo and author Zha Jianying will be the surgeons in charge of said dissection.

This Saturday, December 3, CET and Sinica will present “The Soul of Beijing,” a live podcast event about where Beijing is and where the city could be going as it barrels into the future, at Beijing’s Capital M restaurant. From the event page:

Where is Beijing headed in the 21st century? What sort of city is it morphing into? Has it found a way to maintain its role as political and cultural capital while keeping its historical character and ineffable personality? Why do we still love it so, despite it’s toxic air, its horrific traffic, its disastrous fengshui? And is it in danger of losing its soul?

Join us for a lively and thoughtful discussion with Renaissance man Kaiser Kuo , author Zha Jianying (”China Pop” and “Tide Players”), sinologist David Moser, and Jeremy Goldkorn of Danwei.com, all long-time Beijing residents.

Tickets for the event cost 65 yuan (US$10.21) or 20 yuan ($3.14) for students, and include a drink.
http://www.m-restaurantgroup.com/capitalm/event-detail/events/kaiser-kuos-sinica-podcast.html

The Soul of Beijing
December 3, 2011, 4:00 PM
Capital M Beijing
3/F, No.2 Qianmen Pedestrian Street (south of Tian’anmen Square)
中国北京市前门步行街2号3层
Tel: (86-10) 6702-2727

I’m actually a bit pissed it’s happening at a time when I just can’t be there on account of bookswap but I strongly recommend this.

note: pictures inspired by Quirky Beijing

Froog has been around Beijing for quite some time enjoying the Beijing’s alehouses, livehouses and other establishments scattered mostly in the gulou area. He’s seen many an establishment come and go, many a band disband and has kept his brand of extremely BIASED sarcasm (some might say grumpiness) intact through it all.
Sure we disagree on a few things ( think donkeys) but we also happen to share an appreciation for all things music in Beijing. Froog has been a fervent supporter of the local scene through it all despite not getting the recognition!

So, here’s to you mistah… one tipple on ‘daze for when we meet in the haze!

1- What’s going on in your world? This is your chance to plug your stuff
My book Big in China came out March 1 and I’ve been out there plugging it and mostly having fun doing so. Ivan Reitman and Montecito Pictures optioned the book’s movie rights and that seems to be moving forward.
I’m really happy to be back in Beijing with my pengyou. After two brief acoustic performances backing book readings at the Bookworm and the Orchard, I am playing at Jianghu tonight with Lu Wei and Zhang Yong from Woodie Alan and very much looking forward to it.

2- Congrats on the book! I read a few extract but not the whole thing yet. Still, I was surprised at how much you sound surprised at the events that happened to you. how was that?

Well, I truly was surprised by a lot of it, particularly the band. I loved to jam and when I met Woodie and he was interested in playing music together, I was really excited. He was a phenomenal musician and he specialized in two instruments I love – harmonica and lap steel guitar. So we started playing and one thing led to another. Each step was fun and amazing and I honestly never set my eyes beyond the step in front of me.

At one point, I was back in the US for a few weeks in the summer and Woodie emailed me that he wanted to talk about the band when I got back. I dreaded it, because I thought he was going to end it, but he said, “I’ve been watching videos of us and I think we can be pretty good – but only if you’re willing to practice more and work on writing songs.” I almost fell off my chair but of course I said yes. Then I sort of realized that we had the opportunity to do something special and really be good – but only if I could step it up. I was the frontman and the weak link, which was a strange place to be. So I sort of shut my eyes and jumped.

3- Talking about the title, Big in China, who picked it? Can you explain that a bit?

I picked it but it was a joke working title for myself as I was writing the proposal. I was mocking myself, really, and always planned on changing the name. When it came time to have an interview with an editor at Harper Collins I didn’t have anything I liked better yet. So I went in and said, “I want to make clear that Big in China is just a working title,’ and she went, ‘I love Big in China! That’s what drew me in.’ So I stayed out of my way and said, “Uh, me too.”

The title remains firmly tongue in cheek, a reference to Tom Waits’ “Big In Japan.” It also refers, of course, to my success with the band, but it’s more than that. I discovered a new level of confidence as a writer and a person here as well. I reached down inside myself and found new levels. I had a reinvention, really, and I think a lot of people living outside their home culture go through similar things.

4- Since the book came out, along with news that it’s been picked up for a movie, you have become a bit of controversial topic in Beijing. Are you aware of some of the negative things being said about your band and your success?

Sure. No one likes to hear people say nasty things about them, but it comes with the territory and I don’t take it too personally. I have no regrets or second thoughts about anything except perhaps the phrase “becoming a star in Beijing” which is in the subhead. I did not write that – the publisher did – but the book is bigger than my band. It’s about my entire life and reinvention here, and I can live with the phrasing.

I started writing The Expat Life column for WSJ.com just four months after I got to Beijing and within a few months it had a pretty good following and a lot of the old China hands and longtime journalists here went crazy and hated all over me. I was a basketball and music journalist with little China experience and it drove them crazy, but I never presented myself as an expert. I was capturing my life and how it reflected a broader expat existence.

The book speaks for itself and everything in it is true. Some people will say we weren’t that big, but it all depends on your definition. We sold out the JZ Club in Hangzhou; played in front of 2,000 people in a theater there; headlined the Xiamen Beach Festival in front of 5-6,000 people, a performance which was broadcast on TV throughout Fujian; appeared on Changsha radio and in magazines there; played the Star Live a bunch, were hired for the black tie British Olympic Committee Olympics dinner. This was all bigger than I dreamed possible and we pulled it all off.

I don’t want go point by point defending myself, but it’s flat out untrue to say we only were popular with a small group of my friends. That is certainly how it started, but Woodie, Zhang Yong and Lu Wei are fantastic musicians who were deeply enmeshed in the Beijing music scene and I’ll put them up against anyone in town – or anywhere, which is why I always had that sense of disbelief that I was up there with them. We were one of the first bands to play Jianghu – Tianxiao the owner was an old bandmate of Woodie’s in Sand. When we played there it would be packed with musicians, and many of them got up and jammed with us. At the time, it was an all-Chinese crowd and I loved playing there. He asked us to be the house band, with a weekly gig, and Woodie and I wanted to do it, but Lu and Zhang are working musicians and needed better paying gigs. Woodie and I never chased the biggest gigs or the most money.

We liked laying places where we were friends with the owners and it was like being a at a friend’s house – Jianghu, the Stone Boat and the Orchard and all fit the bill and we didn’t give a shit about what people thought about us playing there. We enjoyed the gigs and the camaraderie. We tried to balance that with getting some high paying gigs for the sake of the guys really making a living from music. I got offered some big money to play corporate events, but was told no Chinese or black musicians and I told them to fuck off. I wouldn’t do that apartheid shit. My bandmates were my brothers.

Every time I played with those guys was an honor and a pleasure. They are great musicians and people and I don’t put myself on their level at all but I taught them things, too – about dynamics, collaboration and how to jam by simply listening to one another and responding. To me, it was a true collaboration and I’ll be proud of it ‘til the day I die for reasons that go far beyond what you can hear on a recording. I’m sad that we never fully captured ourselves at peak performance, but lots of musicians could say the same about their favorite band.

5- Let’s forget the naysayers for a while and focus on the music for a bit. Do you still feel like you could have a bit of music career, riding the wave of the book and maybe the movie?

Not really. I love playing and my time with Woodie Alan really elevated me. I have played with some great people on book release tours, including Mark Karan, who toured with Bob Weir and the Dead for 12 years and my friend Andy Aledort, a guitar legend who invented tablature, has given lessons to Joe Perry, played with the Band of Gypsys at the Mt, Fuji Rock Festival and has toured with Dickey Betts for 8 or 9 years. Now I can stand up there and bring something to the table with these guys and I owe it all to Beijing and my Chinese bandmates. But it will remain a sidelight. To be clear, I’m a writer who plays music.

6- Woodie is not around as far as I understand to play along this week. What happened to him?
Woodie has left Beijing and is currently not playing music. It really saddens me, but he’s doing fine and I wish him nothing but happiness and success in life. He’s like my little brother and I’ll always be there for him.

7- You’ve just recently come back after a few weeks away… what’s the first restaurant you look forward to visiting in Beijing?
The jiangbing guy near my friend Scott’s house, where I always stay. I love all the food here. Some of my favorites have gone downhill, like Sange Guizhou Ren. I always enjoy Dali and most any hotpot, but truly some of my favorite meals are in little stalls and off of carts.

8- Recently, I’ve personally taken a great interest in the music scene outside of Beijing. Back when you actively toured, what places were you eager to revisit. Which cities would you go out of your way to avoid?
Nowhere to avoid. We picked our spots pretty carefully and didn’t have any disastrous gigs out of town. I would love to revisit Qingdao, Hangzhou and Changsha. We had great gigs at really cool clubs in all those places.

9- Word Association: Please write the first word that comes to your mind:

- Beijing duck: Damn. I didn’t get any this trip.
- Dumplings: Yum
- Big in China: My last two years
- Slide: Woodie
- Shanghai: Eh
- Alan Paul: Thankful
- Polka Dots: Buddy Guy

10- What can we expect tomorrow/friday’s show at Jianghu? Who’s playing? any special guests?
Zhang Yong will be playing both bass and guitar, Lu Wei will be swinging the beat and I will be on acoustic. We have played briefly at readings the last two nights and the chemistry is there, even if some things are a little rough. It has sounded great and been a lot of fun and it will be better.

Peter Schloss will join us on banjo for some tunes. Tianxiao will be on tenor sax for a while – we played quite a few gig with him, because he was our sub sax player when Dave Loevinger couldn’t make it. A few other folks may pop up. We love to jam and always welcome guests to our bandstand.

There you have it folks, straight from the horse’s mouth! I’ve read the comments on the other thread and I’m really flabbergasted at what is being said… It does seem to me like some folks have nothing better to do than criticize and that’s just plain idiotic. I have yet to read the full book and make up my own mind but from everything i’ve read so far, in terms of articles and interviews, Alan is one good guy that happened to be in the right place at the right time and had the nerves and balls to run with it. He seems genuinely grateful and surprised at his own success…. I can’t fault that nor do i have the right to judge it!

See what the fuss is all about tonight, Friday June 17th at Jianghu Jiu Ba when most of Woodie Alan Band reunites for a gig with friends

Pictures taken from AlanPaul.net and Maplewood online

Now, I haven’t read the book or even heard Woodie Alan’s music before, so I was coming into the talk completely without doing my homework! Normally before a show I little to do a little research, listen to douban, check out Rock in China wiki, get a feel for what I’m going to see. But in this case I wanted to appreciate this from fresh eyes and ears, the way someone from outside China would when reading the book, although living here and understanding the music scene does give me a little head start!

Alan started off by telling the small crowd a little about why he came to China and how he meet Woodie Wu, his bandmate and good friend. He spoke about realising the differences in musical backgrounds between himself and the Chinese members of the band, and how he struggled to explain to them how to play together tightly, but still free to jam – a phrase I often use when describing my favourite Beijing band AIS’s performances. It’s an idea that’s often familiar to those with a Western musical background, but something some Chinese musicians don’t find so easy to grasp. He read a little from his book, an excerpt about how he finally got this idea across to bass player Zhang Yong by introducing him to the Allman Brothers. And then he called up to the front the members of Woodie Alan who were there, Zhang Yong, normally on bass, but for tonight on lead guitar, and Lu Wei on drums, and they played a couple of songs.

The intimate setting of The Bookworm was the perfect venue for the stripped back acoustic three-piece. They started with ‘Beijing Blues‘ the title track from their album. I love lyrics and was immediately grabbed by the opening:

“Say the sun is shining, don’t see it anywhere … Got the Beijing Blues, just need some cold clean air“

Who hasn’t felt that living here?! While we may love Beijing, living here as a laowai is not always easy, we all have ‘bad China days’! They then slipped into ‘Wode Baobei‘ with Zhang Yong taking up the vocals. It’s just as beautiful as the LiDong song with the same name, although both are completely different. Alan spoke more about the band, how Woodie Wu, who wasn’t able to make it tonight, plays lap steel, an instrument I love listening to, and how ‘Beijing Blues’ usually opens with Zhang Yong playing guqin, an instrument I have become a huge fan on over the last year. The combination of Western and Eastern influences makes me wish I’d been around to see the original Woodie Alan line up playing back at the height of their success in 2008.

I left The Bookworm with a copy of the book, a CD, which I’m listening to as I write this, and definite plans to be at Jianghu on Friday for the reunion show. As a three-piece they were amazingly tight for a band who hasn’t played together in a year, I’m looking forward to hearing more.

Alan Paul’s book ‘Made in China’ and Woodie Alan’s CD ‘Beijing Blues’ are available from The Bookworm.

BeijingDaze interviewed Alan one of his trips back to Beijing last year, see the 10 questions here.

You can find out more about Woodie Alan here:
Website: http://www.woodiealan.com/
Douban: http://site.douban.com/woodiealan/

Woodie Alan reunion show this Friday @ Jianghu Jiuba