Old What Bar | BeijingDaze

Oct
17th[gig review] Punk Night at the Old What’s 11th – Discord and Fiddle

I must admit i’ve toned down the going out lately with the bar and a new job but i still try and make it to enough gigs out there to keep me entertained. Punk Night at the Old What Bar’s 11th year anniversary was one of those. I liked the bill even more because no bands were announced so it could have been dogs and cats howling at the moon for all i know. Thankfully, it was better than that. I got there around 10:30 and just narrowly missed the first band so i took up a seat and conversation with Gao Bo over Yunnan Plum Liquor kept me busy while the next act was setting up. I hadn’t see Discord in years for whatever reason, not even at the punk festival but hey, they’re still around and still screaming/kicking. The band put together a solid 40mn set with the crowd singing along, a testament to their longevity. And they kept it going louder and louder until they got to their favorite pleaser: “Beijing Power”. Even the folks sipping canned yanjing and small erguotou came in for this one. What can i say, it’s a fun band and it was the Old What… and they put on a good show wich is ultimately what i wanted. The beauty of a night like that is that i had no idea what would be next and i like it… because the next act, Joking Tasty Band, had me hopping around those 20sqm [...]

Sep
27thLao What Turns 11- And You’re All Invited

happily tucked around the corner from the forbidden city, Lao What is and remains the place where tons of bands go to cut their teeth and get somewhat ready for bigger stage. The place has rabbid following amongst musicians and for good reasons. Funny thing is, despite their location, they are probably the only music venue that’s never had a problem or been shut down despite the various crackdowns this city sees… and they’ve been at it for 11 years folks! this is pre-olympics, pressers, pre-swine flu era…. how about them ‘bones? to celebrate, Gao Bo is throwing a bunch of cool little events throughout the holiday week so if you’re a music lover, no excuse not to make it there at some point, have a drink and a dose of music. Here’s the schedule: September 29, 9:30 pm no problem “reggae party” one drop band – free September 30, 9:30 pm candy monster, Zao Ban Che, dj green monkey – 40 October 1, 9:30 pm Pangbianr Night- 40 includes a beer October 2 the Beijing punk night- 60 includes a beer October 3, skarving & discord – Free October 4, 9:30 pm ballad tribal Ryoko – 30 more info on their douban: http://www.douban.com/event/17162558/ see u there

Oct
12thOld What and Lone’s Bian Yuan : All grown up, Rock n Roll style

Well, I did manage to make it to the old What bar last week for one of their celebratory 10th year anniversary nights.. And while i would have loved to catch misandao/the unsafe et co. there, I decided against it and waited till Bian Yuan’s new project, Lone (浪), was playing. I’m glad I did. I got there slightly past 9:30 to find a packed house with people spilling on the sidewalk listening to some strange instrumental folk band that definitely was not Lone ( Headliner). As I sipped one of those mean white russians courtesy of the laoban, those kids grew on me with some really inspired vocals and violin work. I kept thinking that i knew the vocals but it wasn’t until they stepped out of the stage that i finally recognized Yang Fan ( Ourself Besides Me/ex-HOTB). So she’s keeping herself busy while her other projects are on hiatus checking her melodic side. It was actually really cool and I look forward to seeing this yet-unamed project again. Finally, Lone came up… If you remember Bian Yuan from his Joyside days, well let me tell you baby: This ain’t no bitches of rock n roll! What we had was an all grown up Bian Yuan, going by the alias Hei Shazi along with two others, playing inspired melodic mood songs from Johnny Thunders ( Society makes me sad) and Leonard Cohen (I’m your Man) just to name a few… and it was good!!! Sure, the vocals had [...]

Oct
3rdNational Holiday Quickslants: Modern Sky, Super Ningxia, Old What fun, Charity and more

It’s been a beautiful beginning for october in Beijing with blue skies, mild temperatures and freaking empty roads… oh yeah! For those of us fortunate enough to be in Beijing and enjoying the quiet, it’s pretty cool. That said though, nightlife and music events are plentiful for the next few days… heck, there are so many that they get their own quickslants. Of special not is the charity show on October 8th at Mako Livehouse with Zhou Yunpeng raising money to benefit kids with haemophilia Modern Sky: October 3-5 I’m not even contemplating heading over to this one but it is happening over in huairou and the usual suspects will all be there. If you can brave the transportation issues and the disaster that modern sky run events are, then you should be fine. Head over to the Beijinggigguide for updated schedule of events. Monday Oct 3: Pairs @ Mao: More Shanghai bands doing the trip up north. They’re slapped with a bunch of indie bands but these kids are actually a lot heavier, noiser and more interesting. I’m really tempted to check them out tonight at Mao. They play along with Cassette, Me Too and Next Year’s Love. Buyi @ Jianghu: Haven’t seen my ningxia boys in a little while and I’ve actually never seen them at jianghu come to think about it. Heck, I haven’t been to Jianhu in a few weeks and this sounds like a nicer evening than the potential crapout at Mao. I hear they [...]

Oct
3rd10 Years of Old What! Bar: Still Standing, Like a True Survivor

well I’d be damned… we’re in 2011 and the longest standing name in the music industry in Beijing is Old What! Bar… who’d have thunk it? 2001-2011…. despite moving around a few times, this place has been a constant in Beijing’s ever growing and ever crowded music scene. It’s the place where you still go and pay your dues as a musician… go and cut your teeth before pretending to play at a bigger venues. What constantly amazes me about the place is the fact that they are right on the side of the Forbidden City and yet they don’t seem bothered by any of the problems that might plague other venues in Beijing. So, here’s to you Old What.. may you last another 10 years! To celebrate 10 years, the bar is having a nice series of shows throughout National day vacation with some pretty good acts. The punk kids always love that place so the misandao/unsafe gig should be pretty rowdy. I also expect big things from the shoegazers of carsick cars. 10月3号晚9点半 Summer sunshine Point Eight Life test 电子表 10月4号蜜三刀 life for drinking Earlybus the unsafe 烧酒军团 10月5号琴玄乐队什么乐队 Mr.Freeman 自由先生 Miss Freak/怪诞小姐 10月6号浪 – Lone 10月7号 Carsick cars/Soviet pop/神秘乐队 More information over on the Douban: http://www.douban.com/event/14496390/

Sep
28thQuickslants: Bone Rock, Free Kolegas, Lao Da’s Revenge, Old What Turn 9 and more

October holidays are straight ahead folks with tons and i mean TONS of music opportunities in Beijing including festivals and what not…. Basically you gotta really try hard to not find anything interesting. I’ll do an October Holiday Quickslants later to deal with the flurry of shows next week. For now, here’s what the end of the week looks like: Wednesday Sept. 28 Bone @ Mao Live: Admittedly, I never heard of these guys before Ruby mentioned they were playing and I’m not sure what they are like. That said, they’re playing along with Residence A whom I have not seen in quite some time and same goes for Me Too. Yang Tiao is one that I’ve been meaning to check out for a while. Should be a good mid-week rocker Tha Knutz @ jianghu: Ok I admit it. I’m superficial enough to go check out a band based on their name sometimes! This would be one of those cases if I didn’t remember the band’s name popping out all over the city’s Jazz venues. Tia’s voice works really well for that lounge/jazz/soul mix even though she sounds like she might be having a few issues with really high notes. Still, Definitely worth a look IMHO. The songs repeating on myspace started giving me a headache! Thursday Sept 29: Marianne Dissard @ D22: I saw her two weeks ago at yugong yishan.. a prelude to her appearance at Black Rabbit festival. I enjoyed her performance despite the lack of a [...]

BeijingDazeTales of Live Music From Beijing's Mostly Underground Rock Scene..

Oct
17th[gig review] Punk Night at the Old What’s 11th – Discord and Fiddle

Sep
27thLao What Turns 11- And You’re All Invited

Oct
12thOld What and Lone’s Bian Yuan : All grown up, Rock n Roll style

Oct
3rdNational Holiday Quickslants: Modern Sky, Super Ningxia, Old What fun, Charity and more

Oct
3rd10 Years of Old What! Bar: Still Standing, Like a True Survivor

Sep
28thQuickslants: Bone Rock, Free Kolegas, Lao Da’s Revenge, Old What Turn 9 and more

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BeijingDazeTales of Live Music From Beijing's Mostly Underground Rock Scene..

Oct17th[gig review] Punk Night at the Old What’s 11th – Discord and Fiddle

Sep27thLao What Turns 11- And You’re All Invited

Oct12thOld What and Lone’s Bian Yuan : All grown up, Rock n Roll style

Oct3rdNational Holiday Quickslants: Modern Sky, Super Ningxia, Old What fun, Charity and more

Oct3rd10 Years of Old What! Bar: Still Standing, Like a True Survivor

Sep28thQuickslants: Bone Rock, Free Kolegas, Lao Da’s Revenge, Old What Turn 9 and more

The Mini Skinny

What’s on Offer?

looking for something?

Ingredients

Fresh Pills

Can of Worms?

Oct
17th[gig review] Punk Night at the Old What’s 11th – Discord and Fiddle

Sep
27thLao What Turns 11- And You’re All Invited

Oct
12thOld What and Lone’s Bian Yuan : All grown up, Rock n Roll style

Oct
3rdNational Holiday Quickslants: Modern Sky, Super Ningxia, Old What fun, Charity and more

Oct
3rd10 Years of Old What! Bar: Still Standing, Like a True Survivor

Sep
28thQuickslants: Bone Rock, Free Kolegas, Lao Da’s Revenge, Old What Turn 9 and more