One Lick Less | BeijingDaze

Aug
2ndQuickslants: Less Licks, Bookswaps, Icelandic Vibes, Dual Triple Headers, Returns and more

If you missed out yesterday on the Franz Nikolay/Randy Abel Stable gig at Yugong Yishan, don’t despair! Plenty of interesting shows are coming up over the next few days that might be just as intriguing. While some of them are sure to be packed, especially Friday night at Mao and Old What, other little gems can be just as much fun. Thursday August 2nd Cao Yang @ Jianghu I’ve been listening to Cao Yang’s douban trying to figure out if it’s worth seeing or not. 2 hours later, I’m still confused and in-between. The show is billed as “I’m back” blah blah blah blah… 3 bands on the bill and potential good times if you just stay away from the red wine. 3 bands on the bill and a good opportunity to chill in the hutongs with this weather Friday August 3rd 3X3 – Hedgehog, Casino Demon, Gar @ Mao Biggest lineup I’ve seen at Mao in quite some time. This is solid shit in Beijing’s underground musicland. Hedgehog, love or hate them, deliver every show and have put on some memorable concerts lately. Casino Demon is back in form and slowly working their way up the ladder again after a few months off. GAR is one of those bands i don’t freaking get! People are mystified by the fact that they never play so anytime they come out, they cause a frenzy. How about the music though? Either ways, this will be a fun show with gigantic attendance. Misfits [...]
Jul
22ndOne Lick Less returns with more French ‘mutant blues’

While most of the city’s music fans were dancing along to Hanggai’s drinking song at the drive-in, I was one of a few people at probably the weekend’s most underrated show – One Lick Less at XP. I saw One Lick Less’s Julien Bancilhon 2 years ago in Shanghai, and enjoyed it so much I made the trek out to D22 by myself to see him again a week later (for someone who averaged 3 D22 nights a year, that’s a big thing!) This year he’s back for his 3rd China tour and I actually didn’t know about it until I saw Pangbianr’s great interview with him earlier in the week. The show also evaded everyone else’s attention only being mentioned in passing in one of the city’s numerous ‘weekend roundups’. I got to XP around 10ish to find the opening band The Last Three Minutes just finishing their sound-check and a dismal crowd of maybe 20 people, most of whom seemed to be friends of the bands. The Last Three Minutes are a new/old band, having been around in various forms for around 10 years, but this was I believe their second show back after a 2 year hiatus. They only played a few songs, but I really liked what I heard. Funky bass lines played by Li Yong, who was previously with The Power Powder, that Stones-eque band that everyone, including BD, seems to be in love with right now (personally I don’t get them, if I wanna [...]
Aug
2ndOne Lick Less: French Guitar fills the Shanghai Music Void – On its way to Beijing

So I was stuck in Shanghai for the week (well OK, 3 days, but it felt like a week!) and thought I’d try to catch some music while I was there. It seems there’s only two live music venues in existence now, thanks to Expo restrictions, and apparently no mid-week gigs?! Mao Livehouse is still laying low after recent closures and only advertising weekend shows, but I was luckily able to find a Thursday night gig listing at Yuyintang for French guitarist One Lick Less, so I went along to check it out. Got there around 9.30pm with a couple of Chinese workmates J & A in tow (their choice to tag along, not mine!) The place was dead, and when I say dead, I mean apart from us there was a bar chick and door boy, and no sign of the band at all. People started rolling in just before 10 when it was scheduled to start, but I don’t think there were more than 30 people in the place all night. A little disappointing for the only gig in town! My first time at Yuyintang and I like this little place. It’s got that dive bar feel, kinda like a smaller 2K, but without the outdoors area. Has some cool artwork on the walls too. With a French artist on the bill, there was of course a small but vocal francophone contingent present, along with a few random music lovers enjoying their beers – Y30 for ja-pi, not [...]