Tag: Out of Control

Quickslants: Mademoiselle, Giants, Julio Baby, OOC, Punks, Intrepid Trouble and more

Apr. 18 Quickslants Comments Off

Last weekend was a balckhole of Capoeira.. i basically went in and didn’t come out until late monday night. Missed out on quite a few good shows apparently but oh well… Time however for music to take its due now and there is a nice set of gigs coming up to just do that! Let’s get started without delay

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Thursday April 18

Mademoiselle @ Jianghu
The Canadian Mynx is back from an extended overseas trip that saw her play throughout north and south america. For a moment there, i thought Beijing might have lost her for good. No worries though, she’s back and we’re getting ready to get a dose of her addictive suave Jazz starting tonight at Jianghu. I could think of worse ways to start preparing a weekend.

Friday April 19

Death to Giants @ Old What Bar
Shanghai freak rockers, Death to Giants, along with DJ B.O are putting together a show featuring a collaboration between Death to Giants and DJ B.O known as Death to Cinema. DJ B.O will be screening hand-picked film clips while DtG improvises a soundtrack on the spot. Sounds pretty fun and freaky to me. Also a pretty good option is you can’t catch them at Temple Saturday night.

Worm is Green @ Yugong Yishan
Trip Hop from Iceland…. do i even need to say more? it sounds so bizarre that it might be worth checking out!
I honestly have no idea what to expect but it’s one of those things where if it sucks, you can head over to Cu Ju for 10rmb rum shots and make up for it.

Saturday April 20th

Dreammaker @ 2 Kolegas
Probably my gig of the week folks. OOC, whom i think of as one highly underrated band are returning to Beijing. They’re getting support from Jiu Bao ( 9 Treasures), The Intrepid Adventurers as well as NOWER and more. This is a good solid lineup and rates high in the bang for your buck category. I know where i’ll be

Death to Beijing @ Temple
If i don’t end up at 2K, then you’d likely find me over here checking out Death to Giants on their second Beijing night. They’ve been planning this one for quite some time and getting tons of hype for it from the likes of smartbeijing and cityweekend. It might also be a great opportunity to check out them burgers that they started selling recently :-)

Randy Abel Stable @ Blue Stream
Another good option for saturday is them honky tonkers as they descend on the western side of gulou! Go west young ones and listen to songs about how my mama can beat up your mama, prison, trucks and even paddy o’shea. All in a nice little intimate venue before the band takes up the big stages of festivals and you can’t hang out with them again.

Sunday April 21st

Julio Iglesias @ Beijing Exhibition Center
yeah, that Julio.. the one and only! he made ladies weep all over the world and in more languages that wikipedia has. He’s still around and kicking! I guess he’s also back to Beijing 20 years after his first appearance and will still be singing about all the girls he loved before.

Happy Coochie @ Yugong
4th year anniversary party of Beijing’s own Hoochie Coochie Gentleman. These cats have been bluesing their way around the city for 4 lucky years baby and that ain’t easy!! not a bit! Come out sunday night if you’re not into old Julio for some of that little old school sound.

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So You Wanna Be in a Rock n Roll Brand? Beijing Version

Sep. 13 blabbers, Tunes under the moon 2 comments

I’m really amazed at the changes in the scene lately… The corporate world has really been far away from the underground rock scene in Beijing for as long as I’ve been looking at it with some exceptions. But lately, all the glass walls are being shattered with an whole lotta young bands making their mark or making appearances for some major international brands in private events.

You all know Ray Ban, right? how many of you know Out of Control (OOC)? that’s what i thought. They are a band i’ve been following for quite sometime now, quite tight and with an upcoming record to be released at the end of the month. These kids have been working hard for years to develop a stage presence, a style or their own and it working. Guess who played the Ray Ban 75th year anniversary bash? Yep, OOC.

How about Armani? now that’s some big gun glamour label, ain’t it? You’d thing that Faye Wong or some other celebrity! guess again! Da Bang, formely Bigger Bang, were pegged to perform at the latest Armani event… There is no denying Pupi’s fashionista side but this is quite a big ass thing folks. The other bands on the bill, New Pants and re-TROS were also not something i’d associate with Armani but hell, times-a-changing. ( or Modern Sky getting better connections)

I could also mention DH doing adds for R Factory but that’s a good match and both are under the radar brands really but Armani and Ray Ban are big folks.. Now this is either a sign that they’re willing to take a chance on youngsters or….??

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2011 in review: Best Live Music Performances in Beijing (and the worst)

Jan. 06 blabbers, Tunes under the moon Comments Off

it started with a bang at 2 Kolegas as Buyi, Nucleus, Rustic and Subs rocked the hell out of the drive-in. That was one hell of a good show to start the year and remains in the top ten of best shows in Beijing for 2011. Many bands came, some vanished, others just took a break and some just lost any guidance… how did they fare IMHO? Let’s check it out! Here are some random musings about the best, the worst and the mediocre from my BIASED perspective!

AK47 @ MIDI:

Never been a huge AK47 fan but this past MIDI, they put on the performance of a lifetime! The crowd was all in it at the side stage, moshing, screaming, jumping, singing…. IT was a trance-like state for almost everyone there! The music was heavy, loud, sharp like a razor blade and was the perfect accompaniment for dust storms.

The Black Snakes @ ‘dazeFEAST:

Holly mother of god were these cats impressive! I had no idea what to expect when i added them to the bill other than they were friends of Kang Mao. Boy am i glad! Their energy was out of this world, stage antics second to none, sweating it out and getting the audience in a frenzy! That was just beautiful! Thank you again guys!

SUBS @ King of the Road:

When all was going to hell with drunk people in the audience, douchebags and 2 Kolegas filled to the brim, Kang Mao and her gang came out to deliver a blistering powerful performance to show those pretenders how things were done! It might not have been the band’s finest hour but it was one of their best freaking shows ever, especially with the new lineup gelling together. The amount of energy around the room at that point was stratospheric.

Dong Zi @ Jianghu:

There was something special about that show that just can’t be described in words. At some point, past the songs, things became strangely intimate. The audience stopped mattering and the musicians entered their comfort zone, where all was one. The turnout included the who’s who of folk/roots music in China with Wu Tun, Zhang Zou, Ma Tiao, Guo Long amongst others, some of which even got on stage to play a few songs. It became the folk equivalent of a Ningxia night at 2 Kolegas… Having the musicians so relaxed brought out the best in them IMHO…

ChunQiu @ Gulou 121:

I’ve seen the gang play their share of shows all around Beijing and even in Tianjin… truth be said though, they could have played them with their eyes closed. But on that early October 2011 at Gulou 121, the dragon was unleashed again! The band played with a passion, determination and energy I had not seen in a very long time.

Last Choice @ Mao Punk Fest:

In a sea of baby punksters, Last Choice, hailing from Changsha stood as men! They were heads and shoulders above most bands at this year’s Punk Festival with their demeanor, energy and proper old school punk that had the crowds at Mao Rioting.

Out of Control @ Mao Rolling Stones Tribute:

I don’t expect much from tribute shows usually, especially in China. So when Scott Chen and his gang hit Mao Live like a hurricane, I was not ready for it. The band put on an awesome show with usual suspects and even some of the more recent covers like “anybody seen my baby”… I throughly enjoyed this! They played well, had great charisma, perfect style and even changed some of the songs around. Made me happy!

Abaji @ Jianghu:

A master displaying his craft… this show was so magical in may ways for me. Seeing someone i never expected to see live in Beijing after hearing him in Paris back in 1999. Abaji made me and the rest of jianghu dream that night with an amazing performance. He is a class act! and a talented one that is. The magic of this show was reflected best in an email i got the next day from a reader: “[..] The concert the other evening was fantastic! [..] For me that concert has been the best I’ve seen in my time in Beijing, [...]“

Hanggai & La Pegatina @ Mako

As far as fun times go, this show scored through the freaking roof on so many levels. 2 extremely fun and energetic bands, a Mako live house filled to the brim but not uncomfortable, good music, good mood and ok weather… recipe for great fun! The amount of dancing and screaming along that went on inside Mako that night could have been mistaken for a riot if one was not aware… Last time i walked out of a show so worn out and sweaty was Exodus at Mao…. strange if not bad comparison.

Bad Mamasan Album Launch @ Yugong:

I’ve seen Bad Mamsan for pretty much every show they played over the past two years but this one was special. All the friends were there and all the guest performers were there helping the band bring out “jeanine the wolverine” successfully. The Who’s who of Metal came out to pay tribute and have one hell of a good time with over 2 hours of blistering riffs. hell yeah!

Special mention (out of town)

Concrete Blonde @ Hangzhou West Lake Festival

I travelled far for this gig but the band travelled even further to play it. They are one of my favorite bands around and Johnette is everything a lead singer should be. Powerful, charismatic, humble and so freaking talented! The set they played in Hangzhou under the rain, in the mud with the audience just jumping up and down hanging on to every piece of lyric and every chord was magical. I expect them to know Metallica songs but not to be able to sing along to Joey or Tomorrow, Wendy.

Most disappointing Gigs:

Thin Man @ Anda (September 2011)
In the rank of disappointments, this one is pretty big! I used to swear by Thin Man as one of the most underrated and oft-forgotten bands in the country. I insisted that if China had a yaogun hall of fame, they should be one of the first in line…. never more! Dai Qin looked like a wanna be teenager decked out in a velvet suit and going through the motions with a made-for-cctv band… I almost puked in disgust! I was ashamed to see one of the heroes of scene come to that.

Bigger Bang @ Yugong ( Women night) (March 2011)
“crappiest performance I’ve seen in a long long time” is how i described it at the time. Even Pupi’s “barely there” outfit couldn’t save them. words like “boring” “uninspired” “tiresome” come to mind when describing the band that night..and I haven’t even covered the bad music/vocals. A year later after they had rocked the 2010 women show, the band has regressed on a regular basis. It’s entirely possible to blame it on this being their first show together in a while but i had noticed a downward trend too long ago to let it slide. I haven’t seen them since they became known as Da Bang

Voodoo Kungfu @ Mao (december 2011)
This was not actually a bad show but it was so freaking disappointing. Li Na might still be one of the most talented frontman in China but having more than half of the songs coming out of a computer doesn’t cut it. I’ve seen Voodoo Kungfu be great and I have a hard time settling for just an average version… no sir! that’s a cop-out!

Free the Birds (Ziyo)
the few times they played Beijing, they were just completely off sync. What can i expect from a band that doesn’t really play much or practice much together at this point? Much like Voodoo Kungfu, I’ve seen this band be great and it pains me to see them crash and burn the way they have over the past 12 months. They should be ruling the scene and the festivals at the same level as queen sea big shark but instead, they’re almost an afterthought.

Cui Jian @ intercity
I was really impressed back in 2007 by Lao Cui at the Chaoyang Pop Festival. He was on the spot, edgy, controlled the crowd and delivered an awesome performance. This year, he looked old and going through the motions. Voice was completely off, the jumps and screams manufactured… just a shame

There were a whole bunch of other good gigs, some probably even better than the ones above… that said, as far as I’m concerned, the ones mentioned above were the cream of the crop

There was a shitload more bad shows as you might imagine but these could be considered as my biggest disappointments of the year :(

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Rynostock 2011: 1 Day of Peace, BBQ & Music

Jun. 02 Outsourced Blabbers, Tunes under the moon 1 comment

Beijingdaze Note: I really wanted to make it out to Shunyi this year for this little festival.. but a 7:00 a.m return home from the first day of 2 Kolegas anniversary bash somehow got in my way. I’m glad however that good friend and banjo player extraordinaire, Peter Schloss, was able and willing to send in his review!

By: Peter Schloss

Standing in the courtyard of Pomme O’Shea’s as the curtains closed on the 7th Annual Rynostock Music Festival, my wingman (and attorney) casually asked, “Do you think anyone knows what they’re missing by not being here?”
As BeijingDaze had not made his oft talked about, but never actually experienced, trek to Beijing’s Northeastern suburbs, I surmised that unfortunately Beijing’s music scenesters wouldn’t be able to know how good this Festival had become unless they had been there to see for themselves.

You can understand my excitement then when my phone rang early Sunday morning and I was asked by the Man himself if I would “guest blog” about Rynostock*.

Imagining myself as a modern-day Lester Bangs, I jumped at the chance for fame and fortune and began organizing the voluminous notes I had luckily taken throughout Saturday. So, without further ado, I give you a Rynostock Running Diary.

4:00pm: Bad Apples, the band from the International School of Beijing (not to be confused with the long-time fixtures on the Beijing music scene with the same name), get things started on the outdoor stage and puts on a courageous show in front of a somewhat circumspect audience. Playing a combination of jam band, funk and original tunes, the boys of ISB show off some nice musicianship as well as custom made guitars. Wesley Kwok displays some aspirational Guitar-God chops. I overhear one converted fan say that she will like the band even better when all of them turn 18.

4:46pm: Chaos reigns supreme as beer and food vendors have obviously not received the memo that band members are supposed to get free food and drink throughout the day.

4:48pm: All under control on the free beer and food front as the mix-up, and potential ensuing catastrophe, gets resolved. Some karaoke type singers on the indoor stage while the outdoor stage gets prepped for the Berlin Mummies.

5:20pm: The Randy Abel Stable gets things going on the indoor stage with their high-octane mix of bluegrass, country and blues. I don’t think many in the large crowd have ever seen or heard a banjo or mandolin in Beijing before. Randy Abel, the band’s namesake helms harmonica and lead vocals, tearing through the one-hour set with bluegrass traditionals like Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms and clever bluegrass turns on rock classics like Wild Horses and All Along the Watchtower.

5:45: Berlin Mummies rocking the outdoor stage as a real battle of the bands get going. People can’t decide between indoors or outdoors and many choose to split the action (as it is equally hot in both locations—both temperature and music-wise).

6:30: The boys from Maggie Who, by now, wizened veterans of Rynostock; take the stage with as near to their original lineup as they’ve been in a year. Brian Cormack, Phil Schloss, Jim Tseng and Mitchell Trent, give the crowd everything they hoped for (and more) with a mix of hard rocking originals and covers. While their usual frenetic show is somewhat limited by a small stage, its obvious regular gigging in Wudaokou and other Beijing venues has allowed them to perfect their craft. Rumors swirl throughout their set that this will be their last show. This only adds to the rousing send-off Maggie Who receives.

7:35: Management of the Pomme makes a great PR move and declares this a free festival for the residents of Baixinzhuang. Hopefully this decision will keep the police from shutting things down early because of complaints from the neighborhood. The immediate result is wide-eyed villagers soaking in the spectacle of rock in roll amongst a gaggle of increasingly inebriated festival-goers. The streets surrounding the Pomme have become a sea of people, with a circus like atmosphere of jugglers, acrobats and rope tricks.


8:06pm: Perhaps the strangest performance of the day takes place on the outdoor stage by the Beijing Beatles. Sporting wigs and dressed in replicas of the uniforms on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, these “lads” played note perfect versions of Beatles hits including Help, Ticket to Ride, and I Want to Hold Your Hand. The highlight of their set is the kids from the Baixinzhaung village giving thumbs-up as they sit on the edge of the stage watching in awe.

9:15: The crowd starts to get antsy as it waits for headliners Out of Control. First though, a reggae band takes the stage much to the chagrin of almost everyone in attendance. Going by the name de guerre “The Bob Marley Band” these Rastafarians, shake Shunyi to its roots with Trenchtown classics, No Woman No Cry, Get Up Stand Up and I Shot the Sherriff. The temperature at the Pomme is now definitely 93 Degrees in the Shade.


10:30pm: Taking in the Rynostock vibe for most of the day as spectators, Out of Control hit the stage with a vengeance. Hailing from all over China, this quartet now calls Beijing home, and is the hottest thing going in local music mix. After telling the crowd in near perfect English “we are all old friends” (as O.O.C. has played Rynostock for several years), frontman Scott Chen launches the band into a howling assortment of both English and Chinese songs.
Chen stalks the stage, radiating a distilled passion like a Lizard King redux, as his aggressively raw but tightly wound rhythm section bolsters driving and evocative guitar riffs. Musically these boys are real professionals. Guaranteed never to hit a bad note. Performance-wise, at their best tonight, O.O.C. just rocks and socks you right out of your chair. You can’t help but dig them.

Well, that’s that from Rynostock**

* It seems that BeijingDaze had never made it to Shunyi as he had yet to return from the 2 Kolegas Birthday Bash that began on Friday night.
** Blogger’s Note: A very appreciative crowd called Out of Control back onstage for an encore. After lurching into a song, suddenly everything went silent and black. It seems that an unappreciative villager had cut the power. So much for community outreach.

Thanks again to Peter for taking the time to write this and send pictures over. If you have time, you should definitely make it over to Hot Cat Club on saturday to see him along with the Randy Abel Stable

Also, note that Maggie Who has at least one last performance in them: ‘dazeFEAST on june 25, 2011

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Rynostock 2011: Shunyi Rockfest, with suburbia characteristics

May. 27 blabbers Comments Off

2 Kolegas is getting a lot of the spotlight this weekend but they’re not the only game in town! The good folks over in suburbia, aka expat housewives-land, better known as shunyi, get their own rockfest: Rynostock

I believe they’re in their 5th year with the 2011 edition set for Saturday May 28 at Pomme O’Shea ( Formerly knows as the Pomegranate) with the festivities debuting around noon with BBQ, games and of course, lots of music:

Amongst the bands listed:
Beijing Beatles
Ryan Kester & co
Bad Apples
End of the World
Berlin Mummies
Maggie Who
Big Metal Door
The Randy Abel Stable
Zuo Gao Su
Out of Control feat. Ann Maire
And many more.

According to google maps, The Pomme O’Shea is 16km from 2 kolegas. I’ve done the trek to D-22 before and that was 22km so I’m gonna dare do this one… perfect afternoon before coming back into town for extra debauchery
Find the Pomme O’Shea on The Beijinger
http://www.thebeijinger.com/directory/Pomme-OSheas

here’s to Rock n Roll

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Rolling Stones Tribute: OOC, Maggie Who, Jacky Danny & Flying Mantas give us satisfaction

Mar. 02 Tunes under the moon 3 comments

I briefly referred to this gig on yesterday’s news post in passing but this is actually the full review of the gig which saw some of Beijing’s most fun bands pay tribute to The Rolling Stones.

I got to Mao just as Maggie Who was launching into their first song. This was my first time catching them with new Bass player, Nick, whom I had seen before playing for Bad Apples and Vital Time amongst others. I hadn’t seen the boys in quite sometime so I was stoked to see how they had progressed and hear their take on some classic Stones songs.
Musically, they’re as good as ever but I had the impression they were just a bit off during the first part of their set.. Almost asleep with Brian looking bored as he sang the songs… and then they kicked it up a few notches and started really rocking the place like they should. They played their usual songs and added Jumping Jack flash + You Can’t Always Get What You Want which Brian sang solo and hit some good notes in. The highlight of the night for them was their outstanding version of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” that they changed and reworked completely into a much heavier and darker song.. it was pretty darn good if you ask me and I’m looking forward to hearing it again.


Out of Control was up next… and they were the F*cking BOMB…. I cannot describe their performance that night in words that would do them justice but let me tell you folks, it left me wanting for more. I remembered much later on that i had already seen them once before, at the Pilot Music Festival last year when they left me impressed. Saturday, they literally rocked my socks off: Lead singer Scott Chen has monster stage presence, reminiscent of MUMA in many ways. Add that to a strong voice, very good pronunciation and rock star attitude then you get a band that walks and sings like they belong on stage. They did a whole set of stone covers including the one i was hoping to hear that night: “Anybody seen my baby”. These guys were ACE folks and you should check them out sooner than later.


Jacky Danny was up next. Now here’s a band i’ve built up a lot of expectations for just from listening at their douban songs and being generally impressed with the feedback i got from other musicians about them. Seeing them was one of the biggest reasons i didn’t wanna miss saturday’s show. The band started their set with my favorite of theirs: The Cowboys Ain’t Dying. They worked their way for the first few songs through some really rough acoustics where the singer’s mic just kept breaking no matter what. Poor kids! To their credit, they kept going and were almost too patient while the Mao staff sorted things out. Considering how much I’ve hyped these guys up, they did pretty ok. Matt, Bass player for DUDE, was also of the opinion that they sounded a bit off. They’ll get another chance… and if you’re wondering, the kid can sing..oh yeah he can sing… Musically, the band is good… Very fluid guitar player and a drummer that has a good potential. Bass player is just kinda lost in the background. Jacky might be the best songwriter of his generation when it comes to Chinese kids writing in English. do yourself a favor and go listen to their Douban…


Last but not least, the Flying Mantas, also with a new Bass player, were up. These guys are fun.. they just get off on being different and doing things their way. 3mn songs, no vocals and a whole lotta attitude. I was never a fan of their previous bass player CZ Ramone and can’t say I was sad to see him depart. The new kid on the block, Scott, is leaps better and can back it up with some mean licks on the bass… His energy just seems to match/balance that of Skip and Chery. I was hoping they’d play some You Mei You classics but alas, they stuck to the new instrumentals and then some stone covers. A really really pleasant surprise was to hear them do one of my all time favorite songs ever which happens to be a fairly obscure Stones tune: Dead Flowers. I almost forgot how cool the addition of a baritone saxophone was… yes, the Flying Mantas tabbed one of the Skarving members to come in with a gigantic saxophone which made their surf rock even cooler than cool… oh, and I’m starting to kinda like this surf rock stuff!!!!

Overall, this was a fun gig! I’m looking forward to Mao’s other set of tribute shows over the next few weeks.

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Inter City Music Festival Day 2: a bell curve of fun with CMCB, Miserable Faith, Honey gun and the puppies of metal

Oct. 05 Tunes under the moon Comments Off

yeah, I barely even made an effort this October to catch the music festivals but the organizers can only blame themselves for taking away any interest and excitement we used to have about those. Still, Catching day 2 of Pilot Records’ Inter City Music Festival at Chaoyang Park on sunday was one of the overall better festival experiences of the year for me.

Things were off to a shaky start at first when I spent 30 minutes walking around chaoyang park trying to find the damn site with the pimple-faced bao’an sending me in all directions…. I was just about ready to swear off any further festival visits but i finally found the place which was where the old chaoyang pop festival used to be held.

I caught the tail end of “Trail of Dead” as I was walking around the fence trying to find the entrance and they sounded pretty darn good! A few conversations I had with friends who saw them play confirmed that they actually put on one hell of a performance with the drummer and guitar player swapping spots often enough. gonna have to give them a better listen.

There were two stages setup for the bands, the big main one and the one we shall refer to as the puppy stage, about 500 meters away. I was a bit afraid that they might step on each other’s toes but they didn’t.. I must admit that at least on that day, Pilot Records was running a tight ship alternating the stages and keeping the music on.

Food was available courtesy of Tim’s Texas BBq who deserves big big kudos for delivering a great value with chicken fajitas for 10rmb, BBQ beef rolls for 20, hummus wraps for 10 etc…. great quality and extremely reasonable pricing.
Right next door to Tim’s stand was the booze corner courtesy of Lush and O2 of Wudaokou fame. They kept their prices low and reasonable with water for 5 rmb, Mixed drinks for 20 and huge mojitos for 50… Honestly, not a single complaint about the set up or the availability.

The crowd was interestingly diverse age-wise, mostly local and seemed to enjoy the weather and the music. I think it was about 1500 people or so.

how about the music you ask?

The revelation of the day for me was CMCB whom i had heard of before but never ever got to hear or see live. They put on a fantastic performance with a mix of funk, rap and metal quite reminiscent of Linkin Park and the crowd ate it up! Heck, I ate it up and found myself jumping around for most of their set! I really liked “这里是北京” (this is Beijing) and “why”.. great songs!

Miserable Faith put on a solid performance as usual toying with the crowd and being generally the veterans they are supposed to be. As much as I like their mellow sing-alongs, I really wish they could play some of their earlier heavier catalog. On sunday, they gave us the classics along with one of the songs from their new EP which was also of the mellow register. gee, I’m making it sound bad but they were not… great performance, vintage Miserable Faith.

Honey Gun who were on earlier played a decent set but around 4:00 pm, attendance was a bit sparse! They sounded better than last time I saw them at MIDI but there is something about them that just doesn’t work for me.. I’m not sure why! I flip flop between liking certain section of certain songs then hating the rest of it. They have these funny transitions within their songs that just are more of a hit than a miss.

MEN was cool… definitely electro and not my style but I can appreciate a good show when I see one. Ruby and I had the hardest time deciding if the lead singer was a male or female until the video zoomed in on her throat that was distincly lacking an adam’s apple. Nice lyrics, good uptempo songs and stage presence… heck, I might even consider watching them again.

Michael Zheng 郑钧 , hailing from Hong Kong, just didn’t do it for me… it was power rock KTV and his voice didn’t seem to be right for it. I’m not sure the audience like it even… they were just standing there hanging out from the sight of things and I ended up walking out about halfway through… Anyone from Miserable Faith to CMCB could have done a better job IMHO.

over on the puppy stage, there were some really cool new bands cutting their teeth and hoping to be on the big stage at some point in their life… some just might make it.

I really liked Out of Control 控制之外 ! good style, vocals, nice rock n roll! They were one of the more polished bands of the afternoon with a hard edged style fairly similar to Velvet REvolver… crowd loved them too!

The Reason put on one hell of a performance and as far as Metal goes, they got the formula right… give them a few years to put it all together and they might get really big in China. they had a charismatic bass player who just didn’t stop roaming the stage for the entire performance.

Tarot Saint 塔罗圣徒 started off with a bang and fizzled away unfortunately… it was a perfect time to try a chicken fajita and catch up with Ruby who had made it a bit later in the day.

Da Mai Mian 大买麦 were my least favorite band of the day but they’re probably the most likely to succeed and sell records in the mainland. Charismatic lead guitar player that actually rocked one hell of a cover of “Come Together”… the female lead vocal is a good pretty face with all the right moves down to the hair flowing but can’t sing her way out of a paperbag… perfect for CCTV.

It was a great sunday in the park with music, fun, good weather, decent grub and company.. honestly, I got there swearing off festivals and left enchanted and looking forward to Monday.. unfortunately, I got stuck at work and missed out on ill Nino and Chun Qiu amongst others but still, this one restored my faith in organizers…. well done Pilot Records, well done Tim, well done Lush and well done to all the bands.. I REALLY HOPE IT HAPPENS AGAIN!!!

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