Quickslants: Jue Starts, 80s revival, Ajinai, that Prodigy dude, Buyi and more
We’re almost back on regular rotation folks meaning that the good shows are back on the menu but so are the bad ones! It’s unfortunately the side effect of having so many bands around Beijing. Mao is having a strong showing this week with some decent lineups from Thursday to Sunday. I’m particularly excited about the 80s revival saturday night with all the cheeky kids. Temple continues to make a stand for themselves even when the big boys are back in town!
Jue Festival kick off that same day and as much as I think that might be an interesting show, I’m weary of the kind of folks it might attract…. yeah, hutong hipters galore complaining about 20rmb qingdao while not even listening the band they just paid good money to watch.
Wednesday February 22
Devils at the Crossroads @ Temple:
If it feels like these cats are everywhere lately, that’s because they are! I’ve seen the Devils play a half dozen times lately and I like them. It’s not music that’s gonna save the world but you’re gonna have a good boogie time and down a few drinks. but then again, that’s just me, I like my rock n roll with a side serving of attitude! An Temple is actually earning some serious Rock n Roll chops at the moment… it’s gonna be tough to beat them this year as a venue!
Thursday February 23
Punk & Metal @ Mao Live
This one is actually advertised as Punk versus Metal but i’m not sure there’s enough bands on the bill to make it a proper battle. What it’s got though is some good young guns that sound intriguing! I’ve listened a bit to Temper Tantrum who have a speed metal edge i like. The other bands, i’m not too sure… It’s one of those “a show at mao is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you gonna get” things.
The Tore Down @ CD Blues
I’ve been keeping an eye on these cats ever since a picture of their rehearsals was leaked a few months ago. Featuring alumni of RandomK(e) and the Over Easy band, they should know what they’re doing. Expect, and i quote, “a triple shot of Blues, Funk and Soul at their official debut.
Friday February 24th
Buyi & Zhuan @ Temple
Seriously, this is the best thing happening on friday night in town? If nothing else, we’re guaranteed a good time by the Buyi gang. I haven’t seen zhuan before so not much there. I can’t complain much because at least, it’s at Temple.
Leeroy Thornhill @ Yugong Yishan
Remember him? Neither did i but the guy is actually part of that UK-Cum-DJ-Smack-my-bitch-up Prodigy band that did have a moderate success for a while back in the 90s. I got a whole bunch of friends headed there and I’m getting increasingly curious about the electronic side of music. Maybe it’s time to drop my guard an follow the white rabbit?
Saturday February 25
Golden Virgin Age @ Mao
Jacky Danny, Red Pirates, Kick Ass, Los Crasher, Devil at the Crossroad and Flaming Heat all on the same bill. It’s the right time to get out your spandex pants, blond wig, bandanna, cowboy boots and party like it’s 1985. It’s gonna be cheesy, cheeky, loud, fun and just all around interesting when some of the most entertaining bands in Beijing share the stage. I’m gonna be dancing on this one folks and so should you.
JUE Festival: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart @ YGYS
If I had gone by the labels, this show would never be listed on ‘daze. They seem to tag themselves as NU-Gaze but having seen a live video, they’re nowhere near that. It’s actually decent power pop with some extra distortions and a cute drummer. Musically, it might be the best show of the week in town! however, with the crowds this one might draw, I’m susceptible to developing a case of indie-allergy. The cool kids will all be there..unfortunately.
Ajinai and Li Wen Xin @ Zajia
Nice, quiet, chill time with grassland throat singing. It’s not quite Hangaiesque ( did I just make up a new adjective) but it’s got some soul. Li Wen Xia serves up some easy listening folk that is not offensive. It’s actually not a bad way if you’re in the mood for a quiet Saturday night in am educated setting.
for the Residence A fans, be advised that they do play Sunday at Mao but I’ve had enough of Glow Curve once this month… just a heads-up
What once started as my personal ramblings has morphed into the number one collective resource about underground live music in Beijing and China. All bands, all music, all Rock n Roll, all the time with a little side of eclectic topics.. best of all, it's still as BIASED as ever
badr – why do you care about bad shows? are you going to them? are you reviewing them? and how is having too many bands a bad thing? i don’t get it. are you just trying to stir up comment?
also – what is the problem with the ‘cool kids’? you won’t go see a band cos the ‘cool kids’ will be there? what if the ‘cool kids’ start liking a band that you champion? who cares who likes what and who will be there!
i’m starting to worry about you man – do you even like music! 😉
nah… I’m starting to link fully unplugged music 😉 as in the one i can’t hear at all!
Shaun, you’re not in Beijing so I’ll actuall ytime the time to address your questions!
Why do I care about bad shows?
> Because I’m trying to avoid them as much as possible and help other avoid them as well! It’s tough enough getting people out to listen to music in Beijing, I wouldn’t want them paying to listen to crap one time too many and give up on the entire scene.
Are going to bad shows?
> oh yeah, plenty of them… more than half of the shows i go to I don’t even write about. I pay my way into the shows much like any normal person with very few exceptions and these shows don’t come in cheap in Beijing anymore. by the time you’ve had a few bad drinks, paid your ticket in and your cab fare, it’s easily 300RMB for the night. If you go to 3 to 5 gigs a weeks, that’s a family’s budget.
are you just trying to stir up comment?
Not with quickslants usually… but I do believe in healthy exchange of opinions.
What is the problem with Cool Kids
My problem is that they don’t shut the fuck up when they come to a show! They’ve paid their fee to get in and be seen but instead of enjoying whatever the band is doing, they spend their time trying to talk over the music. The band then plays louder and the crowds get louder in their conversation until it’s eventually a sonic disaster… If I pay 300rmb to watch i band, I’m not interest in hearing some chick talking about her ingrown pubes or some guy bitching about 20rmb qingdaos all night ( both happened).
The “cool kids” are invariably foreigners at Yugong Yishan and every so often at Jainghu… they tend to get the message really quickly if they are obnoxious in other venues
fair enough?
bad shows/bad bands are your opinion tho. just don’t bother to write about stuff you don’t like – why do you feel the need to tell people what they should and shouldn’t listen to? it’s their choice – not yours!
how come you haven’t figured out what is going to be a bad show already! you seem to keep going to them! haha! at $50AUD a time i’d soon be avoiding that shit!
sure – people talking at quiet shows is annoying – i know what you’re getting at – i know the kind of places where this happens in sydney and i never go there. i guess we have more options. but if you want less bands in beijing, as implied in the second sentence of this post, ultimately beijing will also have less venues and more chance of this to happen. more bands is good – hell, maybe some of them will be really good and end up getting invited to sxsw one day too 😉
I agree Shaun – for me any publicity is good publcity, so if I hate a band I just don’t write about them. I often get accused of loving everything, but that’s because I only talk up the bands I like and not the rest!
Band shows can happen for many reasons, not just bad bands, good bands can have bad days, warm up bands can be shite, sound systems & crowds effect it too. You can take a good guess beforehand and I’d say probably 80% of the shows I go to at YGYS aren’t great, but I still go because I want to see/support the bands.
The main thing about the talking is it always happens at the shows frequented by large groups of ‘there to be seen’ laowai, so for mainly international bands. For local bands it’s not a big deal, as most of these people wouldn’t bother going to see someone who hasn’t been in Pitchfork yet! I’m all for supporting local, but sometimes I’d like to go see a touring band and enjoy it too!
Good enough to go to SXSW?! Did you see the post on that? Being good doesn’t get you to SXSW from China, signing to the right label and being Chinese does.
ruby – see my last reply there – i think neither of these things has anything to do with it (and er…most people in china are chinese – i don’t think that can be helped!)
i just heard the ajinai track here at jingweir:
http://soundcloud.com/jingweir/2011-2
like it. i’d just been listening to glorious pharmacy and it brought that to mind.
Ajinai is doing some interesting things.
FYI Shaun, the quickslants are a list of all the shows I find interesting or I’m likely to go to on a weekly basis. It doesn’t mean they’re always good 😉