ChunQiu @ Gulou 121: The Sleeping Dragon Awakes

Last time I wrote about ChunQiu (Spring Autumn), I finished it by saying that someone should lock up those guys in a room and prevent them from leaving before they came through with enough materials for a new CD…. It’s not quite what happened but if what I saw and heard last sunday at Gulou 121 is any indication, the sleeping dragon is waking up.

Pics courtesy of Ruby.. she had a much better view

I honestly didn’t expect much out of a sunday night show in Gulou other than some good rock n roll and a couple of drinks, but boy was i wrong: When i got to the venue at 9:30, the place was jam packed the likes of which i had never seen it packed. As the Chinese saying goes: 山人海人, people on the mountain and people on the ocean…. or maybe in this case, people on the floor, tables and chairs.. wicked!

The band played what i thought was one of the better shows i’ve seen them play and they were all on fire. Yang Meng, usually on the shy side of things was talking up a storm joking with the audience who were eating it up. That, for me, just makes enjoying a band easier when the frontman/woman does connects…. I can’t overlook mistakes, false cues and everything else, not that there were mistakes that night. To quote people who know a heck of a lot more than I do, the band sounded TIGHT… and I mean TIGHT…
The audience was completely sold to the ChunQiu cause singing along and headbanging to almost every song. It was beautiful to see it happening and the band looked like they were appreciating it just as much as i was. fantastic…. The Keyboards, as much as i usually hate them, are bringing a whole new dimension in the band’s sound, one that i actually really love especially on “Between the mountain and the sea” that’s kinda My second favorite song on the records.

and then, the shocker!!!! A new song came out! The place went wild as we have not been treated to a new song in years. And it didn’t disappoint. not a bit! It sounded like a ChunQiu song, heavy with lovely melodies and following along where they left off years ago.. If that’s any indication of where things are headed, I’m gonna go on a limb and say the future is bright.

I was fortunate enough sit down with Kaiser Kuo and Yang Meng after the show listening in on a conversation about how the band deserves a better position in the history of yaogun, befitting their name ( I couldn’t agree more). The new songs are in that optic and they’re getting extremely serious about this…

I got 2 words for you: HELLLLLLLL YEAHHHH.

a side note about Gulou 121: I’m really starting to like that place. Comfortable, nice service, a mean pour of Jameson’s and conveniently located close to my house. We’re gonna have to work on those Gin Tonics though.

Overall, it was one hell of a good start to a music-filled holiday weekend.