Went out to Yuyintang last night to see one of my favourite Shanghai bands, the Crazy Mushroom Brigade (Fengkuan Mogu Tuan). They are one of a handful of Chinese underground rock/punk bands that are in total command of their instruments, sound and performance. Watching them is a religous experience, but, as they are native to the Shanghai scene, they haven't made the step up to play to a good sized crowd like they deserve. The scene here being quite small still.
The headlining band was actually a Japanese industrial act called God Deadalist. For some reason they opted to go on first out of a 5 band bill despite being billed as the headliner. A singer and a guitarist played live to a backing tape of the drums and bass. I dunno, it was pretty good but more like looking at a piece of art than watching a good band live. photo at the end of the post.
Evans stayed at home so I hung out with Lin Lin who's a manager there, and also Evans' old classmate, Flower, from her high school days. Also met a couple of Fenebache fans from Istanbul. Cool guys. Last night I also checked out Hard Queen at the new Windows Underground venue. I'd love to see the Mushrooms play there to 4 or 500 people. I should harass Brad Ferguson, the manager, about it, he lives by me.
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