Bang Bang Tang live @ Yuyintang

I wandered over to a low key mid-week show at Yuyintang and ended up with the perfect antidote to some recent disappointments. The show was advertised on the Facebook group as "Chaos Mind etc" and I expected an empty place and a bunch of metal bands. What I got was a four band gig with good sound, cool people and strong upcoming bands.

The line up:

I came in at the end of Pink Berries' set and we've heard a lot about them on here lately. Needless to say, I like them a lot. I'm going to see them on Saturday as part of another multi band show at SUS2, by my house. 

Bang Bang Tang were the real revelation. If it's that mysterious 'local allure' you're after, these guys have it. The crowd were pretty much all local except for me, and Nicky from the Blues Room, and they love this band. Bang Bang Tang played a good tight set, the guitar sound was spot on and their material has branched out a bit. As a punk fan, I winced a bit at some of the pop touches - the entire band doing coordinated left-right-up-down looks. However, I think some people are going to get a surprise when they see the vids later. 

Wang Yuezhe are a new band who play a kind of concept/folk metal. I saw them not so long back - read all about it. They played a short set and then it was time for some Chaos Mind. Chaos Mind are fronted by Sam, the sound guy at Yuyintang. I have a soft spot for metal and Chaos Mind are on the ball. It was a good night and I bumped into a bunch of friends there too. Members from bands like Little Nature and Crazy Mushroom Brigade were down for the show too. I don't entirely get it: Sonnet and Defy = dead to the local crowd, Bang Bang Tang = loving it and even got other band members out to support. I hear from my Hong Kong skateboarding buddy Mark Kong that Saturday's show at SUS2 (Gua'er) is going to be a popular one too. Watch this space.

Another interesting thing is that I have now heard, no names sorry, three different groups who are all planning to open a new venue like Yuyintang but bigger. The one who was looking at Hengshan Road has already been beaten to it though, I read today that Bar 288 are opening a second location down there soon. I hope it's more like a venue than a bar with stuff happening in the background.