Well, it finally came around, the Indie Top show. So much to talk about that this may be the first post where I have to split it and have the main body 'after the jump'. Let's get the formalities out of the way first.
This was an important show and you should read why here: A call to arms
Next, here are the bands who played, along with links to their sites:
Zhong Chi 钟茌
Momo MOMO乐团
Little Nature 小自然
Sonnet 十四行诗
Wang Xiaokun 王啸坤
Quick special mention to my three ticket winners who all came. Thanks guys and I hope you enjoyed it. Lost Mimi at one point but I'm sure I saw you meet up with a friend.
So, here we go. First of all, this was a well organized pro-event that got a great turnout and a bunch of support. Plenty of CDs and merchandise on the scene and they even had custom made Indie Top ads to play between acts and an MC for the night. Great atmosphere and definitely a success for Indie Top. The buzz at the event lived up to all the hype I was giving it ... phew. So, onto the bands.
Pre-amble. I previously listened to the CD samples and worried that the production had pushed the bands in the pop direction a lot. And here's the thing - I came thinking "Little Nature, Momo and Mushrooms" and left thinking "Zhong Chi and Sonnet". Weird stuff. While the theme for the night appeared to be rock acts getting signed and then lightening up, the lighter acts actually rocked it. Weird weird weird.
Out came Sarah Zhong Chi whose CD is full of dreamy tracks about environmental disaster. The first thing I noticed was the decidedly straight rock backing band that included Jerry Li, formerly of the Mushrooms, and David from Moongazer on guitar and bass respectively. The songs were good and the band gave it some bite live. Zhong Chi doesn't really appear on the regular live circuit in town and I had no idea what to expect but she's cool and the songs worked fine live. Good start.
Next up were Sonnet. Sonnet are not on the label and were filling out the show. They played a straight set of their regular material and were kind of separate in feel from the rest of the night. They didn't benefit from the sound, which was loud enough to give the show atmosphere but a bit muddy and way short of truly professional. Sonnet have recently reformed and seem to be just about getting it back now. The last two songs they played really came together and seemed to win the approval of the crowd. They play modern indie rock in the vein of post-Strokes stuff like Casino Demon here.
Little Nature were next. These are a pop punk trio that I have followed from the start at this blog. The sound reminds me of a mid-career Green Day and they were instantly popular with Shanghai rock fans. It's really quite amazing that they were about to come on as a signed act at a big show less than one year later in a small scene like Shanghai. Alas, being signed has changed them a lot it seems. They came out with an extra guitarist and some pop star hair-dos. When I watched these guys at Yuyintang a couple of times they were full of energy with deceptive songs that seemed like three chord rock but had some great hooks and breaks that made them stand out. They were flat here and the label is obviously pushing the pop/idol side of things.
Momo next. Same story, The label has really got these girls to push the cute appeal. But, for Momo, that side has always been a part of them, even when the music was very garage rock still. It's not my thing, but they seemed to suit the new style and performed well. Singer Ding Jia was made to play guitar the whole show too, which is not the norm at their shows. I suppose the label were pushing for a more filled out sound or something. It never seemed to be a problem before. I wonder if these bands are going to keep playing the smaller places now?
Then came the biggest shock of the night. Wang Xiaokun was a mainstream pop star with vids on the telly and everything. I knew he wrote his own stuff and had gone indie, but I was planning to skip him if he went on last. He came on now. And WTF, his backing band were rock and he wasn't half bad. He had a Manchester thing going on. Bowl cut, psychedelic sweater, singing his indie rock vocal upwards into the mike while swaying and breaking into falsetto. He was quite good. It was a total headfuck as his previous incarnation was a talent show idol. He had the good sense to not play any of those 'hits'.
Anyway, on came the Mushrooms one of my favourite bands and an amazing live act. They lost the original guitarist and got two replacements. I don't want to talk about it much. What can I say. This was a kind of coming out party for Momo, Little Nature and the Mushrooms to showcase their new looks and styles. LN lost their punch, Momo's Ding Jia usually has a bit of power and depth behind her voice but it's all cutesy now and the Mushrooms have lost their mojo too (they should get Jerry back). It's part of a planned move by the label to sell these bands. The weird thing is the sudden change, I have seen some of these bands live between getting signed to Indie Top and tonight's show and there was no indication of the change then at all. Who's the Shanghai Mick Jones and when can he start producing?
thanks for the mention, it's great to meet you finally.
btw, hope you like the picture and see you around.
Thanks for the review Andy - I was bummed I couldn't make it and support all these bands. Also wished I had a chance to meet some of the people in the scene that I admire like Lisa.
My review is a little misleading though. This was mainly a huge event for the locals in the scene. It was packed, TV was there and all the 90's gen peeps were around as well as the label guys. The bar area upstairs was like a mini fair with stalls and activities at one point.
I can't stress enough how important this was from an industry perspective. Just a pity they are taking the bands in a certain direction that I'm not too into. Apart from Zhong Chi, who went the 'right' direction.
Ironically, Sarah Zhong Chi is the most "created" of the Soma line-up: she hung out in the studio, learned to sing, and label owner Jamyam-Yeshe (aka Lao Yao) writes all of her songs.
While I hadn't heard Little Nature pre-makeover, I concur with your assessment of Mushrooms and Momo: I liked them better before, when they were more raw and energetic. Unfortanately, even indie labels like Soma believe that polishing acts means necessarily poppifying them.
The guy MCing the Zhijiang show was Zhang Li, the veteran producer who similarly poppifed Blue Garden for their album out with Universal last year. He's a great guy, but I disagree with his sensibilities. I don't think he was very involved with this album, but he contributes to a generational attitudinal trickle-down. The pop direction is generating a light buzz of criticism from other musicians, which may just be sour grapes, but even some of the Soma bands themselves have expressed discomfort with it. I know the argument, that once they get mainstream success they can leverage that to do edgier stuff, but so far that has not worked for anyone; except maybe Xu Wei, but he has always stuck to his stylistic guns.
Andy, good to finally meet you and Jake, and it's too bad you missed the Sunday show at Songjiang. I trekked out with Honeys manager Ina Schroeder, and it was a fun reunion of the guys from the close-knit cabal of Honeys/Crystal Butterfly/Blue Garden organizing the thing. There were only about 400-500 people, but very enthusiastic given the cold outdoor setting. It was a lot more raw and casual, with more unknown young bands on the roster. In particular, the second band, whose name I didn't catch, channelled Top Floor Circus: singing in Shanghainese and all wearing panda costumes. They did one song that was totally paradying the shit out of the rising Soma stars of Little Nature, Momo and Mushrooms.
Has anyone heard of something called Rockkid? They co-organized and MCed the Soma show, and apparently do a lot of uni concerts, but I hadn't heard of them before.
Here is what Rockkid have written by their name in Douban:
上海对外贸易学院原创音乐协会品牌活动
All I get from that is that they are affiliated to that college and do event promotion. The group is quiet and there's no link to a main site. Also, Indietop One is the only event posted there ever.