Results tagged “0093” from Andy Best

Double Control Where, Second live @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on January 17, 2010 12:51 AM |
naka naka dcw
Saturday night at Yuyintang and back to the old ways: an 0093 showcase.

You might have wondered what happened to these. 0093 shows used to be monthly, clearly identified and great. Well now they are officially Rock Shanghai (the website) shows and a bit more erratic.

The night promised a loaded line up of unpredictable quality, just like the good old days but was transformed by a strange turn of events. You see, last night's good jive show went on past one and YYT got some heat from some bus using local fans. So tonight they pared down the show and ran a strict 9-11. So, when I ambled in at about 9.45 I arrived just in time for a top quality show by:


Hooray!

I posted a lot on DCW lately and how I was loving their two excellent demos at the page, the same one I linked on their name there. They had their best live sound yet and the thrashy parts really kicked in. Singer 'naka' was in the screamo zone and their standout tracks Say Goodbye and Some Just Want Everything really stood out. They really tore it up tonight and it's a pity it wasn't sardine-can full, it would have been carnage. This had to be just one show away from their first big mosh pit.

Second opened with a J-rock cover and sounded a bit limp at first. But, they really picked up during their original material. By the end of the set they were also sounding as good as they've ever sounded and the audience really enjoyed the closing track. Their set was really anchored by the bass-drum pairing of Sei and Xiao-Zhu. They were solid and bassist Xiao Zhu has real swagger these days. Unfortunately they are about to lose their guitarist Eleven to sexism marriage. 

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Haibao will save us all from dissent

By
Andy Best
on December 14, 2009 7:38 PM |
lu chen tee
Updates: Shanghaiist runs the story and points out that even Ex-pat mags can't make a joke about Haibao.
 
Jake links this blog about the Vancouver Olympics, where all performing artists have to sign a deal forbidding them from saying anything negative about any of the sponsors or related issues.
 
Shanghai artist/outlet The Thing, made the T-shirt you can see in the pic. It's gone too.
 
So, Monday today and another 'chat over tea' with The Man for Top Floor Circus.

If you're not following this, here's the first post.

So, following on from Jake's post today, Shanghai Welcomes You is now off their page and the video has been harmonized from Youku. Not only is it banned from being performed but it must be removed from history too, yes, just like in Orwell's 1984.

In it's place is now an ironic saccharine pop song called Let me sing you a Top Floor Circus song.

There are further complications. As Jake wrote, the incident has led to Mao management being called up too. And, oh dear, guess what ... Mao don't have their own proper license. They basically sub-let the space from it's previous (and current) owner who used to have WTF Club in there. So we're waiting on that too.

This is just the start. Really, shame on anyone who continues to write complimentary/promotional stuff about the Expo and claims to support local culture.

End note, 0093 have now closed their doors as the management refit to cater to it's Expo friendly location. When it reopens, the 0093 crew fully expect raised rent and the search for a new place is on. Once this is confirmed, that's a major blow to the scene at the hands of gentrification.

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Tudou: Hanging Gardens as The Cure @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on May 28, 2009 1:41 AM |
Hanging Gardens are great guys and they love music. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they always seem plagued by either sound problems/tech problems or indifferent turn outs for the bands they are supporting. 

However, at the 0093 return to your dream's start party they were the highlight, playing to a packed house. It was so surprising that guitarist Ryan drops a note in shock at the beginning of an otherwise flawless version of Lullaby. This is a band who fully deserve to do well.



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0093 bands return to their dreams @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on May 28, 2009 1:12 AM |
hanging gardens play the cure
In the first of two holiday shows at Yuyintang, 0093 Rock put on a special show where seven of their bands played a set of covers featuring the band that first inspired them to play.

Here was the line up:

伍角星(Five Pointed Star)致敬Linkin Park
空中花园(Hanging Gardens)致敬The Cure
The Rovers致敬Led Zeppelin
大象装修队致敬Blink 182
Bloody Mary致敬Radiohead
尼姑庵致敬Nirvana
五便士致敬Guns N' Roses
脑梗乐队致敬Greenday

I arrived on time and was surprised to see the place rammed already. With five minutes of me entering, scenester and indie folk artist Fanqie Chaodan, who was taking the tickets, held up three fingers to 0093 organiser Tiantian to signal the 300 mark. And it didn't stop. I broke into a grin as I entered on account of that thread and Fanqie just said "don't laugh". Poor guy. And yes, his net handle does in fact mean 'Tomato and Egg' like the famous dish.

During Radiohead, the first band to sound professional for the night, me, three local lads and one more foreign legion member tried to get a pogo going. It was fun for just us but the front  half audience, seemingly comprised solely of timid looking students, didn't go for it. Also, Radiohead songs are generally shot through with emo wailing and mosh unfriendly sections. Even the heavy bits have choppy rhythms and odd time signatures. 

I was there to see Hanging Gardens do The Cure. It was great to see Hanging Gardens do anything in front of a packed house. They were great but only played four tracks (the average for the night was six). However, we got Friday I'm In Love and Lullaby in there. While the other bands just played the style that they pretty much sound exactly like anyway, Hanging Gardens made a cool choice and pulled it off well. They turned what I thought was going to be a low key warm-up night for the Mushroom's gig tomorrow into a memorable night in it's own right.

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0093 shows in other venues

By
Andy Best
on May 5, 2009 1:22 PM |
rock0093
Rock 0093 studios became famous with a series of showcase gigs at Yuyintang last year. Each show would feature five or more newer bands that rehearsed at the studio. 

Here's an article that contains links to 15 previous posts and vids on the subject.

Recently, though, Yuyintang has been booked solid with established acts and big nights ... pushing the groundbreaking 0093 nights out into the wilderness (Yangpu District). 

0093 are running their shows out of Live Bar and their own O3 Space this month. O3 Space was started to house informal shows and the fledgling Folk 0093 collective but is now starting to branch into regular shows too. 

This month you can see four shows in O3 including Happy Avenue and Five Pointed Star. The latest 0093 showcase event "We're Emo Kids" will take place at Live Bar on the 9th. Click here to see the detailed listings with addresses. 0093 will return to Yuyintang on 12th June with 0093 Rock Party 11. Acts are not yet confirmed. 

This is going to be a good Saturday (9th). With 0093 at Live Bar you now have a choice between that, Hard Queen at Canart, Overdose at YYT and Brain Failure at Dream Factory.

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Magazines: That's at last ... 0093 studios

By
Andy Best
on April 2, 2009 9:36 PM |
0093 studio
Today, China Music Radar correctly singled out an article by Lisa Movius at That's Shanghai. The article talks about the 0093 studios and their importance to the scene. Readers of this blog will be familiar with all this, of course. 0093 and Tianpin Dian (Candy Shop) also got some coverage over at SH magazine before it went down. There's an interview with Jiang Shaoqing there somewhere. Jake, can you link that in the comments if you have it?


And here are some oldish 0093 posts by me going back even to pre-blog times at Shanghaiist.:


Said in Samuel L. Jackson's voice: Count 'em, m*th** f***k**, I double dare you!!!! That's a tasty burger. 

etc

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Rock never dies @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on March 28, 2009 9:15 AM |
rock0093
A rainy Friday night and I was back in action after a two week lay off. This was an 0093 event with the regular 0093 party coming up soon too. here was the line up:
 
 
Walking into Yuyintang I was surpirsed to see more major renovations. The band room has moved upstairs and the old band room is now more seating space. The two rooms are open to each other now and the whole area looks much bigger. Then the raised space behind the sound desk is opened for standing too with the glass having been taken out. Finally, the area on your left as you enter will now be a small shop for band merchandise. It all looks great.
 
Apart from generally hanging out I had an idea that I wanted to check on Hanging Gardens. The singer has the look and the band have some good ideas but they have yet to stake their claim on a piece of the scene. They were good tonight and the songs got across much better. Their main hit type song Memory Piece worked well, especially the extended instrumental break in the middle and I was taken away a bit. Fans of sensitive jangly indie bands should keep an eye on these guys.
 
Quick note: I have been waiting out this Youtube thing. It seems that it is coming back in fits and starts. If not I will deifinitely get a video up this weekend through Vimeo or Tudou.

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Underground folk shows in 0093

By
Andy Best
on March 21, 2009 10:41 PM |
0093space
0093 Studio is the premier rehearsal studio for local bands in Shanghai. It's affordable, has plenty of rooms (all equipped) and it also happens to be in an underground bomb shelter and look very rock.

I've been down there a bit lately, working on some songs and it really is one of the coolest places. I also intro'd a few people to the place after meeting via the blog. I was once down there with a certain retired rock singer and the first thing he blurted out when we saw a room was "Wow, they should put on shows here."

Fast forward a few weeks and I'm surprised to see that there will be a show there. They even have a separate logo O3空间 (on the right). It will be on Sunday 29th of this month and run from 2.00 in the afternoon. 

The music will be indie folk but I'm not sure about the artists. As well as Sylvia we have two acts named after dishes, Tomato & Egg and Glazed Char Siu respectively. Anyhow, it could be the start of something good so if you fancy sitting in a grungy underground room shooting the shit with local musicians then give it a go.

0093 is at 93 Lingling Road and the entrance is right by the Line 4 metro station Da Mu Qiao Lu.

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0093 showcase #8 @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on February 6, 2009 11:54 PM |
linglingjiusan
I'm back in the action. Tonight at Yuyintang was the 0093 Studio's eighth showcase gig. A little bird told me that I have just acquired a bunch of new readers so I'll just go over it again. 

0093 are a rehearsal studio in an underground ex-bomb shelter. They hold monthly shows at Yuyintang where new bands on their books get the chance to play at a proper venue. The shows usually feature at least six bands, eight tonight, who are usually backed by one or two experienced bands to keep the crowd in it. Read this for more info.

Here was the line up for tonight:

1.大新鲜乐团 (Da Fresh)
2.The Rovers 
3.静水乐队 (Jing Shui)
4.重结晶 (Zhong Jie Jin)
5.突变乐队 (Tu Bian)
6.My Chilly Hurt 
7.AWAKE 
8.自由数(Ziyou Shu)

The only band there with any kind of reputation and online material are Da Fresh. You can hear a demo right here. Don't worry if you can't read Chinese, you'll spot the MP3 player right of the bat. 

So. I came down primarily to see Jing Shui - who canceled. The turn out was great tonight and it seems that Yuyintang have made a permanent breakthrough with the local audiences. There were chaotic scenes at the door as eight bands worth of close friends tried to walk in nonchalantly without paying. By the time the first band was about to come on the hall was full and ready to go. Except they didn't come on. After another thirty minutes of waiting around, a YYT staff member gingerly took the stage and announced, "has anyone seen Da Fresh? Are they in there?" After another ten minutes or so the same staff member took the stage again and gingerly asked if the second band were there either. Eventually someone played.

With Jing Shui out of the picture I was looking to Da Fresh for the Quality. Both bands play the Brit-Rock style. Da Fresh did eventually come on and played a professional set of catchy Brit-Rock style songs. Video soon to follow. The band have been around a while but the show didn't compare to the energy of recent Brit-Rock shows by knockout groups like The Way and Casino Demon. I had fun hanging with blog reader Neil and talking football with him and YYT part owner Sun Lu, who likes Crystal Palace. This review is lacking a point today as the band with the potential to move on to greater things didn't show.

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Rock 0093 Studio gearing up for the New Year

By
Andy Best
on January 6, 2009 11:39 PM |
rock0093
Rock 0093 is a rehearsal studio down on Ling Ling Road. But, they are much more than that. Over the past year they have introduced a wealth of new bands and musicians to the scene with some of the better groups starting to really break through now. 

As well as running the rehearsal space they also organize a regular showcase gig for their bands at Yuyintang. They also produce CDs for selected artists and run a shop (online only at the moment) for local band's CDs. Some links from previous posts and the shop too:


Coming up, 0093 will hold their 8th showcase at Yuyintang. This one is loaded with very new bands and they only provide links for two out of eight acts. It's on 6th of February and here's the line up:

Awake
Da Fresh 大新鲜乐团
Ziyou Shu 自由数
Jing Shui 静水乐队
Tu Bian 突变乐队
My Chilly Hurt
Kuangxiang Jiqiren 狂想机器人 (crazy robots)
Rovers (Led Zep cover band)

There's also a funny thing going on in the Douban group for 0093, namely the announcement of a new CD that will be called, ahem, "Indie Underground One" and released, ahem, on April Fool's Day. There's even a playful line about April Fool's and Indietop at the bottom of the post:

4月1日 愚人节 和<INDIE TOP>交相辉映

For all those who know Chinese. 

I posted a comment joking about it and fishing, unsportingly, in advance as to if it's a joke or not to which they cheekily replied 山寨版 shan zhai ban. Shan zhai ban is slang for those copy products that mimic a brand name exactly but change one letter in the name or whatever. I hope it is real, check out the proposed track listing (with more TBC including Candy Shop and Bang Bang Tang):

伍角星 - 对白 (Wu Jiao Xing)
胶壳乐队 - 大公鸡 (Joker)
香蕉猴子 - Double Trouble (Banana Monkey)
Pinkberry - Beauty Doll 
望月者 - For Those Who Suffer (Wang Yue Zhe, Moongazer)
空中花园 - Another Grateful Day (Kongzhong Huayuan, Hanging Gardens)
顶楼的马戏团 - 上海欢迎您 (Top Floor Circus)
P&P - 相信 

By the way. It's real. 

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More Barfly, pictures and chat

By
Andy Best
on November 14, 2008 12:20 AM |
hanging garden
Another update on the New Pants thing: I decided to follow up this story by contacting Kenneth Tan of Shanghaiist for a comment. He declined to answer at all so it's snubs all round. Hooray.

End update

I'm all excited. My cold is clearing and the worst is behind me. This weekend - shows! Great. So, before normal service is resumed let's clean up some odds and ends.

I recently spotted a small-ish column in Enjoy Classifieds talking about the scene. Check it here. So, Barfly continued to have a look at the music scene this week too.

I'm glad he did. I don't like to be negative and Barfly had a very similar experience to me in a certain area, so I can quote him instead of posting it as my own.

What the f*ck am I on about? Check this out first: adventures in cabaret

So, Bar 288 (Melting Pot) has recently opened a new location right on Hengshan Lu in the main bar area. I have been avoiding this for the same reasons I laid out in the linked post. At the bottom of this post you can see how it turned out. Barfly went there last week and here's what he had to say about it.

Barfly was going to be about the Melting Pot's new Hengshan Lu location and it's live music potential. I had it completed, and then decided it could be summed up in one sentence - the new Melting Pot has little potential aside from the funny sensation you get when walking into a Chinese club laced with purple velvet walls and disco lights, with Irish fiddles playing in the background.

That about sums up what everyone is saying except for the odd stage placement in there. The column is joking about Chinese mainstream clubs. This is not a cultural thing. YYT and Live Bar don't seem to have any problems. I personally just think the owners are just more club than venue, that's all. Also, Bar 288 on Taikang Lu is a pretty cool place to hang out, they just don't have any idea how to put on a rock show beyond letting a band play inside the building.

So, talking of YYT. Gemnil, a performance manager there, is starting to dip into some band promotion and photo shoots. YYT owner Zhang Haisheng only officially manages one band, Yu Guo. But now, together with 0093 studios, they will start to get more into developing talent. With 0093 releasing their first EP for the band Joker and Indie Top recording for 13 acts at the moment we may be able to double the amount of true albums from Shanghai based new generation bands by New Year. So above and below are some shots of Hanging Garden (Kongzhong Huayuan). See a video of these mellow indie balladeers at Yuyintang here.

Update: A sample of Gemnil's Pinkberry shoot added below

hanging garden

xiao you

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Rocking in the free world (0093) @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on October 25, 2008 12:54 AM |
tianping dian warmup
Friday night at Yuyintang and the latest in the now long line of 0093 showcase gigs, Rocking In The Free World, was going head to head with a weekend of first generation rockers up in Zhabei. I assumed YYT would lose a lot of locals to the bigger events - but I was wrong.

Amazing line up. Amazing turn out. Solid famous acts like Sonnet and Sko were up alongside 0093 studios' better acts. The final line up went like this:


Yuyintang was packed out with a great crowd of the coolest fucking people in town. Each band got a decent crowd and the sound was good all night. This was Yuyintang as it always should be. Rocking bands, cool people and hanging out in the park behind during breaks. I was sick with the flu all week and this was just what I needed to pick me up. Keep in mind that I'm easily excited, mind you.

The surprise of the night for me was Tianping Dian. I had seen them twice before and have reported their potential on the blog a couple of times. Tonight was their time to get it together. Sonnet had played a decent set and the hall was rammed. Tianping Dian got straight on and blasted through their high energy tracks sending the crowd into a mosh. They never missed a beat and the guitar sound was especially good. I have a vid coming, but it doesn't do justice to the sound as usual. With so many bands on the bill, the set was kept short but people wanted an encore so the band swapped instruments and ripped out a well funny closer - a dirty version of a famous Shanghainese kids song that had everyone cracking up. I wish I had a succinct genre name for them. They are a kind of rap-rock crossover with female vocal catchy choruses. I dunno.

The other band that really got the crowd going were Little Nature. The Bar 288 bands kind of come in a three for one pack these days. If Little Nature play than you're going to see members of Momo Tuan and Crazy Mushroom Brigade plus entourage in the crowd. They played a tight set and got everyone moving. They do keep insisting on playing Happy Birthday though. Their fans were loving it and singing along, and it's not 100% serious, but every time they play that track it discredits all their previous good work. Saw Dan and Fabian from Rogue Transmission at the show too. Let's not forget their EP release at YYT tomorrow which also promises to be a wild night. 

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In the papers: Chinese Rock Power

By
Andy Best
on October 23, 2008 1:10 PM |
tangchao
The Shanghai Daily English edition ran a cover story on rock today. That's the cover of the culture and entertainment insert. Before I discuss it a bit, you can find an abbreviated version of the article online here.

All over the world, the mainstream press does not move in mysterious ways. The feature is in to promote a weekend outdoor concert in Zhabei district called Chinese Rock Power. The big pull is the 90s period first generation rock band Tang Dynasty which is what the article focuses on. 

Both the print and online articles are devoid of any real information on the event with no full line-ups or links/contacts to the organisers. I flipped the page to the What's On listings and there's no mention of it at all there. The article itself says that fellow veteran Cui Jian will headline a night. Other clues to the line-ups are not good. The show will apparently feature Wang Xiaokun - a reality TV show winner and pop idol who has that please kick me aura about him. 

Anyway, the article is full of the usual annoying stuff that mainstream/nationalist minds produce. Tang Dynasty pioneered 'east meets west', they use rock but stay true to Chinese culture, they broke the Japanese market, Chinese rock fans have long hair because of them. The guitarist is the best in China and even in the top three in Asia. Luckily the writer throws in a quote from the band itself right at the end, a brief moment of truth.

Ding also wants the media and critics to be more open minded regarding Chinese rock singers because "many rock bands are just surviving in small pubs. It's a difficult and long road and we all need some support."

I hope that writer takes the advice and next time doesn't wait for a large event promoter to give them a story. There's plenty of rock stories out there if they actually have a look.

Busy weekend coming up. The latest 0093 Rock Party is on Friday and will give me a chance to see how Kongzhong Huayuan are progressing. The very next day is Rogue Transmission's EP release party. The EP is called Illicit Intercepts and you can try to win a free copy over at Layabozi. All you have to do is guess what the cover art means or is. Maybe I should have run a similar competition about the name? Seriously though, it should be a good night out and you can get excited about it by watching this video of the Transmission's kick ass appearance at the Control show: check it out.

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Joker EP release @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on September 28, 2008 2:08 AM |
brunch
It's a packed few days in the Shanghai music scene and I decided to break up the action with the most low key event on offer. Blues/rock band Joker were having a release party for their new EP. This turned out to be a really interesting night for many reasons.

First of all, the show was actually the next in the series by 0093 rehearsal studios. It was a five band bill and here's the line up:

He Yun Feng
Wildcat
Brunch (pictured)
Wang Yuezhe
Joker

From all of these, only Joker have a fully developed set of all original material. So before we go on, here's where you can check them out:


So. The reason we have an 0093 party and a CD release at the same time is that 0093 are moving ahead with their vision. I got chatting with Tian Tian (0093 founder) after noticing that he has discontinued the CD shop in Yuyintang. The CD sales could not cover the room rental and it is now a seating area in the style of a dive bar. he will continue to sell the CDs from his Taobao shop, that I don't have a link for.

The bands who rehearse at 0093 are now becoming 0093's stable, so to speak. They are getting involved more and more with the band's development. Tian Tian has a recording studio in Minghang and this CD is their first release. It is an 0093 brand CD. Also, he brought a load of them and gave away one per ticket, included in the 30 rmb cover. Good stuff! As long as there are no unforseen disasters along the way, I hope they develop into proper Shanghai indie label. Fingers crossed.

Despite staying away from cover bands in the commentary, I want to talk about Brunch a little bit. They took the stage and I immediately realised that it was my third time to see them at an 0093 night. Tonight was a bit different. The singer, pictured above and below, was on a mad one. As they performed their usual covers of early Radiohead songs, she was going into another plane of existence. What do I mean by that? I mean, that she was going into howls and screams, paying little attention to what the band were doing and generally acting like she had gone of her rocker. The general audience consensus was displeasure but I couldn't help thinking of two things. First, if you transplanted her to a more dark rock or punk act, such as The Subs, it would have been a crowd winning performance. Secondly, sometime in the future some people with their act together could come in have a field day doing management and development. There's all kinds of personalities and potential around and it's all so disorganised. 

The next band was Wang Yuezhe. They played a kind of atmospheric rock with good energy. I got a video clip but the sound was messy and I'm not sure it'll come across, stick with it if you check the clip. Joker came on last and late. They are a straight blues-rock outfit, leaning towards blues. They set out their intentions early by starting the set in straw hats playing an unplugged guitar and harmonica impro piece. The remaining crowd (five bands on the bill) really liked it and the frontman did a good job of keeping people in it between tracks. 

I'll leave you with some tasty info about tomorrow night. YYT owner Zhang Haisheng mentioned that he has to rent 'very big' extra amps at the request of Useless ID. Also, Sko can't make the tour so local prospects Pink Berries will have a crack. 

brunch

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0093 Rock Party 7 @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on September 8, 2008 4:19 PM |
0093 rock seven
Tonight was part seven of the 0093 Rock Parties. And a quick explanation: 0093 is a rehearsal studio. The 0093 nights at YYT are a chance for really, really new bands to play live and see what it's like. It is therefor normal to expect six or seven bands in the line up most of which could be playing mainly covers. Occasionally, a more experienced band pops in ...but not tonight.

So, first a confession. I mentioned previously that I was attending the show mainly to see the band Kongzhong Huayuan. They were the stand out act at the recent Britpop night. Alas, I didn't make it that far. I had been there almost two hours and the second band were still going. Like the first band, they did mainly covers and went on for ages, talking to the crowd at length between songs as if they were Iron Maiden playing an arena show. I did have a partner in crime for the night though, Abe Deyo. I have gradually discovered that Abe shares my passion for self inflicted pain checking out the very newest bands at multi-act shows.

Anyway, why not checkout an older video of Kongzhong Huayuan here. It's good.

The line up for the show was:

1. Brunch
2. Jiaoke Yuedui
3. Wang Yue Zhe
4. 8 mg
5. Kongzhong Huayuan
6. Death River

I'd like to finish with a bunch of rumours and tidbits. Abe tells me he's all but finalised his next event - bringing DOA and The Queers over to Shanghai and Beijing. Also, I was at a hotpot place with a bunch of YYT people and heard that Zhong Ke has already left his new band Muscle Snog. They were also talking about Crazy Mushroom Brigade losing guitarist Jerry Li. I hope not, he's the lynch pin of my favourite Shanghai band and they're supposed to be recording this month. I hope he didn't leave to form a shoegazing experimental post-rock band, that would really ruin my week. If anyone wants to confirm or deny any of that, the comments are open.

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Youtube: Lollipop at Rock 0093

By
Andy Best
on July 20, 2008 2:19 AM |

Here is one of three videos I just put on my Youtube page from last night's Rock 0093 party. This is Bang Bang Tang (lollipop). This is the band recommended by Lin Lin in her interview for this blog as one to watch. Beware though, if you look at the related videos on Youtube or search for more info on Bang Bang Tang, you will notice a T**w*n*se pop act of the same name.

This one is not too bad but I haven't had much luck with light recently. The Blues Room had no lights and the plan for Rock 0093 seemed to be put half on flash then bugger off for a smoke out back. Also on the page are Six Shot (a must for metal fans) and Tianping Dian.

 

 

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Rock 0093 Party Six @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on July 20, 2008 12:59 AM |

lollipopIt was pissing down raining quite heavily tonight as Shanghai prepared to catch the back of a proper storm, one with its own name and everything. Rock 0093 is a showcase of new and newish bands that all practise at the studio of the same name. So with bad weather and no well known acts on the bill, I assumed Yuyintang's sold out streak was finally coming to an end. I'd forgot about a certain phenomenon at 0093 shows, though.

The bill had been expanded to a marathon nine bands and gotten underway at 6.30. So, if you put each band and their group of friends into the audience it's actually quite packed. As each band is done, most of the members and half their entourage go home ... so the first bands on have a good crowd and the headliner has a half empty room. Of course, when else would the band i'd come to check out, Bang Bang Tang (lollipop), go on except dead last.

So as I got in a band were just about to go on. It was Six Shot, a traditonal thrash band with absolutely no rapping and no samples. At this point the hall was packed and everyone went nuts for it. I haven't been at a pure thrash gig for ages, especially one with proper moshing and headbanging. The singer was feeding off it, calling out the audience in the mosh pit and getting good responses.

I took a little rest for the next band. Wujiao Xing (Five Pointed Star) are a genre nu-metal band whose best song live is a Linkin Park cover. Next up after that was Tianping Dian (no English name but it means one of those Hong Kong style dessert houses). They had a female vocalist and a rapper and they launched into two tight and catchy pop-rock tracks that really surprised everyone. I was really blown away. But, right after that they fell away with a series of songs that weren't half as well rehearsed. Also, the dwindling crowd was really dwindling. If Tian Ping Dian stay together and work hard, they could be one for the future.

Next up - another hazard of 0093 showcases - the momentum was stopped by the introduction of a one-off-for-the-show cover band, Brunch. I decided to take a real break and have a sit down. Right about this time there was a nasty fight that started with broken bottles dispute between a couple of staff members right in front of where I was sitting. Evidently it had been a long night before and an early start today and tempers were running thin. Luckily it was broken up fast and no one was seriously hurt (i'm not sure how). So - finally - Bang Bang Tang (lollipop) took the stage.

Like all the bands, they are new and far from a finished product. But they played well and the whole reason I like the scene is for the DIY/punk aspect. I can see why some people write them off as more pop than rock though. I managed to get three videos including the promised Lollipop video so see for yourselves. Check the Youtube page in the blog sidebar. 

six shot

tianping dian 

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Experimental heaven and 0093 Party 6

By
Andy Best
on July 18, 2008 1:22 AM |

0093 studio

Update: Jake has interviewed Torturing Nurse's Cao Jianjun here.

So many of my posts start with excuses disclaimers. I'm not going to get in the habit of doing listings and this blog is not about that. However, there's relevance to recent posts in some upcoming events so here goes.

So, in the interview with Lin Lin of Yuyintang, she mentioned two bands. Crazy Mushroom Brigade as a newer band that had 'arrived' and Bang Bang Tang (Lollipop) as the promising new comer. A couple of conversations later I discovered this to be quite divisive, especially the idea of them being 'rock'. Intriguing. Lucky for me - Bang Bang Tang are playing Yuyintang's Rock 0093 Party 6 on Saturday night. So not only will I be able to see what it's all about, I'll be able to video them for the blog.

0093 is a rehearsal studio and the 0093 parties are for new bands who practise there to get a chance to play live and get some experience. This is a very good idea that should be supported, but it obviously makes for mixed shows. Here's the line up, I don't have any links for these at the moment (they're new).

Six Shot, Red Brick, Black Romance, Brunch, Lollipop, 5-pointed Star, Dessert Store.

So, Lollipop are the one's to watch.

I also decided to throw in a post about the noise/experimental scene lately and I then ended up at a post-rock gig not long after that. The noise post even saw blogger Micah Sittig sign up and comment. So, by single response popular demand, here's more on the noise scene. There are in fact two major shows coming up. Over at Live Bar this Saturday is the latest from NOIshanghai. This event is billed as Torturing Nurse vs Vario Air.

Torturing Nurse's page is here.
Vario Air's link is to the Kunt page.
And here is the flyer.

Then, the following week at Yuyintang is the Miniless Records Shanghai Calling show. This is another noise/experimental show. The line up has Muscle Snog, Grace Latecomer, Monkey Power and The Los. So, all those of you who like to go out at night to an exciting venue and do some really deep listening all night - there you go.  

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