Results tagged “six shot” from Andy Best

Before Soma started their Indietop label and got into venue management they had Zhong Chi.

Sarah Zhong Chi is a protege of Soma head honcho Lao Yao and months before signing the new bands he wrote and produced her debut album Easyworld. Of course, they then were faced with the fact of there being no industry for the album to go into.

It is pop music that is inspired by ambient and trip-hop sounds with lyrics that focus on the environment. It's quite good, especially the title track. And now, it's available in its entirety on her Douban page - for listening, not downloading.

Check it out

Since forming Indietop, Soma have been promoting Zhong Chi again. When doing shows, she is backed by the rock trio Triple Smash. This band feature ex-Mushrooms guitarist Li Xing (Jerry Li) and David Chiang of Six Shot. This is a bit of a strange reversal for Soma as Lao Yao has taken most of their acts in a more commercial direction.

Well, Saturday saw a huge all day show featuring Sunnet, Six Shot, Lollipop, Dragon Pizza, Screaming Jesus, Sound Illusion, Five Pointed Star, Chaos Mind, Yu Guo and Cold Fairyland. It was called Summer Nuts! and was basically a big celebration of the recent ban being up.

I was all geared up to go and video a song from each and write, like, a four-post write up of it for the blog. Alas, I had to move house on Saturday and come three o'clock I had barely packed 40% of my stuff. Lame me. So ... lucky for me, Sam had someone video his performance at the show and put it on Youtube. Without further ado - Chaos Mind.

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.

It 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.