Mortal Fools support Misandao, MAO

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mortalfoolsatmao.jpgWell what do I know eh? I built this up as a big one, a clash between two big nights at Yuyintang and MAO. I plumped for the latter in the end - I hadn't been to a gig there yet, I'd never seen Misandao before and this was the last show for Mortal Fools with the current line-up. I got there about half 9, the advertised kick off time, and the place was dead. There were a few people sat at the candlelit tables near the bar listening to the soul and jazz music being played (this is a punk night remember), the members of the various bands were milling around and there was a handful of punters there. The start had to be delayed in the hope more people would show up. Check out the photos after the jump for more of an idea of how things looked.

I'm not sure how things went down over at Yuyintang, I haven't spoken to anyone who went yet. I hope it got a better turn out than the MAO night though. Did anyone go? How was it? Let us know.

The real tragedy was that the bands were excellent. The Mortal Fools were on top form and the three Bejing punk/ska bands - Hell City, Early Bus and Misandao - all turned in good performances. Misandao in particular played a great set and, in a week when it's been questioned whether Chinese bands are "political enough", it took them all of five minutes to curse the government and the Expo. Their set was one massive "fuck you" to the authorities, with songs about those in power and the police. The singer had his middle finger raised for pretty much the entire set.

But they didn't have the audience they deserved. I'm not really sure why. It wasn't particlarly well promoted, but then there are quite a few shows where the venue just sticks it up on Douban and enough people turn up. Actually, about half way through the night, there probably were enough people in the place to make Yuyintang look ok if not busy - especially if you've got a bunch of people jumping around at the front. But MAO, of course, is much bigger than that and needs a bigger crowd. Plenty of people last night were just sat around the edges as well. Everyone I spoke to - band members and punters - were bemoaning the lack of people.

What made it worse was that this was Tim Anderson's last gig as drummer for The Mortal Fools. And they were brilliant. The Mortal Fools are one of those bands who don't really know how to play a lacklustre set. Nevermind if they've got a packed venue or a sparse crowd, they're always top draw performers. Though I really enjoyed their set, I couldn't help but feel a bit gutted at the same time because of Tim's departure. They're such a tight unit and there's such a great understanding there. The band is planning to continue, which is good news, but Tim, you'll be missed.
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3 Comments

Like you mentioned at the highest point there was probably about the same amount of people as when I saw this band in YYT ... here's the review

On the Douban event was 383人感兴趣 142人参加

That means none of the 383 maybes came and about half of the 142 'comings' came. A simple analysis but just to give a general idea.

Perhaps 50 rmb sounds expensive enough to locals 'on the fence' to make them decide not to bother. Who knows.

But what ever we think we should always keep in mind that no promoter can advertise a gig in the mainstream media without running into potential trouble. Obviously they could have done better here, mind you.

on promotion.......

I didn't even know about this until your fellow blog buddy told me. As it was I got stuck with my rubbish job and couldn't go but there is something wrong with promotion when I can't find a website and can't even find a listing in any of the usual places.

From my limited (can't read Chinese) pov - Mao went soft live and then disappeared off the radar.

Such a shame as it is brilliant venue, great sound, loads of space, lots of levels so everyone gets a view, really good bar staff, cheap drinks, easy to get to and from.

Here is the Mao Live wesbite

right here

But, it mainly can't be read by English windows. I dunno why. My windows have Chinese installed and can read and write most sites. Like Douban.

Just not theirs.

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