Bang Bang Tang and Joker support Guai Li, Yuyintang

There was no sign of the police last night thankfully, which meant we could get on with the music. There was no risk of a crush either, with a decent, but far from full crowd at Yuyintang. Until about half way through their set. the headliners had been underwhelming and seemed a little put out by not playing to a packed venue. Then, for the last five or six songs, lead singer Wen Jun came alive and started performing with the energy for which she is renowned. It was a rousing last twenty minutes or so, it was just a shame the rest of the set had lacked such force.

Until that point, Bang Bang Tang had been the band of the night and had actually shown Guai Li up. This was the first time the band had played Yuyintang in nearly a year following their break from gigging for a large chunk of 2009, but they made a fine return. Although their sound was still fairly indie pop as usual, there was more of an edge to their performance than when I've seen them before. Xiao Bai looked and sounded stunning and the band were really tight. In short, they rocked.

Although Bang Bang Tang ended up being quite suitable as a support act with their edgier sound, it had seemed like an odd line up on paper. So it proved when Joker came on after Bang Bang Tang. I like Joker a lot, they're a good band, but they seemed out of place as a support act for Guai Li, especially on the back of a high energy Bang Bang Tang set. They were in their four piece mode last night and played a solid set, but the crowd wasn't really feeling it.