This blog went to Beijing for the weekend, and this is what it saw: Guai Li's album release show at MAO. I'd missed the show in Shanghai the other week so thought I'd catch them in their native Beijing instead while I was up there. This time round they had CDs on sale right from the start, incidentally.
I'm not sure who the support band was (anyone care to help?). It was originally advertised as Rustic and though the boys seemed to be there, I didn't see them play. The band who did play were a fuzz-rock three piece with no drummer, who sounded a bit dodgy when I first walked in, but who really grew on me. Toward the end of their set they had three really strong songs in a row, though they could do with a better singer.
Guai Li came on to headline and opened with 'Devil Rabbit', which featured the video on the screen behind them and someone dressed in a rabbit suit jumping around the stage. Fortunately, the person in the rabbit suit eventually left the stage, though they stuck around for the rest of the gig, generally annoying the crowd.
The crowd was disappointing though. I think Sunday was a working day so maybe people didn't want to go out on a school night, but it was a bit of a poor turn out. Which was a shame, because Guai Li really played well. There was a bit of debate on Andy's blog about their performances, particularly those of Wen Jun, and it's true that they sometimes don't pull off the kind of attitude they're aiming for, but in Beijing the band really went for it and Wen Jun was properly engaged throughout. It was just a shame that there weren't more people there to witness it.
Offset:Spectacles mate. Super good band....
What Archie said: The Offset:Spectacles.
It was my first time catching them as well and funny enough, I had the exact same reaction! I was bored, intrigued and finally interested in that particular order.
The Turnout at Mao wasn't bad for that particular evening by Beijing standards! There were a few other shows taking place that did drag people away. having been to shows at Mao Live with less than 20 people in attendance, I can assure you that it was a good turn out.
Here is my take on it:
http://beijingdaze.com/tunes/2010/09/28/guai-li-cd-release-mao-livehouse/
if u r still in Beijing, holler.. would love to meetup
I'm going to write an editorial over the next 10 days (on holiday, so slow as molasses at the moment) on why I think the Beijing "scene" sucks balls. For a city that professes to love music, the people rarely, if ever, show for shows of any description...
Happy holidays peeps...