After all those updates, I thought it was best to start a new post for this one. So, less than a week in and the new MAO Livehouse has been experiencing a bit of trouble. Here's a quick recap:- MAO Livehouse opened their new venue by hosting Shanren as part of the JUE Festival and then trying to squeeze in a Paul Kalkbrenner show afterwards, angering both promoters
- On Saturday, Hanggai's appearance as part of JUE wasn't allowed to go ahead (despite support act Abaji performing), apparently following complaints about the noise from the previous night; Hanggai have since been rescheduled for May 13th
- MAO Livehouse and Split Works (the people behind JUE) have confirmed that the JUE shows on Friday and Saturday this weekend will still go ahead - all non-JUE shows for this week have now been cancelled including Sunday's show with The Lemons and this is where the new update comes in
MAO Livehouse have put out a message on their Douban and on Weibo stating that 'due to the guitarist being ill' the promoter has had to cancel the appearance of Mongolian rock band The Lemons on Sunday. Given the confusion that has surrounded cancellations and postponements in the last couple of days, I decided to contact the promoters behind the show to verify this. Here's what DJ BO, part of team Trash a Go Go and responsible for bringing The Lemons to Shanghai told me: 'This is a MAO cancellation, this show has definitely not been cancelled by us.'
Understandably, he's pretty angry about the cancellation, but especially about the way MAO seem to be implying that it's been cancelled by the promoters rather than the venue. Trash a Go Go effectively work as volunteers, they don't take a cut from any of these shows and this was their first attempt to put on a gig in a venue the size of MAO Livehouse. Obviously, the cancellation, and the way it's been handled, have left a bad taste in the mouth to say the least.
Trash a Go Go are working on other arrangements and I'll let you know any developments as soon as there are any.
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