grawrt Posted January 7, 2015 at 04:18 PM Report Posted January 7, 2015 at 04:18 PM I went to my first concert in China on New Years eve. It was a lot of fun but also really different. I'm not sure if this is just particular to the concert I went to but I found that the Chinese people were sooooo calm and reserved and not really y'know, at a concert. Don't get me wrong, everyone has their own ways to enjoy music, but if you're at a rock concert IN THE MOSH PIT, please do something other than stand there. A lot of people still had on their thick winter jackets on (I'm not sure how honestly, it was so hot I considered taking my top off).There was just a small group of guys that really livened it up a bit by head banging, and then moving around violently. But only I seemed to think of this as a good thing since everyone else looked horrified, including my friend who tried to urge me to move away from them.There were three bands that played Second Hand Rose (二手玫瑰）, Liquid Oxygen Can （液氧罐头）, and a Mongolian band (I forgot the name). They're all really good. I found out about the concert after listening to 二手玫瑰 and mostly went for them but I liked 液氧罐头 just as much.) The majority of people went for 二手 though.btw probably the most bizarre to me was that they had advertisements playing before the show... very very weird...Have you guys been to concerts in China? Did you find that the atmosphere was different than you expected? Also, anyone know where I can listen to more under-ground bands in Beijing? 2 Quote
maomao2014 Posted January 7, 2015 at 06:33 PM Report Posted January 7, 2015 at 06:33 PM Maybe some alcohol can help:) You can check timeout Beijing http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/Music.html Quote
renzhe Posted January 7, 2015 at 07:06 PM Report Posted January 7, 2015 at 07:06 PM To be fair... you can't really mosh to Second Hand Rose Quote
hedwards Posted January 7, 2015 at 10:16 PM Report Posted January 7, 2015 at 10:16 PM I think the band is a huge part of it. I'm not familiar with those particular bands, but what were they doing on stage? From personal experience it's definitely possible to get a Chinese audience wound up the way that an American audience does, it's just not the default. It's much more likely that you'll have an audience where there isn't anybody to start the mayhem. Back during the brief period where I was doing lectures to 120 students, I definitely was able to get them livened up and create a more rockstar like presence, I didn't like doing it because it definitely cut into the educational value, but with a class that size there wasn't going to be much education going on and it was either that or nothing for half the students. Anyways, this is a relatively widely known phenomenon and a lot of times there will be people at political rallies in the US whose sole job it is to start clapping and cheering at appropriate times. Once one person starts there's a tendency for other people to start as well. As far as I know that's not an American cultural phenomenon, it applies to people everywhere. Although is may be unique to America to pay people to do that at a rally for people that presumably already support you. Quote
Chris Two Times Posted January 8, 2015 at 01:32 AM Report Posted January 8, 2015 at 01:32 AM Haha! This reminds me of the stories that I heard about Chengdu in the good ole days (the early 1990s) when a foreigner would go to a club/disco and people wouldn't really be dancing and then the foreigner would start dancing and then everyone would get up and mimic the foreigner's moves. Classic! Those days are definitely over and, at least in Chengdu, the locals definitely know how to get down and can cut the rug with the best of 'em. Warm regards, Chris Two Times Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted January 8, 2015 at 01:17 PM Report Posted January 8, 2015 at 01:17 PM To be fair... you can't really mosh to Second Hand Rose I almost downvoted this. Sure you can! @OP: hit me up next time you want to go see some live music in Beijing, it's been ages since I've been to a gig! Quote
gato Posted January 8, 2015 at 02:19 PM Report Posted January 8, 2015 at 02:19 PM D-22 next to Tsinghua was a great venue. Unfortunately it closed. You can try these places: http://site.douban.com/xpbeijing/room/2725003/ http://mao-music.com/Plan http://site.douban.com/yugongyishan/ Quote
Demonic_Duck Posted January 8, 2015 at 02:45 PM Report Posted January 8, 2015 at 02:45 PM Also 2 Kolegas and Temple Bar. As for stuff near Wudaokou, there's also 13 Club, which I've heard mentioned in a positive light but never been to. 1 Quote
Angelina Posted January 8, 2015 at 02:51 PM Report Posted January 8, 2015 at 02:51 PM Hahahaha I feel like a China Hand. I went to Second Hand Rose for New Year's (2012/2013) in Shenzhen. They seem to be in demand for New Year's, probably because of the way they dress. I went to the last gig D-22 had. What was the Mongolian band you saw, was the name Mohanik perhaps? Because that last night for D-22, a Mongolian band called Mohanik played (and gave me a signed CD). Rock history!!! Also, anyone know where I can listen to more under-ground bands in Beijing? There was an indie music shop near 鼓楼大街, let me check first. 1 Quote
Angelina Posted January 8, 2015 at 03:42 PM Report Posted January 8, 2015 at 03:42 PM Go here: http://www.weibo.com/guocheng86#_loginLayer_1420730939602 独立摇滚唱片店 北京市西城区鼓楼西大街17号 Get off at Guloudajie Station 鼓楼大街地铁站, exit G (I think, you should check when you get there), and walk along 旧鼓楼大街 until you reach 鼓楼西大街, it's right there. http://map.baidu.com/?newmap=1&ie=utf-8&s=s%26wd%3D北京市西城区鼓楼西大街17号 3 Quote
tooironic Posted January 9, 2015 at 01:16 AM Report Posted January 9, 2015 at 01:16 AM The only Chinese-related concert I've been to was a gig by JJ Lin, and that was in Melbourne, and obviously not rock. But I share your amusement with the advertising during the concert... in the West that's a really big taboo. I guess the Chinese are used to it though so the promoters know they can get away it. At the JJ Lin concert, JJ himself actually read out the thank-yous to the corporate sponsors... 1 Quote
grawrt Posted January 9, 2015 at 03:53 AM Author Report Posted January 9, 2015 at 03:53 AM Omg thank you guys so much! I can't wait to check all these out. And yesss demonic_duck that would be great to have someone to go with I can agree with moshing to Second hand rose being weird but this music was crazy good, how could you not dance or sway or even i dunno.. budge? I mean the only movement that people seemed to do was put up the 'rock on' hand gesture. The other band was nu metal, you should be moshing. @Angelina~ I found the name by looking up the site, their name is 阿基耐. It's not my type of music but its not bad. The guitarist was pretty killer and it was cool to hear mongolian being sung. 1 Quote
Huina Posted January 10, 2015 at 03:47 AM Report Posted January 10, 2015 at 03:47 AM I went to VR and MAO livehouse last week. I went to the Maybe Mars NYE party with Carsick Cars and it was amazing..people didn't just stand around, there was some really joyful moshing that was just so fun. Then I went to MAO... SMBZ had a crazy awesome moshpit! At the end young girls were crowd surfing!! I heard that there's a livehouse in Yashou market, but now that it's closed I don't know what's going on there. The shows were just as good as I expected and I'm planning on going to a lot more in the future. 1 Quote
grawrt Posted April 12, 2015 at 04:22 PM Author Report Posted April 12, 2015 at 04:22 PM I just got back from a really awesome and fun show at MAO livehouse. Very very fun crowd. Lots of moshing and crowd surfing. It was tons of fun. I plan to go back more in the future. I saw ershou again as well as liquid oxygen can and another band that was interesting and LOUD omg. I still cant hear but it was an amazing show. Wish it wasn't as cold as it was today cuz i had to bring my jacket nad make sure i didnt lose it while it hung over my shoulder bag. I did manage to lose my hairclip in the process though it was returned to me broken.. ah.. RIP too young for me to wear hairclip. At least now people will stop asking me if it's still halloween. as if skeleton hands were specifically halloween... 2 Quote
Huina Posted April 12, 2015 at 05:26 PM Report Posted April 12, 2015 at 05:26 PM I went a couple weeks ago to see Cold Neo at MAO. So great. Crazy good lineup and amazing crowd... grawrt, if you wanna, let's meet up at a show in the future! Quote
grawrt Posted April 13, 2015 at 03:06 AM Author Report Posted April 13, 2015 at 03:06 AM grawrt, if you wanna, let's meet up at a show in the future! Yes def please! I'm gonna pm you my wechat if you don't mind ^__^ Quote
Angelina Posted April 13, 2015 at 03:17 AM Report Posted April 13, 2015 at 03:17 AM Me too me too Quote
grawrt Posted April 13, 2015 at 11:22 AM Author Report Posted April 13, 2015 at 11:22 AM haha of course you can come too I sent you a PM with my contact info. Quote
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