Gig Review: Ourself Beside Me @ D-22, 2010.02.27
I have had the misfortune this winter to always manage to choose the coldest night of the week to head out to D-22, and last night was no exception. At least this time, I made the trip by taxi and not train, but the fact still remains. Unlike previous chilly nights out Wudaokou way, though, there was no draft inside D-22. There was no room for a draft, as it seemed like every punk rock fan in the area had gotten sick of there being no gigs for two weeks in a row and had packed into the tiny little area. It was great, though, and just how I like my venues — packed to the rafters with no emergency exit strategy. The extra level of danger adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the evening.
Fire safety codes aside, the night went well. I arrived towards the end of Fat City’s set which, to be honest, worked out well. “Experimental noise” is not a genre I can very easily get into, and I’m sorry to say that seeing it performed live didn’t help its case at all. They did make some interesting sounds, and whenever a song started out I was inspired to listen, but after four minutes of effectively the same sounds being manipulated, without lyrics to accompany them, I was far more interested in my beer and my gig mate than the music.
Then, just before 11PM, Ourself Beside Me was up. I’d heard of the band a while ago, back when I first found out that D-22 had given rise to the Maybe Mars record label and was checking out all the bands that called the venue their home. I ran into them again when looking up Hang On The Box and seeing where the members had gone afterwards, but I had never bothered listening to their music since I never saw them listed as playing in Beijing. As soon as they took the stage, though, draining their beers before they started to play, I knew I was in for a good show. Read more
Let’s start with Life Journey, just because their songs were added most recently. They have two new songs out: Marry and 小南 (xiǎo nán). They were released days before the Chinese New Year holiday and came with an adorable New Years message video on Youku (embedded below the cut). These songs aren’t exactly different from your standard Life Journey fare — they still sound like lullabies that you should listen to with a cup of English Breakfast tea while wearing your favorite grey cardigan — but they’re new, and that’s the most important thing for a band that hasn’t had new tracks in nearly a year.
Having been going to largely Chinese gigs in Beijing for the last almost-year, this gig was a bit of a shock to the system from before we even set foot in the venue. I went with a group of about ten friends (all foreigners), and as we were crossing the road on our way over from dinner, we ran into a lone American on his cell phone looking a little lost. When he saw the group of us, his face cleared and he said “oh, don’t worry about it, I’m in the right place.” And so began a night that was a complete contrast to last week’s gig at Jiangjinjiu: instead of being the only white faces in the room, I was suddenly part of a majority of caucasians. It doesn’t happen that often at a gig in Beijing, and it was a bit jolting.