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This was probably my third time ever at Old What? Bar, and my previous experiences were in winter. The revelation I had this time around was similar to what I would imagine one would experience if they had only ever visited Dos Kolegas in the winter. This tiny, dingy — though cosy — venue is dormant in winter, but absolutely blossoms into a place full of good friends, great music, and people drinking in the streets. There might not be a lawn or a trampoline castle, but there’s hutong stools and convenience stores that have no choice but to stay open through the noise. So if you have never been to Old What? Bar, go now.
Or really, you should have listened to me for last weekend and gone then. The folks at pangbianr put on a great show with some great experimental acts, but what was brilliant about this show was, of course, the super secret special guests. But more on them later. To start out with, when we arrived, the show was an hour off-schedule and missing their opening act, Mr. Ray. Instead, just because he was hanging around, experimental violinist Yan Yulong spent a while messing around with the sound system before wailing out one meandering song. I’d never seen Yan Yulong play his own material (I did see him guest at the Rustic album launch), and while he’s definitely an acquired taste, I definitely think I’d like to see him play a full set at some point.
After another long setup, next was Low Bow, who is a lovely Briton my gig partner and I had been talking to before he started without even knowing who he was. The description of “lo-fi thrash blues” I’d read before didn’t really make sense before I saw the act, but it definitely makes sense to me now. You can hear threads of influence from all over — a bit of punk, a bit of rock, and a bit of blues — all rolled into one spectacular show. For a solo artist playing in front of a crowd of twenty, he was quite energetic and spoke in English and fluent Chinese to connect with everyone. It was a really great show, and I hope to see it again soon.
Third up was White+, one of the various side-projects of Carsick Cars’ Zhang Shouwang. It was definitely not my style of experimental music though — long, droning, would-be-soporific-if-it-wasn’t-so-noisy tracks that went on way too long — so I sat outside for this one, talking and drinking and generally enjoying an evening outside.
Finally, getting on stage some time after midnight, was the super secret special guest. I had been lucky enough to hear about it beforehand (thanks Josh!), so I knew I had to stick around for it. The special guests were Hedgehog, who could easily fill out almost any other indie venue in Beijing. This night, though, in the tiny space of Old What? Bar, there were probably only fifty people in attendance, a bunch of whom were sitting outside still. It made for a great intimate performance and reminded me what is great about this band, that so often gets lost in performances at music festivals — the only place a lot of people have seen them. Seeing them up close and personal, on the stage that is barely a few inches rise above where the audience stands, is such a treat when it’s such a practiced band. These guys are just plain great, and the music from their new album is definitely mature and belongs on your music device of choice now.
I’ve always loved Hedgehog, and this show reminded me why.
So thanks again to Josh and the guys and pangbianr for putting this show on. Not only was it a great showcase of new stuff, but a brilliant opportunity to see an old favorite in an intimate setting. Congrats!
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