May/100
expo post #3, ozomatli rocks the expo, but not without some issues
los angeles band ozomatli played in shanghai’s zhongshan park 3 years ago at the yue festival and their latin funk, hip-hop, reggae, rock party tunes were a lot of fun and they reminded me of home (los angeles). according to wikipedia, the basis for their sound would be “what you would hear if you drove with your car windows down along sunset boulevard – that mix of music.” seeing them at the yue festival in 2007 was great fun . . .
so when i heard that the usa pavilion was inviting them to play a concert at the shanghai world expo, i jumped at the chance to go. heading down there with my college friend abbie, we got to expo gate #2 at 8:15pm intending to purchase an evening ticket. well, the ticket office was closed and the people there said there was no way to buy a ticket for the evening. “sold out” they said – the only way might be to buy through conveinence stores.
“so where are the cloest convienence stores?”
this was answered with a shrug. well, i had a wild-card and was able finagle two emergency tickets (thanks mla!) but there were at least 20-30 other visitors there specifically for the concert. expo organizers need to plan for this eventuality – and also, if you’re only going for an event, be sure to buy your ticket early! ticket offices close at 8pm!
well, after 20 minutes of arguing at the gate, we finally show up to see ozo. even with the rain, and the crappy sound (in the back it was fine, but when we made our way up front, the vocals were turned way down) – they were amazing. i’ve never seen a band connect with a crowd of non-fan chinese people so well. they played with so much energy, that guys in bad suits and aunties and young people were all up and dancing around. it was so fun. sure i’ve seen great crowd reactions from chinese crowds at shows like linkin park or any of the punk shows i’ve been to, but ozo completely won over an audience that i’m going to presume 95% had never heard them or of them before.
this from a show ozo did the following night (looks like mao shanghai to me) but you can feel the energy in the band.
May/102
expo post #2 herbie hancock rocks shanghai
one of the really cool things about living overseas – well, our cultural opportunities are not as frequent as they would be in san francisco, la, or even houston, but when they are, we get a much more up close and personal touch.
because of the largesse of some friends working at the usa pavilion at the shanghai world expo, we were treated to 4th rows seats to see jazz legends dee dee bridgewater and HERBIE HANCOCK play at the expo performing arts stage last friday, not only that, but it was free. FREE!
suffice to say, sharing a small, intimate concert venue with such esteemed -jazz- musical legends is beyond my ability to translate onto a blog post, but it was truly a special evening.
See the rest of my photos here
Apr/100
unixx/boys climbing ropes/jan and yan
last friday night hong kong band unixx was in town for the opening of their china concert tour. opening band was jan and yan – a three piece with two guitarists, a tall stunning woman keyboardist, and some sort of bowie/suede thing going on. i didn’t really dig them.
the second band, though, well, it was boys climbing ropes. what can i say? i just really really like watching them in concert. they’re really just on point now. i brought a friend of mine from work to see them play last time and he mentioned just how good the drumming was – and its like they have all cylinders clicking now. i cannot recommend going to see them live in concert enough.
UNiXX was billed as an “angrier smashing pumpkins,” “the cure, but louder” or “hong kong’s darkest band” – all of which i am down with. and they seemed like really nice guys (they lent jordan a guitar when he broke a string in the middle of his set), very good musicians, but the end result was just stuff i wasn’t really into. sorry.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Mar/102
big music weekend
friday night: pinkberry, candy shop, sonnet, boys climbing ropes @ MAO Shanghai
Saturday night: boys climbing ropes, st. vincent @ YYT Shanghai
friday night reviewed here my thoughts: xiao yoi (lead singer of pinkberry) was ill, and the crowd was clearly there for sonnet so they had trouble getting the crowd into it. candy shop had to do this terrible promotion for jaeger which killed any momentum they had. sonnet had some great danceable franz ferdinand-esque tracks which i really dug . . . a lot of experimentation with loops and dubs and electronic sounds from a sampler, which i did not dig. boys climbing ropes continue to rock and continue put on a great show. i am a huge fan.
saturday night photographed here by jenn wong and here by me. boys climbing ropes continue to rock and continue to put on a great show. i am a huge fan. st. vincent was fantastic – lots of experimental insturmentalation sounds combined with a beautiful voice.
Jan/100
boys climbing ropes/duck fight goose concert
so, as mentioned here and here and here last night was the boys climbing ropes record release party (support by duck fight goose). having missed the andrew byrd show to attend a birthday party, i absolutely wasn’t going to miss this show at yuyintang.
this absolutely awesome shot of xiao punk from the halloween show by gregory perez
photo by gregory perez
Dec/092
60 hours in the life
had a big weekend. krispy kreme grand opening. grace’s going away dinner. dessert at hof. late night drinks at cha’s with colette. handel’s messiah sung by the international festival chorus, including andrew.