As regular patrons of this blog will already know, we started some highly charged and emotional discussion around 6 weeks ago with our post about the new deal up at Shanghai’s only mid sized live room, the 500 capacity Zhijiang Dream Factory. You can read the discourse here.
As anyone who knows us will know, we have been somewhat incapacitated for the last 4 weeks, and as such, we have not been out and about as much as we would have liked. So, despite the many shows that have happened there in May (some good – Andy C and Muma were pretty packed, some bad – MxPx, Brain Failure and Bigger Band not packed at all (double figures only)), it was only last night that we managed to witness the space in all it’s newfound glory. And you have to give credit to the Soma boys and girls – they have stepped it up – flown PA, better lights, and projection.
Ratatat was full to the rafters – we arrived to see one of the best bands in China at the moment (AV Okubo) showing 500+ people how far Chinese indie music has come in the last couple of years. It sounded clear, it looked slick. Great work by all involved, especially the Modern Sky crew for organising and STD for promoting it.
The worry here is the worry that plagues every venue here in China, except for the notable exceptions of Shanghai’s Yuyintang and Wuhan’s Vox – the fact that engaging the Chinese fans continues to elude most of China’s promoters. Ratatat crowd was 80%+ foreign, and apparently a similar split could be seen in Mao Live in Beijing. Yes, the ticket price was 100RMB, but surely there are some out there who would love the experience of 3 great bands on a Thursday night for the price of 2 cocktails in Muse?