Mao Livehouse

The man didn't get to check out Mao Livehouse in Shanghai because it was the Lunar New Year and no acts were scheduled. In Beijing, he wasn't going to let an evening go to waste without hopping into some of the indie music joints, especially this branch of Mao Livehouse, regardless of the bands or musicians for the date. We even had time to visit Gulou (鼓楼, Drum Tower) and Zhonglou (钟楼, Bell Tower) which are in the vicinity before adjourning for dinner at one of the random eateries for a taste of decent Beijing-style cooking.

It was indie pop night at Mao Livehouse. They titled it 'The White Day' (不插电的白色情人夜), after the actual celebrations of the day of men giving women white chocolates after Valentine's Day. Okayyy. Whatever. So they had a package where if you're a couple, you only need to pay 88yuan, and the individual entrance ticket is 60 yuan. Rather cute.

We were busy reading up about JUE Festival (《觉》音乐＋艺术) as well. We've missed all of that. At least I caught 'Excess Luggage' in Kunming after their Beijing stint. No hope to catch 'Deathcab for Cutie'. I understand from the friends that their Singapore gig was good, even better than the first time we saw them.

The evening was made unplugged, and held acoustic sounds from Beijing singer-songwriters. The venue was crowded. Most of the singers sang in Mandarin. The man and I knew nothing about the scene. We simply went to listen. I didn't completely understand the lyrics either. Some were good, some were not so, but it was refreshing to hear something different from our usual English songs and styles. When it comes to music, it's a universal language when it comes to rhythm, melodies and sounds.