atomicskate - Shanghai...

Hang the Police

atomicskate — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:23:18 +0000

摇滚在中国还没有死了，但是也还没有出生。。。
我的意思是在中国有非常好的摇滚乐队，但是我自己问他们怎么可以发展？
Re-TROS（重塑雕像的权利），也可以叫Rebuilding the Rights of Statues是我的一个最喜爱在中国。
第一次我去他们的音乐会两年以前在TangHui吧，他们玩音乐放天安门1989年的电影：一个月以后那个酒吧永久关门。。。

Re-TROS - New Video! -

Download this video!

The Shanghai Beat: Graffiti Shanghai

atomicskate — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 11:08:14 +0000

by Adam J. Schokora, DanWeiTV.

Graffiti Shanghai -

Download this video!

Danwei TV presents episode 4 of The Shanghai Beat, titled "Graffiti Shanghai" (with bilingual subtitles). Featured band: 21 Grams. You can also watch on Tudou (faster loading / higher quality in China).

Continue reading "The Shanghai Beat: Graffiti Shanghai"

Origin of Hip Hop / 说唱的起源

atomicskate — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 01:26:15 +0000

The real story about origin of Hip Hop!!! / 关于说唱的起源的真正的故事!
Thanks to Thomas / 多亏了王先生

Origin of HipHop -

Download this video!

The Cure in Hong Kong - July 30th, 2007

atomicskate — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 01:20:25 +0000

Living in China (mainland!) since almost 3 years, there is something that I can’t find here and that I really miss…
Rock Concerts!!!

The fact is that 99% of Chinese people (or 99% of Chinese people that I’ve met?!) only listen to commercial Chinese pop-love songs (if you don’t know what I mean, here is a sample, or if you don’t believe me, you can listen to the 500 current most popular songs in China here). The remaining 1% is addicted to nice & creative Chinese underground music, from rock’n roll to electronic music, including reggae… I’m used to go to many small concerts, and I enjoy it!

But the International scene is absent in China…
That’s normal, because the public is not there… The only bands you can see are commercial-pop-crap Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, The Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas, Norah Jones…
But maybe it’s going to change thanks to some festivals like the Beijing Pop Festival or the Beijing Midi Festival. I hope so!!!

To come back to the main topic, if you wanna attend good concert, you should go abroad or… to Hong Kong!

Therefore I early bought my ticket for The Cure when I’ve heard they’re going to play in HK

It was on Monday, July 30^th, 2007 at Hong Kong, AsiaWorld Arena (亚洲国际博览馆) at 8:00pm.
The show was about 3 hours long!!!
Featuring:
- Robert Smith (vocals and guitar)
- Simon Gallup (bass guitar)
- Porl Thompson (guitar)
- Jason Cooper (drums)

Two amazing things for me during this concert.
- Glad to hear for the first time Porl Thompson playing guitar (he left the band in 1993, so I didn’t think to be able to see him one day!).
- Roger O’Donnell & Perry Bamonte are no more members, so I was thinking that Porl would take the keyboard sometimes, but… no keyboard on the scene! All along the show, Porl replaced keyboard by playing strange and awesome sounds with his guitar!

Each time I see Simon Gallup in concert, he has a new style! This time it was a new hair cut: a little bit punk style, long hairs ruffled, really short on the side.

Porl Thompson appeared totally shaved, with a tatoo that I’d never noticed on his skull! This hair cut is better than the one I’ve seen for his come back at Live8 concert in July 2005. And concerning guitar performance: no comparison with Perry Bamonte (moreover I didn’t like him), so it was really great to listen to Porl again!!!

Jason Cooper on his side impresses me more and more: he is still inconspicuous, but his way of playing become better and better, and I agree with Robert Smith when he says: "Boris was wonderful, Jason is more than wonderful"!

Funny things:
Robert has forgotten to sing some lyrics during "Just Like Heaven" as he was discussing with Simon.
Later, during the 1^st Encore (Let’s Go To Bed, Close To Me, Why Can’t I Be You?) some people started to pogo, so I joined them!!! Then, during WCIBY, Robert came close to us and acted like he wanted to jump or slam on us, smiling

The concert hall wasn’t really packed… but I’ve heard they sold out the tickets 3 weeks before(?)…
Concerning the price: 780HKD (=78euros) in the standing area, it’s incredibly expensive! Usually, if you don’t have seats, tickets should be cheaper, but it seems that Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld Arena hasn’t the same regulation…
Moreover, the security staff just under the stage has been trained to differentiate regular digital camera from Reflex digital camera… So, if your model looks like the second one, they became angry and maybe more… I still don’t understand such kind of stupid rules… You pay an exorbitant fee to be allowed to see your favorite band, but even can’t take pictures…

Here is the playlist (click on the links to see video streaming, or to download the video or MP3):

01 - Tape (Intro)

02 - Open
03 - Fascination Street (Video streaming - Video download)
04 - alt.end (Video download)
05 - The Blood (Video download)
06 - a Night Like This
07 - The Walk
08 - End of the World
09 - Lovesong (Video download)
10 - The Figurehead (Video download)
11 - Kyoto Song (Video streaming - Video download - MP3)
12 - Hot Hot Hot! (Video streaming - Video download - MP3)
13 - A Strange Day
14 - Push
15 - In Between Days
16 - Friday I’m in Love
17 - Just Like Heaven
18 - Primary
19 - If Only Tonight We Could Sleep (Video streaming - Video download - MP3)
20 - The Kiss
21 - Shake Dog Shake
22 - Pictures of You
23 - Lullaby
24 - Never Enough
25 - Edge of the Deep Green Sea
26 - Wrong Number (Video streaming - Video download)
27 - One Hundred Years
28 - Shiver and Shake
29 - End

1^st Encore
30 - Let’s Go To Bed
31 - Close To Me
32 - Why Can’t I Be You?

2^nd Encore
33 - A Forest (Video streaming - Video download - MP3)
34 - Boys Don’t Cry

All the pictures are here (and slideshow).

Hereafter are the only 4 songs completely recorded:

11 & 12 - Kyoto Song & Hot Hot Hot! (please, jump to the middle of the video for the second song)
[See post to watch Flash video]
19 - If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
[See post to watch Flash video]
33 - A Forest
[See post to watch Flash video]

And here are 2 songs partially recorded:

03 - Fascination Street
[See post to watch Flash video]
26 - Wrong Number
[See post to watch Flash video]

Next step: China mainland???!!!???

Link:
A Chain Of Flowers (Reviews, Pictures and more Videos - Nevertheless, all the videos are low quality, except "Fascination Street")
The Cure - Community (Post about Hong Kong concert)

Credits:
All pictures and movies thanks to Christelle, except "Fascination Street" video: credit: Jack Whitsitt & "A Forest" video: credit: Musixtation.com

Shanghai Rocks? or Sucks?

atomicskate — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:34:24 +0000

3 weeks ago, when I read on Internet:

The “Rock It” Dino Beach Rock Festival takes place from June 29 to July 1st at Dino Beach. An amazing 36 bands are scheduled to participate in the massive 3-Days “Rock It!” festival and they are primed to unleash rock and roll mania on us all!

I was pretty enthusiast learning such kind of news, moreover with the following lineup:

- 新裤子 (New Pants)
- 重塑雕像的权利 (Re-tros)
- Joyside
- 扩音器 (Loudspeaker)
- 水晶蝶 (Crystal Butterfly)
and 30 more Chinese rock bands!

I was eager to watch that!

But, the first day, reaching Dino Beach, we’ve experienced our first unpleasant surprise of the night…
Indeed, arriving at the main entrance (around 10:30pm), we were asked to pay 120rmb in order to get inside!
During the afternoon, I had watched the official website, and they never said we’ve to pay any fee to attend the concert…
Actually, these 120rmb correspond to Dino Beach swimming pool ticket!… Moreover, officially closing at midnight…
Uuuuh… It would be the first time in my life going to a rock concert and requiring to buy a swimming pool entrance ticket!?!?

Therefore, me and my friends decided to turn back!… and just walk 200 meters up to the staff entrance! The door was open, so why not enter?
There was just a guard at a window, so we just had to creep under it and then search for some stairs going down!
Not so hard actually, except that one of our friend was caught by the staff and escorted outside. That’s game’s rules!

For us, the survivors, arriving on the beach, it was time for the second bad surprise…
In front of the stage, only 30 to 40 people!!!
And 80% of them were regular Dino Beach customers (it means that they probably came here without knowing there was a "rock festival"!!!).

Except that, the vibes were good, the public assiduous and joyful, the music and the artists proficient
Here are some videos of 新裤子 (truly good performers! I love them!!!):

[See post to watch Flash video]新裤子 (New Pants) - 龙虎人丹 (新裤子 - 2006 - Dragon Tiger Panacae - 龙虎人丹)

[See post to watch Flash video]新裤子 (New Pants) - 爱瑞巴迪 (新裤子 - 2006 - Dragon Tiger Panacae - 龙虎人丹)

You can compare with the ambiance during a concert, last summer, in Beijing:

BYE BYE DISCO NEW PANTS (新裤子) 2006 SUMMER -

Download this video!

So, what’s the conclusion?
Shanghai Rocks? or Sucks?
Unfortunately, maybe we should consider the second option…

This “Rock It” Dino Beach Rock Festival is a very good initiative. We should thank Bonbon Club, because they were the main actor of this festival. But we can also harshly criticize their conception and promotion of this event.
Dino Beach is far away from the downtown (around 60rmb from People’s Square). Moreover, they didn’t specify that if you wanna hear music you’ve to buy a 120rmb swimming pool ticket…
Total cost if you wanna attend the rock festival: around 250rmb! I’m not sure that students and a lot of Chinese people can spend that amount (more over it was a 3 days events!!!).

In addition, the communication plan was execrable! Indeed, the Friday I was calling some friends, telling them that we’re going to the "Rock It!" festival, and they had all the same question: "Which festival???". The fact is that, concretely, there was only 10 people (I mean real rock fans, coming especially for rock n’ roll) attending the concert on the first day.

I think that such kind of failure is not related to China, but to… Shanghai…
It seems that the lack of culture here and the lack of interest in culture both impact any cultural event…
Easy to compare with Beijing, Kunming, Sichuan, Xinjiang underground, alternative, creative and open-minded rock scene & artists…

No need to say that we didn’t attend the 2 other days of "Rock It!" festival…

Related links:
Urbanon (owned by Bonbon club)
Upcoming backup

The Cure in China!!!

atomicskate — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:56:29 +0000

Actually, they’re coming in Hong Kong on July 30^th!!!
Booking & Tickets information hereafter:

What an awesome news that The Cure is on tour in Asia Pacific!!! Yep, coz they’re not only coming to Hong Kong (see below)!

Date: July 30^th, 2007
Location: Hong Kong, China / Asia World Arena
Tickets: On sale!!! Hong Kong Ticketing - Hotline 852 31 288 288
Direct links: 中文 and English

Personally, I’ll buy my tickets this week in the "standing zone".

Other shows have been confirmed in Japan, Singapore and Australia!!!
More info here!

Louis Bertignac concert censored (?) in Shanghai

atomicskate — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 07:03:09 +0000

On June 1st, Shanghai was hosting for the first time in Asia the French Parisian "Nuit Blanche". Usually, this event is organized one time per year in France in order to promote culture (music, cinema, arts…) during one whole night, up to the morning.

In Shanghai, the French Embassy in China was in charge of this happening, and they’ve decided to end it by inviting Louis Bertignac, which is the ex-leader of the ex-well-known "Téléphone" band (they played rock n’ roll in France during the 80’s, and are still really esteemed in France).

But where it starts to suuuuuuck is that this "cultural" event was hosted in the "Millionnaire Fair"!!! For whose who don’t know what’s that event, it’s an exhibition where you can see rich (?) people going shopping their next Rolls Royce, wearing the last Gucci stuff and drinking some champaaagne…

Never mind…

Second thing: according to the French Embassy in China, Culture (with a big "C") wouldn’t be accessible for everybody! Yep! You’ve read well!!! If you wanna attend to this cultural event, promoting exchanges between France and China, you’ll need to have a -V.I.P- invitation!!!??? It reminds me some colonials inscription in China, a long time ago: "Interdit aux chiens et aux Chinois". Translation: "Forbidden to dogs and to Chinese people" (chien and chinois have similar pronunciation in French). Maybe organizers really couldn’t open this event to everyone (I’m really wondering why!?…). In that case, the question is: do we -the French community- have to set up such kind of happening if the local people can’t enjoy it???

Third point: the organization was totally pitiful, because Louis Bertignac concert should started at 00:40am, but actually started at… 2:30am!
So, 4 or 5 songs later (maybe around 3:30am?), the Police brutally stopped the concert!

Louis Bertignac Nuit Blanche - the police on stage -

Download this video!

I’ve read a lot of comments on Internet saying that the Chinese Police was wrong and it’s an injustice that they’d censored this concert.
I don’t agree.

We are in China. China is NOT a democracy (I think so!… Tell me if I’m saying a mistake!). So, if you wanna set up an event like the "Nuit Blanche", you should first settle the basic arrangement with Chinese authorities: essentially, the Red Envelope (call that as you want!). Yes, because that’s nice to want to organize French event in China, but we’ve to follow Chinese rules! It’s just a question of respect. Officially, all the entertainment events should stop at 2am everyday. If you want to continue later, you should prior arrange it!!! What a pathetic vision of France with this story…

More over, the big-fat-guy in white at the end of the movie is blaming the public! What a shame! This guy is -probably- from the French Consulate, and he should apologize for his lack of experience managing such kind of event!

Last but not least, there is only one thing on what we can convict Chinese Police: they never respect Artists!
BUT.
It IS organizers vocation to protect Artists during events. And one more time, as you can see in the video, they’ve miserably failed…

Sources (only in French sorry…):
http://www.destinationchine.com/post/200706-Bertignac-Shanghai-police.html
http://www.rue89.com/2007/06/03/police-shanghai
http://www.bonjourchine.com/f1/f94/12446-nuits-blanches-stopp%E3%A9e.html
Complete video on Youtube:

Louis Bertignac interrompu par la police chinoise -

Download this video!

The Cure in Asia and… China (!?)

atomicskate — Tue, 01 May 2007 13:22:09 +0000

As we can read on their Official website, The Cure has confirmed their coming to Japan on July 27^th!!!
It’s their first concert in Asia since… 23 years!

Damned great news for all Asian fans!

All the info are on the Fuji Rock Festival ‘07 website:
http://www.smash-uk.com/frf07

Other great bands like The Chemical Brothers, Less Than Jake, Kemuri… will perform as well (popular bands like Muse, Iggy Pop… will be also there).

And I’m really more more more happy when I also read that 3 other concerts are still pending:
- Hong Kong, on July 30th
- Singapore, on August 1st
- Australia (no date)

So we will maybe have the chance to see The Cure in China (OK lads, Hong Kong is not China mainland, but, anyway, I think that’s a good start!!!).
By the way, I think that the only suitable place for a concert in China mainland is… Beijing!
And, as Beijing is not so far away from Japan and from Hong Kong, it’s not unrealistic to think about a venue in China mainland, isn’t it?
So, why not set up a kind of counting for those who also would like to welcome The Cure in China?
Please feel free to comment on that hereafter!!!

音乐@SH

atomicskate — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 06:41:21 +0000

UPDATED on March 27^th! - As usual, in this section, I try to highlight the decent upcoming music events in Shanghai…
It’s all about Rock, Reggae and Alternative Electro!

	Friday, March 23^rd, 9pm I love EU @ 4 Live A "European Electronic Music Festival" in celebration of the 50th Birthday of the European Union. Electronic artists from the EU have traditionally set the trends in dance music and continue to do so today. This blow-out event will featuring 6 up-and-coming live electronic artists and DJs from all over the EU, from electro to dub to drum’n'bass. Address: 4 Live, 8-10 Jian Guo Zhong Lu, near Chong Qing Lu / Sinan Lu. 6415 0700. Tickets: 80RMB. More Info Here
	Saturday, March 24^th, 8:30pm Joyside @ Yuyintang Joyside describe themselves as the "bitches of rock’n'roll, addicted to Dead Boys, New York Dolls, Sex Pistols and the Stooges" - oh, and they are quite honest, admitting that they’re only here "for your cash". Joyside hail from Beijing and are one of the most famous punk bands in China having released five albums. Address: YuYinTang Warehouse, Lane 200, No.100 LongCao Rd, 64360072. Tickets: 30RMB, 25rmb for members More Info Here
	Saturday, March 24^th, 9pm Orange @ Live Bar Brit-pop from Uruguay. Address: Live Bar, Kunming Rd #721 (near Tongbei Rd). Tickets: 30RMB More Info Here
	Thursday, April 5^th, 9pm 88 New Wave Goes Android @ C’s Bar Extra special guest DJ H. Ludvigson with 8-bit shenanigans after 12. Rou-BOT, Cai-BOT, and Xiaolong-BOT play synth-pop, old school electro-funk, italo disco, electronic punk and more vocoders than you can shake a stick at. Cheap drinks and no cover to make it easy for you. Address: C’s Bar, 685 Dingxi Lu near Fauhuazhen Lu. Tickets: Free entrance More Info Here
	Friday, April 6^th, 9pm Last Chance of Youth @ Live Bar Hardcore Metal. Address: Live Bar, Kunming Rd #721 (near Tongbei Rd). Tickets: 30rmb More Info Here
	Saturday, April 14^th, 9pm NOIShanghai VIII @ Live Bar Bands: Justice Yeldham (Australia), Li Jianhong (Hangzhou), Hong Qile (Fuzhou), Vavaband (Hangzhou), Torturing Nurse (Shanghai) Address: Live Bar, Kunming Rd #721 (near Tongbei Rd). Tickets: 30rmb More Info Here
	Saturday, April 21^st, 9pm Subs @ YuYinTang Chinese Punk Hardcore band, from Beijing. A video is available on YouTube. Address: YuYinTang Warehouse, Lane 200, No.100 LongCao Rd, 64360072. Tickets: 40RMB, 30rmb for members More Info Here

音乐@SH

atomicskate — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 10:53:08 +0000

Friday, March 2^nd, 9pm
Antidote Live @ 4 Live

The popular Antidote party (once per month at C’s bar) brings you a new series of parties with live electronic music on a larger stage. This month with special guest IGO. You may have seen IGO last summer at Tanghui, but now the band includes 5 members, with new songs and video art.

	Address: 4 Live, 8-10 Jian Guo Zhong Lu, near Chong Qing Lu / Sinan Lu. 6415 0700. Tickets: 30RMB. Free beer happy hour: 9pm-10pm. More Info Here
	Friday, March 2^nd, 8:30pm Ghod @ Yuyintang Like the other great Japanese Rock bands, the nice-looking Ghod writes beautiful melody and sad lyric with the influence from Led Zeppelin, X Japan… You can download a sample at: http://www.yuyintang.com/files/ghod/Ghod1.mp3 Address: YuYinTang Warehouse, Lane 200, No.100 LongCao Rd, 64360072. Tickets: 30RMB, 25rmb for members More Info Here
	Saturday, March 3^rd, 9pm Ghod @ Live Bar Like the other great Japanese Rock bands, the nice-looking Ghod writes beautiful melody and sad lyric with the influence from Led Zeppelin, X Japan… You can download a sample at : http://www.yuyintang.com/files/ghod/Ghod1.mp3 Address: Live Bar, Kunming Rd #721 (near Tongbei Rd). Tickets: 30RMB More Info Here
	Tuesday, March 6^th, 9:30pm Rock Now @ 4 Live Local bands perform in Shanghai’s latest live music haven every Tuesday night. Address: 4 Live, 8-10 Jian Guo Zhong Lu, near Chong Qing Lu / Sinan Lu. 6415 0700. Tickets: Free. Beers are ¥15 all night long. More Info Here
	Wednesday, March 7^th, 9pm Freaklub @ Live Bar DJs tootekool and micrometropolice power on with the help of special acoustic guests. Address: LOgO, 13 xingfu lu, near fahuazhen lu. Tickets: FREE ENTRY, cheap drinks! More Info Here
	Saturday, March 10^th, 9pm Suffocated (窒息乐队) @ 4 Live Chinese Heavy Metal band. Address: YuYinTang Warehouse, Lane 200, No.100 LongCao Rd, 64360072. Tickets: 50RMB, 40rmb for members More Info Here
	Saturday, March 10^th, 10pm Bigred + Science @ Pirates Specially from France, Big Red (raggasonic) and DJ Science will be in Shanghai for a night of drum’n'bass and jungle! Address: Pirates, 137 XingFu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu Tickets: 60RMB, inlcuding a drink More Info Here