Review: Rock ‘n’ roll at Yuyintang with lots of white guys

Sometimes it’s nice just to go somewhere and hear some music. You know, nothing fancy. Just some good ol’ slightly messy, very loud, strangely enthusiastic music.

For a cheap-ass price. So I went.

I missed the first band called Iron Virgins. Hahahaa, Iron Virgins. They sounded, well, loud, but I only heard about 30 seconds of their last song so I can’t really say anything about them. Though I did run into their drummer the following day at Record Store Day and he seemed like an upstanding chap, so there’s that. He said it was  their second time playing together, I believe, so hopefully I’ll have a chance to catch them again soon.

Stegosaurus? played next, and they’re still pretty solid. I think Stego self-describes themselves as Shanghai’s most annoying band and I disagree with that. There are at least 2 or 3 others that are slightly more aggravating, though they still refuse to play National Anthem anymore and I do find that annoying because that song is awesome and I like songs about dinosaurs. They’re still good, though. Any band of foreigners that’s been performing and releasing regularly for at least two years (which Stego has) gets my vote. Nothing wrong with a little straight up rock.

Round Eye played as well, and managed to keep their pants on the entire time. Well done! And this time I could actually listen to their music because I was not staring into the black abyss of the singer/guitarist’s crotch. Less dick, more music! And I actually liked what I heard. Some cool do-wop influences that may set them apart from all the other stuff on the Shanghai scene, so I’m looking forward to see where these guys are going.

Friend or Foe was up as well, and it’s been a while since I heard them. Not disappointed. They’re sounding more…mature to me. There’s something that happens to bands when they finally get into a groove; it’s like they finally figure everything out and go from sloppy to neat but don’t lose any of their ability. Friend or Foe is there. Plus, the vocals sounded great.

Last up was Blue Magpie, and even though they’ve been around a while I’ve never seen them play, and they’ve had a lot of lineup changes (so is the life of an expat band in Shanghai). They sounded sort of Brit pop/rock-ish. Or something. I’ll have to hear them again. You know, it was late, I’d already seen four other bands and…beer.