Beijing Hipsters Hit Manhattan

I had the chance last night to catch two new alternative rock bands from Beijing that are touring the US, Rebuilding the Rights of Statues and Lonely China Day, at Cake Shop on New York's Lower East Side.

The music was definitely good, but it was a struggle to hear any unique Chinese influence or sound. Most of it seemed derived from various US and UK alternative music sounds - I definitely heard some Siouxsie and the Banshees in the Rebuilding's style. So while I was hoping for more, and I wouldn't say the Beijing sound is going to sweep the world, I think it's pretty cool that Beijing hipsters are popping up in Manhattan. Who would have thought that 10 years ago or 20 years ago? Who'll be here 10 or 20 years from now? Lahore hipsters? Lagos hipsters?

Cake Shop's Flickr feed (a couple days behind, look for the March 8 shots in about a week)

Comments

[Eric]

I was also at the show and I agree - there's something incredibly cool about a band from the People's Republic of China popping up in NY to play at the Cakeshop.

As for the lack of a Chinese influence or sound, I think this is one of the most interesting things about it. As far as I understand it, the Chinese musical landscape is almost unfathomably barren, and that Re-Tros are one of only 3 or 4 decent bands in a country of 1 billion. We take for granted the extremely dynamic music scene in the US, but Re-Tros are basically shooting out all on their own in a musical desert. (This is what friends who are very familiar with the music scene in China have reported to me.) So, Re-Tros are what you get when you have a band springing up drawing for inspiration only on what Western music they can manage to get their hands on. I'm excited to see them again tonight.