PK 14 rocked a full house
Yesterday, the crazy awesome Beijing bands Carsick Cars, P.K. 14, and Xiao He set off on their first-ever tour of the US. I was lucky enough to see these bands live last year in Beijing’s teensiest, grittiest clubs. So to be in a museum-like gallery space in Brooklyn, watching them charm a totally different audience, was surreal.
Look for two weeks of tour dates throughout the American Northeast at the end of this post — including two New York-based dates this weekend if you missed last night’s.
Why the US, Why Now
But the bands could keep sleeping...
This is how full it was as early as sound-check
Photographer / Organiser Matthew Niederhauser gets interviewed by our MTV Iggy Crew before his own photographs
The bands had only been in the US for 24 hours; they were jet-lagged and losing it. They’d spent the day walking around Greenwich Village, where they picked up rented equipment. “We hung around a bit,” said lead singer of the group P.K. 14, Yang Hai Song. “It’s where our heroes walked — Bob Dylan, Ginsberg, protest poets.” And they’d gone to a second-hand record store on Bleeker street. But then they were exhausted. And during sound-check, even as the place was already filling up, band members snoozed on an upstairs couch — nearly sleeping through their own party.
Yang Hai Song had heard the crowds might be the type who just fold their hands across their chests and bop their heads. They had toured Europe before. Germany’s crazy, but “in Scandanavia, people stare at you.” What would happen tonight? “We don’t know what will happen. We just hope the audience in New York will accept us.”
Even during sound check, the place was jam-packed, and audience members scurried up staircases and hung over balconies for a better view of the acts below.
The event came about thanks to Beijing-based photographer Matthew Niederhauser, a New York transplant who had been in and out of Beijing since 2001 and for two years there — 2005 – 2007 — did in the city what he had done as a student in New York: He took pictures of the bands he liked to go see. He quickly formed a relationship with the owners of one of Beijing’s most popular clubs — the slim, red-walled D-22 — and became the go-to photographer for overseas publications looking for images of the Chinese rock scene everyone was suddenly so interested in.
Check out our slide show of the images here, and buy the book here.
“I caught them in the upswing,” Niederhauser said in a gallery of his images, which became symbolic of the “Rise of China” and the rebellion of the country’s youth against growing consumerism. “I was a part of that myth-making process.” Still, despite his role feeding the excitement of Western publications, he isn’t so keen on the hype. He was originally interested in Beijing rock because it had none: “It has an unaffected air to it–it’s like watching a child play with a toy. I think that’s lost a lot in New York. It’s a jaded city — especially when it comes to music.”
Now, to celebrate the publication of a book of those photographs — Sound Kapital — which comes with a CD of select bands’ best tracks, Niederhauser worked with the owners of D-22 to bring over a selection of the city’s best bands to show America what it’s missing.
D-22 co-owner, Charles Saliba, is another expat, who had come to China and gotten excited about the music scene. But he had been disappointed by the quality of venues. “One felt like a suburban restaurant — a Denny’s in New Jersey.” Along with his partner he built D-22, started up a label (Maybe Mars) and now he’s not touring with the bands as their manager, sound engineer, and biggest fan.
The two-week tour is historic; though Chinese bands have toured Europe, few have toured the States.
Carsick Cars pose before a photo of them. Shou Wang is at the right.
Posters for shows they've played in Beijing, up on display
So the bands, who just want to play music, have found themselves playing the uncomfortable role of ambassadors for their country — the sole representatives of China’s pop culture underground, which is a segment of society Westerners don’t often know about and are often curious about.
D-22′s Saliba knew it would be tough to make an impact. “As far as I know in the States, few people know our bands. I mean, we’re underground even in China…Our main goal is to help build up an audience.”
Many of the bands have deliberately political lyrics, and Westerners assume they have to somehow evade the censors. But, says Yang Hai Song, “It’s never been a problem.” And he should know. The group’s hit — “Tamen” (“Them” / “The Man” ) shows bandmates dressing up as goofy, stupid army generals.
“A lot of American or European people can’t believe Chinese people play rock music,” said Shou Wang, lead guitarist of Carsick Cars — the only member of the crew who had been to the States before and even played there. “People always ask about politics,” he said. “If American bands come to China, we make it a point never to ask them about politics.” The bands love to mock the constant hype. What does Carsick Cars’ MySpace page say? “Enjoy your panda noise.”
How do they feel about their role as the reps for China? “That’s not my job,” said Wang. “Our job is just making music.”
So they just played music. Read about it here on the MTV Iggy Blog. The tour dates are below.
Tour Dates
Check the Maybe Mars site for specific times and venue directions.
- 11/6 – Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands
- 11/7 – NYC, NY- Santos Party House
- 11/10 – Chapel Hill, NC – UNC
- 11/11 – Richmond, VA – The Triple
- 11/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Club Polaris
- 11/13 – Washington, DC – Velvet Lounge
- 11/13 – Amherst, MA – Hampshire College
- 11/14 – Purchase, NY – SUNY Purchase
- 11/14 – Washington, DC – Govinda Gallery
- 11/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – Garfield Arts
- 11/19 – Waterville, ME – Colby College
- 11/20 – NYC, NY – Ding Dong Lounge
- 11/21 – Brooklyn, NY – Secret Project Robot
- 11/22 – NYC, NY – Performa ’09 Grand Finale
Again, DO NOT MISS our amazing slide show and the book, which you should definitely buy. We have two copies!
