Nian Ye (Mucilage) performs in Xi'an

　　The opening band showed up at the school around 11:30, full of leather and attitude, hating their audience for being stuck-up posers and providing the only venue to play in that night. The room was packed, made to hold a max of 50-60 people, but filled to overflowing at probably closer to 100. Folks squeezed in and out between friends padded in winter gear. The band set up and got ready to play. The singer, never able to face the audience unless he himself was three sheets to the wind, was drinking Yanjing in preparation, the same way the guitar player tuned up his strings and adjusted his amp. Things were in place and the show began. After two songs, good ones too, the singer had suddenly had enough. He stopped the show and left the stage. The band began to pack up as a surprised audience shifted around looking for open beer and an explanation. Then one of the "new" bands took the stage. The excitement was palpable and all faces turned in stillness to the front as pale light streaked through colored paper cut-outs that made the smoky air look like a bad version of a rainbow. The band assembled and that was where it started. The first chord was rough, out of tune and hesitantly played. The singer was so bad, you practically wanted to escort him off just to make it stop. Folks started uncomfortably shuffling around, wishing it would all be over and by the third song, the band finally quit. The first band laughed over Yanjing from somewhere in the audience. The final band never even went on.

　　I'm happy to say that I have never again experienced such a fiasco. There are so many bands in China now that to get to Beijing, center of all possibilities for alternative musical development in China, and to get a chance to play in one of the three venues available for alternative live music (New Get Lucky, Yugong Yishan and the new Club13), you have to have something worthwhile. Gone are the days of cat-caught-in-a-fence guitars and singers loved only by their girlfriends.

　　By and large, the experience of going to listen to dedicated bands has remained much the same. Bands are still mostly playing for transportation fees and beer, although bands with successful releases are getting better fees. The venue owners are much more understanding and willing to share earnings with the bands that bring in people. Many listeners are members of other bands or their friends, and lots of folks still linger outside the door, waiting for their friends in bands to get them in. Not so many people are bringing in illicit Yanjing anymore. But the joy is still there. The desire to say something different, do something different, shake people up, that's all still there.

　　As for the friends who think this is a group of folks who need to find a decent job, what I can I say? That has been the argument of everyone who has come across alternative artists - in any of the arts - since forever: Cut your hair, get a job. And for the friends who think this is a pale comparison of the music they hear in their own countries, I ask: If you are here to see something new, why not start with this? It might not be as polished and easy to digest as what you would hear at home, but the history is about 50 years shorter. So while you might not find it as "developed" as your ears would like, remember Rome wasn't built in a day. At least here are some people who would like to do something more than create fodder for the traditional pop music grinder while making a big wad of cash.

　　So, have you been out lately to hear what's going on?