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Joyside
When our friend and old bandmate Mike asked us about the music scene in China a few months ago, we really didn’t have much to offer beyond a few Kenny G and Carpenters jokes.
The Houhai Sharks
The Houhai Sharks
With the Wallnuts in town and a five-band bill at a popular bar for the bargain price of 20 kuai ($3.50 AUD), we figured we should jump at the chance to see some Beijing rock, so we headed out to D-22 near Peking University.
The impassioned Yang Haisong of PK 14
The scene outside the bar could have been pretty much any club in Newtown or Surry Hills, or an American college town for that matter – university-age hipsters smoking and chatting outside, lots of leather, ripped jeans, Converse, piercings and tats.
International indie-rock footgear
We got there an hour early and grabbed one of the few tables - we may be rugged wallwalkers but we don’t have the endurance anymore to stand in a sweaty moshpit for hours on end.
Shang of Joyside
Guan Zheng of Joyside
None of us knew anything, really, about Chinese rock, but it turns out we saw some of the best bands in Beijing. The headliners, Hang on the Box, were nominated as Best Rock Band at the Annual Pepsi Music Awards in 2004 and 2005. Two of the other bands, Joyside and PK 14, have been the subject of film docos. And it was a great show, at least so far as an oldster like me can judge (without the benefit of being able to understand any lyrics). To have a listen for yourself, click on any of names of the bands in this paragraph to go to their MySpace site.
Wang Yue of Hang on the Box
Hang on the Box
There was a band???
Aging hipsters wear Red Chuck Taylor hi-tops … occasionally!!!
Hey Dru,
Good to see you back - the Holtonians have been pretty sparse around here. We’ll keep our eyes out for any fake Chuck Taylors - probably worth more than the real thing. b
Emma, Brendan
I have been a follower of James and Ig (aka Jamie and Rob) since before day 1 of their walk (I have known James on-line for about 8 years), and finally found time to quickly pop over here and have a peek at your site as well. At first glance it looks well worth having a second glance at, and I will be sure to have a detailed look as soon as I can.
Congrats on making it as far as you have, and it’s great to see a couple of fellow Aussies making their mark on history (so far as I know, you will be the first Australians to walk the whole wall)
Enjoy the rest of the walk.
Shaggy °¿°
Sonofaglitch; why-why-why didn’t I steal your camera when I had the chance?!
Seriously, those are GREAT pics! And for Shibble’s sake, I had no clue we were listening to such well-known bands! Still enjoyed ‘em though, from what I can remember. ;~)
we may be sparse verbally (good grief look at dad & dean)
but we got our eyes on ya all the time !!
and hey whats wrong with the carpenters…..
“on the day that you were born the angels got togehter” and i COULD go on…:)
Hi Emma and Brendon
Hope it wont be long before you back out walking. We have now reached Jiayuguan so from here on in will be following in your footsteps, we are 10 days behind shedual due to hospital delays early on but we have now found a rythem. It is getting mighty cold very quickly, and cloths we thought we would not need till December are already out! Good Luck from Katie and Tarka
Hey Shaggy, great to have you around! Maybe we can help fill the terrible web-surfing void you’ll encounter when Jamie & Rob finish in a few weeks.
One minor correction - only Emma will get the title of first Australian to walk the wall. Brendan, if he can hold his aging body together long enough to make Shanhaiguan, will merely be the first Australian permanent resident with American citizenship to walk the wall. But he’ll claim that title PROUDLY, by gum!
Jamie, there’s always plenty of rock n roll to choose from here in dirty Beijing. Maybe when you guys are back in town we can check out some more bands.
Molly, glad to have you back. Even gladder we don’t have to hear yet another version of “Close to You” in person!
Katie and Tarka, good to see you’re back on the trail. You’re almost certain to pass us at some point. Whenever Brendan’s well enough for us to start again (looking like Nov 7ish) we’ll be restricted to about three hours a day at first.
Keep the comments coming,
e&b
It seems like you are going to have a lot of people withyou on this next sector..well in spirit if not actually in person…but maybe to share a bowl of rice with Katie and Tarka somewhere soonish…
Now we know that the cold has started already…hope you have those -30C rated sleeping bags warmed up so you can JUMP along the Wall…you could then claim to be the first to jump the distance…stay safe and stay warm…and Brendan good luck with your foot revoery…
Love Di and Mike