2009 Dec 09 Wish You A Rock Christmas: Tag Team Xmas Shindig
The advertising battle has begun, winter is freezing our noses off, and kids probably already know that you're lying about who brings them the gifts...So it's that time of the year again! Local label Tag Team Records is hosting its fifth Xmas Shindig this Friday (December 11), featuring its flagship bands including RandomK(e), Arrows Made of Desire and Lonely China Day, with additional supports from Helen Feng and her indie rock brothers Ziyo. Between and after band sets, iLoop, JRG_1, Djs Stinkeye, Empty Floor & Assassin Eyes spins on the deck. There will also be home-baked goods and mulled wine prepared and served up by "actual, live Germans, or deutsch-bags", as the Tag Team people prefers to call them.
All proceeds after the bands are taken care of will go to The Philip Hayden Foundation, who works to help orphans with special medical needs…So there, even if you hate Christmas and rock n roll, there’s at least one reason to go.
Before the show starts, we talk to the rock stars and ask them about how they plan to spend Xmas kitsch-mas...
Richard Todd (lead singer, RandomK(e))
What does Christmas mean to you?
Bing Crosby, Bill Cosby and breaking wind
How do you plan to spend Christmas this year?
Watching re-runs of Morecombe and Wise, and listening to Bing Crosby, breaking wind on the beach in Thailand.
You ideal Christmas song
Bing Crosby covering Spinal Tap's “Break Like The Wind” in all it's glory.
Most inappropriate song to play for Christmas
"Kill" by Alberto y Lost Trios Paranoias.
Helen Feng (lead singer, Ziyo)
What does Christmas mean to you?
A holiday that gives consumerism run amuck the artifice of holiness and goodwill when in reality it’s just a chance to give or get yet another i-pod despite having one perfectly functional i-pod from last Christmas with no other issues than the fact that it's got 1 G less memory and is in neon blue and that color is no longer cool this year. It also means Egg-Nog…
How do you plan to spend Christmas this year?
On Christmas Eve I plan to have a dinner with parents then go out and get extremely drunk. On Christmas day, I plan to be hungover.
You ideal Christmas song
Tone Loc's “Funky Cold Medina”.
Most inappropriate song to play for Christmas
Anything sung by Bing Crosby.
Joewi Verhoeven (lead singer, Arrows Made of Desire)
What does Christmas mean to you?
Almost nothing.
How do you plan to spend Christmas this year?
Going to class.
You ideal Christmas song
Any song of John Fahey's Guitar Soli Christmas Album.
Most inappropriate song to play for Christmas
Jingle Bells.
Tag Team Xmas Shindig rocks 2 Kolegas on December 11 (Friday). RMB 60. 9pm. 21 Liangmaqiao Lu (inside the drive-in movie theater park) north of Chaoyang Park, Chaoyang District (6436 8998). 朝阳区亮马桥路21号（燕莎桥往东1500米路北汽车电影院内）
You might also be interested in :
Three-Year Trip: Acid Jazz Pioneers Talk Flashbacks
This month, Acid Live celebrates three years as Beijng’s pioneering acid jazz outfit. In those three years they’ve made an indelible imprint on the music scene in Beijing with their live shows becoming famed across the land. As they come of age (in dog years) and get ready for their big birthday bash, they reveal just how acerbic they’ve become down the years.
Q&A: International Day Against Homophobia
The International Day Against Homophobia (May 17) was established in 2003 to generate awareness of unjust treatment and discrimination based on sexual orientation. In 2009, Tongyu (Common Language) made Beijing the first city in mainland China to celebrate IDAHO. We talked to local program director Karen Liao about how we can all rally behind the cause and join in on the festivities.
The Lure of The Jungle: Junglemico First Birthday Party
Founder and drummer Liu Wei and his bandmates in the Junglemico Project use traditional rock instruments to jam on the kind of dubstep, deep techno, and brake rhythms usually spun on sterile turn tables. It may not seem natural to give those glitchy, modern genres an analogue twist. But Liu Wei (aka Mico) says there was no easier way for him to evolve as a musician.
Pandamonium: When Bears Fall in Love With Reptiles
In Bad Panda, a new play produced by theater group Monster Down!, it’s the panda apocalypse and Gwo Gwo is caught between his attraction to Chester the gay crocodile and his mating partner, Marion. We had a chat with playwright Megan Gogerty to sort out the sordid love triangle.
Carlos Ottery: A Stand-up Kind of Guy
Carlos Ottery is the main man behind Comedy Club China, who are on a mission to bring English-language laughs to Beijing crowds starved of regular stand-up comedy. We asked Carlos about using the capital as inspiration and the “difficult” Beijing crowd.
