There are always too many shows for one weekend. We can not catch them all but sharing our memories is the least we can do. If you felt bad that you couldn’t get a ticket to Omnipotent Youth Society’s show last week or hesitated in going to New Pants' concert because of the price then read on. Find out if you actually saved yourself some time and money or if you really missed out.

An Omnipotent Night

Listening with the most intense concentration, enjoying with peace of mind, chorusing hysterically, moshing like you're out of control – I believe only a true band with true musicians can drive a crowd going through all these processes spontaneously. Last Thursday night that band was Omnipotent Youth Society.

In this fast-changing era, many have forgotten how to put effort into their work. And then there are bands like OYS. It's been nine years since the band’s name changed to its current awkward-sounding one. The nine tracks of their self-titled album is all they’ve released but they've been playing over and over again these days. The Shijiazhuang-based band doesn’t come to Beijing often, so when they played at MAO last year, the venue was so packed that even a fly couldn’t get in. This time, when information of this free show burst out on the internet, Beijing’s youngsters went crazy.

They have very good reasons to. This is a band who understands rock, music and the importance of being a good band – because it’s not just about rock or music. Some bands know how to take people’s breath away with powerful tunes, some are good at playing with words. OYS works on the song. Lyrics, melody, beats, instrumental sounds are like a few strong currents, they join into each other and come out with the most powerful cascade.

When they play on stage, it’s not like they are performing – front man Dong Yaqian walked on stage with an oversized shirt that looked like his pajamas – they rarely look at the audience or make any big movement. They just play the songs like they are playing for themselves. Sounds of viola dance with guitar riffs, drum beats empower a dominating trumpet solo, and Dong’s magnetic voice shoots through the sky.

Almost everyone there knows the words. Some chant them out like this will be their last time singing.  “Ten thousand runaway horses, running in my mind” – when this line was harmonized it almost felt like the thin floor of the venue couldn’t take the imaginary trampling of such a big herd. Being in the audience is like standing at the bottom of a waterfall – under the enormous pressure, the world is suddenly relieved. An additional surprise of the night is that the venue actually provided the best sound quality I’ve ever heard in Beijing.

Dong Yaqian has said in an interview that when he was young he wanted to be a rock star, but then he realized that becoming a rock star is just a dumb kid’s dream, he wants to be an artist. I think he’s made it. Michelle Dai

New Pants Or No Pants?

Few concerts boast a bathrobe-clad keyboardist who, just moments before stripping down, proposed to a skeleton bride and then humped it across the stage. Even less feature synth riffs played in sync with the Star Wars-style claymation videos of the musicians’ own creation. Fewer still begin with the band mates donning vintage communist tunics and marching toward their microphones, while a projector flickers rotating 3D Mao statues on transparent foreground screens.

But all of the above were highlights of New Pants’ Beijing Exhibition Theatre gig last Friday. The power punk-disco synth stars celebrated their fifteenth anniversary in rollicking style, playing hits that spanned the vast eclectic genres they’ve dabbled in over those years. The show also launched their latest album, Sex Drugs Internet.

When the troupe played that fresh title track it sent the audience into a frenzy. Keyboard player Pang ‘Fox’ Kuan yelped the chorus as if he were fronting the Talking Heads while his band mates complimented him with toned, driving new wavey-rhythms.

The new songs struck a balance between the band’s pop-punk origins and their more recent oddball electro leanings. The latter style dominated much of the show’s first half, and the dancy rhythms were paired with an endless montage of spastic imagery (Fox majored in graphic design and singer Peng ‘Millionaire’ Lei studied film in university. They went on to craft most of New Pants’ own music videos and onstage special effects).

Those gimmicks often overpowered the dance songs, especially a Sponge Bob Squarepants clip playing on a background screen. But when New Pants toned down the light show and use of videos their own playing grew flamboyantly, and thankfully, vibrant. Fox was far-and-above the star of the show during those segments – choppily waving his arms as if their mobility was as robotic as his synthesizer sounded, serenading the skeleton model sporting a wedding dress before engaging in some mock-necrophilia and strutting like a diva during the leadup to the goofy number “I’m Not Gay.”

Those stunts may sound risqué in print, but there was no edgy tone or shock value strain in their delivery ala Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson or Madonna. New Pants seemed to treat it more like a series of tongue-in-cheek pranks, as if they were imitating middle school scoundrels that were too adorably naive to understand their own dirty jokes. There was no menace to the madness, just campy fun. 

The most well received of all the high jinks turned out to be Millionaire roaring onstage on a puttering Vespa, before dismounting, tossing back his flowing head of fake heavy metal hair, and belting out the rocker chants of “Equal Love.”

From there New Pants focused on early pop-punk tunes like “I’m Ok,” which guitarist Groove Dog boasted as the first song they ever made back before their first 1998 record deal. With their catchy singalong choruses, those simple old songs got the audience dancing far more fervently than any fresh electro disco tune. That turned out to be the most unexpected stunt of all. Kyle Mullin