Rock Recap: Pet Conspiracy Takes Gig to Great Heights
Local legends Pet Conspiracy and curatorial team 8actagon Projects hijacked Yugong Yishan for what was billed as a metaphysical, visually shocking, multimedia spectacular with “new lasers,” on Friday, December 13. Lucky us!
Prior to the show, 8actagon turned Yugong’s upstairs lounge into The Beijing Museum of Pet Conspiracy. Images from seven photographers displayed the epic tale of the Chinese indie band’s six-year quest creating “experiences” for its fans through sound and vision, music and theatrics, guitars and laser guns, electro beats and French kisses. Browsing through the photos or catching a few minutes of a documentary of their 2011 tour in Europe, those unaware realized quickly Pets has a special place in Beijing's music scene.
Huzi is the only founding member left and has carried his brainchild beyond the second ring road, achieving international popularity, selling out shows in Germany, Spain, and Norway. Since 2008, he has seen members come and go, hype rise and fall, but the music and performances have survived through a strict DIY ethos.
Their music began as an electro-clash of punk attitude and disco burlesque, but their sound has diversified with their lineup. Italian Mary Santonastaso replaced the “Queen of Beijing Rock” Helen Feng after her surprising departure in 2010, and Edo de Bastiani, also Italian, picked up the drum sticks and all the female fans after another fallout. Fiona Zhou tag teams vocals with Mary, and the two together are 500% energy.
Opening act We Are Not Invited crashed the party early. I guess someone forgot to tell them this was supposed to be Pet’s sixth solo show, but when you got spandex that green, you’re always invited. They yelped metaphors of 3D puzzles and cheap cologne, and the crowd bobbed their heads in unenthusiastic approval.
Pet Conspiracy does not gig, they put on a theatrical rock and roll circus, and aesthetics are not an afterthought. The stage was backed by a ceiling-scratching pyramid announcing who everyone came to see in flashing lights, and dangling above the crowd was an aerial dancer, enjoying the show from her hammock suspended from the rafters.
The crowd was either mesmerized as she gracefully entangled herself in her ribbons, or terrified she was going to fall on them, but as she dipped into the crowd, no one noticed Mary and Fiona screaming into a megaphone.
The wardrobe changes, props, pillow fights, and other antics are not a gimmick, but a conscious attempt to materialize the sentiment within each song. The affect is palpable.
Huzi hovered over a laptop and pad controller with his guitar hanging over his neck, and summoned a squelching bassline that felt naughty to dance to, but wrong to not. Edo appeared from backstage and proceeded to pound a hard groove behind a processed guitar riff that washed over Yugong like a pool of acid. Mary and Fiona wrestled over the microphone, and the crowd mirrored their first-pumping.
It was an intense first few songs, but relief came when Huzi and Edo swapped instruments for a somber duet. Edo cooed to Fiona, and the looks they were exchanging made us wonder what’s going on offstage. Makeout already! Please?
The pulsating synths and blairing alarm sirens of “Hey Sir!” reestablished the ominous tone that felt so horribly good, and it did not relent till they were called back onto the stage for a two song encore. We finally heard Huzi’s voice over the builder, “Noise from the Future”, and the circus ended in a mosh pit-inducing banger that left us with whiskey and coke in our hair.
Really, Friday’s show was a tribute to a band that absolutely deserves it. Pet Conspiracy is completely independent, doing everything from set design to recording on their own, and they still deliver viscerally intense performance art as if they had Lady Gaga’s support team. Here's to another six years.
Photos: Kristina Parchomchuk
