SmartShanghai | MP3 Monday: Morlocks and Midi

MP3 ~~Monday~~: Morlocks and Midi

By Morgan Short, May 3rd, 2011 | In Nightlife

MP3 Monday is a weekly SmartShanghai column, serving up mp3s from bands living and making music in China (or coming to China, or thinking about coming to China, or whatever). Copyright holders: if you would like your song removed, please email us here, and we'll honor your request promptly.

Steam rolling ahead with that rock n roll music. This weekend is the big Shanghai Midi Festival in Century Park, and however it goes, it’s a historically significant thing -- the first major multi-day rock music festival ever in Shanghai, and the first time this city has hosted China’s biggest festival name -- Midi – a company with a decade and a half association with Chinese rock…

But yeah, we’ve talked enough about Midi over the past few weeks, and here’s just the details again really quickly so it’s fresh in your mind: Midi is May 6, 7, 8 -- this Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Music is on two stages – one rock stage and one electronic stage, running back and forth from 2pm to 11pm. Three-day tickets are 200rmb. If you’re picking by day, its 150rmb for the first day, and 80rmb for day 2 and 3, individually. You can get your tickets at the gate when you turn up.

Here is the line-up again. And here is the venue address info.

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-Okay, so in addition to Midi, there’s a wealth of music going on in Shanghai this week and weekend, as other venues in the city host touring bands, and as other promoters put together their Midi after parties. Mao Livehouse in particular, is doing three nights of Midi After Party concerts on each of those corresponding nights. Check out who’s on the bill -- May 6, May 7, and May 8. Entry to each of those is 50rmb.

-Across town at Dada bar is electronic-orientated after party, on for Saturday night, featuring The Ice Cream truck and guests, keeping it going after the festival closes.

-Still more: over at Lune is an “unofficial” after party on Friday, May 6, featuring Pairs, Wanderlust in from Beijing/ Tianjin, and Next Year’s Love, along with some guest DJs. That’s a good one. You should go to that. Here’s the details. Wanderlust have been in town for a week or so, and this is their last show in Shanghai before heading back up north. Music is synth revival, classic OMD-ish stuff, with a noisey undercurrent. Check them out.

-And a few more bands in for Midi, playing shows on top of their festival spots: MONGOL800 at Mao Livehouse this Wednesday (details here); SUBS and Duck Fight Goose free show at YYT this Thursday (details here -- info from Jake Newby); Good 4 Nothing at YYT this Friday with Dragon Pizza (details here).

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But this week’s MP3 are from The Morlocks, San Diego-bred and L.A.-based garage punk, in to Yuyintang this Saturday night as part of their China tour. Formed way back in 1984 and one of the first bands to sign to Epitaph, The Morlocks’ run was put on hold when the lead singer was a guest of the state for a time in the ‘90s (robbery and kidnapping, I shit you not), but they’ve reformed (current line-up features Lenny Pops on guitar, a one-time member of Brian Jonestown Massacre) and they’ve begun new material and touring again.

Their most recent was The Morlocks Play Chess -- an album of cover of Chess Records’ stuff (Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry, among others) released at the end of 2010. And you can check that out here.

But here’s two from their 2008 disc, Easy Listening For The Underachiever.

Whip yourself up a nice glass of strychnine and crank these up.

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