An epic send-off for Boys Climbing Ropes
By Brian Offenther |
June 7, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ONLY one word can fully describe last Friday and Saturday and rock club Yuyintang: epic.
It was a prolonged affair, stretching out for two evenings, with the second starting about 5pm and going on for about seven hours; it was big, with dozens of performers and 1,000 people over two nights squeezing into the rock club that rarely gets over 200; there were two rebirths (of bands), a marriage proposal and one death (of a band).
The event was a two-day festival marking the end to one of Shanghai's seminal bands, Boys Climbing Ropes. It was only half-jokingly dubbed "The Last Waltz" after the final concert event from a band similarly with Canadian roots, The Band.
Boys Climbing Ropes was comprised of three Canadian guys (Morgan, Devin and Jordan) and a Shanghai girl, Pei Pei. They played indie rock music infused with the grittiness and grandiosity of Bruce Springsteen. The band was lots of fun to see live, with frequently danceable beats, hummable keyboard riffs, and soaring choruses. Their secret weapon though was the stark sincerity that infused each song, with singers Pei Pei and Jordan striking nerves by singing about being "Socially Awkward" while never sounding effusive or contrived.
Many of the bands paid tribute to Boys Climbing Ropes by covering their songs, including local rock bands Friend or Foe, Stegosaurus and Moon Tyrant.
Friend or Foe and Stegosaurus showed their camaraderie by performing joking covers, with Stegosaurus even dressing up as the Boys Climbing Ropes, complete with ridiculous wigs.
Moon Tyrant stole the show up to their performance, which concluded with a sincere and searing cover. The audience erupted into a frenzy by the time the band surprised everyone by tossing out dozens of tambourines so the crowd could join them.
Later on Saturday came another band that performed many times with Boys Climbing Ropes, Banana Monkey. Banana Monkey and Boys Climbing Ropes have been cohorts for years, and it seemed they wouldn't be able to play that evening because of the recent departure of their longtime bassist. However, they were able to find a replacement, Li Yuhua, and she joined the "new" Banana Monkey.
It had been a similar situation for Friend or Foe, who debuted a new bassist as well.
In the end, though, it was all about Boys Climbing Ropes, and by the time they got on stage well passed midnight the room was as tense as imaginable.
It seemed that nothing could take the evening higher. That was until after the band concluded their regular set and were about to give an encore, and bassist Morgan gave an impassioned speech, got down on one knee and proposed to Pei Pei. She accepted, and the band played on, with Pei Pei now sporting a ring.
The Shanghai music scene will go on - it has to - but it won't be the same.
It was a prolonged affair, stretching out for two evenings, with the second starting about 5pm and going on for about seven hours; it was big, with dozens of performers and 1,000 people over two nights squeezing into the rock club that rarely gets over 200; there were two rebirths (of bands), a marriage proposal and one death (of a band).
The event was a two-day festival marking the end to one of Shanghai's seminal bands, Boys Climbing Ropes. It was only half-jokingly dubbed "The Last Waltz" after the final concert event from a band similarly with Canadian roots, The Band.
Boys Climbing Ropes was comprised of three Canadian guys (Morgan, Devin and Jordan) and a Shanghai girl, Pei Pei. They played indie rock music infused with the grittiness and grandiosity of Bruce Springsteen. The band was lots of fun to see live, with frequently danceable beats, hummable keyboard riffs, and soaring choruses. Their secret weapon though was the stark sincerity that infused each song, with singers Pei Pei and Jordan striking nerves by singing about being "Socially Awkward" while never sounding effusive or contrived.
Many of the bands paid tribute to Boys Climbing Ropes by covering their songs, including local rock bands Friend or Foe, Stegosaurus and Moon Tyrant.
Friend or Foe and Stegosaurus showed their camaraderie by performing joking covers, with Stegosaurus even dressing up as the Boys Climbing Ropes, complete with ridiculous wigs.
Moon Tyrant stole the show up to their performance, which concluded with a sincere and searing cover. The audience erupted into a frenzy by the time the band surprised everyone by tossing out dozens of tambourines so the crowd could join them.
Later on Saturday came another band that performed many times with Boys Climbing Ropes, Banana Monkey. Banana Monkey and Boys Climbing Ropes have been cohorts for years, and it seemed they wouldn't be able to play that evening because of the recent departure of their longtime bassist. However, they were able to find a replacement, Li Yuhua, and she joined the "new" Banana Monkey.
It had been a similar situation for Friend or Foe, who debuted a new bassist as well.
In the end, though, it was all about Boys Climbing Ropes, and by the time they got on stage well passed midnight the room was as tense as imaginable.
It seemed that nothing could take the evening higher. That was until after the band concluded their regular set and were about to give an encore, and bassist Morgan gave an impassioned speech, got down on one knee and proposed to Pei Pei. She accepted, and the band played on, with Pei Pei now sporting a ring.
The Shanghai music scene will go on - it has to - but it won't be the same.
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