Interview: Joecy Wu of Yuyintang Warehouse

Playing songs off their new album, "Coming Down to Beijing," the band treaded the line between highly technical song craftsmanship and gong show spazz out Punk rock.

Until half way through the seventh song.

In the middle of the seventh number, a photographer got on stage and said something into the guitarist's ear. The guitarist stopped playing and then the rest of the band stopped as well. After a short conversation, the singer started smiling wryly and put his finger up to his lips.

Standing outside the venue, concert attendees shuffled around and drank beer while shooting glances down the alley at four people standing by a minivan. After fifteen minutes of so, everyone started arriving at the same conclusion: the show was off.

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Amid rumors of the fate of Yuyintang, and fears that the city was going to loose another live music venue, it seems that the cagey Yuyintang concert promoters have again found another way to bring Shanghai the best in original live music. Reprinted below is an email from Joecy Wu where she talks about putting shows on in Shanghai and the future of Yuyintang.

Joecy Wu:
What happened on April 11: the Xuhui district Culture Bureau came to our warehouse and asked us to stop the concert. They know we don't have the performance license because they have been watching us for a while. This is their regular check, of course, and this time they really took it very serious because Bonbon was checked later.

We understand that to host performances legally, firstly, you have to apply for a performance license for the venue. This is almost impossible for us because we don't have the money and the guanxi to get passed the checks from the fire control, food control, etc. After all, we are a rock warehouse which is only open when there's a show. It's not our intention to ask people to pay a lot to see a rock concert or to spend a lot on drinks. Secondly, you have to apply to the Culture Bureau every time there's a concert. In addition to this, the artists and singers also must have a "yan yuan zheng" (performer license) if you want to give a charged performance according to the government's newly release guidelines. This is again, something impossible to realize.

We really want to do things right. But based on our situation, we also need the government to give us some support. Rock and original music is as healthy and decent as classical music. Beijing has Midi Festival and all kinds of rock bars, that's why Beijing is the center of music and culture. For the bars, they never have to apply for any performance licenses because the local government supports them. The government only interferes when the music is too loud and gets complaints from the neighbors. This has never been a problem at Yuyintang Warehouse.

Yuyintang has been promoting rock and original music since Oct. 2003. We have worked with many bars before we settled down in the Warehouse (March 2006). From the growing number of our audiences, we are happy to see that our strategy is right: Do our OWN music, no matter if it's death metal, hardcore, experimental punk, garage rock or folk, we say yes, then we will do it. We give the green light to all the hardworking musicians, no matter if they are from a remote part of China like Gansu, or from a European country like Austria. We don't care if customers might not like a particular kind of music and won't stay for the expensive alcohol. Haha. Sometimes, in order to help bands to save costs, we let them stay over in the warehouse too.

We won't be able to keep the warehouse for concerts in the future because it's not legal. Luckily, we have found a venue partner who is Zhijiang Dream Factory in Tong Le Fang (they have license for sure!!). They are willing to give us the freedom to do the music we want. Although, we are facing a large fine from the Culture Bureau that we don't know how to deal with it at the moment, the determination to put on rock shows is firm. To all the rock believers, YuYinTang won't go away!

The upcoming Yuiyintang shows have been moved to the Zhijang Dream Factory in the Tong Le Fang area (close to the new Moon River). The address is:

28B Yutao Road, Near Haifang Road (Jing'An District)

Hey! Here's a map!

Upcoming Yuyintang Shows:

May 27: Mishkin (UK Screamo/Metal)
June 2: Tokoo (Emo)
June 6: The Deadly Vibes (Canadian Rockabilly/Garage Punk)