Admittedly, Guangzhou has pretty slim pickings when it comes to bar-esque music venues. Unlike our brethren to the north, in Beijing and Shanghai, Guangzhouers have become accustomed to rotating through the same three or four jam locales. Now, finally, we can add one more to the list: Y:Union.
A sequel to the popular T:Union and quasi-replacement to the now shuttered C:Union, Y:Union offers music fans an open venue with a well-elevated stage and commendable acoustics.
While we wish it were easy to praise the place as a quality edition to the PRD music scene, the bar (figuratively speaking) has been set too low and the venue’s faults are just too profuse.
Our first issue with Y:Union arose before we even reached its doors. Given its location on the eighth floor of Happy Valley Mall, the venue can’t stay open late and you have to walk half-cut (from drinking six Harbins on the metro, obviously) past flocks of innocent, movie-going families just to get inside.
Y:Union’s greatest fault, undisputedly, is its lack of a bar. We should clarify that this location does have a bar top, but on the night we visited it was being used as a makeshift acoustic guitar shop. If you wanted to purchase an alcoholic beverage, you were required to physically leave the venue and walk to a mall kiosk that sells drinks. To the kiosk’s credit, they do stock a decent selection of beer, including imported varieties like Corona.
Overall, Y:Union is not a terrible place to take in a live performance. Does it suck having to leave a concert and walk through a mall to purchase a drink? Absolutely. Does the location have a stage that is high enough for you to see the band members? Yes. Is it our favorite live house in town? Definitely not, but we would consider going again, possibly, if Guns N’ Roses were in town. Then again, they probably wouldn’t play there.
Price: Varies by concert, drinks RMB30
Who’s going: Live music fanatics
Good for: Blowing eardrums and inconvenient beer
> For address see listing.
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