Shanghai and Beijing continue to be cultural contenders. A constant back and forth bicker, bemoaning each other’s existence, is heard throughout both cities. A little sibling rivalry is always good; the competitive nature between the two spurs economic and cultural growth, but lets not get carried away. Can’t we all just get along? Shanghai has better xiaolongbao. Beijing does better duck. Most importantly, we both have fucking awesome local music scenes, and that’s what we want to celebrate on this night. Two of Beijing’s best are coming down to share the stage with some of Shanghai’s. Let’s take a look at who is playing…

Dream Can 谷水车间 (Shanghai)
On Xiami they are categorized as "post friend", they are in a constant state of change, rebelling against labels. Their improvisation skills are worth noting. Their musicality is vanguard, grotesque, and dreamlike. They are strangely pleasant and strangely alluring. In their music, you feel a kind of dark yet youthful force. They are a fierce girl band. Lead singer Ah-Re, bassist Ah-Can, and drummer Yu Qi.

Macondo (Beijing)
Inspired by psychedelic rock, instrumental rock, post rock fusion, math rock and electronic music. Precision drumming, ethereal guitar, aggressive bass, and transcendent synthesizer are all intertwined, yielding a unique sound, the rhythm is unpredictably driven creating great music to party to. The band members all come from different countries: the guitarist hails from America, Scott Slepicka, synthesizer Gerald Van Wyk from South Africa, Bassist and Beijing local Fred Shi, and British drummer Matthew Byrne. Since its founding in 2014, Macondo has been attacking the Beijing music scene. Their performances leave audiences mesmerized, and always draw a crowd.

21 Grams (Shanghai)
A Shanghai Instrumental Rock that is independent in style and attitude. They are loyal to their intuition and do not look around for others acknowledgement. They play their songs with laser like focus. Their performance is a whirlpool that sucks onlookers into the crowd. 21 Grams is at the forefront of the local scene. The band members include: Guitarist CHA_ , drummer & sampling E, bassist & keys Ryo, and Guitarist Chen Yifan

The Harridans (Beijiing)
Established in 2014, The Harridans is one of Beijing's most popular bands, putting on stunning performances. There style is difficult to pin down ranging from 70s the British folk rock style to psychedelic disco. Yet it maintains delicate musical arrangement and pop sensibility. Music is composed by the band's brainchild/ flowerchild Daniel Taylor, who comes from England. After graduating university he became traveling bard, learning different musical skills and styles from each country he ventured. This can be heard in his imaginative stories and melodious poetry of his lyrics.
Frontman: Dan, Synth: Eric, Drums: Jiajia, Bass: Kun, and Guitarist: Robin