Friday, May 13: Hanggai Live in Shanghai!
Mongolian grasslands folk meets Beijing punk rock!
Split Works presents Hanggai
Friday, May 13, 8 pm
at Mao Livehouse:
308 Chongqing Nan Lu, Luwan District
Tickets on sale starting April 20
Price: 60 RMB(presale) / 80 RMB(door)
(includes 1 free beer)
Presale tickets available on Taobao
and at Source (everyday 11am – 10pm)
158 Xinle Lu, Xuhui
021- 54044708
Please note: Presale price tickets will not be available on the day of the show.
As you may know, the last time our friends in Hanggai came to town, there was a bit of trouble and the show had to be canceled. It was very sad times.
We at Split Works are excited to announce that we have rescheduled the Hanggai show for Friday, May 13 @ the new Mao Livehouse. Thankfully the folks at Mao have sorted out the problems they faced on their opening weekend, so this time the show is really gonna happen! Hurrah.
For high-res images of Hanggai, please click here.
About Hanggai:
“One of the most rousing and inventive folk-rock albums of the year comes from the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, via Beijing… (Hanggai) is Asian crossover music at its best.”
–Robin Denselow, The Guardian
“Banjo twanging fun from Bejing’s Mongolian Hillbillies….sounds like the Pogues with a sprinkle of Chinese opera.”
–Songlines
Hanggai, from the steppes of Mongolia by way of Beijing, is a crossover band that blends world music and rock and roll. The band is comprised of members from Beijing, Inner Mongolia, which covers a vast portion of China’s north, Xinjiang in China’s far northwest, and Qinghai’s Haixi Mongolian Prefecture in northwest China. As anyone who has seen one of their live performances (including their JUE 2010 appearance at Mao Livehouse) knows very well, Hanggai put on a spectacularly glorious, rowdy and transcendent live show, complete with throat singing, mouth harping, foot stomping and beer swilling.
Last September saw the release of Hanggai’s second album, “He Who Travels Far,” which was produced by Ken Stringfellow, an American musician and producer who has worked with the likes of R.E.M and Neil Young and features the legendary guitar stylings of Tom Waits’ frequent collaborator, Marc Ribot. Critics are pretty much obsessed with the album, which has earned 4 Stars from world music authorities including Earthbeat and World Connection.
What’s that you say? You’re still hungry for more info About Hanggai? Well then, let us regale you with the story of the band’s beginnings:
Formed in 2004 when frontman Ilchi and fomer bandmate Xu Jingcheng re-discovered the beauty of traditional Mongolian music, the band has now grown to seven players, Batu Bagen (Inner Mongolia), Ilchi (Inner Mongolia/Beijing), Illeta (Inner Mongolia), Hurcha (Qinghai), Li Zhongtao (Li Dan) (Xinjiang), Niu Xin (Inner Mongolia) and Xu Jingchen (Beijing).
Hanggai’s sound is based in traditional Mongolian music, a world that is rich in material, because each part of Mongolia (be that Outer Mongolia or Inner Mongolia) has its own musical traditions. Selecting folk tunes that offer a unique sound or emotion, the band works together to craft songs that retain their traditional base while offering a more modern sound. Traditional instruments like the horsehead fiddle, the mouth harp and the sanxian fit comfortably side by side with more modern instruments like electric guitar, electric bass and a Western drum kit.
Useful Links:
Bandcamp: http://hanggai.bandcamp.com/
Split Works: www.spli-t.com