The biggest electronic music event to ever take place in Chengdu – the 2011 Panda Electronic Music Festival – concluded just several short days ago. After recuperating for a day I edited the photos taken by myself and Shingshing and present them here.
Over the course of the extended weekend Xiong Mao hosted a crowd of thousands, including a sold-out show on October 2nd which is when DJ Shadow christened the virgin venue. I had an incredible time opening for him, got my MPC 2000XL signed (a classic sampler used by DJ Shadow) and saw a dozen DJ’s over the course of the three day festival.
If you weren’t able to attend, the venue is incredible and easily ranks among the best spaces in China (or perhaps even Asia) to see a DJ performance. The bar was open (literally, free drinks all night throughout the festival), the bass was hitting, and a number of musical styles were represented. Local DJs like Cvalda, DJ Wu, Andy Mac, Dbassman, Marco and others did their thing in the main room alongside Beijing DJs like Yang Bing and Sulumi and German techno DJs Efdemin and Lawrence. Photos of all of them below.
What an incredible weekend this was for Chengdu!
Conclusion
Overall this was one of the most fun weekends I’ve ever had in Chengdu and I ran into many others who’ve lived in Chengdu for years and said the same thing. We’re all happy and hopeful that Xiong Mao’s following will continue to grow and we’re able to continue bringing world class performers to Chengdu. Look out for the first Disco Death on Friday October 28th featuring Guangzhou-based drum n bass DJ JCC.
Nice pics Charlie…somebody threw an apple at the lone dancer shortly after that pic was taken, probably aiming for me 🙂
Hahaha… Highly doubtful I think! You were doing your thing and that one guy was just going off. What a sight.
Nice job though Dave, I enjoyed your set in the main room.
What a great festival in an amazing new space in a fantastic new development. The East Music Park and Panda Club certainly exceeded all expectations. Night 2 of the festival was especially insane with the whole crowd going nuts during your set Charlie and following with DJ Shadow. The energy was electric.
Interestingly enough, I had just attended a round-table discussion right before the show on Sunday at the Chengdu Biennale next door. The topic of the discussion was ‘cultural development in Chengdu’.
Needless to say, no more proof was needed after the festival that the city is at the forefront of cultural development in China.
Very nice work Chengdu!
Totally agree, I’m sure that people in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are wondering why he came to Chengdu and not their cities.
Congrats Charlie!
Thanks Dave! Years of listening to me learn to scratch from 2001-2003 in our living room led up to this gig…
Looks like a very nice venue indeed ! Good to see this, hope your set went well !
Thanks Yeming, the venue is pretty fantastic. Aside from not even having a single turntable to use (DJ Shadow’s guys unhooked it in the afternoon because it took away space he needed for his CD players!) everything went pretty well. I had a blast. Hopefully you can catch the festival one of these years, it’s supposed to be an annual event over the October holiday.
The weekend was off the hook. I’m hoping that xiong mao maintain the vibe and reel in the party people.
It looks like we at least have a great chance of them keeping up the pace. They’re organizing their own events now and bringing headliners to Chengdu.
Nice photos.
DJ Shadow’s live show was amazing,and the VJ video was the best I’ve ever seen in Chengdu. That was definitely a great night.
So rad… can’t believe I wasn’t there for this!
i wuz there. got sweaty 🙂
Nice pics Charlie.
DJ Krush playing xiong mao early December.
They are also trying to get Richie Hawtin here sometime next year.
Bring it on!!!
Please, please let that happen! Krush alone is a magnificent triumph. Can’t wait to see what else is coming to Xiong Mao.
love panda festival!
So happy to see you guys can have fun in CD. I miss my hometown so much. I plan to come back next year from U.S. <3
Do that. If you’re around in October of 2012, there will be another Xiong Mao Music Festival!