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Well I’d deem the Xiong Mao opening party, hosted at Hemp House, a success. Some of the best music I’ve heard in Chengdu.
Conrank absolutely smashed it.
Hemp House is so.. pedestrian ?
Yeah, we’re talking about Xiong Mao, the successor to Chengdu’s mega venue which hosted DJ Shadow and DJ Krush. And the Hemp House is… the Hemp House. Really not an ideal performance venue for anyone, let alone electronic music DJs.
I say that as a good friend of the owners and I hosted dozens of events there from 2006-2008 (when it was a really fun place to perform), but it’s just not well suited for those kind of events. With that said, I will say that last night was the best night I’ve seen at Hemp House in a few years.
It’s still disappointing to not have been able to have the event at Xiong Mao though. The prospect that Xiong Mao represents is really exciting and it potentially means a lot to Chengdu’s nightlife. I’m sick of having really good DJs and producers (Oshi, Tnem, Conrank, Doshy, etc) play at places like Hemp House and Lan Town. Because those venues will never do them justice.
Well I’d deem the Xiong Mao opening party, hosted at Hemp House, a success. Some of the best music I’ve heard in Chengdu.
Conrank absolutely smashed it.
He’s a really good DJ and producer. Most people would have no way of knowing, but a lot of the music he performs with are his own productions.
Catch him at Dojo this Saturday:
The Drop will be moved to Fanmate Museum (same location as Cookin’ Chengdu).
Big Guests and Big Sound! Don’t sleep on this!
This is tonight!
Anyone go to this? Good turnout?
yes, and it was a good turnout of about 30. Xiongmao events are just plagued with issues. It’s come to the point where the brand is permanently tarnished. There were sound issues until about midnight and even then the sound wasn’t good. It was a cold rainy night and there were no rides arranged to get people home from the remote location. It’s sad and I’m hoping to see improvement.
yes, and it was a good turnout of about 30. Xiongmao events are just plagued with issues. It’s come to the point where the brand is permanently tarnished. There were sound issues until about midnight and even then the sound wasn’t good. It was a cold rainy night and there were no rides arranged to get people home from the remote location. It’s sad and I’m hoping to see improvement.
Ouch, that really sucks to hear. I feel bad about not being able to have been there (still in Europe). That location is really tough, difficult to find and very remote. When they moved this event from the ill-fated Xiong Mao to the Cookin’ Chengdu place I was worried 🙁
A real shame the troubles Xiong Mao are having, but if Chengdu wants to continue to see good nights out it needs to show some support. Chengdu had a great venue in Xiong Mao’s East Music Park, and still most people would sooner bitch about a taxi ride than take a good night out. Same thing again with the museum location. It’s not particularly hard to find, not to mention a huge number of party goers in Chengdu have already been there for the Cookin’ event. It shows up on Google maps no problem. Try and show some support people or it’ll get to the point where no one will want to promote, and no one will come out here to play except for at the big festivals, which are LAME!!
I gotta say i find it very convenient to get to Fanmate (someone posted excellent directions before Cookin Chengdu. Maybe Ian?) but as Ziich said, when its a cold night, im reluctant to hit that place. Also its kinda big, so unless its a large turnout, the vibe could be pretty dead…
Anyway, I usually get my culture fix when i head o/s. In Chengdu its kinda meh….(sorry) 🙂A real shame the troubles Xiong Mao are having, but if Chengdu wants to continue to see good nights out it needs to show some support. Chengdu had a great venue in Xiong Mao’s East Music Park, and still most people would sooner bitch about a taxi ride than take a good night out. Same thing again with the museum location. It’s not particularly hard to find, not to mention a huge number of party goers in Chengdu have already been there for the Cookin’ event. It shows up on Google maps no problem. Try and show some support people or it’ll get to the point where no one will want to promote, and no one will come out here to play except for at the big festivals, which are LAME!!
Totally agree with Brendan. I went down around 1:30am and I was suprised that it was not so busy, but what can be done? Some people didn’t even want to pay the 50rmb to get in. I tried to start a new bands night at Hemp House with Aqiao during the summer, but even though I flyered the hell out of Chengdu no body could be arsed to come down. Our first night with Superman Tian Tian was great, but the next few nights seemed to dwindle. It’s tough trying to get new nights started in Chengdu.
Anyone go to this? Good turnout?
yes, and it was a good turnout of about 30. Xiongmao events are just plagued with issues. It’s come to the point where the brand is permanently tarnished. There were sound issues until about midnight and even then the sound wasn’t good. It was a cold rainy night and there were no rides arranged to get people home from the remote location. It’s sad and I’m hoping to see improvement.
We had major issues even putting this show on. 10 days before the event we had no venue. We approached Fanmate and asked to host the event there. At that point it was go with Fanmate or cancel the party. Originally we were meant to have access on Wednesday but they had a large event on Wednesday and Thursday and it ended up Friday afternoon by the time we got in there*. We had to move all our equipment over from the kuixinglou venue then get it set up. Both our normal sound engineers weren’t available so we got a friend to help out setting up the sound on Friday night. After issues with one of the amps early on Saturday night, we pretty much had to beg him to leave his sisters birthday party to come over and help us out. He did what he could but the sound still wasn’t right. It’s really unusual for us to have bad sound at a Xiong Mao night. We will make sure it’s a one-off.
With regards to the transport from the venue, we did ask some sanlunche’s to be present at the entrance from midnight onwards. I’m guessing they didn’t show, I only found out when I tried to get home at 6.30am. What I was expecting to find at that time of night/day, I don’t know… Again, this is something we’ll need to fix before the next event.
All together we sold about 70 tickets. Less than half of what we expected. It was a weird crowd as half of the people came early and left early with the other half arriving about 2am. Approximately 20 people got a taxi out there then left without coming in as they weren’t willing to pay 50rmb for the ticket. We tried to throw in a free drink and lowering the ticket price later on but some people were still not interested. This is a huge problem at events where tickets are involved. The costs for bringing 2 international DJs plus 1 DJ from Beijing to Chengdu are quite high. It’s almost impossible to do without having tickets. A lot of people lose interest the moment they see there is a door fee.
Enough excuses…we can’t really argue with any of your complaints. We’re aware it wasn’t good enough and will try our hardest to improve before the next event. We’ll also make sure you get a free ticket for our next party.
* I should point out that everybody we’ve dealt with at Fanmate have been friendly and very helpful. This isn’t a dig at them, they were really apologetic about us not getting early access.
Also its kinda big, so unless its a large turnout, the vibe could be pretty dead…
We’re using the same room that those psy trance nutters were using. Perfect for 150-200 people.
Brendan & Ian, cheers for the support. There were a few positives to take from the night, some people still dancing at 6am 🙂 The 2 guest DJs playing back-to-back for hours after their sets. They went straight to the airport at 5.40am haha
A real shame the troubles Xiong Mao are having, but if Chengdu wants to continue to see good nights out it needs to show some support.
If people don’t come out, it means they weren’t enticed in great enough numbers to attend the event. Is it their fault they weren’t enticed enough and should have been?
Chengdu had a great venue in Xiong Mao’s East Music Park, and still most people would sooner bitch about a taxi ride than take a good night out. Same thing again with the museum location. It’s not particularly hard to find, not to mention a huge number of party goers in Chengdu have already been there for the Cookin’ event. It shows up on Google maps no problem.
No taxi driver seems to know where that place is though. You’re driving down tiny village-like roads to get there, surrounded by construction sites. I didn’t find that place easy to find and I know that many people got lost finding the place. I spent a lot of time outside the venue waiting for people to show up in taxis.
Cookin’ Chengdu was fun and that venue has a lot of potential but I don’t think that place will be successful unless you do a huge event there with many performers. Part of that is because the venue is hard to get to – so you need more to draw people out.
I went down around 1:30am and I was suprised that it was not so busy, but what can be done? Some people didn’t even want to pay the 50rmb to get in.
There’s a lot that can be done:
- Reduce the price. 50rmb isn’t a lot of money, but it’s a lot of money for niche performers that no one has really heard of Chengdu. Nightlife events where you have to pay an entry fee are pretty rare in Chengdu these days (which is something I happen to like, even as a promoter).
- Book performers that people know. If you’re going to spend 5k+ rmb bringing someone out, you have a much greater chance of success by booking someone that people know rather than someone really good who no one’s ever heard of. Beijing and Shanghai are culturally developed enough that the audience for niche performers can support the costs involved – Chengdu isn’t there yet.
- Do this kind of event in a better place. If it had been in the Xiong Mao that was supposed to open, I think it would have gone well. Since that wasn’t an option, moving it to the Cookin’ Chengdu place made this event extremely risky. Having to move the event to another location before the event (like Conrank’s show getting moved from Xiong Mao to Hemp House) really throws a monkey wrench in everything.
If there’s a product/service/event that people don’t embrace, I think the most important question is, what can be done to improve this situation? That is a serious debate that needs to happen.
The costs for bringing 2 international DJs plus 1 DJ from Beijing to Chengdu are quite high. It’s almost impossible to do without having tickets. A lot of people lose interest the moment they see there is a door fee. Enough excuses…
I agree. This event was ambitious with both the people they brought and the fee they were charging at the door.
If people don’t come out, it means they weren’t enticed in great enough numbers to attend the event. Is it their fault they weren’t enticed enough and should have been?
Of course not, but it is an issue when promoters are trying to offer something different and people will instead decide to head to Jellyfish and get rat arsed. You should know this yourself Charlie after some of the abysmal turnouts to Disco Death at East Music Park. Potentially great parties end up being abandoned, and then people wonder why there isn’t a more cohesive scene in the city.
No taxi driver seems to know where that place is though.
This is true, but in fairness right here on Chengduliving we have directions laid out. It’s just 4 changes of direction from Wanda Plaza on 2nd Ring Rd. A little preparation goes a long way. 😉
I have a lot to say on this subject but it’s all been said before. Having the same faces play at every show is good for a time, but soon wears thin. If you want to see a change in cultural depth that means taking some risks and trying new things. Some of those things will inevitably fail, but that hopefully doesn’t deter back to a default.
I can attest to the fact that the museum is hard to find, and this is from the guy that is really eager to see this venue in person, as you know. Typing ‘Fanmate’ or any other similar search term into Google maps gave me nothing. Should I be using characters? Me and some friends actually tried to go on Saturday night. One resource led us to the big Ito Yokado nearby, and after 20 minutes of searching, we found out that it was much further down the road. It being late, wet, and cold, and with the promise of being billed 50 kwai on the door (A scary notion for a bunch of interns near pay day.) we decided to retire for drinks, music, and Settlers of Catan at home.
Does the venue have a website with a good ‘How to find us’ section? The instructions in the forum thread were of no use to me.
In summary, it was a good night.
Of course not, but it is an issue when promoters are trying to offer something different and people will instead decide to head to Jellyfish and get rat arsed. You should know this yourself Charlie after some of the abysmal turnouts to Disco Death at East Music Park. Potentially great parties end up being abandoned, and then people wonder why there isn’t a more cohesive scene in the city.
You can’t win them all. Try to host a regular event with 20 iterations and you will make mistakes, have problems, and experience events where the turnout isn’t good. I don’t feel bad about that at all though. I was in Berlin a few days ago with a DJ who was reminiscing about Disco Death at the old Xiong Mao and how it was one of the best gigs she had in China. In the same conversation, someone else in the studio we were in said he came to Chengdu and played at Lantown and it was a nightmare. That’s the range you’re dealing with.
If you feel bad about there not being enough events in the city, that’s great, use that energy to be a part of new events. Props to Andy, Dave, Loco, Hu Yang, Ian, and everyone else hosting events in the city, but there really aren’t many of us. The loss of Xiong Mao really hurts for DJs. We basically have nowhere to go. This week is a decent example, I would like to participate in a Halloween party, but there doesn’t seem to even be one in Chengdu at all. So I’ll take the bullet train to Nuts in Chongqing, instead.
This is true, but in fairness right here on Chengduliving we have directions laid out
I had the location on my phone and showed it to the driver, but it was hard to use because the road information hadn’t been updated. Got on a highway and tried to turn down a road that didn’t exist.
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