Go get 'em, boys!

I caught Friday's show by winners of the Beijing round of the Global Battle of the Bands, The Amazing Insurance Salesmen, at Yugong Yishan.

As always seems to happen for me at Yugong, it was a fairly wretched night... only redeemed by their STUNNING set at the end of it.

The gig seemed to have been poorly promoted, and the crowd was never above 100 (which, in that space, feels like nothing), and - after 3 or 4 truly dismal acts (including two representatives of the "cream" of the Shanghai music scene, allegedly - this is why we're so happy to live in Beijing!!) - even this scant audience had evaporated by the time Jean-Seb and the boys finally took the stage at half past midnight.  We few, we happy few!  Only 20 of us left, but my god, the boys rocked out!

In a few days, they're off down to Hong Kong for the Asian final of the competition.  They're playing one last (unadvertised) gig at MAO Live tonight.  Go and see them.

Jean-Seb's vocals are not the strongest, but his songs are pretty damn good.  And in terms of sheer musicianship, these three guys (Frenchman Jean-Sébastien Héry on guitar, Dutch Maikel Liem shredding the bass, and China's King of Cool, Mao Mao, on the drums) plainly are in a different class from anyone else currently playing in Beijing... and probably in China... and maybe in the world.  They are reminiscent of Cream or The Who in their heyday.  Really, that good.  Go see them - before they get spoiled by fame and success and recording contracts and all that shit.