Mao Live House celebrates its one-year anniversary
Nestled in the heart of Gulou lies Mao Live House, a cleverly named, no-nonsense, no-frills music venue that boasts one of the best sound systems in the city. Since opening less than a year ago, Mao Live House has become a staple in Beijing’s live music scene. Backed by the Japanese owned Bad News Records and named after the big man himself (owner Li Chi slyly notes that Mao Zedong is “the biggest rock star of all”), the venue is bare bones minimal with sloppy red paint splashed on the walls and the austere though inviting aura of a bar that just feels like home.

The front doors open to a tiny lobby with a rickety, well loved foosball table and a couple of chairs and tables thrown in as an afterthought. Drinks are cheap and basic. Inching one’s way past the bar and down towards the back leads to stage doors, which on any given show night, open to a resounding wave of noise and the obliterating sounds of the local music scene. Beijing heroes like Brain Failure, Joyside, ReTROS, PK14 and Subs have all logged time on the well lit, accessible stage, and promoters and musicians alike have nothing but great things to say about the venue. “They have, no doubt, the top sound system in the city. Playing on stage can turn me into a crazy person.” says Leo Lee, the energetic, cheekily mischievous lead singer of garage punk band The Scoff. Maggie Cheung, a former media rep for Spli-t Works Productions, is careful to point out how important the bar is for local artists. “The venue is very lo-fi. In Beijing, while we have Starlive for bigger events and Yugong Yishan for media decent, medium sized gigs, Mao Live stands for the underground scene and is the first place to go to find good local acts. Whenever my friends come to town and want to see what Chinese bands and the Chinese music scene is all about, I take them to Mao Live.”

Though the owners of Mao Live House may be hosting their anniversary show a few months early (Mao opened in February), the show promises to be a spectacular one, complete with an awards ceremony crowning Beijing’s best bands and concert organizers. Mao Live spokesman, a man named “Fourteen,” tells me how excited he is about the show. “We want to thank the bands and people that have helped us over the past year. Mao Live House is the first venue to place emphasis on professional sound quality, and I love all of the bands who play at our venue.”

–Jenn Wong