Summer Happenings at The Broad: The Greater Body (Shi-Dati)

Though I probably attended some great shows this summer (Beach House @ Hollywood Forever and Beach Goth @ LA Historic Park recently), it’s been too hot and miserable for me to enjoy most of them. This week, it finally cooled down to a point where going out isn’t such a bad thing and enjoying new bands from other countries is also kind of fun. I’d gone to a Summer Happenings @ The Broad last year with A Place to Bury Strangers and Xiu Xiu (who also happened to be part of tonight’s event). Tonight’s Summer Happening featured some great bands from China (of all places) and was sponsored by East West Bank, Air China, and The Standard.

Here’s a more detailed description from the Broad’s website:

Chinese punk, post-punk, ritual performance, film, psychedelia and more come together for a night unlike any other at The Broad.

Post-punk band Re-TROS rocks the East West Bank Stage with special guests, Los Angeles band Xiu Xiu. MIIIA pumps out her rave-inspired beats. Daniel Collás, Juliet Swango and Jie Ma perform Collás’ original score to accompany Zhou Hongbo’s film Lotus Ferry. Asian Dope Boys celebrate the euphoria and psychedelia of Eastern religions, art, music and dance in collaboration with Aïsha Devi, who channels metaphysical research and ritualistic practice into an alternate club environment. Oculus Hall transforms into an underground Beijing punk club with back-to-back sets by FAZI, Hell City and Shave ‘N’ Shut. Meanwhile, Yan Jun presents work incorporating field recording, voice, feedback and his own body in response to the architecture of the museum. Composer Ji Dongyong presents Ban for the 37-reed sheng, performed by Dai Zifan paired with electronics and live digital projections.

The main stage acts were pretty cool, I think the Asian Dope Boys sounded better than their name. My friend compared Re-TROS to the Soft Moon, but maybe less intense. Xiu Xiu joined them for one (or two) songs and they were pretty different playing with Re-TROS, maybe more post punk than punk.  The punk bands were surprisingly good, though I only saw the first 2 acts, Shave ‘N Shut and Hell City. We saw one of the members of FAZI briefly and got some photos. The art exhibits seem to have changed a little, aside from some of the larger paintings and sculptures that seem more permanent. Experiencing a museum at night with music is definitely enjoyable, though we rushed through just so we didn’t miss any of the bands we were able to see.