On The Scene: Yugong Yishan 06-07-2012

Really, I can only blame myself in the end….by the time I made it to Yugong Yishan, mind you it was only a bit after ten, Omnipotent Youth Society was already well into their set. And as one might guess, the place was neck-to-neck full, and as one might further speculate as soon as the opening act finished half the place emptied out. Now I have no experience as a promoter or manager, but when your opening act’s audience is overwhelmingly this large, it might be time to consider having them be the main act. Just saying.

Omnipotent Youth Society is a juggernaut of a band. This was evident as soon as I walked indoors and let me tell you – Yugong Yishan was never been packed like this before – door to door their were people squeezed up against one another – it was basically Line 1 at rush hour minus the ventilation. I mention the ventilation because within ten seconds in that crowd you were soaked. The place was steaming – you could probably cook an egg sunny side up on the soundboard if you wanted to. Hell, I couldn’t even film…this is what happened as soon as I whipped out my camera.

What the fuckity fuck indeed…I’m not gonna leave you all hangin though as luckily sound recorders don’t fog up.

These kids are starting to sound more and more like Neil Young. It’s really such flavorsome melodic folk tones which I’m simply can’t get enough at this point and I’m guessing we’ll be seeing big things at of these boys come next year.

The main act tonight was Sugar Plum Ferry, the Taiwanese post-rock band I’d never heard of before. And you know what, sometimes coming into a set this cold can work wonders. Post-rock is really music you have to experience first-hand I think to appreciate in its entirety. For the most part, I have a hard time really diving into the genre when I’m at home, or dickin around town with my headphones in, but tonight I was riding that wave and simply just loving every second of it.

There is such a melodic thrust to the music which pulls you in and just whips you around – with cascading guitar lines, that pile on top of one another as the music swells and escalates to a point where you think it can’t go on any further, only to whip you into a frenzy all over again. It’s really is classical in every sense of the word, emotional to the core and full of atmosphere and mood.

So while I missed most of Omnipotent Youth Society’s show, I can’t say I left unsatisfied – as Sugar Plum Ferry was a great find. Perhaps it time to throw some more post-rock onto my iTouch.