In anticipation of their forthcoming album ‘Once Upon A Time’, Chinese Man are currently touring both the UK and France with music from their new album mixed with classics from earlier releases Racing With The Sun and The Groove Sessions.
I was lucky enough to catch them play in Brighton @ The Concorde 2 this week after the gig was completely sold out weeks before the date. I’d been really looking forward to this gig as I’d never seen them play before and I rank Chinese Man as one of my favourite artists. I’d heard from a number of people that they were supposed to be excellent live, and I’m a sucker for live performances and so couldn’t wait.
When I arrived at the Concorde 2, the room was filled with people completely covered in glitter, sparkly outfits and eyes as wide as the moon. In between the support act and Chinese Man I winded my way to the front in anticipation for the wild live performance I’d been promised. When Chinese Man came on stage, the crowd went absolutely mad. The Chinese Man trio stood behind their respective instruments (all computers) and begun playing their first number. The whole crowd seemed to be squeezing to the front which became suffocating and shortly after the first couple of numbers a strange, drug induced, accidental mosh-pit seemed to erupt. People were falling over each other, with their hands in each others mouths, people grabbing each others hair and pushing people out of their way for the ‘front seats’. Unfortunately, my attention turned to the crazily hostile environment rather than the music and stage craft.
About 5 songs in, I’d had enough of the constant pulling, bumping, scratching and hair pulling at the front and so decided to venture to the back of the venue where the air was fresher. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of the Concorde 2 is that If you’re not right up the front of the venue, the sound is less effective and I find I have been able to have a pleasant chat about the weather with the person standing next to me be heard perfectly fine without the need to strain my voice. However, this allowed me then to concentrate on the music and visuals of the gig.
Unfortunately, Chinese Man didn’t seem to be putting on much of a show. With all of the members behind their computers they were able to execute an occasional ‘head bop’ or ‘hand in the air’ move, apart from that however they seemed pretty motionless.
The visuals that accompanied their performance were in fact very good and were bespoke made for each track, but unfortunately didn’t compensate enough for me to keep me excited. Youthsta, a rapper, later joined Chinese Man on stage for a couple of numbers which really lifted the gig. Youthsta and indeed the other rappers that came on stage were fantastically engaging with the audience and added dynamic/dimension to what could have started to be, in my opinion, a rather bland gig.
The last track had to be the winner for me though. Chinese Man announced that it was the first time they were playing it live, and boy did it work! All three rappers appeared on stage with Chinese Man and did a live mash-up/dub- step remix of a few tracks into one. The remix was made incredibly well and helped to remind me why I love coming to see my favourite acts live.
It’s such a shame to be so negative about a gig when the band you’re there to see is one of your all time favourites, but regrettably the music wasn’t up to scratch either as it was played exactly as it is on the record (a problem I’ve found with many electronic based acts in the past) and, considering the visuals weren’t awe inspiring, I’d have much rather spent my Thursday night listening to all the albums on full volume, dancing round my living room (Bridget Jones style!) with some friends and spent the £22.50 entry on a couple of nice bottles of wine!
 
Eva Rose