Goodbye D-22: Inside The Last Nights
About one kilometer east from Wudaokou subway station, on the south side of Chengfu Lu, there’s a dark sign with an odd name on it – D-22. If you’ve never been inside, you could have easily missed it when you walked by. Now it will be forever missed. After supporting Beijing’s young music talents for almost six years, the tiny club has closed its doors for the last time. Lots of goodbyes were said at its last two shows: Zoomin’ Night last Tuesday and Mongolian punk band Mohanik’s gig on Friday.
Last Zoomin’ Night
This was not the last night that the bar stayed open, but to the those who made it their second home, this was the real last night.
At a normal Zoomin’ Night, there would two or three bands playing and they’d be lucky to have over 20 people coming – going all the way to Wudaokou on a Tuesday for some experimental sounds doesn’t sound very appealing. I haven’t been to a Zoomin’ Night for a long time either. I still remember that the “noises” I heard last time wasn't so enjoyable. Then I was shocked this time, not by the fact that it was jam-packed but how much the bands have improved.
A lineup with eight bands made it the biggest Zoomin’ Night ever: Birdstriking, Shouwang, Soviet Pop, etc. The avant-garde youngsters didn’t use anything eccentric. They just reorganized fragments of sound with the most basic instruments, loads of pedals and maybe some ideas from classical or traditional music. The audience was peaceful most of the time. Everyone was trying to appreciate and remember, with cameras, recorders and mostly their eyes and ears. Few were leaving until at least 1am.
Hopefully it was not too late to realize the beauty of those musical experiments. Venue owner Michael Pettis said in an interview that “the development of the Zoomin’ scene was probably the biggest factor in his decision to close D22 and open another space.” There might be no more D-22, but the spirit of Zoomin’ Night will keep rolling.
D-22’s Last Night
While the last Zoomin’ Night had a lot of intimate and emotional moments, the actual last night was more like a the-bar’s-going-to-be-closed-so-let’s-go-crazy night. Surprisingly, the show actually started on time. I arrived there at around 11 and the main band Mohanik had already begun playing. The venue was just as packed as Tuesday, full of people who wanted to grab a piece of the bar’s spirit or a poster from the wall before it closes.
As many punk heads’ favorite hang-out, D-22 stimulated the band and the crowd well. Brisk punk riffs echoed between the walls and the crowd, and stirred the small mosh pit in front of the stage vigorously. I almost felt like it’s just another Friday night. The band was young, full of energy and not all that Mongolian. They probably didn’t know how to throat sing but they do know what a wild crowd wants, because they are just as crazy – strumming behind the back, struggling on the floor, jumping on and off fragile tables. After the band finished playing and the majority of the crowd left, the whole thing actually turned into a dance party with DJ BO’s tunes.
Maybe it was for the best that everyone could forget about the unpleasant theme and got the most out of the moment.
D-22, you will be missed.