Gulou’s First Ever Sunset Concert at MOONEE This Thursday, Jun 22

The Dragon Boat Festival holiday is bringing with it a lot of fun happenings, but one of the most exciting has to be Gulou’s first-ever Sunset Concert on Jun 22. Billed as a “mini-festival” the event will see a great line-up of bands kicking things off on the MOONEE rooftop for the late afternoon and sunset, after which the live music will continue downstairs in the MOONEE basement. 

The concert is organized by Soi/Cangku owner Van G, who also recently took over the MOONEE basement. We reached out to him to find out more about the event and what bands he has in store. 

Firstly, what makes this Gulou Sunset Concert so special?
The special part about this musical event is that it’s the very first time in the Gulou area that there’s a show happening on both an open rooftop stage and an underground stage at the same location. 

Where did the idea for the event come from?
The idea first hit me when I heard that What The Folkstival was canceled. It was a big disappointment for everyone who likes outdoor festival events. So, I thought maybe we could do our own outdoor festival-type event right here at MOONEE. We have a big rooftop bar, and the best views of the Drum and Bell Towers and the sunset. We can do a daytime part on the roof and then a nighttime part down in the basement and have an indoor rock concert – it’s just so convenient and unique. 

It’ll be the first concert of its kind, and if it’s successful we’ll definitely do more in the future. So come to the show and support us, so we can do more rooftop concerts in the future! Moving forward, we might also work with the What The Folk crew.

Can you give a brief introduction for each of the bands that will be playing?
The daytime part of the event starts in the afternoon from 4pm. We’ll have Wu Zhang Fa (吴张法), made up of guqin and bamboo flute master Wu Zeqi (吴泽琦) and classical guitarist Zhang Qiang (张强), to start the show. 

The second act is Chinese folk singer/songwriter and producer Wang Juan (王娟).

Next is Zhang Qianqian (张浅潜), a popular folk singer/painter and multi-talented artist. 

Then, SZX & Quartet (苏紫旭"泪水与共"四重奏) will be headlining the rooftop stage during sunset. This legend started his Beijing journey in Gulou, and became famous in China from a popular CCTV music show, and now he tours all over China every year, he’s definitely a very talented musician. This time he will also bring his quartet team to vibe with us while enjoying the sunset view behind. 

In the late evening, starting from 9pm, we’ll move to the underground venue where three awesome rock bands play. The first band is called Simplicity Lover (简约情人), who specialize in indie rock and folk rock. The lead singer has a unique and soul-touching voice, complimented by the lead guitarist's skillful compositions. 

The second band will be Ghostnote+. They’re more goth metal, art metal style, something the lead singer isn't afraid to show off in her style of dress. 

The headliner of the nighttime part of the event is Residence A (A公馆), a rock band who often used to play in the old MAO live house on Gulou Dongdajie. Their style blends British pop and punk with catchy Chinese lyrics. Residence A, without a doubt, is one of the best punk bands in Beijing.

Will there be any special discounts or drink offers?
Yeah, absolutely. We’ll be bringing back our famous drink deal concept “the party bucket” [a big bucket-sized cocktail], I think it’ll be a huge hit for the concert because not only is it cheap and a big bucket of booze, but also portable. People who used to frequent my old bar Soi Baochao will definitely know what I’m talking about.

I for one think that slurping on a big bucket of alcohol while watching some great bands as the sun sets in the distance sounds like a pretty perfect evening! Check out details on how to get your tickets to the Gulou Sunset Concert below.

The Gulou Sunset Concert is taking place at MOONEE rooftop from 4-8pm, and in MOONEE Underground 9pm-late, Jun 22. Tickets for both the rooftop and underground are RMB 300/one person, RMB 588/two people, rooftop only RMB 188/one person, RMB 338/two people, underground only RMB 168/one person, RMB 298/two people. Tickets can be purchased by scanning the QR code in the poster above. 

MOONEE
51 Jiugulou Dajie, Xicheng District, Xicheng District
西城区市西城区旧鼓楼大街51号

READ: Le Fete de la Musique Comes to Beijing, Jun 20-21

Images: courtesy of MOONEE and the organizers