Torte Bus + Mondialito.

Squid, an audiophile friend of mine who works in the music industry, informed me about two groups of independent artists called Torte Bus and Mondialito coming to town to perform, and had asked me if I would care to join him for a musical interlude. After reviewing these little-known groups on the webbernet and playing samples of their music beforehand, I had determined that they were worthy of seeing in concert.

Stringing Dutchman along, we arrived at a club called 13 Club, which turned out to be a rather small venue along Chongfu Lu. We got there a little early, but the place filled up quickly with smokers all around us in the dark and dingy environment. After about an hour of standing and waiting for signs of life on the stage floor, a silhouette image of a man sitting down on a stool with a guitar in hand appeared, along with a silhouette image of another man standing in front of the microphone. Then the stage lights came on to reveal their facial features and full vicinity, and darkness retreated.

Torte Bus was made up of two male Chinese performers, a guitarist and a singer. Though it's hard to categorise their music, some have considered their style of music as Chinese Indie Folk. While I could hear some Jack Johnson, and John Denver in their music, there's something truly unique in their song-writing and melody that I can't put a comparable artist to their flame. Just have a listen to a track titled "Sunday Trip" and you'll "hear" what I mean.

Mondialito was the delightful second act. Formed in 2002, the male and female duo from Japan had used some unconventional instruments to produce the kind of sound to paint a melodic visual with Toshiya's guitar-rifts and Junko's eloquent voice in Français. I loved them so much that I bought their latest self-titled album, went backstage, and had them autograph it. Speaking in Japanese, I asked Junko how she came to learn French, to which she responded "ワアー、すごい！” before explaining that she had some formal training in Japan before moving to France to continue her studies there.

Sadly, didn't have enough juice to stay on for a group shot of Junko, Toshiya, Squid, and I backstage. Even more unfortunate was that Squid's camera battery was also dead after using it to take photos and videos during the concert. Oh well. In addition to the photos I have posted here, check out that photos that's been posted on Mondialito's own web-site and you'll see photos of Dutchman, Squid, and I amongst the crowd!

Torte Bus performing a song called "Sunday Trip"


Mondialito