School Live Bar

Wudaoying Hutong’s School Bar and Party Project has re-branded itself as School Live Bar: same venue, similar name but a whole new taste in music. Like a teenager that reinvents their image with a different haircut and a few new threads, School Live Bar has thrown away its vinyl and glowsticks, grown out its hair and recreated itself as a live house with just a few small changes in décor and design. It suits the place, too: School has grown into the venue it always had the potential to be. The minimalist, white walls are now black and red; the DJ booth’s a small stage; and the bathroom has been converted into a cloakroom. Otherwise it’s the same lovably scuzzy hutong den, but with more live music and fewer turntables.

Despite the change in musical direction, it doesn’t seem to have found any problems fitting in with the new crowd. In fact, on the night we were there, it was busier than we’d ever seen it before. As it’s co-run by the ex-bassist from Beijing punk band Joyside, the change of direction is no surprise. And the fact that the management have been able to pull in their mates to play – Hedgehog, Tookoo and Residence A have performed here recently – has helped the transition. We wish they’d also improved the surly bar staff, the post that obstructs the view of the stage for half the crowd and the low-quality, limited drinks selection (beers 20-50RMB, mixers 25-40RMB, most cocktails 40RMB). But, overall, the new direction is exactly what this awkward, dark space always needed. It also provides some much-needed edge and urgency to Wudaoying Hutong – an area that’s fast becoming a characterless, hipster strip mall. Let’s hope it doesn’t go back to the old School.