Crazy Mushroom Brigade

From Rock in China Wiki

Background Information
Name (English)	Crazy Mushroom Brigade / The Mushrooms
Name (Chn.)	疯狂蘑菇团 / fēngkuáng mógu tuán / mógu tuán
Origin	Shanghai
Genre	Screamo, Metalcore
Years active	2006 - present
Members
Vocals: 仆仆 / Pu Pu Guitar: 李鑫 / Li Xing (ex-The Herb) Bass: 小凌 / Xiao Ling Drums: 了子 / Lezi

Shanghai nu-metal band Crazy Mushroom Brigade was formed in April of 2006 by four friends, J. Lee, Pupu, AKI and Lezi, who share a common passion for hardcore and rap-metal. Drawing influences from bands like Limp Bizkit and Muse, CMB plays a wild brand of Shanghai metal tailored for moshers and headbangers. They have earned a reputation as one of the youngest and liveliest bands in Shanghai with their heavy riffs and tight rhymes. Later they renamed themselves to The Mushrooms.

[edit] History

Shanghai nu-metal band Crazy Mushroom Brigade was formed in April of 2006 by four friends, J. Lee, Pupu, AKI and Lezi, who share a common passion for hardcore and rap-metal.

April 19th, 2008, they rocked the fourth 0093 showcase party at the Yuyintang with Sour Rain, BlacKRomancE, Wildcat, Joker, Crazy Mushroom, Little Nature and Mortal Fools.^[1] According to Andy Best:They all stayed for the Mushrooms and by a few songs in the moshing had commenced and the party was in full swing^[2]

May 31st 2008, they performed live as support gig for the Japanese band God Deadalist.^[3]

July 10th 2008, Crazy Mushroom Brigade are seen as one of the new big bands for future by Lin Lin, manager at Yu Yin Tang, as interviewed by Andy Best.^[4]

September 22nd 2008 they performed live at the Yuyintang.^[5]

November 2008, they signed to Indietop Records^[6] and changed thereafter their name to The Mushrooms (Mogu Tuan).^[7]

[edit] 2009

Mushroom Flyer for their Oct 3rd show

2009, April 11th, they performed at the Hedgehog Blue Daydreaming Tour stopover at the Yu Yin Tang in Shanghai in front of a packed hall including moshpit.^[8] May 1st, they performed as support and opening gig for Canadian band Creature. According to Andy Best: Tonight's crowd took their time getting in and was only half as full as it would later be for the opening band. They still gave us a good show though.^[9] August 22nd, 2009, they performed at the Yuyintang. According to Zack: they (The Mushrooms) did go on, breaking forth with a load of guitars, drums, bass, and (most visibly) primal screams (...) did a good job of mixing things up while incorporating elements of their bread and butter, which is rocking…hard. There were pieces of ballads, hip hop, pop, and punk interspersed here, there, and everywhere. This was mainly due to the lead singer and guitarist, who were both excellent.^[10] According to Jake Newby: (...) by the time The Mushrooms took to the stage, the atmosphere was perfect. I got right in at the front from the off and only emerged at the end of the set (by which point I was pretty disgusting). Lead singer Pu Pu's signature on MSN this morning is "I saw you crying" and I certainly spotted at least one girl in the audience next to me in tears.^[11] October 3rd, they performed in the recently-opened Mao Live Shanghai with support band Double Control. According to Andy Best: The Mushrooms came on to high expectations and played a proper headlining set of well over an hour. They played a lot of new songs and tried to organise the set with changes of pace. Pupu doesn't need to do much to please his fans these days, but he doesn't know any other way except all-out.^[12] Before the show it was rumoured, that The Mushrooms had signed a record deal in Taiwan, so the show on October 3rd might have been the last one in Shanghai for some time.^[13] November 20th, they performed at the MAO Live House Shanghai. According to Jake Newby: They certainly felt like a headliner. The crowd loved them - even people who wouldn't normally go to gigs (and there seemed to be a lot there last night) appeared to be getting into it and were asking "who is this band?" It was a great performance as ever from The Mushrooms and, once they'd demanded an encore, the crowd seemed pretty satisfied with that.^[14]

[edit] 2010

March 26th, 2010, The Mushrooms had their first gig outside of Shanghai, in Beijing's Mao Live House together with Arrows Made of Desire and King Statue.^[15] According to Beijing Noise: Enigmatic frontmen are rare in rock these days, yet Pupu excels, controlling the microphone and the crowd with ease (...)^[16] According to Mark Hiew: And while emo may evoke strong love/hate sentiments in many listeners, there is little question of Mushrooms utter mastery of the genre. They set the crowd alight with their first song, and left the audience similarly exhilarated with their final song, a rap-cover hybrid of 4 Non Blondes' classic: "What's Going On." In between, their well-structured set moved from heavier rocking numbers to slower, ballad-like territory. Lead singer Pupu is an electric performer: loose lipped and almost mime-like in his facial expressions, he spent the set jerking about violently, looking at times as if he was bawling, at others as if he was clowning around in class.^[17] According to Alex of Beijing Gig Guide:I really loved the band. Pupu is, of course, a big part of what makes their act amazing, but they work impeccably as a team. They definitely sounded like they'd been working together for the five years they've been around, offering up a tight set with lots of changes in mood. They're loud^[18] On May 9th, they performed at the Yu Shu Benefit Gig at Yuyintang, in remembrance of the victims of the Yushu earthquake at Qinghai. According to Jake Newby: They were brilliant. It'd been a couple of months since their last show here, during which time they'd played up in Beijing and impressed by all accounts. Not surprising really. Pu Pu was on fire as usual and looked like he might explode at times. The band were tight and professional and everyone lapped it up. There were screams every time Pu Pu announced the name of a song (not from me I mean, from the Mogu Groupies at the front) and plenty of people knew all the words..^[19]