Wu Qiong Livehouse 无穹酒吧

Article By Mike Leaner

Southeast Connor, Building 3, Fu Rong Xin Tian Di, Fu Rong South Road, Qu Jiang New District
曲江新区芙蓉南路芙蓉新天地3号楼东南角
(029) 8699 1688
8:30pm – Midnight

Average Price per Person /人均消费: 30RMB

PROS:Beerlao, live music, energy

CONS: A little rough around the edges

Inside Wenchang Gate, just past the flower shops, lies Wuqiong Livehouse. You’ll know it by its bright blue sign, and then you just go down the stairs and inside. You’ll then find a modest barroom with a touch of retro kitsch—sort of like what a millennial would think the 80s looked like. You can get some bottled beer (including my favorite cheap beer ever, Beerlao), or a couple of shots.

This review is a bit challenging for me to write, because normally I’m sent to bars and restaurants that try to prove that there’s more to them than meets the eye (which is not normally the case). However, Wuqiong is something very unique. I wanted to get the bar details out of the way first, because while it makes a decent watering hole, it’s unlikely to become your new neighborhood spot. What it is more likely to be is your new favorite place to see live underground music.

Wuqiong is a new challenger in the Xi’an live music scene, more in the vein of the original Vice Versa and the original Aperture, both of which closed unceremoniously a couple of years ago. It’s rough around the edges and brimming with youthful punk energy. While they’re still fresh in the scene, their brief existence has been eventful, with shows most weekends and a huge coup when they hosted Da Bang late last month. The venue area is attached to the bar, entirely general admission, with a perfectly sized stage and an audience area that finds a “just big enough” sweet spot—dozens of fans can get in to see gigs but the space is intimate enough to give that basement show vibe.

There will be some things that will bug people who aren’t acquainted with this kind of scene—when a show is popular the venue will be stuffed to the rafters, and the conversion of the property into a bar/venue has been mostly successful but probably still has a little bit to be done on it. However, if you’re open to its ramshackle punk rock charms, you’ll find a lot to love about Wuqiong.

Mike Leaner likes to get dirty but not for free. He can be reached at
reviews@xianease.com

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