Beijing Explosion at The Fringe This was a special band night at The Fringe Club.We got a chance to see some great Beijing bands,New Pants,Hedgehog and PK14 and 2 bands from The Phillipines Pedicab and Manila Sandwich.The Fringe is a great venue because it's intimate enough to get close to the bands and really get the atmosphere of a live gig. Pedicab started the show and really got the crowd going with their unique blend of electro-garage rock.Think Franz Ferdinand-it's very danceable.The band have lots of infectious ,hook -laden songs and their energetic show made them a big hit. http://www.myspace.com/pedicab Next on were Manila Sandwich.An established band in their own country,on the basis of this set ,they deserve wider recognition.Favourite song 'Sun Burn'(I just wanna be on the beach') http://www.myspace.com/manilasandwich   Hedgehog from Beijing came on stage next.I guess most of the locals wanted to see what their Beijing compatriots had to offer and they were very impressed.the band has 3 members,Z.O. on guitar,vocals,BoX on bass and the amazing Atom on drums. The band play a spiky,rocking Noise Pop..Z.O's charismatic vocals,the driving bass lines and percussion made this a great set with songs like'Toy &61 Festival','Noise Hit World ' and 'Elf' http://www.myspace.com/hedgehogbeijing New Pants were next on the bill.They are Peng Lei (vocals,guitar),Lobo(bass ) and Fox Pang(Keys).The band played a lot of material from their current album'Dragon Tiger Panacea' and was a huge hit with the audience. .It's very danceable,Ramones style punk disco ,electro punkwith a hint of disco.It's lots of fun.The band write lively,feelgood electro and you can check out their material on the album 'Dragon Tiger Panacea' on Modern Sky Music.It has some video performances of the band including their hits like 'Bye Bye Disco' and a bonus DVD. http://www.myspace.com/beijingnewpants Top of the bill were PK14(Public Kingdom for teens/Psycho Killer 14!).The band is Yang Haisong(vocals),Xu Bo(guitar),Shi Xudong(bass) and Jonathan(drums).The band are very post punk and passionate in their songs and they display the heady ideals of music as a way to change people's attitudes as in the songs of British punk band The Clash or early Talking Heads.The band played a set that was intense and Yang's passionate vocals were well complemented by the skills of his bandmates.Many of the songs in their set like 'Strangers came to visit' can be found on their latest cd 'White Paper'. http://www.myspace.com/PK14 If you're looking for any of the bands' cds then visit popbites at 3-5 old bailey street,soho or check out their site.