Frank and the Bear’s Great Adventure – The City Flanker (CN) X Chinese American Bear (US) Joint Tour 2024
Prologue: Digital Romance in Social Media In a corner of the digital world, City Flanker and Chinese American Bear have long been ‘likes’ acquaintances on Instagram. Until that night under the starry sky, a message flashed across the screen like a meteor—’How about a joint tour?’ Frank’s heart began to race on this side of the screen, and on the other side, the bear’s excitement was palpable. Thus, the prelude to an adventure quietly unfolds. Chapter One: The Clash of Dreams and Reality Frank passionately painted a grand blueprint of the tour to his agent, only to encounter the fog of the market. ‘Tour? This year’s market…’ The agent’s voice trailed off, but Frank couldn’t wait: ‘New album, live sharing, I crave it!’ The agent fell silent, until the bear’s voice broke the silence: ‘Airfare? I’ll take care of it myself!’ The clash of dreams and reality is a challenge and an opportunity. Chapter Two: A Special Forces-Style Journey 17 days, 14 cities, a grueling journey. But for City Flanker and Chinese American Bear, it is an adventure full of unknowns and fun. Although the two bands live on opposite ends of the Pacific, the unique chill of China’s east coast and the quirky humor of the US west coast should become romantic elements that can be synthesized repeatedly during the tour, each time yielding different results. Chapter Three: The Interweaving of Music and Emotion Sometimes, Frank focuses on the rain, while the bear secretly brings back sunshine; Frank narrates the beauty of youthful love with heart, but the bear adds an adult’s humor to it. These slightly retro romantic sentiments make one feel a touch of warmth in the cold wind at the end of the year. Chapter Four: The Charm of the Protagonists Don’t mistake anyone; in our story, Frank is the traveler who inadvertently reveals his shoes, and the bear is the wanderer who sings ‘dumplings’ and ‘bubble tea’ in Chinese. Their charm lies not only in music but also in their love for life and their persistent pursuit of dreams. Epilogue: Inviting Every Friend Now, we extend an invitation to friends in the 14 cities along the way to join this adventure and become wonderful characters in the story. At the same time, we sincerely invite music enthusiasts to share with us the romance and unique charm of your cities.From an old, dilapidated street to a hidden feng shui treasure spot, or a legend known only to locals, we yearn to hear your stories. In this special forces-style journey, Frank and Bear will stealthily take time out, sneaking off the conventional tour route to experience the urban secrets that only you can reveal to us (? Must not let the agent know). We believe that every city has its unique soul, and your sharing will add more color and vitality to our tour. About Them: Chinese American Bear (Chinese American Bear) is a uniquely styled, light-hearted Sino-American bilingual pop rock duo. The band consists of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, who together create music with a strong sense of rhythm and a ‘not too serious, love for food’ attitude in their Seattle studio. Their style is described as a blend of Melody’s Echo Chamber, The Flaming Lips, Dusty Springfield, and Care Bear, and their live performances are likened to ‘punk shows for toddlers’. Their accumulated plays across platforms have exceeded 1 million times, and they have been reported and praised by media such as VOGUE+ (China), BBC Music, KEXP, and international publications like Under The Radar, DORK, C-heads, FLOOD, Loudwomen. Their songs are not only included in various editorially curated playlists on Spotify, including New in Indie, Chill Vibes, Fresh Finds Indie, Bedroom Pop, Fresh Finds, Chinese Indie Picks, Group Singing, Independent Frontline, but also appear in H&M’s official in-store playlists. About Them: City Flanker City Flanker, which emerged from the slow and moist city of Shaoxing, is an electronic dream pop band currently residing in Hangzhou. The collision and fusion of synthesizer electronic dance elements and shoegaze-style psychedelic walls evolve into unpredictable urban atmospheres and hypnotic real dreams.
In the summer of 2024, the band released their brand new album ‘A Long Tomorrow’, which carries a hint of the salty sea breeze, the dry heat of the rainforest, the sharpness of urbanization, the primal wilderness, and a touch of magical realism – a style that could only be penned by novelists from the coastal islands of the South China Sea. Originating from Shaoxing in the Yangtze River Delta, they draw nourishment from the increasingly developed city and find inspiration from their identity as ‘urban outsiders’, ultimately creating this work. ‘A Long Tomorrow’ maintains an enigmatic stance between the vocals and the audience, fitting the protagonist Frank’s self-identity as an ‘urban outsider’ – living in the city yet never quite fitting in with its habits, wanting to escape yet being held back by certain forces, echoing Luo Dayou’s sentiment that ‘Taipei is not my home’. In this on-again, off-again relationship, Frank falls into endless reminiscence and imagination. For Frank, who has lost hope in the city, he is willing to see everything as dreamlike and detached from the world. Sometimes the images that appear in his mind, he can no longer distinguish whether they are memories or imaginations. The full performance opens on 12/14, Saturday, with the show starting at 20:00. The exact duration of the performance will be determined on-site.
