Week 8: Jazz, the Strokes, Russian Opera, and Baltimore Rats

Summary: Unexpectedly, I found myself attending a ton of musical performances this weekend. It was great hearing live music, and I feel like I’m just scratching the surface of what Ulaanbaatar has to offer.

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(Quickly scroll through this bit if you don't want to see personal pictures of rats near my home in Baltimore). My students usually take their break time to ask me questions about “American culture.” This week, I was asked what the difference between a rat and a mouse was since neither really exist in the city. I wouldn’t classify rats as a part of American culture, but nevertheless, I decided that a show and tell would best suit this conversation. I dug up my own personal pictures from the time I had a mouse infestation in Baltimore and the large rats that I’ve seen in the streets. Understandably, there were a lot of ew’s.

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Friday night, a friend had her birthday celebration at the Fat Cat Jazz Club. It’s a pretty cool spot, consisting of a bar and a stage for performers. The best part was that the menu included a mocktail section which is usually hard to come by in UB, so of course I got myself a drink. A four man band of trumpet, bass, electric guitar, and drums put on a great show that night.

Then Saturday night, I went to the “505 Club,” where a cover band of the Strokes was playing. Full disclaimer, I don’t know a single song by the Strokes, but I thought it would be fun to check out a Mongolian band’s take on English alternative music. It did not disappoint. The band looked like the stereotypical garage band – there was one guy with super long hair, one guy with a shaved head, and one guy with a mullet. I guess the audience was pretty shy because the entire audience stood pretty still at the back of the room as if the front was lava. But that didn’t stop my group from having a good time in the front row. I also spotted an ex-pat on the other side of the room who was dancing like it was his last night of his life, so I guess the audience energy didn’t bother him.

Sunday night, we went to a “night of music at the museum” event at the National Art Gallery. The setlist was very interesting because it started off with someone rapping, then a jazz band performing, and finally a DJ playing some music. In between the sets, we perused the artwork in the museum. I found it pretty interesting how there seemed to be a lot of work that fused Western and Mongolian elements. For example, we saw a couple of works that looked very similar to Dali’s take on surrealism, but there just happened to be a Mongolian dude in traditional clothing painted in the background.

Then Monday, after our Mongolian language class, two friends and I went to the Classical Art Theatre to watch a Russian-opera-inspired concert. I’m not sure what I expected, but I was blown away. They had body contortionists, flying acrobats, super hype music, and ballerinas. I didn’t understand the plot at all (if there was a plot), but it was one of the best shows I’ve ever watched.

Watching these different musical performances this week reminded me of my time singing with my acapella group in college. I’ve been playing my guitar at home, but I definitely miss making music with friends, so I’ve been having thoughts about wanting to start my own little garage band here. Big dreams.