St. Bagu: The Road To Shanghai World Expo

Back in April, we spoke with Chicago hip hop group St. Bagu and got to know them and the story behind their very first live show. And this week we’re keeping an eye on the guys as they travel to play on the international stage at the Shanghai World Expo as part of Hip Hop Chicago.

UPDATE 9/21:

St. Bagu played yesterday and their drummer Jason reflected on the “time freeze” performance and ending up on the cover of the Shanghai Daily newspaper and nightly news show. It’s one of the most insightful reflections I’ve read from a drummer in a long time, and you should read because it gives you a great perspective on the vantage point that a drummer has during a show. Here’s a snippet from the St. Bagu blog and you can check out the rest of the post and a video of the performance here.

There are few moments in life where everything slows down around you and you begin to wonder how exactly you ended up at that moment. As the drummer for St.Bagu and Hip Hop Chicago I have the advantage of seeing the performances from a unique point of view. It is as if I am part audience part performer. While dancers spin in circles and emcees run across stage to rile up crowds on different sides of the stage, I am stationary and have a complete 180 degree of the performance and the audience simultaneously. I spent the whole set at last night’s music showcase on the America’s Square stage at the World Expo frozen in time trying to break down all the things that fell into place that brought this amazing group of people together. Never in my life did I ever think I would be in a band and share a stage with 8 bboys, an mc and a dj and ROCK a crowd halfway around the world.

As far as I could see, there isn’t any live feed of the Shanghai World Expo performances that we can watch at home in the United States. But you can follow along with the band as they post updates, pics and videos on the St. Bagu blog documenting their travels and adventures during the trip.

We wish St. Bagu well as they play live tomorrow night on Monday with other members of Hip Hop ChicaGO which includes DJ NVS, MC Rico, Awesome Style Konnection, Stick and Move, Joleethal, and J Funky.

Show info:

Here are some links where you can get more info about the World Expo and the Americas Square stage where St. Bagu will be playing.

When: Monday, September 20th 2010 @ 8:30pm

Where: Americas Square

Check out the other Chicago and American artists who’ll be performing.

Get more info about the Shanghai World Expo

Pick up St. Bagu’s debut EP Lines via iTunes