Fun, Frolics, and Forgetfulness Await This Weekend's (Classier Than Usual) Temple's Marshall Birthday Bash

Ending up at Temple on any given weekend is inevitable for many people – the draw of cheap drinks, cheap comradery, and cheap music (read: free) is simply too much of a draw. Paired with a birthday, then it’s game over. You might as well set your alarm for noon the next day, or throw it out of the window on the way at 7am. So what happens when you combine all of that with the manager of Temple Bar has to celebrate his birthday? All-out mayhem is what. Heck, I even had to pick up bloodied teeth off the floor two years back.

This week, from Aug 23 to Aug 25, ‘Marshall’s Birthday Bash’ returns to wreak havoc upon the rabid concert-goers of Temple Bar with three nights of insanity, with one very classy trick up their sleeve – a string quartet on Friday night that starts at (gasp!) 9.30pm sharp, for which suits and ballroom attire are apparently mandatory. We shot the birthday boy a few questions to get a better idea of what’s in store.

How many birthdays have you celebrated at Temple thus far? Who else shares your birthday?
Aside from that one year of monthly birthdays (Ed’s note: Marshall basically tried to franchise his birthday on one Thursday of every month – it kinda worked). I think this is the fourth year of Temple birthdays. We [the fine people of this world] essentially all share my birthday, but also my mom and I have the same birthday.

Birthdays and Temple are the perfect match – why? What makes the venue should a hotspot for celebrating one’s slow march toward death?
For better or worse, people use Temple as a space where they can lose their inhibitions – after working for a week, people want to totally lose it so they come here – it’s relatively safe, and the music isn’t terrible. We provide that as a service.

Early on when I started booking I realized more people would come out if it was someone’s birthday or if someone was leaving China. People love the excuse of coming out and getting smashed because they’re obligated to, because they have to do it for some random dudes birthday. So its one excuse on top of many other excuses that get people to come out and freak out.

Explain the concept of The Temple Quartet?
I’ve tried for years to have some kind of musical diversity in Temple and they were certain attempts to do real jazz – it did not go over very well. We’ve done the modular synth nights in the past, but I’ve always wanted to do a classical thing – so yeah, I thought it would be wild to have a string quartet playing.

I’m probably underestimating the people that show up, but I’m already imagining a bunch of people coming into Temple on Friday expecting it to be rockish and rowdy, and having a surreal ‘Did I die?’ moment. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a number of years.

So, Rudi [Botes] the drummer of Tydi Knots, also performs in a local orchestra and was able to kinda choose a team and we sat down and picked out some classical repertories. We also had Struggle Session select one of their own songs ("Fuck You! This is Hardcore!") that could be rearranged into a string quartet which Alfi and Rydi both worked on it. So it will be a mix of all these things. And since we always look like complete trash when we’re at Temple, this is the one time we can do something just kind classy.

If you remember past birthdays, people have gone to the hospital, you’ve found teeth, there was a tattoo artist in the backroom – so that meant that this year, we either had to literally kill someone on stage to keep it extreme and go in the complete opposite direction to keep it fresh. So that’s why we’re taking the string quartet route.

What’s your go-to tailor in Beijing? Any other ballroom accessories we’re recommended to bring?
So the tailor I went – the one right next to Heaven Supermarket. I went to them mainly 'cause I knew where they were. Not too expensive – RMB 900 for a full suit and a shirt. I’ve held my end of the deal there. But really, there’s a bunch of tailors one can find on the Beijinger – with pretty quick turnaround (Ed’s note: good luck with a one-day turnaround). As for accessories – I’d say cigars, monocles, and highball glasses would all be acceptable.

Any other surprises this to look forward to this weekend?
There are more surprises. I also have some interesting visual stuff planned for between Friday and Saturday. I mean Thursday is going to be wild – I have no idea how it’s going to go because it experimental music paired with hip-hop artists. I have no idea if any of those guys are fully prepared for performing with each other. There are some stupid fun things for Saturday – but those are going to proper surprises.

Head to Temple this Thursday through Saturday for what promises to be a wilder mess than it is on any other given weekend. And, of course, it's all absolutely free.

Images courtesy of Temple, Michael Marshall