MUMBAI: Second Hand Rose, one of the biggest rock bands in China, today announces its Useless Rock tour of the East Coast with stops in New York, Boston, Washington DC, and Philadelphia.

Back in 2000, singer Liang Long and suona (a wind instrument) player Wu Zekun shook up Beijing's underground music scene with a performance style that's part cabaret, part Chinese theater, and part rock 'n' roll dance party. Second Hand Rose eventually filled out to the current six-piece and set itself apart from its peers with live shows that have something in common with the tongue-in-cheek provocation of bands like the New York Dolls and the Japanese style of Visual Kei: Liang is known to perform in partial drag, at times a nod to the Shanghai glamour girls of the 1930s or taking on the aspect of a People’s Liberation Army general wearing lipstick, while guitarist Yao Lan regularly strips down to his underwear before taking the stage.

Performances incorporate a stage tradition from China's northeast called Two Taking Turns, a playful, sexually charged form of verbal sparring between a male jester and female beauty, though in the case of Second Hand Rose, Liang Long takes on both roles.

The name Second Hand Rose comes from the notion that rock in China is a secondhand and imported endeavor—as such, the band's song "Leading a Dabbling Life" devolves into a Chinese sing-along version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." Earlier this year, the band played for a crowd of over 30,000 at the Strawberry Music Festival in Beijing, and last year they headlined a concert in Beijing's state-owned Workers' Gymnasium, one of the most prestigious venues in the country.

Useless Rock Tour 2014

Tuesday, October 7 at Cafe 939, Boston, MA

Wednesday, October 8 Press conference, 310 E. 44th Street, New York, NY

Thursday, October 9 "Useless Rock and Chinese Communist Party Sponsorship" lecture at the China Institute, New York, NY

Friday, October 10 at Atlas Performing Arts Center, Washington, DC

Sunday, October 12 Fashion launch hosted by Hip Hop USA, venue TBA, New York, NY

Wednesday, October 15 at Hard Rock Cafe, Philadelphia, PA

Sunday, October 19 at Webster Hall, New York, NY