Chinese American Bear in Concert in Rome, Monk, January 16, 2027

On Saturday, January 16, 2027, Chinese American Bear, the Seattle indie pop duo made up of Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, play live at Monk, at Via Giuseppe Mirri 35 (00159 Rome), in the cultural club between Casal Bertone and Portonaccio. It is the only Rome date of their first Italian run, announced on the band's official concerts page. Monk is less than a kilometer from Tiburtina station, served by metro line B and the regional trains FL1, FL2 and FL3. By bus you get there with lines 163, 409 and 545 listed on the club's website. Start time and prices are published by Monk in the tickets section of its official site, where you buy admission. Children up to 12, accompanied by an adult with a ticket, get in free.

Songs in Mandarin and English, choruses about food, dumpling-shaped plush toys thrown into the crowd, a dancer in a bear hat: Chinese American Bear are one of the happiest and most recognizable bands in American indie pop these years. They arrive in Rome after a 2026 with a new album, Dim Sum & Then Some, and a tour across the United States and Europe. Monk, with its intimate hall and the park around it, is the right place to see them up close.

Chinese American Bear at Monk: the evening of January 16

The Rome concert of Chinese American Bear is the second of four consecutive Italian dates: Milan on January 15 at Arci Bellezza, Rome on the 16th at Monk, Bologna on the 17th at Locomotiv, Florence on the 18th at Tenax.

A Saturday night

January 16, 2027, falls on a Saturday. For a band that turns its concerts into a dance party, it is the best night of the week: no alarm clock the next day, and time to linger in Monk's park at the end of the concert.

The hall

In winter Monk's concerts are held in the indoor hall, called Teatro, in one of the club's two farmhouses. It is a hall of modest size, where the distance between stage and audience is short. For a duo that sings along with the spectators and gets them dancing, it is the ideal condition.

After Italy

After the four Italian dates the tour continues in Spain, with Barcelona on January 21 and Madrid on the 22nd. The band will return to Barcelona in summer 2027 for the Vida Festival.

Who Chinese American Bear are

Chinese American Bear are a pop duo from Seattle, in Washington state, made up of the married couple Lingbo Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, active since 2020, who write songs in Mandarin and English with a sound between psychedelia, pop and C-pop.

Anne Tong

Anne Tong was born in China and came to the United States as a child. A classically trained pianist, she studied economics at Princeton and earned an MBA at the University of Chicago. On stage she sings, plays keyboards and the gong, and leads the audience in singing in Mandarin and in the dances.

Bryce Barsten

Bryce Barsten grew up on a llama farm, the son of conservative Christian parents. He studied art and played in several indie bands in New York before the duo. In Chinese American Bear he sings, plays keyboards and guitar, and also makes some of the band's videos.

Two bears

Tong and Barsten have been together since high school, which they attended in Spokane, Washington. They began writing music together when he was studying Mandarin. They call each other bear, in Mandarin, as an affectionate nickname: hence the band's name and the title of the first song written together, Xiao Xiong, little bear.

The story of Chinese American Bear: from 2020 to today

Chinese American Bear released their first song in 2020 and three albums in four years: Chinese American Bear in 2022, Wah!!! in 2024 and Dim Sum & Then Some in 2026.

Hao Ma and the first album

The public began to notice them in 2021 with the song Hao Ma. The debut album, Chinese American Bear, came out in 2022 on the Chinese label Modern Sky, and the Seattle station KEXP welcomed it with enthusiasm, speaking of a warm and kaleidoscopic record.

Wah!!!

The second album, Wah!!!, came out on October 18, 2024 on London's Moshi Moshi Records, and on Modern Sky in China. It contains Feelin' Fuzzy, about Anne's childhood in a Chinese immigrant family, with her parents' commands sung in Mandarin. Yummy Yummy Yummy, about the pleasure of slurping noodles. And Kids Go Down, which quotes a very well-known Chinese nursery rhyme and whose video was shot on the Barsten family's llama farm. The Seattle Times included Wah!!! among the 15 best albums of 2024 by Washington state artists, and KEXP listeners placed it 49th among their records of the year.

The tour in China

In November 2024 the duo toured the United States and Europe, and in December played in 14 Chinese cities, from Shenzhen to Beijing, from Chengdu to Shanghai. For an American band that sings in Mandarin it was a return to Anne's roots and a test with the most demanding audience.

2025

In 2025 Chinese American Bear opened several Poppy concerts on her North American tour, played South by Southwest in Austin and toured the United States and the United Kingdom. Their songs entered the second season of the series Platonic, the video game Skate and the remake of the film The Wedding Banquet, with the song Bear Day. In December they won a 10,000-dollar grant from Sonic Guild, a Seattle association that supports musicians.

Dim Sum & Then Some

The third album, Dim Sum & Then Some, came out in May 2026, preceded by the singles NO NO YEAH YEAH, born as an experiment in a song written with only the words no and yeah, and All The People, with a stop-motion video animated by Barsten. The video for I Wanna Go Home came out with the album. KEXP described it as another collection of playful, chorus-filled indie pop. It is the record the band takes on tour in Europe, and the likely heart of the Rome evening.

The sound of Chinese American Bear: what you will hear

The official site describes their music as bilingual pop, cheerful and eclectic, halfway between Melody's Echo Chamber, the B-52's, the Flaming Lips and a hypercolored cartoon.

Mandarin and English

The songs alternate the two languages, often in the same chorus. You don't need to understand Mandarin: the choruses are built to be repeated, and live Anne teaches the words to the audience.

Food

Food is a recurring theme, from the noodles of Yummy Yummy Yummy to the title of the new album, which plays with dim sum, the small dishes of Cantonese cooking. The band itself says it loves food and doesn't take itself seriously: it is a statement of poetics.

Nostalgia

Behind the lightness there is a note of nostalgia that American critics have underlined more than once. The band's site says Wah!!! offered a nostalgic glow to many listeners of the Asian diaspora who were trying to feel represented. Feelin' Fuzzy and I Wanna Go Home are the songs where you feel it most.

The likely songs

The setlist is not published. It is reasonable to expect the songs of Dim Sum & Then Some alongside those of Wah!!!, but the only certainty is that the concert will be danced.

What Chinese American Bear concerts are like

Chinese American Bear concerts are playful and interactive: Anne leads the audience in singing in Mandarin and in dancing, a dancer in a dumpling or bear hat dances beside the duo, and the band throws dumpling or bubble tea plush toys into the hall.

A party

KEXP described one of their concerts as a show that looked like a dance party in a parallel dimension. Anyone going expecting a concert to listen to in silence, arms crossed, has picked the wrong night.

The plush toys

The plush toys thrown from the stage are by now a ritual. If you catch one in the air, you have the souvenir of the evening.

The audience

The Chinese American Bear audience is very mixed: indie pop listeners, fans of Asian music, families, kids from the Chinese diaspora. In a small hall like Monk's this variety shows, and it is part of the fun.

A curiosity about Chinese American Bear in Concert in Rome, Monk, January 16, 2027

The band's name comes from a nickname. Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, married and together since high school in Spokane, call each other bear in Mandarin. When they began writing songs together, while he was learning the language, the first one was titled Xiao Xiong, little bear. The group's name joins that nickname with the double identity of the people who bear it: Chinese and American. The official Chinese name, Hua Yi Mei Guo Xiong, means precisely Chinese-origin American bear.

The second curiosity concerns their biography more than their music. Anne, before becoming a singer, studied economics at Princeton and earned an MBA in Chicago. Bryce grew up on a llama farm in Washington state, and the video for Kids Go Down was shot on that farm. Anne herself has said she never dreamed of playing in a rock band and was dragged into it by her husband. It is hard to imagine a less straight path to a stage.

The third, for those who love coincidences: Monk takes its name from Thelonious Monk, the jazz pianist. Anne Tong is a classically trained pianist. At Monk, on January 16, the one on keyboards is a pianist who chose pop.

Monk, the hall of Chinese American Bear in Casal Bertone

Monk is a cultural club active since 2014 at the end of Via Giuseppe Mirri 35, between Casal Bertone and Portonaccio, less than a kilometer from Tiburtina station. The name is a tribute to Thelonious Sphere Monk. The listing for the venue is Monk.

Two farmhouses in a park

The club occupies two farmhouses, about 500 square meters in all, and two outdoor areas inside a one-hectare park. The official site presents it as a small rural world in a densely built district: you arrive among apartment blocks and railway tracks, and walk into a garden.

A wide program

Monk hosts large and small concerts, theater, workshops, presentations, festivals, markets and activities for families. The updated program is on Monk's official website.

Without barriers

The club states that its spaces are free of architectural barriers and open to all ages. For a concert that draws families and children, like Chinese American Bear's, that is a concrete fact.

Something nobody tells you about Chinese American Bear in Concert in Rome, Monk, January 16, 2027

Behind the cartoon air, Chinese American Bear talk about something serious: what it means to grow up between two languages and two cultures. Feelin' Fuzzy tells of Anne's childhood in a Chinese immigrant family in the United States, with parents ordering her to do homework, practice piano, not waste time playing. I Wanna Go Home, from the new album, is about home, which for Anne is wherever Bryce and family are. The band's site says openly that their music gave many listeners of the Asian diaspora a representation they had long been looking for.

For a Roman audience this has a precise echo. Rome is a city where communities from half the world live together, and the Esquilino, a few kilometers from Monk, is its multiethnic district par excellence. Here too many kids grow up between their parents' language and the school's.

Chinese American Bear's lightness is a choice, not a limit. Telling the story of a double identity with songs about dumplings and noodles is a smart way of not turning it into a speech. Those who go to Monk to dance, dance. Those who listen to the lyrics find something more.

How to get to Monk for Chinese American Bear

You reach Monk by metro line B or by the regional trains FL1, FL2 and FL3 to Tiburtina, less than a kilometer away, or by buses 163, 409 and 545 listed on the club's website.

Metro and train

From Termini, metro line B reaches Tiburtina in a few minutes. From the station to Via Giuseppe Mirri it is about a 10-minute walk. Check the time of the last Saturday metro before going out.

By bus

Lines 163, 409 and 545 serve the area. On Saturday night service is less frequent than on weekdays. The route planner of the Roman transit company, set to the day and time, is the right tool.

By car and taxi

Casal Bertone is outside the limited traffic zone, but on Saturday night parking on the nearby streets can be complicated. A taxi to Tiburtina, and the last steps on foot, remains the most convenient solution for the return.

From outside Rome

Tiburtina is also a high-speed rail station. Those following the band from Florence or Bologna, where it plays the next day, can arrive by train and leave from the same station.

The advice I give you for visiting Chinese American Bear in Concert in Rome, Monk, January 16, 2027

It is best to go prepared to take part. A Chinese American Bear concert is not watched from the back of the hall: you stand up front, learn the Mandarin chorus Anne teaches the audience, and dance. Those who stay with arms crossed miss half the show.

Before the evening, listen to Wah!!! from beginning to end, and at least the singles from Dim Sum & Then Some: NO NO YEAH YEAH, All The People, I Wanna Go Home. Recognizing the songs changes the way you live them live, especially when the hall sings in a language almost nobody speaks.

Buy your ticket in time. Monk's Teatro hall is small, the date is the only one in Rome, and it is a Saturday. With a band that grows from tour to tour, a sellout is likely. Check the start time on Monk's website, because the club uses different formats depending on the evening.

Finally, if you can, bring someone who doesn't know them. It is the ideal band to convert a skeptical friend: in 10 minutes he is dancing too.

Casal Bertone and the area around Monk

Casal Bertone is a district in the eastern quadrant of Rome, grown up beside the rail yard, enclosed between the Tiburtina tracks, Via Prenestina and Portonaccio.

A railway district

The railway marks the whole area, and in recent years the zone around Tiburtina, with the new station and the construction sites, has changed its face. Clubs like Monk have brought here an audience that used to cross the district only by train.

The Verano and San Lorenzo

Beyond the tracks, to the west, are the Verano Cemetery and the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura. The San Lorenzo district, a university area alive until late, is a few minutes away by taxi.

Villa Torlonia and Porta Maggiore

To the north, along Via Nomentana, is Villa Torlonia, with the Casino Nobile and the Casina delle Civette. A Saturday afternoon there before the concert is a good plan. To the south, Porta Maggiore is a reminder that even this suburb rests on ancient aqueducts.

Tickets for Chinese American Bear at Monk

Tickets for Chinese American Bear at Monk are bought on Monk's official website, in the tickets section linked to the concert page, where price and time are given.

Buying in time

The capacity of the Teatro hall is small and the date is the only one in Rome. Those who are sure they are going should not wait until the last days.

Information

For questions about tickets, accessibility and services Monk gives the address info@monkroma.it.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

Those who know Chinese American Bear know they are a Seattle band. Less known is how much a small network of local music institutions counts in their story. The Seattle radio station KEXP has supported them since the first album. The Seattle Times placed Wah!!! among the records of the year from Washington state. Sonic Guild, a city association, gave them a 10,000-dollar grant in December 2025, and the band opened its 2026 calendar with the party for those grants, on February 21 in Seattle.

The second fact is the power of playlists. The band's site recalls millions of streams and the cover of Spotify's editorial playlist Fresh Finds. A band born in a home studio, singing in Mandarin, reached the European audience without going through the big American record labels: first Modern Sky in China, then Moshi Moshi in London.

The third concerns film. The song Bear Day entered the remake of The Wedding Banquet, a romantic comedy about an Asian American family directed by Andrew Ahn. It is a sign that their music has found a place in the story of the diaspora, and not only on dance nights.

Where to eat at Monk and nearby

Monk has its own kitchen with food trucks: eating at the club, before or after the concert, is the most convenient solution.

The club's kitchen

The menu published on the site includes hamburgers, supplì, falafel and parmigiana, with vegan and gluten-free options. Those with allergies must say so when ordering.

Nearby

Between Casal Bertone and Portonaccio there are neighborhood trattorias and pizzerias. The widest choice is in San Lorenzo and Pigneto, a few minutes away.

A themed idea

For an evening in tune with the band, look for a Chinese restaurant at the Esquilino, around Piazza Vittorio, before taking the metro toward Tiburtina. Dim sum and dumplings before the concert: the band would approve.

The right photo to take at Chinese American Bear in Concert in Rome, Monk, January 16, 2027

The photo of Monk is taken outside, in the park, before going in. In mid-January the dark comes early, and the two lit farmhouses in the green, with the buildings of Casal Bertone in the background, tell the place better than any frame of the hall. It is the image of a small rural world inside the city, as the club itself describes it.

In the hall the right photo is the one of the plush toys. When the band starts throwing cloth dumplings and bubble tea at the audience, raise your phone toward the stage: the outstretched arms, the flying stuffed toys, the duo under the lights. It is a scene that exists only at their concerts. No flash and no long videos: the hall is small and the stage light is enough.

The third photo is one to take home: the plush toy caught in the air, photographed on the way out in front of Monk's sign. In a few years, when Chinese American Bear play bigger halls, it will be the memory of having seen them up close, in a farmhouse in Casal Bertone.

Accessibility, children and practical information

Monk states that its spaces are free of architectural barriers and publishes a page dedicated to accessibility, with the rules for children, minors and deaf people.

With children

Children up to 12 get in free if accompanied by an adult with a ticket, one per adult. Chinese American Bear are one of the rare indie bands that children really love: songs about food, plush toys, dances. A pair of noise-canceling headphones for the little ones is still a sensible precaution.

Minors

Minors can attend only if accompanied by a parent or an adult relative with a signed authorization.

Vibrating vests

For some marked concerts Monk makes available Woojer Vest 3 vibrating vests, which let deaf people feel the music through vibrations. For this date it is best to ask in advance at info@monkroma.it.

Some important events that took place here in history

The history of Monk as a cultural space begins in 2014, when the two farmhouses at the end of Via Giuseppe Mirri and the one-hectare park around them open to the city with concerts, theater, workshops, presentations and activities for families. From the start the club chooses to be open to all ages and free of architectural barriers.

Over the years the program has grown to include international rock bands, jazz, Brazilian music, singer-songwriters, electronic music and comedy. In summer the club lives in the park, in fall and winter in the Teatro hall. More recently it has introduced vibrating vests for deaf people and concerts with an early start at seven in the evening: small choices that have widened the audience.

The neighborhood around it is a suburb born with the railway. Casal Bertone and Portonaccio grew up against the rail yard and Tiburtina station, one of the city's main rail hubs and today a high-speed rail station. For a band used to tours of dozens of cities, like Chinese American Bear, who in 2024 crossed 14 Chinese cities in a little over two weeks, playing beside a big station has a logic of its own: on the 17th Bologna awaits them.

Who has passed through Chinese American Bear in Concert in Rome, Monk, January 16, 2027

Monk does not publish a complete archive of the concerts hosted since 2014, but the fall 2026 program gives an idea of the level of the artists who come through its hall: Evan Dando's The Lemonheads, Azymüth, Fink, the Fleshtones, JMSN, Leo Middea, corto.alto, Mark Guiliana, Marlene Kuntz.

It is a program that brings together American indie rock, jazz, Brazilian music, Italian singer-songwriters and electronic music, and in which a Seattle duo singing in Mandarin finds a place naturally. Monk is one of the Roman halls that have chosen to host international bands at the moment they are growing, before they move on to the arenas.

Chinese American Bear's own story is also made of meetings with other musicians. They opened Poppy's concerts in 2025 and played with the Chinese band City Flanker on the 2024 tour. In Italy they have already been hosted, in August 2026, by the Ypsigrock festival in Sicily. In 2027, after Rome, they will play the Vida Festival in Barcelona. On the evening of January 16, in a hall in Casal Bertone, a piece of this geography running from Seattle to Shanghai passes through.

The Chinese American Bear discography: where to start

The Chinese American Bear discography counts three albums: Chinese American Bear from 2022, Wah!!! from 2024 and Dim Sum & Then Some from 2026, plus the singles that preceded them.

For those who don't know them

The best entry point is Wah!!!, the record that made them known in Europe thanks to Moshi Moshi. Feelin' Fuzzy, Yummy Yummy Yummy and Kids Go Down sum up their world in a quarter of an hour: childhood memory, food, nursery rhymes, melodies that stay in your head.

For those who already follow them

Dim Sum & Then Some is the tour record, the one to know before Monk. NO NO YEAH YEAH is the most immediate single and I Wanna Go Home the most personal. The first album, released in China on Modern Sky, remains the most homey portrait of the couple, with Hao Ma, the song where everything started.

The videos

Part of the band's charm comes through the videos, often homemade: the stop motion of All The People animated by Barsten, the llama farm of Kids Go Down. Watching a couple before the concert helps you understand the aesthetic you will find on stage.

Mid-January in Rome: the season of indoor concerts

The Chinese American Bear concert falls in the heart of the Roman winter, when live music moves into clubs and halls.

The weather

January is the coldest month in Rome. The evenings are often clear but damp: for the wait at the entrance and for the return to Tiburtina you need a coat.

A Roman Saturday

Those coming from out of town can spend Saturday in the city and end the day at Monk. Villa Torlonia, north of the district, is a good destination for the afternoon.

Frequently asked questions about Chinese American Bear at Monk

When do Chinese American Bear play in Rome?

Chinese American Bear play in Rome on Saturday, January 16, 2027 at Monk, at Via Giuseppe Mirri 35. It is the only Rome date of their European tour, between Milan on January 15 and Bologna on the 17th. The start time is published by Monk on its website.

Where is Monk?

Monk is at Via Giuseppe Mirri 35, between Casal Bertone and Portonaccio, less than a kilometer from Tiburtina station. You get there by metro line B, by the FL1, FL2 and FL3 trains or by buses 163, 409 and 545.

How do you buy tickets for Chinese American Bear at Monk?

Tickets for Chinese American Bear at Monk are bought on Monk's official website, in the tickets section linked to the concert page, where the price is also given. For information the club answers at info@monkroma.it.

Who are Chinese American Bear?

Chinese American Bear are a Seattle indie pop duo made up of the married couple Anne Tong and Bryce Barsten, active since 2020, who sing in Mandarin and English. They have released three albums, the latest of which, Dim Sum & Then Some, came out in May 2026.

Do you need to understand Chinese to enjoy the concert?

To enjoy the Chinese American Bear concert you don't need to understand Mandarin: the songs alternate Chinese and English, and live Anne Tong teaches the audience the choruses. Their concerts are made for singing and dancing together.

Can you go to the concert with children?

At Monk children up to 12 get in free with an adult holding a ticket, one per adult, and minors only with a parent or an adult relative with a signed authorization. Chinese American Bear, with songs about food and plush toys thrown at the audience, are a band suitable for families too.

What are the other Italian dates of Chinese American Bear?

Besides Rome on January 16, 2027, Chinese American Bear play Milan on January 15 at Arci Bellezza, Bologna on the 17th at Locomotiv and Florence on the 18th at Tenax, according to the band's official concerts page.

In closing

It is rare to see a band at the exact moment it is growing, in a hall where you can still touch the stage. Chinese American Bear at Monk are one of those occasions. Go with Wah!!! in your ears, stand up front, learn the Mandarin chorus and try to catch a cloth dumpling in the air. You will walk out into the dark park of Casal Bertone with the smile of someone who has spent a Saturday night unlike any other.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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