Weekend Update (11.12-13.12)

Red Alert! Red Alert! We get it! There’s no reason to be living in this hellhole anymore. Message loud and clear. And yet, here we are – like any other weekend waiting to get our weekend fix. Cause rain or shine, blizzard or fog, drug bust or not, we’re gonna need something to keep us from losing our minds, and music is the answer. So brave the weather, brave the news, brave that unyielding landlord of yours and get out there – and as always dig into the calendar for more details.

Friday December 11^th

 

Suffocated, Nine Treasures, The Samans, Frosty Eve, AsAlliance at Yugong Yishan

Local promotion highrisers In Beijing Gang celebrate three years with a two day lineup of top notch performers – day one is all about the metal with heavyweight trash metal stalwarts Suffocated along rising pagan metal stars Nine Treasures, as well as The Samans, Frosty Eve, and AsAlliance – all bands with plenty of street cred. Bang bang for your buck. 200 RMB

 

Baxian Fandian, PoShangCun, Rhonda, Self Portrait at School

The latest installement of the “Keep Calm and Fly On” series, with an indie and post-rock evening featuring female-fronted grunge creations of Baxian Fandian, the super talented post-rock foursome Rhonda, the sunshine pop songs of Poshangcun, and indie rock tunes of the trio Self Portrait. 50 RMB

 

Ouch, Unregenerate Blood, Discord (disputes), Liang Wei at Mao Livehouse

Ska punk outfit veterans Ouch hit the big stage with their friends in tow, including hardcore representatives, Unregenerate Blood on hand, there\’s also the promise of secret guests, including Liang Wei of the 69, one of Beijing’s seminal punk bands of the late nineties and members of the now deceased Discord. So yeah, expect this one to be a punk-studded affairs where literally means anything can and will happen. 80 RMB

 

Sparrow, Falseman at Modernsky Lab

Post rock up and comers, Sparrow, fresh off their acclaimed EP, hit the big stage alongside rising folk star Falseman, who are arguably the bigger pull here looking at the artist’s numbers online. But again, this is Sparrow’s showcase, and that along with the proposed arty light show that the show is offering, is enough to get my ass over there. 150 RMB

 

Mega Soul, A.J.K., Scar Constitution, Virus Base at Mako Livehouse

For you metal heads out there, there’s a new name in town and they go by the name Mega Soul. Formed two years ago by Wang Zhengwei and bassist Wang Le (of Yaksa fame), the band is full of talent – from MIDI School graduates, to ex-Discord guitarists, it’s clear these guys know how to wield their weapon of choice. They release their MV tonight with the help of long haired friends A.J.K., Virus Base, Scar Constitution and more. 80 RMB

Los Amigos at Jiangu Bar

Latin music professional and veterans of the scene hit the cozy Jianghu Bar with their latin infused jazz. 50 RMB

 

Mademoiselle et son Orchestre at DDC

Six piece Beijing based gypsy jazz band, Mademoiselle et son Orchestre, one of the city’s best acts, play their last showcase of the year. These cats are always a blast. 50 RMB

 

Djang San at Temple

East-West fusionist is up to no good again with his the band. Expect some stellar musicianship and charged performances. FREE

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Saturday December 12^th

 

Hedgehog, Residence A, Casino Demon, AV Okubo, JungleMico Project at Yugong Yishan

Day two of In Beijing Gang 3rd Year Anniversary bring the indie big guns out including seminal noise pop trio Hedgehog, indie rave pop kids Residence A, the always melodic Casino Demon, the retro-feeding post punk AV Okubo, and powerhouse dub-step live band Junglemico Project. Damn that’s a fine lineup. 200 RMB

Rootwords (Switzerland), Chacha, Tulegur, Djang San at DDC

Photographer and friend Aurélien Foucault launches his exhibition “China at Paléo” documenting the 2015 edition of the Paléo Festival where seven Chinese bands were invited to play alongside some of the most famous international acts – to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, DDC will host a night 3 artists who were actually at the Paleo Festival including inner–Mongolian folk-rockers Tulegur, Shanghai-wonder Chacha of AM444 and Geneva-based rapper Rootwords – as well as regular stunners Djang San. 50 RMB

Hard Candy Revolution, The White Paper, Golden Rum, Mr. Carbon at School

Local promoters XinShengLang are getting busy this afternoon with new, young, and up-and-coming bands in Beijing, including female fronted glamrock band Hard Candy Revolution, post-punkers The White Paper, metal-heads Golden Rum, and Mr. Carbon. 50 RMB

 

Gum Bleed, The Diders, Shochu Legion, The Flyx at School

Over the fall, Gum Bleed went through a line-up change and now for their 9 year anniversary the respected street punks turned politico-punks are ready to strut their stuff with a free packed showcase at School along friends The Flyx, The Diders, and Shochu Legion. FREE

 

Perfume Genius (USA), 16 mins at Mao Livehouse

Seattle’s Mike Hadreas aka Perfume Genius returns to Beijing with his hauntingly beautiful and powerful ballads which twist genre conventions onto themselves. Spilt Works last show of the year, expect this one to be a packed house. 180 RMB

 

Scare the Children, Ephemerality, Ogenix (CN) at Temple

Bash in your brains with this onslaught of metal featuring the year’s scariest and most fun new outfit Scare the Children who’ll play alongside death metallers Ephemerality and Ogenix a band first established in Canada. Bring your earplugs. FREE

 

Kun at Snail Club

Composer and experimentalist Kun presents his latest material, Compose at the cozy Snail Hostel – expect lush violin compositions alongside offbeat electronic arrangements – and then some. 50 RMB

Folk Festival at 69 Café

It’s a folk-off at the cozy NGLX digs kicking off at four and going on till late with a lineup that includes in order Ani, Marguerite, Jordan Darling, Shannon Lethbridge, Ryan, Lee and Micah, 马雨阳, 张佳迪, 周宁&周伟韬, Nathan Borofka, and Little Punk. 40 RMB

 

Jajatao, Bastards of Imperialism, Locksmith at Old What? Bar

Grunge revisionists Jajatao play their last 2015 show alongside Bastards of Imperialism, fresh out of bubble gum, and looking to kick all sorts of ass along with even newer comers Locksmith. It\’s the old what? —- enjoy. 30 RMB

 

Black Head at Modernsky Lab

Xi\’an folk, rap, rock outfit Black Head bring their their gang-busting performance to Modernsky Lab – last time I saw these cats they had a ‘Fuck Japan’ chant going among a thousand plus crowd. Not sure if that’s a good thing. 100 RMB

 

Shun Kikuta at Jianghu Bar

Chicago blues masters settles in at Jianghu Bar for the weekend. 120 RMB

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Sunday December 13^th

 

Raying Psychedelic Coalition, WHAI, Out of Band 2 (SUBS), WHAI, Earsnail at DDC

DDC gets its freak on with a psychedelic evening of far out there sounds led by a rare performance from the Raying Psychedelic Coalition, which is a gathering of the scene’s most batshit crazy performers. Joining them are Earsnail, the latest side project from Wang Xu of The Gar and Linan of Da Bang, WHAI, and Out of Band 2 – the electronic duo version of SUBS. Sleeper gig of weekend. 50 RMB

 

STRFKR (USA) at Yugong Yishan

Bright, eccentric indie electro pop with a lo-fi sensibility and not an ounce of cynicism, the American band, STRFKR (formerly Starfucker) based out of Portland were part of a host of electro pop bands which emerged in the oughts yet never lose their street cred. Catch their bombastic spectacle at Yugong Yishan. 240 RMB

 

404, The Temps, Macrosomia, Dan Taylor, Mi Sen, Feng Ling at School

Local promoters XinShengLang are busy at School Bar for another afternoon showcase of new young and up-and-coming bands in Beijing, including alt blues band 404, grindcore kids Macrosomia, and also Beijing staple and the supremely talented Dan Taylor with a solo set. 50 RMB

 

MoE (Norway) at School

The Norwegian trio MoE is known for mixing minimalistic compositions with alternative and experimental approaches that fail to fit in the rock genre – they’re at School. 50 RMB