Weekend Update

And like that, I’m back – Thailand and Malaysia, till next time. Still getting back into the groove of things over here – I swear some things around my apartment complex don’t look the same. No point in fretting – jump right back down that rabbit hole and follow my ears wherever they take me eh. It’s nice to come back to the buffet that is the Beijing music scene, even if a lot of it could easily give you the runs the next day. What’s in the curry this weekend…

FRIDAY

Tango is throwing quite the bash tonight, perhaps even trying a bit too hard to impress, as they bring out eight big hitters for a long night of fun including Residence A, Reflector, Escape Plan, Nanwu, DUDE, Emitter, Longway, and Wang Shengnan – let’s hope each band gets more than three songs to play. A better bet might be to get your ass over to XP, where fuzzy, sonic lo-fi rock husband/wife duo Alpine Decline release their latest “Night of the Long Knives”, with support from Birdstriking, You Xi, and Damage Blanket. Still haven’t checked out what Beijing hip hop has to offer – well, get at it people, IN3 will be converging on Mao Livehouse tonight to throw down. Yugong Yishan will be remembering the classics tonight as Longjin, The Gray, A.J.K, Velvet Road, and Not There look to emulate their mentors. Grunge and Britpop face off at the Hot Cat Club in the form of Miao and Time Capsule – could get ugly. The Red Pirates are throwing a bash over at 4corners – an ideal setting as well as drink deals on pirate-like brews. Jianghu Bar will be shutting their doors for good sometime in October, it’d be stupid not to have one last waltz with them – tonight Lao Liu & Sand will be playing some dirt-laced folk. The Blue Steam Bar is hosting some folk with Red and Jonathan Chatwin. 13 Club continues to hold the fort down for metal heads – tonight Ready To Die, Lacerate, Tear, and SNNH will be shredding. French folk chanson singer Byga brings his new band over to VA Bar & Café. And of course, for pure smiles, get over to Temple for everyone’s favorite fab four, The Beijing Beatles, or to 69 Café where Rudra’s Sage whips out his sitar and pays tribute to Bob Dylan.

SATURDAY

If you missed out on Tango’s monster mash of goodness, then no worries, Yugong Yishan is holding a ‘No Filler’ night of music, with Residence A, Not There, My September, and Pacalolo taking stage. Bad Mamasan, fresh off their latest album release, will be coming to Dos Kolegas to chew bubblegum and kick ass – and you guessed it, they’re out of bubblegum. 69 Café, which I still need to check out, seems to be the new safe heaven for off the fringe artists – tonight thruoutin will playing his unique brand of electronic music. Shanghai expat group The 88’s will perform their eclectic sound at Temple. At Blue Stream Bar, The Incisors will be joined by Cake Bomb for some devilish fun, while at Mao Livehouse, one can check out the female-led groups Caffe-in and Finger Family. Mademoiselle et son Orchestre will play their last gig at Jianghu Bar. Funk battles it out with hard rock at Hot Cat Club, as contenders The Tore Down and VHR take stage. Lastly, Aussie electronic artist Cam Norton brings his talents tonight to the tiny stage at the Old What? Bar.

SUNDAY

Anyone interested in going on a Sunday bender? Start with thruoutin, with his fetish for the pipa, joined by massively talent Li Daiguo at XP for their late afternoon session –followed by the packed Grunge Night at Dos Kolegas with Nucleus, Laoya, Miao, Drunkard, Mud & Lotus, and Deliquescene of the Soul – now that’s a saucy lineup and potential for a night of mayhem. There’s also plenty else, as haunting beautiful folkster Bloody Woods take the cozy stage at Jianghu Bar, and The Grinding Ear and Super Bad Men rock off those weekend blues at the Blue Stream Bar. The IOIC – Institue of Incoherent Cinematography – put live music to silent films – in this case, the uber badass Metropolis – at Yugong Yishan. Mao Livehouse like it loud as usual – they bring Japanese garage punk explosion The Frantic Fevers with support from Discord and The Bedstars. Lastly, for some electronic ear candy head to Zajia Lab where some the pioneers of that field, FM3 will be joined buy Wu Quan, Zi Yi, and other regulars on the scene.