Alright, let’s keep this short (or not) – it’s is my vacation time. Punks. While you all freeze your asses off and damn the gods, I’ll be soaking in some UV rays and getting shitty at some music festival over in Kowloon. Anyyywho, here’s what crack-a-lacking this weekend. Oh, and calendar, for those of you would like to know all.

FRIDAY

Sweaty, take no prisoners punk next to the Forbidden City – that’s one warm to keep warm this weekend – the Old What? hosts The Diders who I’ve been drunkenly quoted claiming to be one of my favorites of the year and I stick by that – scrappy, in-your-face rock and roll that doesn’t hold back. They’re backed by Trash Cat, who based on name alone, probably will have enough feistiness in them to warrant a classy night of fun. Pagan metal trope Nine Treasures have been having a killer year thus far, and tonight they’re ending their nation-wide tour with tons of new material and well, a newfound spirit of ‘fuck yeah’! over at Mao Livehouse. Entertainers in the fullest sense, electro rockers Pet Conspiracy have been invigorating the scene for years now with their high-octane, steamy live performances which leave nothing on the drawing board – tonight they join 8actagon Projects for a multi-media event that’ll feature photography, film, music, and laserssss at Yugong Yishan. Show gazing outfit Baby Formula who recently released one of the best albums of the year join Chengdu based The Sound & The Fury at 69 Café. Shanghai post grunge duo The Other join Low Bow and Girl Kill Girls at XP, while over at School stoner rock outfit Never Before join Electric Lady, and Nakoma for some hard hitting tunes. Meanwhile, rockabilly mainstays Rolling Bowling kick things up at Temple and finally, indie rockers Mister Lady join expat group Red Menace at Dos Kolegas.

SATURDAY

This little sex bomb snuck into the weekend lineup unbeknownst to me – the D.O.G has assembled a power lineup of bands over at Mao Livehouse that rock and simply don’t play enough these days, including, wait for it, indie noise rock heroes Hedgehog, Chengdu alternative reggae outfit Mr. Chelonian, grungey punksters Lure, fresh faced pop punk group PB33, and screamo kids The Reason. Across the board for sure, but all stellar acts in my book. The ol’ Blue Stream Bar dark horse lineup – where ‘it\’s all down to who wants it more? You or them?’ Yup, there’s Shanghai hard hitting post cock rock duo The Other, demented bad viding electronic duo Cloud Choir, and King Dziga, a brand spanking new outfit looking to leave their skid marks all over the cozy Gulou joint. I’ve been falling hard lately for post rock – mainly because I think Beijing is finally getting it right, instead of simply amping others. The latest band to find success in the genre are Pentatonic who released a wonderful new album a couple months back that’s sounding better and better with each play – tonight at Yugong Yishan they\’re joined by Glow Curve, one of this years’ standouts for their highly innovative concoction of styles and Hua Lun, who are a class act in their own right. Catch them over at Yugong Yishan. Chengdu imports The Sound & The Fury, Hiperson strut their stuff at XP – Josh wrote up plenty enough the other day on these two – simply put, they sound fantastic – bit of indie rock, bit of post punk – all filtered through one of China’s most unappreciated cities. Britpop outfit Penicillin release their debut tonight at School with a little help from The Big Wave and Lost Train. Nomad folk trio from Tibet, Neemah bring their unique sound to Mako Livehouse. In Liangmaqiao Jurat T.T brings his Uygur rock roots to Dos Kolegas along with Dark Lake and Ture North while over at the Old What? folk songstress Zhang Qianqian performs. Finally, hit up the Beijing Beatles at Temple and if you’re up late enough swing by Zajia Lab for another installment of their midnight series with experimental duo Vavabond.

Screw Sunday…