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Apr
8thBeijing Live Quickslants: folk, metal & wine make this weekend go roun’This weekend might not be as abysmal in its musical offerings compared to the last one but that is for 2 main reasons only: The White Eyes ( see review below) and 2 yes that 2 Lamb of God concerts in Beijing!!! Friday April 9: Free Wine @ Shuangjing carrefour: No, it’s not a new band name but good old vino. The twice-a-year wine festival at carrefour strikes again with free tasting from 6:00 to Midnight and 20% off all imported wine for the whole weekend. See what BeijingBoyce has to say about it After the free wine, you might wanna load a few cases home then head over to see Candy Monster and Friends @ 2Kolegas: Quite a few bands on this particular bill including Rustic & Lazy Camels. You just gotta check out the write up that Pete De Mola did on this gig over at weliveinbeijing.com .. hilarious! Saturday April 10 Made in Ningxia @ 2Kolegas: Wu & the Side Effects, Nucleus and Buyi aka the ningxia gang bring their cacophony of sounds to the drivein. Support also assured by The Amazing Insurance Salesmen Another option on saturday could be Da Bi Zi @ Ginkgo: weird hybrid of French hip hop meets chinese folks with a dose of rap to make it go down smoothly. It’s always a party at Ginkgo.. Sunday April 11 & Tuesday April 13 Lamb of God @ Starlive: The new monsters of metal land in Beijing for 2 shows! Expect chaos and [...]
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Dec
1stGinkgo delivers the energy, jamming and dancing in styleI wrote a few months ago about how Ginkgo (map) was slowly but surely setting themselves apart in Beijing with an eclectic mix of live acts and great times… This past saturday was just more evidence of that. Their Jam line up for this past saturday didn’t even make it unto my quickslants for music this past week and i had no plans of being there but things didn’t go according to plan. My first choice was the Guai Li show at D22 or The Redbucks at Tiny Salt but i was stuck in the countryside way past 11:00 pm and missed both. A few friends decided to to head over to Ginkgo and I was game.. I did not regret it for a bit! The evening was a gigantic jam session with Pancho & Sol, Chimera and a few other musicians playing the night away while the crowd ate it up, danced it out and the combo made for an amazingly jovial and fun late evening out with a distinct Latin flavor. The 50+ crowd kept it going for hours and hours… it was tough leaving but fatigue won out. It was my first time hearing Pancho & Sol and I loved their passion for the music they played. Not only that, they also had a great time dancing the night away while other bands performed and even when itunes took over musical duties that evening. Kamila and Sarah, the sister that make up Chimera, were also part of [...]
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Sep
9thThe Man Behind The Lager: An interview with Chad LagerAs a customer in Beijing, I find myself feeling ripped off more often than I like when heading to so-called “western” bars and restaurants. High prices and below par service with various excuses… you know what I mean if you’ve lived here for any length of time. Chad Lager is setting out to change that with FUBAR (map), his new speakeasy hidden in the confines of Beijing’s Worked Stadium! By improving the quality of the alcohol, service and keeping the Prices reasonable, he’s starting what I hope will be a trend in Beijing. FUBAR (map) has become my new local and I find myself there more often than not having a drink and a hot dog a couple of times a week. Oh! did I mention that they have Strongbow on the Ice Tap???? Hell Yeah!!! Let’s meet the man behind the Lager: 1- What’s going on in your world? This is your chance to plug your stuff: My world? Always too much, everything from opening Stadium Dog/ Fubar to getting married, to showing my mom around China for her visit. Very exciting times to say the least. As a plug though , because of the 60th we will be shut down Sept. 15th till Oct 8th………… With a big Re launch Party on the 9th, but we are open from sept 8th till sept 15th………..come in and share a drink at HH prices 20 rmb mixers and 25 rmb stellas 2- when did you come to China and why? [...]
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Jun
26thno, you won’t get together.. this definitely doesn’t feel alrightI wrote about Together Bar closing last week and how sad it was to see the place go.. I was looking forward to heading there tonight for one last evening of “getting together and feeling alright” but alas, it’s not meant to be.. Got some sad updates over the week from Robin regarding the fate of his place and It’s beyond sad… it’s a travesty! Dear friends, There is one thing very bad now happened. we have to cancel the party and closed right now. Together bar was robbed last night and they took everything and damaged the rest. we’re very sorry about that and it’s a such a big pity that we can’t celebrate for the last night. keep in touch for future. 亲爱的朋友们， 发生了一件非常糟糕的事情，我们不得不取消最后的party并且立刻关门了。 昨天晚上together bar被盗窃了，他们拿走了全部有价值的东西并且砸毁了剩下的。 我们非常难过，并且非常遗憾不能跟大家一起度过最后的晚上。 以后保持联系吧。 and hey guys, people who robbed us, their target is kicking us out here. they broken many things after taking valued stuff, and also put a dead bird body in front of door. they tried very hard to break the bar table, that’s not the thieves action. we are living in the god damn it society, we don’t have other option of the reality. the last thing we could do is, come together bar and have the last time, that’s many guys are doing right now. without AC without big sound systems, even no bar table, but the friendship from all of you, we will remember forever. we are staying here right now but maybe move tommorrow or the day [...]
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Jun
18thLet’s get together and feel all right – one last timeJee… I’m starting to feel like a mortuary here with goodbye shows and closing night and what not… here comes another. This one hots a little bit closer to home as it’s happening across the street from my office and concerns one of the few few “gin-joints” that are down to earth and homey in the CBD: Together Bar! This just came in from the owner on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=90212299196&ref=nf Hello everyone, 大家好， Thank all of your support in the past 3 and half years, we had a very nice memories together with you guys. we created a fantastic place in the ghetto of Beijing south CBD and a reggae spirit place of the culture center of China. 在过去的三年里，我们一起度过了美好的三年半时间，在北京的南cbd里的贫民区，我们共同创造了一个美妙的地方。在这个雷鬼精神的所在，我们共同拥有了很多美好的回忆。 For many friends together bar is home, so we’re papa and mama. when the home is going to be take instead of a grass field, we would like invite all of you which are together bar families “COME BACK HOME” at the last night to celebrate together again. 对很多朋友来说，together吧是一个家，所以我们就是爸爸和妈妈。当我们的家将被一片草坪替代的时刻，我们邀请所有我们的家庭成员“回家”，在这最后一个夜晚再次欢聚。 AND EVERYTHING WILL BE ON THE HOUSE, LET’S DRINK ALL THE BOTTLEs. 一切都是免费的，让我们“一饮而尽”。 guys, please help to tell people because not everyone use facebook Start Time: Friday, June 26, 2009 at 8:00pm End Time: Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 11:00am Location: Together bar Together bar is like your friend’s basement, lined up with couches, fireplaces, pictures and video games.. a chill out place with extremely affordable drinks are the owners are just good people. I’ve enjoyed sipping on their drinks and munching on [...]
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Jun
3rdbring on the geeks (and everyone else too): bookswap and boardgame saturdayNext time I hear someone talking about “there is nothing to do in Beijing but go out and get drunk in a bar”, I might hurl!!! There are plenty of happenings in the city that a lot of people are enjoying but are not always mediatized. Board Games and Bookswap Saturday in one of them. This little community based/organized event gathering takes place on the first Saturday of every month at Sequoia Cafe on Guangha Lu, across from the Brazilian Embassy in Beijing. It’s been happening now for just over 1 year and is a completely NON-PROFIT initiative by some expat Beijinger including @moderntimes (on twitter) ( who happens to run one of my favorite websites about Beijing http://www.quirkybeijing.com ) and Nick, one of the most knowledgeable men about boardgames that you’ll ever meet. Yours truly just tries not to get in the way! The premise is quite simple: bring a book, take a book! (classics, textbooks and Chinese language titles not accepted). Considering your average foreign language book/novel retails for RMB100+ in Beijing, this ends up being quite a moneysaver for those avid readers. I have personally seen folks show up with 30+ books for trade. The board games side of things is just a great way to spend an afternoon unwinding over coffee/juice/wine with a varied collection of games available: Apples to apples, Settlers, Risk, Louis XIV, chess, monopoly, etc… pick a game, grab a few folks and get going. Sequoia Cafe: Sequoia cafe is also a great [...]
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May
28thGinkgo Beijing: it does more than your body goodWhen we think about live music in Beijing, names like Yugong Yishan, D-22, Mao Livehouse are usually the first to pop up, and rightfully so! They’re doing their fair share of keeping music alive in the city and providing us with live shows on a nightly basis. However, there are also a number of smaller players on the scene that seem to stay under the radar but they still go on providing the Beijingers with an opportunity to catch some shows in a much more intimate setting! Ginkgo (formely known as Room 101) is one of them. The thing that stands out about Ginkgo (other than me forgetting which order the k and the g come in) is that they seem to pride themselves on doing things differently: When all the bars and clubs seem to crowd each other in specific areas ( Sanlitun, nanluoguxiang, houhai, etc..), Ginkgo stands alone and unchallenged in its Andingmen corner. It’s out of the way and can even be a tad difficult to find! They’re the only establishment of that kind within a few blocks radius. Their live acts are one hell of an eclectic mix, borderline schizophrenic. There is live jazz, reggaeton, African drums, bossanova and I’m forgetting a few. While quite a few of them are local to the Beijing scene, there are still a substantial number of shows by non-jing bands The shows are always free: The same band that you will pay to watch at yugong yishan or mao livehouse [...]
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May
7thFriday Fun: Mademoiselle at EnotecaThis is turning out to be my favorite new combo for tunes and liquids: Mademoiselle’s brand of classic uptempo gipsy jazz mixed with Enoteca’s great wine selection On Friday May 8, 2009 starting at 8:30 p.m. It’s one HIGHLY recommended way to unwind and TGIF Mademoiselle et Les Chinois This is the most common incarnation of Mademoiselle in Beijing, a 3 or 4 piece band of high octane gipsy lounge jazz ( i think i just invented a music genre). I came across them last year when Marie-Claude, the Montreal minx, agreed to help out with a charity event i was involved in. As I walked into the event’s venue, I met this adorable shy looking lady looking for me and we started chatting. I was a bit busy with logistics and somehow ended up hosting the event without notice (but that’s another story). Mademoiselle took the stage in a venue full of folks that had been ignoring the shows in favor of food and drinks. She took the stage and the crowd took notice. Within minutes, she had both foreigners and locals swirling around her little finger to the rhythms of an accordion, guitar and hand drum. The sounds were a mix of Gypsy Kings, Georges Brassens and Theresa Teng. And it was magic!!! I’ve been a fan ever since, looking for chances to catch her act around town whenever possible. Not content with covers, Mademoiselle has her own songs (listen on myspace) that stand on their own merit. [...]
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Apr
8thDo the Dew in da ‘jingMy oh my! Look what popped into your friendly Beijing neighborhood Walmart this past week: Yes indeed! No my friend, your eyes are not deceiving you! It is really what you think it is, complete with the green color, syrupy taste and a kick of caffeine equivalent to an espresso IV. This particular baby was found in the Wanda plaza walmart, along with dozens of siblings so here is hoping that it’s not a one off thing as it would definitely be considered cruel and unusual punishment… After much hardship and a few minutes of baidu+google, I managed to track down the Chinese name (my hanzi recognition ain’t that good to begin with and definitely does not extend to graffiti fonts) and here we have it ladies and gents: 激浪 [jīlàng]: Furious and impetuous waves. (courtesy of Nciku.com ) what’s next on the shelves? how about some Sasparila???
The Mini Skinny
What once started as my personal ramblings has morphed into the number one collective resource about underground live music in Beijing and China. All bands, all music, all Rock n Roll, all the time with a little side of eclectic topics.. best of all, it's still as BIASED as ever
Ganbei!!!!
'dazeFEAST 2012 - June 23rd at 2 Kolegas.
17 Bands, Roast Lamb & All FREEWhat’s on Offer?
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Ingredients
2 kolegas Amazing insurance salesmen Bad Mamasan Beijing 人 black cat bone Brain Failure buyi Chunqiu DH & the hellcats Dude Ember Swift Flying Mantas free the birds GAWTMY Hanggai Hedgehog iz Jacky Danny Kaiser Kuo Kick Ass Lidong live music mademoiselle Maggie Who Mamer Mao Livehouse MIDI Miserable Faith Nanwu Nucleus Omnipotent youth society provincial restaurant randy abel stable Residence A rustic skarving Steely Heart SUBS Suffocated The Redbucks voodoo kungfu whai wu & side effects xiao he yugong yishanFresh Pills
- Quickslants: Tambours du Bronx, New Shanren, Painkiller Fest and more
- Mamer & Song Yuzhe: opposites attract at Jianghu
- Dreamer Festival 2013 – Azure Ray, Shan Ren, Omnipotent Youth Society and More
- PS: You Rocked Me – Abaji, One Drop, Devils, Yungiema etc..
- Quickslants: No Dong, Some Punk, a Little Ordnance and more
Can of Worms?
- Joann on Quickslants: Jurat, PiL, XTX, Yangjima for a Loaded End of Week
- On The Scene: 2013 Strawberry Festival Day 1 | Live Beijing Music on MIDI 2013: Anywhere, Anytime, Thanks for the Rock n Roll
- ex virility pill on Quickslants: Jurat, PiL, XTX, Yangjima for a Loaded End of Week
- ruby on MIDI 2013: Anywhere, Anytime, Thanks for the Rock n Roll
- Beijing Daze on MIDI 2013: Anywhere, Anytime, Thanks for the Rock n Roll