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May
3rdLive Music Quickslants: Hanggai Festival, IZ, Book Swap & Board Games and an On Fire BdayI’m not sure I’ve entirely recovered from last weekend’s musical onslaught.. really folks! MIDI rocked the shit out of me, especially with an awesome Miserable Faith performance. Ningxia Night on Monday was special as usual and so were the other days.. Still, It’s thursday and time to see what else is happening over the next few days.. This one is not about quantity, it’s about quality so I’ll make it short and sweet: Thursday May 3rd Bad Apples @ Temple: Them bad apples are back again after a few months hiatus.. why do i feel like i wrote this before? They’re a good band that is fun to watch but extremely frustrating to me because they can’t seem to get to the next level despite all the talent they have. Here’s hoping this time around, the troops are ready for a good battle and they can get over the hurdle. Temple is not a bad place to get started. I expect Kris to be shredding his new baby for it’s first field test. Friday May 4th Iz @ Mao Live One more chance to watch the masters of modern progressive dark folk at work. I’ve heard some pretty good things about the shows these guys have done over the past week and I’m quite excited to see them in a place like Mao Live where the sound will resonate nicely. I might even be tempted to grab the new Mamer records but i’ll have to get over that freaking price [...]
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Jun
22ndQuickslants: Beijing Prom, dazeFEAST, Residence A and more fun weekend goodiesHope you got some rest last weekend folks cause this upcoming one will require some serious stamina from all of you considering all the fun stuff taking place in Beijing over the next few days! so, what we got? Wednesday June 22nd: Misandao @ Mao: Misandao is tons of fun! I love these guys because they’re genuinely punk to the bone, skinhead bootboys that bring on the Oi punk like no one else. I just saw them last week at Mao and they have not lost a beat. Newcomers, The Rudeness, open things with their brand of ska/reggae/punk. Not a bad humpday gig Thursday June 23: Paper Tigre & RE-TROS @ Yugong Yishan: I couldn’t care less about papier tigre but any opportunity to watch the RE-TROS should be cherished.. these cats perform with such amazing passion. Label them whatever you want, they put on a show each and everytime that cannot leave you indifferent. Ember & Jess @ 2Kolegas: Take Ember Swift with her folk pop and the Laowai Song, Jess Meider’s Heavenly Stems and you got yourself a lovely night of lilith fair type music to sooth you soul by. Friday June 24th: Beijing Prom @ The Bookworm: This one is so bizarre that it deserves a mention. Our good friend the Prom Queen has decided to go back in time and party like it was 1990 for those that remember the era. You’re expected to dress for Prom, with heavy emphasis on sequins, then mingle with likeminded [...]
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May
27thRynostock 2011: Shunyi Rockfest, with suburbia characteristics2 Kolegas is getting a lot of the spotlight this weekend but they’re not the only game in town! The good folks over in suburbia, aka expat housewives-land, better known as shunyi, get their own rockfest: Rynostock I believe they’re in their 5th year with the 2011 edition set for Saturday May 28 at Pomme O’Shea ( Formerly knows as the Pomegranate) with the festivities debuting around noon with BBQ, games and of course, lots of music: Amongst the bands listed: Beijing Beatles Ryan Kester & co Bad Apples End of the World Berlin Mummies Maggie Who Big Metal Door The Randy Abel Stable Zuo Gao Su Out of Control feat. Ann Maire And many more. According to google maps, The Pomme O’Shea is 16km from 2 kolegas. I’ve done the trek to D-22 before and that was 22km so I’m gonna dare do this one… perfect afternoon before coming back into town for extra debauchery Find the Pomme O’Shea on The Beijinger http://www.thebeijinger.com/directory/Pomme-OSheas here’s to Rock n Roll
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Mar
25thRandom Live Music Notes: Me Guan Me, Christmas, Dongzi, Bad Apples and Ningxia UprisingI might write about them less but that doesn’t mean the ‘daze crew has stopped going to shows.. far from it! It’s just been busy enough not to have time to address them all. Here is just a quick summary from the last week or so! Dude, Me Guan Me, Ghost Spardac and Christmas played one hell of a show at Mao Live a few weeks ago. Dude premiered new songs from their latest EP and got a very good reaction from the crowd in attendance. I’ll give it a review sometime soon. The surprise of the night was Christmas. They were miles and miles above the first and only time I heard them before. The band is fun, energetic and has personality. Their songs are all in Chinese, pretty much originals from what i gather and infectiously poppy! I might not go out of my way to see them but I will definitely not avoid them like i did before. I’ve spoken enough about Ghost Spardac and how amazing they are.. that night was no different! Me Guan Me, on the other hand, are becoming one of my favorites. They’re a straight up rock n roll band that delivers. Xiao Wang’s vocals are solid and he’s one of those singers that has so much intensity when he sings…. great rock n roll show all over! Dongzi might finally be ready to break out! I still remember his breathtaking performance at the Ditan Folk Festival in 2009 when Marie Claude [...]
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May
11thFree Music: Bad Apples give it all to you with Pangea so get your blues on!I feel freaking spoiled and I’m loving the amazing musicians running around Beijing who are making it possible for me to get you guys all these tunes: We’ve already had: * Mademoiselle and her Gypsy Jazz * ChunQiu (Spring Autumn) with Mando-Metal * Black Cat Bone with their brand of Blooze * The angelic folky sounds of the one and only Daisy Sweetgrass * One was from our old friends who keep reinventing themselves in light of all the adversity that faces them Girls Are Waiting to Meet You. * Space rock extravaganza with 2 rocking tunes from RandomK(e) and the goodies keep on coming with no end in sight! Today, it’s yet another first! The Bad Apples gang has come through and decided to donate their whole album, Pangea, to the cause… Yes, that’s a whole freaking album with all 10 songs, no DRM, no strings attached for you to get! If you haven’t heard of Bad Apples, you’re missing out! I did an interview with frontman Michael Dallin a few months ago ahead of their Yugong Yishan gig and have been keeping an eye on his side project Vital Time for a while now! They’re currently regrouping and preparing to hit the scene again this summer with a new record, renewed energy and good backing so expect their name to pop up more often here. What is Pangea? Pangea was recorded in 2009 guerrilla style by the gang with no budget and the whole band playing live! It [...]
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Feb
3rdThis Bad Apple Ain’t Rotten: 10 Questions with Michael DallinIt was May 2008 if memory serves me right and we were having a few drinks at the Saddle Cantina when i got a phone call from a friend telling me about a show that night at the newly opened “The Boat” with these kids playing good rock n roll. I didn’t really have much planned so I dragged my party out there and we took over basically the entire upper deck waiting to hear them Bad Apples. I was a bit surprised when they took the stage because the drummer, Wang Yung, is also on skin duties for one of my favorite Chinese bands, Chasing Star. Anyways, a few years later, Bad Apples, brainchild of Michael Dallin and Kris Liu are still rocking Beijing with their brand of funky rock n roll and they’re getting ready for a huge gig at Yugong Yishan on February 4th. This also happens to be Kris’ Bday so it shouldb be one hell of a party. Michael took some time to give on an update on what was going on in his world. 1- What’s going on in your world? My world is full of surprises since I moved to beijing. I find myself at the center of 3 different projects right now. Bad Apples is the band that brought me to Beijing and we are still playing about ounce a month. Vital Time is a new Rock N’ Roll project and we are currently practicing and recording, and getting our show together [...]
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Oct
7thBeijing Quick Slants: This week’s shows and GAWTMY auditionloads of things happening in Beijing lately, even during the holidays: – Made it to Folk Me fest at Mao Livehouse (map) yesterday. Line up included an “unknown” trio, The Redbucks, Hanggai and Buyi. I wish they stuck to the band rotation they list outside because it’s sometimes difficult to know who is who unless you’ve seen them before. Great show overall with a review coming up soon. – GAWTMY is still alive, kicking and searching for a new Rhythm Guitar player amongst others: Check this City Weekend add . Expect an interview with their drummer and the new singer soon. – Bad Apples which had gone MIA over the summer marks their return to the Beijing music scene with a show on October 30th at Ginkgo(map) – Talking about Ginkgo (map), they continue their schyzophrenic line up of acts with Shanghai’s Tony Tse Live this October 8th. I heard some good stuff about his shows!! will definitely try to make this one! – Also,
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
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'dazeFEAST 2012 - June 23rd at 2 Kolegas.
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- 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