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Sep
14thQuickslants: Grunge Nights, No Fillers, Sand and CoversChange: All Events at 2 Kolegas cancelled til 9/18 due to tense situation with nearby Japanese Embassy IT’s already been a week? Time flies when when you’re waiting for music and there is a shitload of it in town over the next few days. Ruby’s has already been out and about catching Zhaozhe, her “potential” gig of 2012, but the real action starts tonight with a shitload of goodies. We’re even treated so some pretty sweet sunday choices. Let’s dig in: Friday September 14 Music Day @ Tango: Reflector headlines this night eclectic music at yonghegong which has Escape Plan (former Perdel), Residence A, Namo and Dude. Arguably some of the most popular and fun bands in the city right now, they’re sure to draw one hell of an audience at Tango… I hope so because the place feels like a cave when empty. Lao Liu & Sand @ Jianghu An old favorite stops by Jianghu as it gets closer to closing its doors. Lao Liu still one of the better bluesmen of the capital and has a loyal following. Cool little chill gig to warm your heart as temperature take a dip. Cover Night @ Yugong Yishan Here is a gig that has some great potential if done right and the bands get out of their comfort zone: Not There, Army of Jade Kirin, Velvet Highway, The Gray and Longjin are set to cover some of their idols. I can definitely see AJK doing Marylin Manson but the tricky [...]
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Mar
29thQuickslants: Hellcats, Mantas, Metal Battles, Sound of the Xity and moreThis end of March/beginning of April period is kicking ass, taking names… And there’s no escaping it baby! These quickslants basically carry over into next week thanks to the ballsy folks from Sex in the Xity who have pretty much taken over Beijing from April 1-3 with shows all over the freaking city spawning all genres! C There’s a lot to get to so let’s get started without any further delays: Thursday March 29 Dong Chorus @ Jianghu I went out of my way to catch these guys last Thursday. They didn’t disappoint! beautiful harmonies, really interesting outfits and just all around special. I’d see them again. Be warned though that even though they might announce Wu Hongfei on the bill, she doesn’t play. I actually got quite ticked off about that at 2K but what the post. Still, worth checking. Friday March 30 Hellcats/Mantas/Beatles @ 2Kolegas Put on you dancing shoes an come on over baby… The hellcats will be swinging it, The Flying Mantas with surf things up and might show you a couple of surprises. The Beijing Beatles can take care of the fab side… This is an early candidate for gig of the freaking year and I expect to see 2 Kolegas hopping til the wee hours of the morning. Christmas, purveyors of idiotic rock, also on the bill. gonna be an interesting one. Saturday March 31 Mademoiselle @ Modernista Yes, spring is back and so are the lovely tunes of one Marie Claude Lebel. The [...]
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Nov
16thBrain Failure brings it home on a weird underwhelming night at TangoMan i was looking forward to Friday night at Tango.. how could i not? Return of Jacky Danny with a new lineup, Dude premiering their new guitar player and Brain Failure fresh off their nationwide tour with a bunch of new songs.. oh yeah, there was also Sleepless and Convenience Store…. While originally scheduled to kick off at 8:30, the show had something rare in Beijing: It actually started EARLIER than the scheduled time… WTF? by the time Ruby and I made it there a little past 9, Dude, the 3rd band on the bill, was already on!! It pretty much almost ruined the night for me! Still, Dude’s set was alright and the new guitar player seems to fit in nicely… as far as the 3 or 4 songs i got to see were. Convenience Store was up next much to my and Ruby’s dismay given that neither of us is a fan. I gotta give it to these kids, they are solid musicians and have their shit together! They know how to work a crowd, balance song rhythms between fast and slow pop-rock, get sing-alongs etc… They ARE professionals.. I just don’t really give a shit about their music as it almost bores me to death.. and they played for freaking ever! I’m tempting to say they might have played even longer than the headliners. at that point in the evening, my main thought was: “did i pay 100 rmb for this shit? I’m giving Brain Failure 3 [...]
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Nov
9thQuickslants: Brain Failure, re-TROS, Wu Hongfei, Fish and Low Wormwood…last week was a small but fun set of musical offerings that culminated with 2 fun performances by La Pegatina and some pretty crappy stuff b Ma Tiao and Mitabe…still, I won’t let that get me down a look forward to some good rock n roll in the next few days starting tonight! Some interesting gigs with RE-TROS, Novaheart, brain failure, flying mantas as well as Low Wormwood to look forward to. Let’s see how it all adds up: Wednesday Nov 9: F**king the Trouble @ Mao: Residence A and Flying Mantas headline a nice heavy night at Mao where I coincidentally have not been for a long time. It might be time to head back over there! Both Ruby and I are extremely taken by that band’s live performances and I’m dying to catch the Mantas with new bass player. The lineup also includes some new names: Illness Sickness and Pirate Pistols. Not a bad wednesday offering. Liu Yusi & friends @ Jianghu: human boombox, Liu Yusi, headlines this now weekly series every wednesday at Jianghu with local country bluegrass roots acts. It’s also free which ain’t bad y’all. Tonight’s guests are the Ring Road Ramblers…. nice name! Thursday Nov 10 Ding Fenghua @ Jianghu: Film director, producer and folk guitarist, Ding Fenghua, is your host for this calm and quiet night over by the hutongs. I have not had the pleasure of seeing him before but by all accounts, it sounds like it could be special. One of [...]
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Oct
19thDude’s new MV for Xiao Long Ren, shot at ‘dazeFEAST is outGood friends Dude have been working on this little MV for a while now after shooting the footage over a gruesome 5 hours during ‘dazeFEAST at 2 Kolegas while everyone else was partying http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMzEzNzEwNjI4.html The song, Xiao Long Ren 小龙人， comes from a the popular Little Dragon Boy Children show but the video that DUDE did is not for children. These guys knack for parodies and wordplay in Chinese continues to amaze me. They’re starting to get a bit of name recognition now and were tapped to play this weekend’s Beijinger Anniversary party where a bunch of people were fairly impressed. Going back to the video, you can notice a few cameos by a few ‘dazeFEAST goers as well as Reflector’s Li Peng just to name a few.. Having witnessed them filming the damn thing, it’s really cool to see the final product.
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Oct
13thQuickslants: The Beijinger grows up, Vasko VATT trio, Lao Da unleashed, Metal Fever and moreAfter the musical onslaught that was last week, I’m really looking forward to a slow weekend with a few opportunities to catch up with friends away from concert halls and live houses. Still, there are a few things going on in town that could be interesting to check out. Let’s see what’s on the menu: Thursday Oct. 13 Arcane Saints @ Mao: This is sounding like a really good gig. I read a few interviews with the band that make me wanna go check them out. From what I hear, they sound like a funky version of Nickelback if that’s your thing. Los Crasher is on opening duties so expect quite a bit of hard rock and some cool covers. Could be an easy breezy intro into the weekend. Friday Oct. 14 The hip show is Jo Jo Mayer at Yugong Yishan so that’s the one I’m staying away from that.. a few noticable things to check out could be: Los Crasher & Residence A @ Mao I’m fascinated by Residence A‘s showmanship. This band gives themselves 200% with every performance I’ve had the pleasure of catching. Los Crasher is also on the same league of performances… Basically, you’re guaranteed a high energy hard rocking show. The Power Powder, that blues band that impressed the hell out of me a few weeks ago, is also on the bill. This is one night where i wish Mao had some sort of order for their lineup ahead of time. Vasko Atanasovski @ [...]
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Jun
28th‘dazeFEAST: The aftermath of a day filled with Sunshine, Music, Love and CelebrationI’m not sure where to start reviewing this baby because it’s so close to my heart and it’s very very very freaking biased but here comes folks! It’s gonna be a long one so buckle up and get a cup of coffee! I’ll start off by thanking 2 Kolegas for being the perfect venue and the Beijing Meteorological Bureau for their outmost cooperation. I need to thank the amazing Ruby for being at my side throughout the whole thing and helping keep the show rolling smooth. Trust me folks, dealing with 15 bands and their schedules was not an easy feat and she was a freaking Champ. Couldn’t have pulled it through without you babe! Thank you to Iris, Grace, Fiona and Mo Mo for manning the merch table I also need to thank Jaime Welton of Black Cat Bone/Bad Mamasan for cutting his vacation short to come and play ‘dazeFEAST no matter how hard that was. Huge thanks go out to Yang from Painkiller Mag and Rock in China for sorting out the Orange Amps Another big ups for Chery Bomb of the Flying Mantas for helping get flyers sorted out Thanks to Lauren Johnson, nightlife editor at City Weekend for the huge support she provided over the past few weeks. Thanks to Timeout, The Beijinger, Beijing Boyce, Beijing Gig Guide and Music Dish China and all others for also listing the event. A huge round of applause to all the bands and musicians because without the bands, there [...]
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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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Jun
9thQuickslants: Ajinai, Rustic, Ghosts, VOM, Music for Orphans and morethat time of the week folks, looking at all the goodies in town, sifting through the crap and figuring out where the good sounds are… and there lots of them this week, especially with Yugong Yishan back in business. It’s looking like one hell of a busy weekend out there for the music maniacs.. if i weren’t heading out of town, I might find myself driving all around town to catch all these guys play. Thursday June 9: Ajinai @ Yugong: well, hanggai ain’t the only game in town. These guys, who used to play in …yup, Hanggai, have been putting on some cool performances lately. There’s more throat singing and grassland tones, a little less rock n roll. Me likey!!! They’re definitely worth a shot, especially at Yugong hoping that most of those chatters from the Genus Expatus do not show up. Friday June 10: AIS, Spardac & Candy Monster @ 2kolegas: The Amazing Insurance Salesmen and Ghost Spardac, two of the better bands in Beijing show up at 2 kolegas for some entertaining musical times. I haven’t seen the Ghost guys in a little while, same goes for AIS whom I missed during the celebration on account of the Champions’ League final. It’ll be cool to catch them. Candy Monster also on the bill! VOM @ D-22: This one is flying under the radar but Norway’s 4 piece chick punkish rock band, VOM, is playing in wudaokou along with Nakoma, Christmas and End of the world. I’ve heard [...]
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May
5thQuickslants: 3 years of Swap Games, Mademoiselle and Ditan FolkHiya… on music overload yet? Believe me, it’s only gonna get better! Following weekend 1 of festivals, we’re getting ready for a whole other round of sonic goodness Friday May 6: Chapelier Fou @ 2kolegas: French Electro Dance guaranteed to get your rear en moving. This one will see the hipsters of Beijing coming out in numbers, especially if the weather is right. That said, beware of getting there early, WHITE is on opening duties with their incredibly unappealing experimental noise. Dude & AJK @ 2 Mao Live: The guys from DUDE have been busy bees over the past few weeks touring various cities in China. Check out their comedic punk antics paired with the new age rock produced by Army of Jade Kirin. This is an interesting mix of styles for Mao to put together but then again, both bands have attitude. Saturday May 7: Book Swap & Board Games @ Sequoia Cafe: Yes, it’s back and this May edition is even more special: It’s the third year anniversary of our little event. My oh my, has the little child grown. To celebrate, we will have a special 1 for 3 swap to try and lighten our load. bring 1 book and take 3 away. 2 to 6 pm at Sequoia inside Jianguomen Diplomatoc Compound Ditan Folk Day 1 @ Ditan Park: The first day of one of my favorite festivals of the year. Supposedly, saturday will be sunny and you’ll have quite a few good bands performing from [...]
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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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