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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
2ndRynostock 2011: 1 Day of Peace, BBQ & MusicBeijingdaze Note: I really wanted to make it out to Shunyi this year for this little festival.. but a 7:00 a.m return home from the first day of 2 Kolegas anniversary bash somehow got in my way. I’m glad however that good friend and banjo player extraordinaire, Peter Schloss, was able and willing to send in his review! By: Peter Schloss Standing in the courtyard of Pomme O’Shea’s as the curtains closed on the 7th Annual Rynostock Music Festival, my wingman (and attorney) casually asked, “Do you think anyone knows what they’re missing by not being here?” As BeijingDaze had not made his oft talked about, but never actually experienced, trek to Beijing’s Northeastern suburbs, I surmised that unfortunately Beijing’s music scenesters wouldn’t be able to know how good this Festival had become unless they had been there to see for themselves. You can understand my excitement then when my phone rang early Sunday morning and I was asked by the Man himself if I would “guest blog” about Rynostock*. Imagining myself as a modern-day Lester Bangs, I jumped at the chance for fame and fortune and began organizing the voluminous notes I had luckily taken throughout Saturday. So, without further ado, I give you a Rynostock Running Diary. 4:00pm: Bad Apples, the band from the International School of Beijing (not to be confused with the long-time fixtures on the Beijing music scene with the same name), get things started on the outdoor stage and puts on a courageous show [...]
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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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May
9th‘daze FEAST: A day of Music and CelebrationYes folks, after threatening to do this for a while, we’ve take the plunge thanks to great friends all over Beijing that will make it possible! I’m announcing the first ( and probably only) ‘dazeFEAST to be held at 2 Kolegas Saturday June 25th 2011 What: ‘daze FEAST – A Celebration of Music & Fun When: June 25th, 2011 Where: 2 Kolegas – Liangmaqiao How Much: NO COVER ( buying CD from a participating band encouraged) Summary: Throughout the past two years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet amazing people in this town in and out of concerts. The musicians, the fans, the friends, the venues have filled my life with enough memories for a few lifetimes. Well, now, these people are getting together to celebrate in Beijing for a whole day of music and fun at my favorite venue in town: 2 kolegas! This is a No Cover celebration but I’m hoping all of you will support the musicians, who have all gracefully donated their time and skill, by purchasing one or more of their CDs at the door. These cats have spent a lot of time and energy bringing you the fun and the music, they deserve the recognition. The Confirmed Lineup ( with many surprises coming up) * Mademoiselle et Son Orchestre * Dude * The Flying Mantas * Zhang Si’An * Black Cat Bone * Maggie Who * at least 2 more acts to be announced * There will be a lamb roasting in the pit [...]
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Mar
2ndRolling Stones Tribute: OOC, Maggie Who, Jacky Danny & Flying Mantas give us satisfactionI briefly referred to this gig on yesterday’s news post in passing but this is actually the full review of the gig which saw some of Beijing’s most fun bands pay tribute to The Rolling Stones. I got to Mao just as Maggie Who was launching into their first song. This was my first time catching them with new Bass player, Nick, whom I had seen before playing for Bad Apples and Vital Time amongst others. I hadn’t seen the boys in quite sometime so I was stoked to see how they had progressed and hear their take on some classic Stones songs. Musically, they’re as good as ever but I had the impression they were just a bit off during the first part of their set.. Almost asleep with Brian looking bored as he sang the songs… and then they kicked it up a few notches and started really rocking the place like they should. They played their usual songs and added Jumping Jack flash + You Can’t Always Get What You Want which Brian sang solo and hit some good notes in. The highlight of the night for them was their outstanding version of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” that they changed and reworked completely into a much heavier and darker song.. it was pretty darn good if you ask me and I’m looking forward to hearing it again. Out of Control was up next… and they were the F*cking BOMB…. I cannot describe their performance that night in [...]
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Feb
24thQuickslants: Residence A, Buyi, Rolling Stones tribute and a healthy dose of literatureGee how the week flies! It’s fun time again and I haven’t even gotten around to writing about last weekend’s amazing shows! Let’s get this party started baby… Thursday February 24: No Purpose show @ Mao Live: Some really cool bands on this bill tonight: Residence A is one of the better young bands I’ve seen in Beijing over the past year. Grinding Ear, CNdY and Elenore have all been making enough noise to peak my curiosity so this is a nice opportunity to check them all out in one go. I really wanna see how Elenore comes out live.. they have a bit of a southern blues slide guitar feeling to their songs. Friday February 25: Buyi @ Jianghu: You know them, you know the place and you know the show is always fun. I’ve actually never really seen them play jianghu now that i think about it. They have a high energy type of show so I have a hard time seeing how they can play there sometime. This band is a bit of a canandrum because they can sell out the starlive and have an empty jianghu… Good old Rock from Ningxia Spring Metal @ Mao: If you wanna get your rock on, Metal style, this is the place and the time. Mao has put together one hell of a bill with 5-4, Army of Jade Kirin, Thug Life and other really cool up and coming bands from the metal scene. This might be one of the [...]
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Jun
7thYouth Gone Wild meets China’s First Supergroup: Maggie Who and The Dancers at 2 KolegasFriday night at 2 kolegas was a weird one: I can honestly say I’ve never seen such a motley crowd there! It was mostly made up of international school kids coming to support their friends in Maggie Who, Mr. Ruckus and Operation Bojinka amongst others. Operation Bojinka pulled out of the gig for reasons unknown to me but there was more than enough music to go around. I missed the first act, some sort of electro rock band as far as I was told. They were OK according some of the people that were there but that’s as much as I know. The Second act came on and had a bit of a shaky start with weird screams.. Most of us listening just discounted it as another crappy band.. boy were we wrong! By their third song, this unknown band was commending everyone’s attention, even those standing outside, with decent punkish rock, good hooks and tight vocals… problem was, no one knew who they were and we just kept referring to them as “Joyside’s bass player’s side project” as he was one of the few persons on stage that we managed to recognize. A testament to how good they are was that they lost most of us after the first song and then managed to get us back which is not an easy thing to do. Anyways, a little douban and google time managed to clear out the mystery: We were facing what i guess is China’s first Supergroup, The [...]
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Jun
2ndZippo Hot List, Subs, The Fever Machine, Miserable Faith & bad Rumors i don’t wanna humorA whole lotta things been happening here yonder and not always needing their own post so here’s a summary: SUBS are rocking a new album and have already started a China tour last saturday (5/29) in Shijiazhuang. I caught a few songs on Friday at Yugong Yishan as part of the Zippo Hot List. The band looked and sounded pretty sharp with less howling and more singing for a change. Look for the new album to hit Beijing when they come back sometime in June/July. Talking about the Zippo Hot list, it sounds like it’s on its way to becoming a regular event. The second one is already tentatively scheduled for June with AV Okubo, 24 Hours, Rustic & Mr. Graceless as possible acts. Interesting move from Zippo and Plastered to associate themselves with up n coming bands. A quick chat with someone in the know did confirm the expected monthly schedule… I hope it works as they’re putting together decent bills so far. Maggie Who‘s new EP will be available on this side of Chaoyang Friday night when they play 2 Kolegas along with Operation Bojinka, another International School Band. It should be an interesting gig at the dive with what i expect to be predominately an expat crowd. Grab a copy of the EP while you’re at it, it’s got 4 decent rocky groovers showcasing the band’s potential! If they stay together, these kids might get somewhere Did you notice the number of indie Canadian bands/acts that descended [...]
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May
19thBeijing Live Quickslants: Mao reopens, Rustic in Chaoyang and Rynostock in Shunyi…After weeks of musical overabundance, we were due to go through a small slowdown and sure enough, it’s taking place this weekend. Sure, there are gigs everywhere but not much that I’d actually go really out of my way to catch except maybe the Rustic gig on Friday: Wednesday May 19th: Czechomor @ Yugong Yishan: This one is more about curiosity! I have no idea what Czech world music sounds like and I’m tempted to head over there and check it out. Mademoiselle @ Purple haze: If you’re in the hutong side of things, head over to purple haze for good thai cuisine and kinky Gypsy jazz. That’s definitely not a bad way to spend a wednesday Thursday May 20th: Buyi@ Jianghu: Could be a great opportunity to catch them in a mellower mood/environment as opposed to the usual hustle of 2Kolegas… they might even still be sober..maybe… Friday May 21th: Rustic et co @2Kolegas: I’m curious to see how the boys have been since they came back from winning GBoB and if they’ve learned any new tricks. I heard that their show last weekend at D-22 was “pure sweet mayhem” and i don’t expect this one to be any different. Mao reopens @ Mao Live: here’s a name we haven’t heard in a while but this Friday, Mao live reopens if we’re to believe douban and thebeijinger. It don’t matter who’s playing at this point, it should be sweet and emotional. Saturday May 22th: Rynostock @ Shunyi: Ok, this [...]
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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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- 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