BeijingDazeTales of Live Music From Beijing's Mostly Underground Rock Scene..

Jun
8thQuickslants: Football Fever, Buyi 17th, The Mantas Fly, AIS, Jason Mraz and more

Football fever is domination Beijing right now with the Euro 2012 set to start tonight! All the establishments are trying to get a piece of the pie including 13 club, 2 Kolegas and Gulou 121 to name a few music venues that will be showing games. Still, there is still plenty of Rock n Roll going around for those who don’t care about kicks or balls! Let’s see what’s cooking:

Friday June 8th

Steely Heart & Flying Mantas @ 2 Kolegas
The Mantas are flying again with apparently a new guitar player… with this kinda weather, a little surf rock and a cold cocktail go a long way. Steely Heart has gained experience and charisma since they signed on to Modern Sky.. they’ve also gotten a bit of a “pretty boy” thing going that thankfully has not affected the music. Good Friday gig

Spark Project Album @ Yugong Yishan
This thing is actually intriguing especially since I have not heard of it before. The description makes it sound good enough to grab my ears: “The Spark Project has built a network of artists from all over China to create their second compilation, “Changes.” Celebrate the album and listen to some of the worthy bands including Bloody Woods, Zakka and Special Mission”

Saturday June 9th

AIS @ Temple
I predict this little thing to be loud and that the show will spill over off the stage knowing the band members propensity to walk around and intereact with the audience. They put on an interesting performance 2 weeks ago but Temple will have a different vibe. Still one of the best bands in Beijing for my money.

Buyi 17th Years Anniversary @ 2Kolegas
Gee.. 17 years already? These guys have carried the Ningxia rock scene on their shoulders for many years and I expect of them nothing short of bringing the house down, especially as they are home! The friends will be there, the lamb will be there and the good times will roll as they always do with their brand of wild plains rock.

Sunday June 10th:

Meng Zhi ‘Folk 2012′ Album Release @ Jianghu
It’s been a while since Jianghu made the cut here… it’s about time! Folkster Meng Zhi is set to release his new set of tunes with support from no one less than Buyi… how is that?

Tuesday June 12:

Jason Mraz @ Worker’s Gym
sure he’s pop but i believe him to be one of the better songwriters of this generation..I’m surprised that this show is not being advertised more considering how often i hear his tunes in the mainland. anyways, a good mid-level star to catch in Beijing and tickets are not that badly priced.

enjoy the music for me folks… It’s gonna be a tight one over the next few weeks as I try to balance work, music and the opening of my new Bar but fear not, the tunes will keep on coming!