Quickslants: Hanggai Unplugged, Acoustic Punk and a Double Temple Celebration
It’s looking deceivingly like a quiet musical weekend in Beijing but don’t be fooled folks. There are some pretty sweet gigs taking place over the next few days while the city prepares for the upcoming festivals… let’s see what’s cooking and not necessarily good looking.
Thursday July 19th
Whai @ Temple
They got ups, downs and tons of potential but they’re still looking for a direction. It’s really interesting to see this band grow up and mature! Now with the addition of a DJ, the sound has an interesting depth but as we were saying with a buddy not too long ago, I wonder what they would sound like if they dropped the DJ, added a Keyboard and had more guitar. Catch them at Temple to see another step in their evolution.
Folk Night @ Lao What
I don’t know why but just looking outside my window and seeing the ugliness of the gray skies, I get in a strange state of mind and want a little folk. Old What has it tonight with an assortment of local folk singer including Sichuan’s liangzi wom i never heard off before but can be interesting. I’m overdue for a visit down there actually.
Friday July 20th
Hanggai @ 2 Kolegas
If you choose one gig this week, make it this one! I expect the place to be packed, lamb to be roasted and people having a jolly good time grasslands-style. Be warned that the band will play early by 2 Kolegas standard meaning 9:30 and rumor has it they want to play on the grass. I’m really looking forward to this one folks! It’s gonna be the last chance to catch Hanggai in Beijing for a little while so make it count.
Saturday July 21st
Temple 1 Year Anniversary
wow… it’s been a year already? I remember going there the first time and being quite disappointed at the venue! flash forward a year later, it’s one of my favorite hangouts in Beijing and a dangerous place to go to if you need to wake up early! Saturday, entertainment will be provided courtesy of Green Monkey, Rolling Bolling and The Amazing Insurance Salesmen. I expect a party that will last til the wee hours of the morning! See you there!!
Temple of Samba @ 2 Kolegas
This is always a fun party. The Samba group heads over to 2 Kolegas for a huge ass party that will see you sweat, dance, move and generally be hypnotized! There is a chance of a random Capoeira Performance
Sunday July 22nd
Acoustic Punk @ XP
This promises to be another interesting one… with a huge potential to crash depending on how the participating bands can adjust to playing without the heavy distortion. yeah… Punk without electricity just sounds wrong but i’d wanna see it. It’s an afternoon show folks so don’t show up late expecting it!! Gumbleed and Franz Nicolai will be providing the entertainment!
Rock @ Yugong Yishan
here is a venue that vanished off my radar recently but they do have an interesting lineup sunday with Japanese starlett YOKO YAZAWA and special guests Finger Family. One could argue that the two are quite similar in levels so it might make for an interesting comparative.. and Japan is really good at cutesy punk
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For anyone who’s seen Hanggai a million times like me, there’s also a very cool show at XP tonight. One Lick Less is back from France (see my review of his Shanghai show 2 years ago here) this time with a drummer. He builds his own lap steel table guitars and plays ‘mutant blues’ a fusion of rock, folk, blues, post rock, prog, jazz … Check out Pangbianr’s interview with him here and his bandcamp here.