Quickslants: Obituary, Funky, Devils, School Turn 3 and a Slew of Pre-Festival Fun

Are you ready for May festival madness? i’ll be honest with ya: I’m not but though luck and tough SOB bronchitis. That said, i’ll make it there one way or the other. Still, we got a few days to gear up for things and some of the shows are pretty darn kickass starting tonight. Let’s see what’s on the program pre-holidays.
On another note, what kind of fucking messed up holiday is this? working sat/sun to get monday/tuesday off?? gimme a fucking break.

Wednesday Apr 24th

Obituary @ Yugong Yishan
yes, that Obituary. the one one that gave your parents nightmares and helped you grow horns as a teenager. The kind folks from Painkiller Mag have brought them over and they are invading the Yugong Yishan pit tonight starting at 8:00 pm. There are still tickets to be had at the door so do not hesitate.. it will be massive. Ready to Die and Deathpact will be on opening duties. Note that the band will be playing a retro set and sticking to the classics, playing only hits from their 1989-1992 arsenal.

Funky & Friends @ Blue Stream
if you read my review on Funky’s improvised gig at 2 KOlegas a few weeks ago, you know i had tons of fun and would absolutely recommend heading over there to see the king of Drums rocking along his friends. The intimate nature of Blue Stream bar will make this a really cool party. So far, the only confirmation i got is that BUYI is also playing but i expect many of Funky’s Japanese friends to be on hand for a few songs here or there.

Thursday Apr 25th

Me Guan Me @ Mao Live
sure, Lazy Camels and the Gray are also on the bill but i coudn’t give a rat’s ass. Me Guan Me, on the other hand, is still IMHO one of the most underrated bands in Beijing. They deliver pretty sweet in-your-face rock n roll and do it well. THey’re worth the trip to gulou dong dajie on their own.

Friday Apr 26th

Li Daiguo/Dyne @ Temple
an interesting mixture in an interesting place. I’d go check this one out just to see how much of a clusterfuck it might be with Temple’s crowd. They are hard to tame and the band has to really out-weird them to get a piece of the noise spectrum. LDG is on a high roll these days with tons of support from Maybe Mars along with Genjing Records. They’re pushing for it and that push is slowly working things around.

Sat Apr 27th

Devils & Friends @ Temple
The house band at temple, Devils at the Crossroad, freshly signed to Scream Records and tapped to play the main stage at MIDI Shenzhen is releasing their second EP: Moonshine. They’re set for a party with tons of guest performers including yours truly stepping up to the mike for a version of Overkill. I actually just got some of the new tunes and will be taking them for a spin shortly. What to expect? balls to the wall bluesy rock riffs, lots of fun and lots of bourbon.

School Turn 3 @ School
man, they’ve already been around for 3 years? sure they’ve just rebranded and embraced live music over the past few months but the location has been there for a while now. Remember all those “you gonna be beaten up at school” stories? anyways, they planned a monster extravaganza for saturday with Queen Sea Big Shark, Casino Demon, Brain Failure, Rolling Bowling and more… pretty darn good if you ask me. Now if they could only fit an extra 50 folks in that space.

Sant Jordi @ 2 Kolegas
given how Barcelona was spanked last night by Munich, looks for tons of prayers celebrating Catalonia’s patron saint. And sure enough, where will they be celebrating? in the drive-in. THis will turn into one of those epic parties depending on the weather and nothing is gonna stop them spaniards from drinking the fake weekend away. Bands on the bill are Redundant Seconds, Las Perracas along with Mr.Freeman

Sunday Apr 28

what, you’re not resting before the 3 day onslaught of festivals? head to the Old What for Wu & The Side Effects or to Jianghu for the aptly name NEW BAND.