Quickslants: Grassland Rumba, Autumn Descends, Ido Balance and Book Swap

Is it already late thursday/early friday? goodness this week has flown by! They say that’s what happens when you’re busy having fun so here is hoping i had tons of fun because it did freaking fly by. So, another weekend looming with some pretty sweet and diverse choices to pick from. Let’s kick it!

Friday Nov 4th:

La Pegatina & Hanggai @ Mako:
If you haven’t heard of “la Pegatina”, do yourself a favor and look them up. This Spanish motley crew has been heating up stages all over the world and they’re about to give Beijing a little taste of what the rest of China has seen over the past week that they been touring here with Hanggai. It’s a little rumba, some meringue, a side of Ska, a dash of reggae and a sprinkle of Cumbia just to name a few. Buddies Hanggai, who don’t really need an introduction anymore, are also on the bill and word is they’ve collaborated on a special version of Jiu Ge ( drinking song) just for tomorrow night’s shindig. Well worth the trek to shuanjing. See this Global Times writeup or check out this video from their performance at West Lake festival in Hangzhou

Chun Qiu @ Temple:
Kaiser and the boys are taking this thing seriously now after just floating around for a few years. The band is hungry and has new songs, picking up where they left off with their album. This show has been fairly on the radar over the past few weeks and i expect a killer turnout since they are in Gulou. Melodic, classic, heavy and fun! I hope the sound system at Temple holds up because I’m really not sure it can. The place has picked up tremendously over the past few weeks and they’re getting up there with the variety of shows they’re putting on.

Saturday Nov 5th:

Book Swap & Board Games @ Sequoia Cafe:
Yup, the november issue of this community event is on, as usual, at Sequoia Cafe in Jianguomen Diplomatic compound starting at 2:00 pm. Be there or be square! It’s always a fun way to spend an afternoon whether you have books to swap or just want to maybe hang out and play some board games.

Hub Session
Folkster Song Yuzhe, Da Wanggang，Xiao He and Ajinai are joined by musicians from Canada and Europe, mostly Belgium. Contact beijing@walbru.be to book your free tickets; seats are limited. 8.30pm. Star Theater ( Xuan Wu Men subway station)

Ma Tiao @ Zajia Labs:
Something interesting is brewing over at ZaJia with a series of really interesting shows being put on. Last weekend they had ajinai with a Japanese videographer and here they go again with Ma Tiao who can be considered one of the heavyweights of his category of music.

Stable, Mantas & Powder @ D-22:
Ok, this just sounds like a really good fun lineup in wudaokou: The Randy Abel Stable, Flying Mantas, The Powder Power and Not There…. that’s a diverse funky lineup if I’ve ever seen one! If these guys play their cards right in how they order the bands, it could be akin to a live evolution of rock n roll through the ages. I’ll let you workout the details.

Sunday Nov 6th:

Roots night @ jianghu:
basically a free evening of blues, bluegrass and folk… that’s how the night is being advertised so why the hell not?

Special Note:

My Capoeira group is hosting world renowned Ido Portal over the weekend for 4 workshops, absolutely non-capoeira related, that deal with balancing, building core strength, flexibility and healthy body in general. The workshops, 4 in total, are held of saturday and sunday. Visit Capoeira Beijing http://www.capoeirabeijing.com/ for more details.