Live music quickslants: of awards and small gems

ok, I stand corrected! I was doing a quick scan of the shows earlier this week and came to the conclusion that there was not much happening at all…. boy was i wrong. While it doesn’t rival some of the glorious weekends we’ve had in the past, it is more than respectable:

not all it is bull 🙂

Thrusday Jan 28

DON’T CALL US FOREIGNERS @ Mao: The laowai bands get together and prove some of them can play instruments. Boy #6, Dude, X-Doctor and the Amazing Insurance Salesmen are on deck. Could be worth a trip if u got nothing better to do.

Philip Spencer @ Ginkgo : Expat bar owner and guitar aficionado will be hosting a night of folk with everything from Bob Dylan to Leonard Cohen. Good opportunity to head over that side of town and sample Ginkgo’s new menu too.

Friday Jan 29

The Unsafe @ What Bar: This is quite intriguing. The Unsafe are slowly coming back out of their self-imposed exile with a new lineup and renewed energy. I’m curious to see what the hell they sound like unplugged in a venue as tiny as the What Bar

Saturday Jan 30

Shows galore… my pick is Mao but I’m having a hard time confirming that it’s really happening:

Mao Awards 2009 @ Mao Livehouse: For it being an award show, it’s quite discreet with a few mentions online only. Candy Monster, Hanggai, Misandao amongst others or as weliveinbeijing.com’s Pete De Mola says “The most eclectic lineups we’ve seen outside of an outdoor festival”. I would call before heading over!

Live + Eclectic @ Obiwan: they’re kickstarting the venue’s new live music event series.There is talk about a fusion of Chinese folk over electronica which is ultimately as scary as it is intriguing. I’m not sure where i stand on this one.

The Haidian crowd gets a couple of decent shows with a cool metal/rock feast at Club 13 for a Haiti Fundraiser, one amongst the 30 thousand taking place over the next week.