Quickslants: Hanggai, Mantas, SUBS, Ghosts, Kingdoms, Hellcats and return of the Arrow

Holly smokes is this looking like a busy weekend in Beijing… stop me if you’ve heard this before but there’s a whole lotta rocking to be done. I’m almost glad I won’t be here for this as the ‘daze crew if off checking out the rock scene with our buddies from DUDE.
Still, for those of you in town, there’s a lot to see with some impressive lineups throughout the city. I mean you can’t go wrong with any venue this end of the week starting today

Thursday May 19

oh man… I don’t wanna be in your shoes Beijing. There are some tough choices to be made tonight with what seem to be a bombastic lineup

Flying Mantas @ Mao Live:
Our buddies on the Mantas, along with The Clamps, bring out the retro sounds on them Burns guitars for some old school goodness! I’ve heard reports of their mini tour in Beijing and that it’s going fairly well with the Mantas on fire but The Clamps side a bit off. Still, if it’s good music you’re after, this is not a bad place to be.

Hanggai & Christian Zehnder @ 2Kolegas:
The inner Mongolians have been spending a lot of time at 2 Kolegas lately with more shows there that before I reckon. Tonight (Thursday), they’re joined by Swiss Jazz virtuoso Christian Zehnder. It’s a bit unclear as to whether they’re playing together or if there’s separate sets but it might be a good opportunity to check them out on a low key night since everyone might be busy elsewhere.

The Face & More @ Yugong Yishan:
I expect the other two shows tonight to be heavy on laowai presence.. yugong yishan on the other hand is bringing out old school rock and star power sure to generate a lot of sing alongs from what’s gonna be a pretty Chinese audience. The bill is mostly musicians that have been rocking since before generation six was born…. This is the sleeper hit of the night IMHO.

Note that Blackwater is also playing tonight… gee

Friday May 20th:

AIS, Desire, Ghosts @ 2 Kolegas:
The Amazing Insurance Salesmen and Ghost Spardac are proven values that i have been rambling about for a long time on daze. Any bill that has both bands is ace in my book. The real question is what’s up with Arrows Made of Desire. The band has all but disappeared over the past year and judging by they’re pictures, they’re all grown up. Their record label has folded and I have no clue what to expect. Joewi Verhoeven, Arrows’ main man, is talented by all account with a cool left-handed drummer friend of mine referring to him as “the most talented” musician in town… this could get interesting. Unless AMOD comes out with a high energy set, they’re gonna get blown out of the water.

Saturday May 21st:

3 Kingdoms of Rock @ Mao:
I would really have loved to be there for this! The SUBS, The On Fires along with Your Favorite Enemies all on one hell of a rocking bill. 2 foreign big names with one of Beijing’s biggest drawing bands!! who’s gonna outdo who? YFE was good at MIDI albeit too much preaching from the frontman. I’ve heard good things about The On Fires and SUBS needs no introduction to readers of this blog. I’m sure I’d come out of this one drenched in sweat.

Retro Nite @ 2 Kolegas:
DH and her Hellcats, SKarving along with The Flying Mantas are set to bring out more retro sonic goodness. Rockabilly, SKA, Surf Rock all on one stage… will be good for dancing.

Sunday May 22nd:

ChunQiu @ D-22:
Good buddies in Spring Autumn will be venturing to wudaokou for a little acoustic set at D-22. I’m not sure how that’s gonna work out for them because the place was dead last sunday for The Morlocks… So, Wudaokou, represent!!!