Quickslants: Less Licks, Bookswaps, Icelandic Vibes, Dual Triple Headers, Returns and more

If you missed out yesterday on the Franz Nikolay/Randy Abel Stable gig at Yugong Yishan, don’t despair! Plenty of interesting shows are coming up over the next few days that might be just as intriguing. While some of them are sure to be packed, especially Friday night at Mao and Old What, other little gems can be just as much fun.

Thursday August 2nd

Cao Yang @ Jianghu
I’ve been listening to Cao Yang’s douban trying to figure out if it’s worth seeing or not. 2 hours later, I’m still confused and in-between. The show is billed as “I’m back” blah blah blah blah… 3 bands on the bill and potential good times if you just stay away from the red wine. 3 bands on the bill and a good opportunity to chill in the hutongs with this weather

Friday August 3rd

3X3 – Hedgehog, Casino Demon, Gar @ Mao
Biggest lineup I’ve seen at Mao in quite some time. This is solid shit in Beijing’s underground musicland. Hedgehog, love or hate them, deliver every show and have put on some memorable concerts lately. Casino Demon is back in form and slowly working their way up the ladder again after a few months off. GAR is one of those bands i don’t freaking get! People are mystified by the fact that they never play so anytime they come out, they cause a frenzy. How about the music though? Either ways, this will be a fun show with gigantic attendance.

Misfits @ Lao What
ok, really, it’s not called “misfits” but i couldn’t think of a better name. Amazing Insurance Salesmen, The Grinding Ear and Perpetual Motion Machine will head down to the side of the forbidden city and probably pack down the little space. It’s actually a fun bar with a good sound system and some cool people hanging out. All 3 bands are good and interesting but I feel I’ve been seeing a little too much of AIS lately. The name is popping up on every bill, everywhere and that can’t be good for them in the long term.

Flying Shaobing Brothers @ Jianghu
If you’re not into the noise and would rather have a quiet one, maybe this is a better option. Randy Abel and Liu YuSi get together for a night of old americana. not sure whether they’ll play anything from the Stable’s catalog but they got plenty of good songs up their sleeves to keep you entertained for hours.

Ocean without Paths @ Penghao Theater
This one is weird enough to have captured my attention. Ogmundur Thor Johannesson, the highly regarded Icelandic guitarist arrives for a last minute visit and a last minute show over on the side of nanluoguxiang. I’ve heard some quite intriguing stuff about his music and had a pretty good conversation with him last night. This is a dark horse of a gig folks, the kind that ends up being the better ones.

A Special mention goes out to Chasing Stars, a band i used to love, playing Yugong Yishan along with too many electronic thingies.. I’d have loved to check them out but uhm… I’ll wait for some tudou videos first. So you got your choices for this Friday folks.

Saturday August 4th

One Lick Less @ XP Lao What (h/t Josh Feola for Correction)
Ruby loves these kids and I have not seen them yet. I’ll trust her good judgement as long as it’s not related to post-rock and recommend this gig for saturday!

August Bookswap @ Sequoia
you know the drill… 2 to 6 pm at Sequoia Cafe in Jianguomen Diplomatic compound, like-minded folks get together for an afternoon of books, board games and warm conversation. 4 years and still going strong so keep at it.