Talking Tunes: Reg Rocks Up With His Mates Blue in Tow

There was only ever going to be one thing dominating this week's Talking Tunes, and that's the imminent arrival of Sir Elton John to our dusty old town on Sunday night (Nov 25). The Beijing MasterCard Center is the venue for Sir Elton's first Beijing show and there are still some tickets on sale.

We were trying to look for some hint of what the set list will be for the Sunday night show, but then we realised: With a back catalogue like Elton's, there's no way he can miss. Having released 31 albums (with 29 number-one singles), there's sure to be plenty for everyone to enjoy over in Wukesong.

But Sir Elton isn't the only big British pop juggernaut coming to Beijing imminently. Multimillion-selling boy band Blue will be here to perform at Beijing Workers' Gymnasium on Tuesday (Nov 27).

Some musical nuggets:

* Australian singer-songwriter Ron Kingston has taken up residency at the Opus Lounge of the newly-opened Four Seasons Hotel until the end of 2012. The pop troubadour has released four records and has another ("All You Need To Know") in the pipeline.

* Alliance Française are bringing French math rockers Geste out to Beijing next week. The trio will play XP on Thursday night (Nov 29) as they prepare to release their new EP "Eating Concrete" early next year.

* Still with a French flavour, electro jazz duo Electro Alive will play at Ritan jazz stronghold Cafe CD Blues on Thursday, Dec 6. Their show will be followed by a good old-fashioned blues jam session.

Looking closer to home, this weekend sees the Beijing Alchemists playing twice on Friday and Sunday nights. First they play at Hot Cat Club's Swingin' with Maybelline night, before Sunday's show at Jianghu. Not There play their final show of 2012 on Friday night at Zajia. And Shanghai tourists The Fever Machine play Temple on Saturday night ably supported by Devils at the Crossroad.

To play us out this week, we've opted for Sir Elton John's most successful track to date, his ode to Marilyn Monroe (and later Princess Diana) "Candle In The Wind."

Don't forget to check out our events section (which now contains over 1,000 listings for stuff to do this weekend).