Talking Tunes: Dodos and Droids Descend on Beijing

Paul Ryding | May 23, 2013 5:00 pm | Add a comment | 1226 reads

So we erm, "revealed" ... just a little after the fact, that Shabazz Palaces will be here in July, and Japandroids will be stopping by in August. This is great news. If you're not into either of them, then you should be. And you can start by checking out their Soundclouds below.

They'll be at The Bar at Migas on June 29 (Shabazz Palaces), and at MAO Livehouse on August 23 (Japandroids).

In other relevant news, The Lone Bellow are to perform on Jay Leno's Tonight Show, tonight. You might know who in the devil The Lone Bellow are, as they have something of a connection to Beijing. Kanene Doheney Pipkin, the band's madolin player and vocalist formerly lead the open-mic night at none other than Wudaokou favorite Lush. Jason Pipkin, who was also involved, is also a part of the groups tour ensemble. They've been getting a ton of good press in the States and a performance on Leno could mark a watershed. Always nice to see local kids done good. We'll get the video up on here tomorrow if we can find it somewhere on the interweb.

American indie rock duo The Dodo's are at Yugong Yishan on Sunday (May 26). Our very own Jessica Rapp is a big fan and gave them a grilling last night, you can check that out here.

The rumour mill has been groaning about Metallica making it here for as long as I can remember, but it seems Shanghai might once again be in luck. After getting Slash over recently for an intimate show, they might now be welcoming more rock royalty with a show planned (not yet confirmed – hold off on booking those train tickets, but there is already a Douban page for the show) for August. Beijing ... not so much. Still, could be worse. It could be in Hong Kong.

Beijing faves Queen See Big Shark will perform a gig in Beijing in July following their three-month tour of China. After taking in 21 cities the length and breadth of the country they'll make a triumphant return to Beijing on July 5 at Yugong Yishan.

Now to some of the upcoming highlights:

  • 2 Kolegas begins a three-day party on Friday (May 24) when they celebrate their eight-year anniversary. Expect performances from a host of Drive-In favorites over three days.
  • Texan outfit This Will Destroy You finally get around to playing their postponed March show at MAO Livehouse on Friday (May 24).
  • School leads the tributes to Ian Curtis with a night in his honour on Friday (May 24) as part of their Chinese Rocks series.
  • The Tore Down present a night of blues rock at V.A. Bar on Saturday (May 25)

Loads more where that came from. Go here to see it.

It's only right that The Lone Bellow should play us out tonight. Here they are with their single "Bleeding Out".