Weekend Gig Guide May 27-29: PK14 Free Show, Ty, Motorbike Girls, The Big Wave, Spesbals Festarval

We here at the Beijinger are happy to present Live Beijing Music's weekend gig guide, written by head honcho Mr. Will Griffith. Will has been running around Beijing for over four years, documenting the city's shows and the requisite onlooking drunkards with various cameras/sound recorder setups, losing plenty of equipment along the away in his attempt to capture Beijing's aural spirit. You'll occasionally catch him pogoing like a madman when he's not got a camera in hand. Take it away, Will ...

First thing’s first. Updates! This weekend I'll be leaving Beijing for the month of June to take a much-needed sabbatical back West. I have plenty of posts – videos, photos, reviews, etc. – scheduled to roll out on livebeijingmusic.com throughout the month but unfortunately will not be able to keep up with the weekend updates as I’ll be mostly off the grid for all of June. So, here it is – your last weekend update for the next month!

Friday, May 27

PK14 at School
Post punk godfathers PK14 leave the batcave for a special one-off performance at School Bar – catching these cats is a rarity these days so if you’re itching for some foot stomping, lyrical rich, post punk that’ll rattle your soul and get you moving look no furthers. Free (add Converse on Wechat for details)

Bastards of Imperialism, Own Up, Dirt, Chudao De Lieren, The Blanks at Hot Cat Club
Dr. Smartass hosts a night of heavy and new sounds with a killer diverse lineup that features  old school metal trio Chudao de Lieren from Hebei, grunge rockers Nigou, hardcore outfit Own Up!, two piece garage rockers The Blanks and of course the ravenous Bastards of Imperialism, ready to lead the charge. Free

Pacalolo, The Hotline, Secret Club at Temple
Local label and promotions group D.O.G. once again descends upon Temple for a night of rock n' roll and hopefully a good helping of debauchery with the help of indie electro-rockers The Hotline, catchy Brit-pop dudes Secret Club, and also the electrifying dance rock female fronted duo known as Pacalolo. Free

Prayer Circles, Mengqi, Layer feat. Half FOR at fRUITYSPACE
Modular synths, electronic wizardy, and ambient soundscapes to get lost in – it’s an underground electronic showcase at fRUITYSPACE featuring some of the scene’s most skilled soundsmiths. RMB 40

Ty at DCD
Chengdu hip hop collective Hit Dat Mixtape unloads its roster of mainland rappers including rising rap star Ty, as well as Easy Boyz, and Boom Xu. Practice your dialects and get down with the beat. RMB 100

Parachutes of Fire, The Nightcrawlers at Caravan
Shanghai psych folk outfit makes the trip up to Caravan for some noodling and airplane rocking (it’s a thing!) alongside Chicago blues shufflers The Nightcrawlers. RMB 50

Wang Juan at Snail Club
Esteemed folk singer-songwriter Wang Juan brings her pristine voice to the cozy Snail Club in Gulou. 60 RMB
 

Saturday, May 28

Motorbike Girls, Lonely Leary, Bedstars, The Vague Dreams at Old What? Bar
‘Fuzz drenched’ trio Motorbike Girls celebrates one year of making moves with a killer show at the Old What? Bar that’ll include sets from post punk grinders Lonely Leary, punk scene stalwarts Bedstars, and the Vague Dreams, which I’m told includes members from three of Beijing’s best bands and one from a band that would be good if they weren’t in it. Scandalous! RMB 30

The Big Wave, Penicillin, Heat Mark, The Diders, Laisee at Yugong Yishan
School takes the party down the street for a special showcase at Yugong Yishan featuring the Wudaoying venue’s favorite 7th generation rockers including new wave outfit The Big Wave, britpoppers Peniciilin, dance punk trio Heat Mark, proto-punks The Diders, and hardcore ruffians Laisee – an electrifying lineup. RMB 120

Parachutes on Fire, The Blue Moon, The Forbidden Puking Unicorns, thruoutin, Wang Shengnan at DDC
The folks down at DDC are bringing out a rich lineup of acts and genres for the chest-bursting Spesbols Festaruol, including masked-wearing industrial doom punks The Forbidden Puking Unicorns sit atop the bill, following electronica buffs The Blue Moon, and American-born thruoutin. Self-styled ‘airplane rock’ crew Parachutes on Fire and singer-songwriter Wang Shengnan complete the lineup. RMB 60

SNSOS, The Twenties, Joker’s Belief, Macondo at Temple
Cold Neo hosts a night of sexy sounds as post rock faves SNSOS join math rockers Macondo, The Twenties, and Joker’s Belief for a long righteous evening at Temple. Free

Twinkle Star, Daleiyin at ModernSky Lab
Emo rock scene favorites hit ModernSky Lab for a special showcase that’ll surely have the kids singing along and throwing their good natured fists in the air. RMB 50

The First Medal, All Unknown, Bai You Jie, Pet, Nocturnes at School
Get your rock n' roll fix this evening at School with as local promoters FanZui TuanHuo host emo/alt-rockers The First Medal, pop-rock five-piece All Unknown, pop-punk trio Pet, and indietronica duo Nocturnes, as well as Bai You Jie. RMB 80

AK47 at MOMA Post Mountain Space
Legendary heavy metal outfit AK47 return to the small stage for one night only as they take over MOMA’s Post Mountain Space for a rousing, hard boiled performance. RMB 120

Iimmune, punx, VU, Dumb Plants at fRUITYSPACE
Fruitful electronic compositions, hardware live sets, and exploring new sonic territories with these three electronic artists including the new techno duo Dumb Plants, sound and visual artist VU, as well as Glow Curve guitarist iimmune bringing his transfixing set to fRUITYSPACE. 4pm start. RMB 40

Jurat, Sam & Friends, WHAI at Caravan
Jurat, Sam & Friends will be delivering some acoustic electric folk goodness, akin to world music, before WHAI takes over and kicks things into overdrive – Reverse Polarity! RMB 50

Xiaomeng at Jianghu Bar
Folk rock trope hits up cozy hutong venue Jianghu Bar. RMB 60

Liu Donghong at 69 Café
Veteran blues folk singer-songwriter Liu Donghong hits up NGLX venue 69 Café for an intimate performance. RMB 70

Maxiao, 鹿先森乐队at 13 Club
Folk rock up and comers have already garnered quite the following and they’re go to youth central, 13 Club to play to their fans. RMB 80

Mademoiselle et son Orchestra at Hot Cat Club
The French-Canadian gypsy jazz band Hotcat debut show! Come and swing to the sound of their amazing songs, both originals and covers from the standards of the genre! Free
 

Sunday, May 29

Five Dollars, Hentai No Atsumari, Laurelin, Bu Ke Hui Shoudao Laiji, Xueji, Time Parfait at School
Sped your Sunday afternoon at School with some J-ROCK, J-POP, and ACGN music as performed by Five Dollars, Hentai No Atsumari, Laurelin, Bu Ke Hui Shoudao Laiji, Xueji, Time Parfait. RMB 70

Li Bo and Rosewood Bullet, Nuclear Bomb, FlowS, CMLine, Default at School
College rock night featuring bands from students attending Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications and across a wide range of genres. RMB 40

Xiaobianer at DDC
Shandong folk singer-songwriter presents his latest at DDC. RMB 40

Ah Q Jazz Orchestra at Jianghu Bar
Catch some sweet sweet jazz this Sunday evening with Ah Q Jazz Orchestra. RMB 60

Carlo, Dan, Nick at 69 Café
Three busy musicians, of various groups and outfits go solo for their interpretations of The Doors’ singles. RMB 50

Xiyou at ModernSky Lab
Folk rock with Chinese features – that’s what Journey has in store for you this evening at ModernSky’s headquarters. RMB 60

Phew! Still hungry for more? For events, videos, and photos from Beijing's thriving music scene, head over to Live Beijing Music.

Images: Live Beijing Music, courtesy of the organizers