UPDATED: New Mao Wukesong Livehouse's Aug 18 Opening Postponed

UPDATE, Aug. 14: This weekend's gigs have been postponed until further notice. We will update this a blog once more information is available.

Beijing music fiends may soon be flocking to Wukesong. That’s because a new Mao music venue, officially named Mao Livehouse, is set to open in the west end Haidian neighborhood's Hi-Up with a debut roster of gigs August 18-19.

The new venue will kick things off on Aug. 18 with an eclectic lineup that includes Planet Tree who specialize in brawny Americana with Mandarin lyrics (hear them here), Britpop group The Diagon Alley, and the snarling punk of Brain Failure (check out their music here). The night will conclude with esteemed house producer and founder of Pampa records, DJ Koze, as well as one of the godfathers of Detroit techno, Kevin Saunderson.

The Sunday lineup sees local Britpop devotees She Never Sings Our Songs and Elenore warming up the crowd for the swaggering disco infused anthems of 星号69 (check them out here), and then the ska and reggae sets of DJ Dizzy, Mr. Sea Turtle (listen to them here), and Jiang Liang (links to their music here).

The opening of this 1,000-attendee capacity venue will surely be warmly received by west-end-dwelling gig regulars that have grown weary of hiking it Gulou, where much of the city music scene has been situated in recent years. What’s more: operators Shiji Lemeng Culture Communication Co. have a solid reputation across China, having run a chain of similar Maos in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Chongqing, and Kunming.

Despite those promising aspects, this new Mao isn’t free of its detractors. That’s because the long-running Mao Livehouse on Gulou Dajie (the one that's been under threat of closure for over a year) has no affiliation with this Wukesong venue or any of the other Shiji Lemeng branches across China, thanks to a bitter falling out and lingering tension over usage of the Mao name.  

Nevertheless, both sides traded gracious well-wishers when the Beijinger first asked them about Shiji Lemeng’s plans to open the livehouse this past spring. Spokesperson Piao "Tina" Dongmei now says she and her Shiji Lemeng team are thrilled to finally unveil their Beijing branch.

That enthusiasm was shared by many of the acts set to play to on the opening weekend in August, including Elenore guitarist and singer Wang “Howie” Yu, who told the Beijinger he and his Britpop bandmates are “always excited to play in a new venue like Mao. We are really looking forward to the gig, trying the new gear, and having a new location to play.”

Details about showtimes and ticket availability for the August 18-19 debut are still to be finalized, though Piao says it will be sorted before week’s end. We will fill you in and update this blog accordingly.

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle

Photos courtesy of Mao Wukesong, Kungfuology, Wikimedia, Kaiguan