Beijing Beats: Orphx, Benjamin Damage, Valentino Mora, and a Night Down the Rabbit Hole

Beijing Beats brings you the best in Beijing nightlife each weekend so that you can soothe the woes of a long and stressful week with some out-of-body gyrating and some experiences you'd rather forget come Monday. Check the weekend's full list of nightlife events here.
 

Friday, Apr 19

Toxic 5th Anniversary Presents: Benjamin Damage
British DJ Benjamin Damage is not afraid to get trippy or to throw techno conventions out of the window. This forward-thinking attitude has helped establish him as one of the most innovative DJs in the scene, even one as saturated as Berlin, where he is based. Using a hardware-only setup, Damage creates tactile sets that can span everything from techno bangers to rave and jungle – so expect this one to be heavy. RMB 80. 10pm doors. Dada

Spring Wonderland 2019 Club Version
Speaking of trippy, Aurora invites you down the rabbit hole with their very own Spring Wonderland night. Don your weirdest and wildest wonderland garb and head to the dancefloor which will have been transformed with dreamy lights, visual effects, and decorations. There'll also be 14 DJs on hand to guide you through your fantasy, smashing out Alice's favorite house, techno, and psytrance tracks – what can we say, the girl had progressive tastes. RMB 100, RMB 80 (advance). 10pm doors. Aurora

Peace and Love
Serbian DJ VLTRA_U, described as a "musical painter" thanks to his deft use of sound as color, is joined at Lantern this weekend for a special back-to-back deep and tech house set with local veteran DJ and previous member of the (now defunct) Acupuncture Records — Huang Weiwei. They'll be spinning records to promote Peace and Love All Night Long, which in this case means a "marathon of deep hypnotic grooves until the sun comes out." RMB 50. 10pm doors. Lantern

Bye Bye Disco: Friends Forever
Over at Zhao Dai, Bye Bye Disco invite Hot&Cold founding member Simon Frank to the turntables for a night of "Friends Forever" AKA house, electro, minimal, and techno. He’ll be supported by Bye Bye Disco DJs Aled and Pei, Zhao Dai's resident DJ Zhiqi, and Shadowplay’s Mohemann. Price TBA. 10pm doors. Zhao Dai
 

Saturday, Apr 18

Orphx
Canadian duo Orphx are masters at creating hypnotic and winding tracks that meld elements of industrial and EBM. Throw in a sprinkle of noise and you have an evening of dark beats that Lantern hasn't seen for some time now. Catch them alongside Lantern mainstays Sun Meng and Weng Weng. RMB 100, RMB 70 (advance). 10pm doors. Lantern

Valentino Mora
Previously operating under the moniker French Fries, Berlin DJ and producer Valentino Mora overhauled his DJ career in 2016, taking back his real name and heading to Berlin with his newly-founded label, IDO. After initially "drawing on the classical traditions of the house scenes in New York and Italy in the ‘80s and ‘90s," Mora has since taken a step to the dark side, releasing his deep techno EP Transmagnetic at the end of last year. Price TBA. 10pm doors. Zhao Dai

DJ Ozone x Pretty Cold '80s Night
Beijing's preeminent EBM and industrial DJ crew Pretty Cold return to Dada this Friday alongside DJ Ozone and co. They're pairing up for a heavy night of darkwave, synthpop, Italo disco, and '80s electro jams. As usual, it's your best opportunity to usher in the weekend by dancing "to the dissonant themes of dark romanticism, alienation, body horror and the inevitable collapse of post-industrial society." Nothing gets us hotter. Free. 10pm doors. Dada

Sugar House "Yaas Queen" R&B Party
For something with a little more bounce this Saturday, head to Modernista for the latest night from the Sugar House ladies, spinning the best of '90s and '00s RnB all night. Make it there before midnight and you'll be rewarded for your efforts with a happy hour of shots. RMB 100, RMB 60 (advance). 10pm. Modernista

Find even more heat on the dancefloor in our Nightlife Events section here.

Photos: Resident Advisor, Disney, courtesy of the promoters