As we all know, the city will be empty during the Spring Festival holiday - bands are leaving Beijing for home, organizers are taking breaks, and groupies will have to wake up with someone else...this would be the last weekend for live music before everything goes wrong. Hard rockers Misandao, Gum Bleed and Hell City make noises at Mao Livehouse on February 5 before firecrackers burn down the city; For Saturday night, Ourself Beside Me and The Molds make their return at Obiwan, Beijing rap group In3'er swear on Bob Marley's Day (hold me...), while Wu Fei plays guzheng and creates her version of the mysterious east with Taiwanese American singer Jen Shyu.

Go out, have fun - you might be married after the holiday, then who knows what's gonna happen...

"('A Cowboy Never Saw A Horse') is the sense of embarrassment when Chinese people try to play Western music."
                                                      
- Liu Ge

The Molds are: Liu Fang (bass), Liu Ge (lead vocal/guitar) and Jia Wei (drum)

They love The Cramps, they draw inspiration from blues, rockabilly and psychedelic rock - The Molds (www.myspace.com/themoldsband) have been keeping away from the spotlight since they released an EP called A Cowboy Never Saw a Horse in 2008. This Saturday (Feb 6) at Club Obiwan, the trio will be performing with fellow rockers Ourself Beside Me (www.myspace.com/ourselfbesideme) as part of the collaboration between Obiwan and Maybe Mars. We had a small chat with The Molds' frontman Liu Ge before the show.

It all proved to be a step too far for Li Na and Zheng Jie at the Australian Open. Both fell at the Semi-final hurdle. Li Na went down fighting to eventual winner Serena Williams. Zheng Jie was overwhelmed by the resurgent Justine Henin in just 51 minutes – the fastest match of the tournament.

After The Killers canceled on Beijing, it should take a while for us to recover - lying, life goes on. Before we start to look forward to the next imaginary gig, the real Andrew Bird is coming to the concrete Yugong Yishan exactly on Jan 30 (see our interview with Mr. Bird here). For other worth-seeing acts: On Jan 29, funk-jazz-electronica big band Acid Live turn on their broadcast, punksters Unsafe calm with acoustic; On Jan 30, Mao Livehouse wraps the year with bands of various genres, Xiao He plays at both 798 and Beiluogu Xiang, Sambasia Beijing jam at the demolishing Gulou area, The Offset: Spectacles play their alt rock. On Jan 31, folk songstress Wang Juan is back with us after months of absence, while French trio Peppermoon finish the week with peaceful and dreamy sound.

"Words can deceive."
- Andrew Bird

This Saturday (January 30), Chicago singer-songwriter Andrew Bird (www.andrewbird.net) comes to town with his violin, loop machine and guitar. Keep an eye on them in Beijing as Bird broke his beloved violin during a show at Chicago Civic Opera House last year. We couldn’t resist asking him about that...

We've reported on some big actions in April. Since yesterday, we've been spending some time talking to the organizers about the possible Bob Dylan show on April 4. Despite the Beijing tour date being anounced here, they haven't decided on a venue yet, so stay tune at our site for updates.

Before Dylan arrives with his, you know, wind, local scene is rocking with a full schedule over this weekend. Of course the big one is The Killers on Jan 26 (Tuesday, Workers' Gymnasium. See our interview here) - evidence: a student battle of bands called Rock AM is taking place at Vics (yes, a place for what is called again?...right, rock, and roll) on Jan 23, and the winning band get free tickets. Another breath of fresh air comes from the visiting Qingdao rockers The Dama LIamas (Jan 23, 2 Kolegas), let's see if we capital snobs can make peace with other fishes in the ocean. Also on Saturday, world music esemble Beijing Talking (Jan 23, The Star Live) return to stage after a long absence. To finish the week, Californian emo rockers Saosin (Jan 24, Mao Livehouse) shakes Gulou (like it's not being shaken enough).

The biggest news of the week is that Stephon Marbury is signing for the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons, the CBA’s finest team named after a dragon. Marbury has apparently decided to move to China to reignite his flagging career. Marbury deserved the nickname Starbury in his earlier years as he racked up two All Star appearances. Since then he’s become a champion of the poor with his Starbury brand of affordable footwear, sports apparel and lifestyle clothing. Word on the street, as scared kids are calling the internet, is that his move to the East is in a bid to sell more of his shoes. Fake Jordans or real Starburys? That’s for the kids to decide.

Back in November, when somebody told us The Killers are coming to town on Januaray 26, one of our editors sang, "Somebody told me, you're coming to Beijing, I don't believe it...", and we agreed with him despite his lack of singing ability. During the past few months, lots of people have been telling us it’s true and we still don’t quite believe it - even after we had this Q&A with the band’s drummer Ronnie Vannucci. But if you are the kind of person who has, you know, eyes, you've probably seen the show on billboards at bus stops, the big screen at The Village, and newsstands at restaurants & bars - it's all over the place.

This weekend starts with a post punk hit with Re-TROS joining the Ningxia brothers at 2 Kolegas, while Helen Feng and her Pet Conspiracy put on another glamourous production at Yugong Yishan - tough choice on the same night (Jan 15). On Saturday (Jan 16), China's metal forefathers Tang Dynasty perform at Judushan Ski Resort with Brain Failure, and the lengendary DJ Krush bring his beats to town at Yugong Yishan. Then the week ends (Jan 17) with folk sessions from Patrick Watson and Zhou Yunpeng. Another heavy weekend of live music serves for the people of all types. 

Here’s the third installment of our Beijing 2010 preview: what’s opening, who’s coming, when it’s happening, where to play and what lies ahead.