Talking Tunes: Justin Timberlake and Wang Leehom, INTRO and dazeFEAST

Kipp Whittaker | May 15, 2014 5:00 pm | Add a comment | 1991 reads

Justin Timberlake announces he's Beijing-bound, INTRO gets cancelled and the final dazeFEAST.

Justin Timberlake to Perform with Wang Leehom at Beijing's Bird's Nest June 14

Justin Timberlake will bring sexy back to Beijing when he joins US-born Wang Leehom onstage at the latter's June 14 "Music Man II" solo show at the Bird's Nest.

"China, let's meet up for a date. Excited to perform with @wangleehom June 14th at Beijing's Bird's Nest National Stadium!" Timberlake tweeted.

"Looks like you guys have already seen the news... we're bringing @jtimberlake to Beijing as our special guest!!! Let's make this big, JT!!" Wang added, having only opened his official Twitter account on May 8. In an interesting comparison, Wang has 44.7 million Weibo fans and is one of the microblog's most popular figures, whereas Timberlake has "only" 32.1 million Twitter followers. LOSER!

The show will be Timberlake's first live appearance in China. No word yet on how many or what songs the two will perform.

The two have had parallel careers, starting out in music before crossing over to film. Aside from selling millions of albums each, Wang starred in movies including Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, while Timberlake has appeared in David Fincher's The Social Network.

This is the second time Wang has performed a solo show at the Bird's Nest, and was the first solo artist to do so in 2012. Tickets are already on sale, with best seats going for RMB 1,680 each. Nosebleed seats are RMB 380.

INTRO 2014 Cancelled

INTRO Electronic Music Festival 2014 has been cancelled. In an email sent out this morning, the INTRO team stated that issues with locations and venue licenses has meant that the event has had to be called off completely. Read the statement in full below:

Quote:
INTRO 2014 was planned to be held in Shougang Steel Works on 24th May, 2014, however we regret to announce that due to a series of problems with venue management the festival has been cancelled for this year. This festival has always been immensely difficult to execute in Beijing due to its proximity to the city centre. We have always felt that INTRO is a festival that should be held within Beijing city and should be held in a venue that represents INTRO's core values. Since being forced out of the 798 area, we found Shougang Steel Works to be the perfect location. However, this year was so unexpected that we discussed with venue management several times, and ready striking an agreement with venue management on May 5th finally, but this agreement was overruled by the overall leader of the venue compound. As many of you may know, we have since tried to relocate the festival, but it is almost impossible to rush through licenses for such an event at this late stage. As a result, we have decided it best if the whole event was cancelled and we will start preparations for next year's show immediately. We're extremely disappointed with this outcome and have worked hard until the last minute to avoid this eventuality. Despite these set-backs we will not give up trying to put on events of this magnitude and we will be back, stronger than ever in 2015. Thanks for your understanding and support. Best, The INTRO team.

We reported earlier in May that the organizers were having difficulty finding a home for this year’s electronic music fest, first announcing that it would take place in Shougang Steel Works but later saying officials of the site had ruled it out.

Final dazeFEAST Announced, Set for June 14

The final FEAST: annual music party/barbecue/lovefest dazeFEAST will convene for the last time June 14 at 2 Kolegas, organizer Badr Benjelloun posted Friday on his Facebook profile.

But why, why, why no more FEAST? "It's very prophetic to have so many fours associated with this event: the fourth feast, the 14th day, 2014, and so on," Benjelloun said. "Also, I'm just not finding any new bands worth helping right now, nothing good or new has come out since Residence A and Jiu Bao. I don't want this to become some lame old thing. The whole point was to help bands I was really excited about, which I still do, just not through dazeFEAST. It's a good time to let this one go out on top, gracefully."

Founder of the live music and nightlife blog BeijingDaze, Benjelloun first organized the dazeFEAST in 2011. As many as 40 bands have performed during a single event, with live acts still playing in the wee hours of the morning.

Benjelloun made the announcement under the banner, "All Messy Things Must Come to an End," with the body text reading, "We're making one last stand and burrying this baby upside down, so the whole world can kiss its ass goodbye!"

The initial line-up for the event includes the Randy Abel Stable, the only band to play all four Feasts; Devils @ The Crossroad; Bad Mamasan; The Beijing Dead; Chicago Blues Brothers; Mademoiselle et Son Orchestre; Jordan Thomas Mitchell; The Hutong Yellow Weasels; Capoeira (Brazilian dance/martial arts); and Residence A. More will certainly be added. Oh, and JT of course:

More music events worth your time and money:

Photos: 915thebeat, INTRO organizers, Badr