24D Space Is on Mission To Reclaim Beijing’s Dwindling Livehouse Scene

To say that Beijing’s live music scene is going through a transformative period would be something of an understatement. While many of the players have remained constant, the city’s venues and clubs are in a perpetual state of flux.

Partly a consequence of COVID-19 and partly due to a consolidation of cultural areas, over the past two years we’ve bid farewell to luminaries such as Temple Bar and Lantern while watching others like Dada and DDC be forced to pack up and find new digs at a moment’s notice.

Yet, amidst all this volatility, there are still concert promoters and club owners whose devout passion for live music has resulted in more than a few spots popping up, even as so many others are shutting down.

One of those clubs is 24D Space, which after officially launching with a couple of inaugural shows and parties this past summer, is truly beginning to make a name for itself. Located in Guomao near Line 14's Pingyuan Metro Station and Mocha Art Center – in an area known as the Workshop Sky Building – 24D Space has been hosting a consistent flow of the country’s best rock and roll acts throughout the better half of 2021.

Perhaps more importantly, however, it’s filling an increasingly gaping void that spots like Temple and DDC used to inhabit. “We think that Beijing is now very short of small and medium-sized livehouses, which can provide venues for many new bands to perform and can be a place where everyone can drink and chat after watching the performance,” say Shao Qiang and Wu Fanfu, 24D’s bookers and operators. “Now that many of the great livehouses are gone, we want to be a more humane livehouse.”

It’s a sentiment that’s echoed throughout the scene at large. “Something Beijing has been sorely missing since the closure of DDC and Temple – and the success of School Bar leading to it being booked out six months in advance – is a good mid-sized venue. Something to allow nascent indie bands the space to grow” says David Carey, guitarist and vocalist of electro-dream pop outfit Nocturnes, who will be playing 24D Space alongside local shoegazers the claptraps and multi-instrumentalist Axis Neptune this Saturday.

“Now with 24D, and news of DDC returning in a slightly larger form, bands finally have the opportunity to do bigger shows again without paying through the teeth for a venue far too big for their needs."    

Interestingly, the “human touch” that comes with being a smaller space, as well as the community connection it facilitates, underpin Shao and Wu’s ethos and all they set out to do with 24D. Whereas some bookers might set their sights on nabbing big names both here and abroad – that is when borders reopen to international tours – the duo is decidedly more focused on providing a platform for smaller indie acts and those that exist outside the fray.

“We welcome all outstanding international bands to 24D, but I don’t think we will become a hot spot for all international bands to make a tour stop,” says the pair humbly. “There are many professional venues in Beijing, and we may prefer some more independent and experimental international bands.”

24D Space’s next show takes place this Saturday, Dec 4, at 8pm featuring Nocturnes, the claptraps, and Axis Neptune. Tickets run RMB 100 presale, RMB 120 at the door. To find out more, click here, or scan the QR code in the poster above.

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Images courtesy of 24D Space