A Beijing-based music and gig review blog

Where: Unnamed Di’anmen Space
When: Sat & Sun, 3 & 4 March, 15:00–23:30
How Much: 150RMB (two day pass), 80RMB per day (less for stu­dents)
Who: Soviet Pop, Zhang Shouwang, Xiao He, Yan Yulong and many many more (More Info)
Why: I have to admit that in my heart of hearts, this isn’t my pick of the week. But I can only rec­om­mend Ningxia Nights so often. This is the Sally Can’t Dance fes­ti­val, which only comes around once a year, if there’s any­one game enough to orga­nize it. Josh could tell you about it bet­ter, but it was started years ago by Li Tieqiao, kept up by Subjam’s Yan Jun, and then laid low for a while. With the pass­ing of D-22, Zoomin’ Night’s Zhu Wenbo and Josh him­self have enough time and energy (and con­tacts) to take the reigns. This year, they’re bring­ing some of the best of Bei­jing and China to the stage of an as-yet-unnamed space on the south-west cor­ner of where all the Di’anmen’s meet (Di’anmen East, West, Nei, Wai). It’s dif­fi­cult to pick a day, but I would sug­gest Sun­day, if only for the oppor­tu­nity to see an improv jam ses­sion between some of the coolest exper­i­men­tal musi­cians out there. Plus, the evening rounds out with Xiao He. What’s not to love? It’s a BYO xiao­maibu affair, so bring your bike laden with rat­tling Yan­jing bottles.

As men­tioned, my heart will also be at Dos Kole­gas on Fri­day, with their first Made in Ningxia Night of the Year of the Dragon, 10PM, 50RMB. But before then, on Thurs­day, there’s a send-off gig for some bands going to SXSW — Car­sick Cars, Nova Heart, Rus­tic… — called Bye Bye For South By, 9PM, 100/70RMB. Finally, The Return of The Amaz­ing Insur­ance Sales­men, for those who have been wait­ing for it, is finally upon us on Sat­ur­day at Yugong Yis­han, 9PM, 50RMB. And if you’re down for head­ing to the CBD, Pet Con­spir­acy are play­ing the lit­er­ally under­ground night­club Haze, which should be super inter­est­ing. Starts at 11PM, 80RMB.