It seemed to me that there has been an unusually high number of Friday the 13ths this year. One quick check with the old Wikipedia confirmed my suspicion. Every year must have at least one Friday the 13th, but no more than three. And guess how many 2009 will have seen after this Friday: three. If you really, irrationally fear Friday the 13th, you suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, which I think I may be developing after my last Friday the 13th, when a late Thursday evening watching Hassan and his band at Anar turned into a Friday morning hangover and, eventually, a clavicle-rearranging bike accident. One more bad Friday the 13th and I might become an official shut-in. So there’s a lot riding on this weekend. Musically, the lineup is not as crowded as last weekend, but there is some cool stuff to check out.

Thursday, November 12

Indie Heart Attack featuring Jake Newby, Not Me

There can be only one destination tonight. Jake Newby will be showing off his collection of Chinese Indie rock and it should be fun. Not sure what he has against birds, but we will let that one slide if he hips us to all the Mandarindie classics.

Not Me – 21 Dongping rd. near Wulumuqi rd.

Free Entrance

10 pm

Friday, November 12A (can’t even write it now)

Candy Shop and others, Yuyintang

I’m not necessarily hyping this show at Yuyintang. I really just want to share a quote from the mustachioed one, Dan Shapiro:

Lackluster rap-rock meets all-girl “punx” and utterly-depressing screamo / crabcore.

That’s succinct and hilarious, but tell us how you really feel, Dan. And can we not say crap on the Internet now? I didn’t get the memo.

YuYinTang – 1731 Yananxi rd. near Kaixuan rd.

Entrance 30 rmb

since 9pm

Friday got a little less awesome when it was announced that Holy Ghost! from NYC was forced to cancel their show due to one of their friends giving up the ghost, so to speak. Too bad.

As a substitution, I would suggest two dance shows elsewhere, one local and one international:

The Future, Dada

DJs Mickey Zhang, Ben Huang, and Nat Alexander teleport into Dada. Evidently, the future is Yellow. And a Void. And there’s house music.

Dada – 115 Xingfu rd. near Fahuazheng rd.

Free Entrance

10 pm

Roni Size, the Shelter

Roni Size is apparently a pretty big deal (get it?), brought to you by Sweatshop. I can’t really tell you anything about Mr. Size and I don’t feel like thinking up any more pathetic puns on his name. You probably don’t want to read them either, so let’s just move on to Saturday, shall we?

The Shelter – 5 Yongfu rd. near Fuxing rd.

Entrance: 80 rmb

10 pm

Saturday, November 14

Saturday is the real gem of the weekend with a variety of gigs going on around the city.

Uprooted Sunshine w/ Clive Chin, the Shelter

This is going to be pretty cool; Uprooted Sunshine in their element with reggae history on their side. I went to Chin’s talk at Dada last night, but couldn’t make it through the whole thing. Let’s just say older people, mics, and unlimited freedom don’t necessarily mix well. I popped over to Anar for some tribal drums and then returned just in time to ask Chin “Who killed Peter Tosh?” He was quite vague about it, though. We might have a suspect.

The Shelter – 5 Yongfu rd. near Fuxing rd.

Entrance: 50 rmb

10 pm

See what they did there? The famous title is Jurassic Park, but they changed it to another Paleolithic era. See? Now that’s how you name an event. I have never been to this venue, but if it’s anything like my parents garage, there’s not going to be much space for an audience. Not with the Pontiac in there.

Live Sound Garage - 696 Weihai rd. near Maoming rd.

Entrance: 30 rmb

9pm

Steely Heart by STD, LOgO

I don’t know much about this band, but Pet Conspiracy and Bigger Bang have convinced me that bands coming from Beijing should not be missed. ‘Nuff said.

LOgO – 13 Xingfu rd. near Fahuazheng rd.

Entrance: 30 rmb

10 pm