Chad Valley (Split Works 5th Anniversary) @ Temple: I turned up after it started, but I was instantly impressed. It’s the sort of indie electronic that I love, and there is a beautiful, powerful voice hiding behind Hugo Manuel’s unassuming exterior. I wish the set had been longer, but I love that there was space up the front to watch the show up close.

Shanren + Lidong @ Mao Livehouse: Shanren and Lidong are folk bands from two different provinces (Yunnan and Ningxia, respectively), and have completely different performing styles, but they are two of my favorite folk groups out there. Lidong opened to a receptive crowd, and Shanren played to a very enthusiastic one. Shanren had a guest rapper, who introduced himself as a “black Chinese”, and they had Sam, their laowai drummer, have a song all to himself. It was a great show, though the rowdy French people made it a little awkward sometimes.

Duck Fight Goose @ D-22: This was an awesome gig! I was really too tired to appreciate most of it, but I do remember being parked up front just letting the music wash over me. They were absolutely great and I hope they get back to Beijing soon. For now, I have to be content with the CD I got for free with the ticket.…

Winter Solstice @ Zajia Labs: Not specifically a gig, but this was a great night which should remind us all that there are always random awesome things going on, you just have to keep your ear to the ground. Zajia Labs held a winter solstice dumpling-making event, where 150RMB bought you all you can eat, all you can make vegetarian dumplings until their massive quantities ran out, and all you can drink mulled wine and beer. It was an amazing night, rounded off with a lovely little folk jam session with Jurat and Xiao Budian from Shanren.

I am leaving out two other shows I went to because I barely felt as though I went at all: I was only there for Residence A and, as mentioned, there really isn’t anything more I can say about how amazing they are and how much I love them. Next up: I’ll write about the D-22 December 30 gig, because it deserves a post of its own.

As mentioned, Simple Plan is playing at Yugong Yishan on Friday, 8PM, 380RMB. For hard rock fans, Mao is hosting V Rock Fest 2012, bringing an element of visual kei with AJK, JOKER and Providence’G, 8PM, 70/50RMB. Also on Friday, check out Mongolian band Ajinai with Lidong/Migratory Bird and The Randy Abel Stable at Dos Kolegas, 10PM, 50RMB. And that’s about it. It’s a quiet first week, for a quiet month.

If you want to get down and dirty this New Year’s Eve (and not in a warehouse full of people), there are plenty of rock options out there. D-22 has the aforementioned Ourself Beside Me, Carsick Cars, and PK14, 10pm, 100/80RMB; Mao Livehouse is hosting Perdel’s debut album launch with Locomotive Gentlemen, 9PM, 90/70RMB; you can have a folky new year’s at Jiangjinjiu Bar with Gangzi, 9:30PM, 30RMB; or if you’re a metal head, check out 13 Club’s Dimfest Vol. 9 for the countdown, 8PM, 40RMB. To blow off your new year’s resolutions the next day, check out Happy Avenue at Mako Livehouse, 8PM, 60/50RMB; Ningxia Night at 2 Kolegas, 10PM, 60RMB; or Life Journey’s welcome to the new year, Good Night 2012, Mao Livehouse, 8:30PM, 80RMB.

Of course, there’s plenty more where that came from this Christmas eve! D-22’s offering has Hedgehog, White+ and Mr Graceless, which should be a great show and the last time to see Hedgehog this year, if I’m not mistaken (I might be), 10PM, 60/50RMB. Dos Kolegas also has what is sure to be a great night at the drive-in dive with SUBS, Skarving and Candy Monster, 10PM, 50RMB. But what it comes down to is where you want to be as you count down to Christmas (I’ve seen it happen, no lie). Of course, the rest of the week has great stuff on as well, with Voodoo Kungfu lighting up the stage with their theatrical metal show at Mao Livehouse, and two folk shows on Christmas Day at Jianghu (Ma Youye, Song Dongye and more, 9PM, 30RMB), and D-22 (with The Randy Abel Stable, Liu Yusi and more, 9:30PM, 40/30RMB). No matter where you go, have a good Christmas, everyone!

There’s some awesome folk going on this Friday, too, with Hanggai saying goodbye to 2011 at Dos Kolegas from 9PM, 100RMB, and Moshi is hosting personal favorites Shanren and Li Dong at Mao Livehouse, 8:30PM, 60/50RMB, or else there’s avant-garde WHAI at Jiangjinjiu Bar, 9:30PM, 50/40RMB. For something different, check out swing/gypsy jazz troupe The Hot Club of Beijing at VA Bar also on Friday, 9:45PM, 30RMB. And punk rockers Demerit is back from their national tour, playing at Yugong Yishan on Saturday 9:30PM. Finally, if hard rock is your thing, check out Twisted Machine for their DVD launch (finally) at Mao Livehouse on Sunday, 8:30PM, 100/80RMB.

1) Shanghai funtime whiz-kids Pairs have written a non-exhaustive list: “Things we’ve learned from hanging out with rockstars.” It’s a good read, though it’s probably aimed more towards people IN bands (or dating people in bands) rather than anyone else. Good advice for anyone getting into the scene, and it’s always good for fans to get a perspective from that elusive backstage.

2) Matthew Neiderhauser and Zhang Shouwang have put together a Domus Mixtape for Beijing. Unsurprisingly it’s dark and urban and includes almost exclusively Maybe Mars bands, but that doesn’t make it bad. In fact, it’s an awesome playlist. If you can’t get to the Domus site, check it out on Soundcloud.

3) Long-term Shanghai residents Andrew Field and Jud Willmont are on the cusp of releasing a documentary about the Chinese indie scene, this time largely following punk group SUBS. Check out some more info here, and keep your eyes peeled for info about screenings.

Yes you read that right, four opening acts. There were originally only two, and I don’t know where Thruoutin and Cassette snuck in, but they did. It worked out okay, though. I only caught the end of Thruoutin’s set, but it was quite good, and a friend of mine told me he was doing some interesting things with a sitar.… Second up was X is Y, who I’d seen at D-22 this time last year, but I missed them being upstairs.

Third up was Residence A, and while I have said almost as much as I can say about them, I must note that this was an amazing show for them. Their regular bass player was back after six weeks off for a hand injury, and the entire band was in fine form. I’m not sure what it was — if it was anything at all — but it was clear that they were having a good night. They interacted with the crowd a little more, showed off a little more, performed a little more, and it all added up to probably the best show of theirs I have been to.

Unfortunately, Cassette after them just felt lacklustre and boring in comparison. The female vocalist was clearly going for the Helen Feng effect, though instead of coming off as alluring and sexy as she played her synth, she just sort of looked like a pole dancer with a Nintendo controller. A friend noted that with her long black hair, she looked like something out of a Japanese horror film. In any case, that distracted from the music so much I honestly don’t remember what they sounded like, but I’m not sure that the first impression will have me back to see them any time soon.

Finally, half an hour after midnight, Boys Climbing Ropes took the stage to a small but energetic crowd who had all clearly been drinking since the first band. There was lots of crazy hipster dancing and drinks splashing around, but I can understand why. Boys Climbing Ropes were amazing. The energy of Xiao Punk is completely infectious, and their sound is down and dirty indie rock like we know and love it. Their lyrics are also great, and I think everyone in the crowd identified a little too much with “Grow Up” (“grow up grow up stop fucking around” — sound familiar, anyone?), and I think I’ve found a new favorite to spin alongside Residence A. There’s something indescribable about what having a practiced Western hand in the music does, but you can hear it in every beat. I loved it, and I can’t wait until they’re back in Beijing.

For now, check out their Douban and enjoy the hell out of them.

Runners up this week include: Chad Valley at Temple, TONIGHT, as mentioned last week. Help Split Works celebrate! 9PM, 50RMB; atmospheric folk rockers Bloody Woods are paying Jianghu on Thursday, 9PM, 40/30RMB; and, look, Residence A are playing on Saturday! With Illness Sickness, Los Crasher and more, Mao Livehouse, 50/40RMB; for those into metal, Yaksa’s back after a long tour, Sat @ 9PM, 80/60RMB; and songstress Abigail Washburne has gotten together some friends and formed The Wu-Force, playing for the first time at Yugong Yishan on Sunday, 9PM, 50RMB.

This show was completely different. By the time I got there (admittedly late), Yugong Yishan was entirely packed. Not quite Huun Huur Tu packed, but jam-packed at least three rows behind the sound stage, and there was no way you were getting downstairs into the mosh. Hedgehog had only just started (by my calculations from the set list on the sound desk), and they played everything. It was almost a retrospective, from their xylophone-brightness of their 2007 “Toy & 61 Festival” (玩具和61儿童节), through their Blue Daydream days, and all the way to this year’s Honeyed & Killed. It wasn’t a goodbye, of course, but it was very reflective of them, which makes sense considering the epic year they’ve had, and the year they have ahead of them.

The crowd was, naturally, completely into it. For 80RMB per ticket, you really got the fans who love them, and it was clear with the amount of crowd surfing that went on. If there are going to be crowd surfers at a show, there’s usually only one or two souls brave enough to go through with it, and they usually only attempt it once. This time, there were at least five different people crowd surfing, with as many as three people trying to be held up at once. It was a little insane, and of course nobody was sustained for very long, but everyone seemed to tolerate it. Still, I felt like someone should have told them that even the biggest crowds can’t hold more than two, and certainly not the crowd at Yugong Yishan. Anyway, everyone was having a great time and it made the band play even more energetically than usual. The bass player — new to Hedgehog this year but instantly part of the family — was particularly into it, which was nice to see.

And finally, at the end of my time at the show (places to be, people to see, you know how it is), the adorable pint-sized drum-smasher Atom played us a song all on her lonesome. She was alone on stage with a keyboard and her high-pitched voice, but unfortunately the song itself fairly unmemorable — apart from her mic falling down a few times.

Overall it was a great show. Though I was a big fan of their earlier work, I’m really digging grown up Hedgehog, and I can’t wait to hear what they’ve got for us next. Apparently there’s a new album in the works, to be released in the spring, and I’m excited to hear what they came back from the US.

I’ve mentioned this on my newsletter, and will soon update the main website’s “About” page, but I thought I would put this on the blog for those of you who don’t know. I recently switched jobs, which wouldn’t be such a noteworthy deal if it wasn’t for the fact that I am the new Nightlife editor at City Weekend here in Beijing. I’ve been at the magazine for three weeks now, and the issue on stands next week will be the first I have done entirely on my own.

For my audience here, I want to reassure you that this will not change anything about my work at the Gig Guide. In fact, it can only help it. At CW, I hear about shows a lot earlier than I would just checking Douban sporadically, and I can be much more accurate with my information on the Gig Guide (which is always a good thing). The downside is, of course, that occasionally I will get so busy that I don’t update the Gig Guide in advance as I have been doing. As for this blog, they are two sides of the same coin. City Weekend is very much about keeping people up-to-date on what’s coming up, while this blog is largely about reporting on shows I have been to, while also offering the sort of niche news about releases and shows and the industry that isn’t as important to the readers of City Weekend.

So overall, the positives outweigh the negatives for all involved, and you have my word that I won’t abandon my Beijing Gig Guide and Blog because of my new position at City Weekend. After all, it got me the job in the first place.