*** We're almost out of the hole, but it's still August so the most interesting show on this week, believe it or not, is a Michael Jackson tribute. Yes, the King of Pop would have turned 56 on Friday if he hadn't kicked the bucket in 2009. Despite all the seriously comprising shit that has come out about the man since he passed (oof), his canon really holds up. Someone in Beijing pulled a bunch of bands together to posthumously hail the king. All of them will do their normal schtick, plus one MJ cover. That's Friday, August 29 at Mao Livehouse. And the lineup is damn outrageous. *** Let's go alpha order with this. First up is Bye Bye Noise. These guys are a bit newer, been around for a year and a half or so as far as I know. When I first started seeing the name I was really psyched because I thought they were a noise band. Turns out they look, dress, and sound like The Strokes. Still not bad. I see their name popping up everywhere, and it's always good to have hardworking bands grinding out the weekday shows at Mao, School, XP. Over-saturation through sheer ubiquity might not be my personal favorite MO but it worked for Residence A, so, can't knock the hustle. Here's a rather well-produced live video made by a company called Da She Music, whose logo is also on the flyer for this Michael Jackson gig. Synergy, y'all. *** Next is David (大卫). Wrote about his whole vibe not long ago, catch up here. And this is a recent photo taken by a professional: See, dude's already like the Chinese version of Michael Jackson. On Friday he's not even gonna cover an MJ track, he's just going to do a dance routine to a montage of greatest hits. Probably involving gongfu weapons. Here's another super-dramatic Da Wei video in case the last one wasn't enough for you: *** Next up: Nova Heart. Despite the outspoken-ness of frontwoman Helen Feng, the band's been pretty quiet in Beijing lately. That's due to a heavy tour schedule (they've been trekking around Australia and Russia) and because they're putting the finishing touches on a new LP, which will drop in November. Gave that one a preview listen yesterday and it's pretty damn good. Gets real weird. Going deeper down the vaguely psychedelic / shoegazey electro-dance-rock rabbit hole the band's been orbiting for a while. Good stuff. Will fill you in on more later. For this gig Nova Heart's gonna cover "Smooth Criminal" (total classic!) and probably play this song, which has an excellent music video: *** Rolling along with: Rustic. Heard these guys have been tearing it up since they got the original band back together. Been giving them a lot of ink recently so let's just leave it at this video, it showcases some of bassist Ricky Sixx's best moves and also Jamie Welton keeps making subliminal cameos with his metal face on. It's pretty badass. I bet Rustic's gonna cover "Beat It." *** Last we have Snapline. Though all of the acts on this bill are pretty far apart stylistically, Snapline's really the odd one out, because they're the only band that won't be straight up vamping on stage. Some subdued cats, these three. It's cold but it's cool, know what I mean? Snapline's my favorite band from China, and while I realize their vibe isn't for everyone, I've been surprised to recently discover that they can kill a dancefloor. Not live, mind you; I DJ'd this deep cut on Friday night at The Shelter and people were screaming and jumping around like Ian Curtis' ghost had entered their skulls. Go figure. What a jam. March speed, sounds like it was written for the happiest army in human history. Don't think I've heard this one live ever, it's an old song that Snapline recorded in the last year or two and just now dropped as a shiny, clear Genjing slab. Can find it at the various record stores about town now. At this gig Snapline will most likely cover that super obscure experimental post-punk Michael Jackson song that you and I have never even heard of. *** If you're a purist and want to focus strictly on Michael for the evening, Mako Livehouse has you covered. They're throwing their own MJ Bday Rager on Friday Night, which includes the Beijing debut of a documentary shot at the Toronto stop of the 1984 Jacksons' Victory Tour. Actually I think the real Beijing debut was a few minutes ago in my apartment when I watched the YouTube video of it (above), but it's just not the same when you're not surrounded by a bunch of diehards. My roommate HATES Michael Jackson. *** All hail!