*** The sun came out over the weekend, shining light on good and bad alike. The Good: JUE Festival finished strong. THE BUG really smashed paradigms on Friday at Dada, six-subwoofers-worth of end times music whipping the extra-packed dancefloor into an hour-long out-of-body frenzy. Was something else. Emilie Simon wowed audiences the same night at Yugong, performing with what one observer described to me as "a cyberpunk bionic arm instrument." And the whole thing literally rolled to a stop with yesterday's show on a public bus. Still can't believe that happened. Pics to come. The Bad: Sontag Shogun got their show at Zajia Lab on Saturday canceled. Word is Zajia got a phone call from concerned authorities informing them that they can't host any international acts (or laowai generally) without the proper performance visas. XP — which quietly re-opened over the weekend after almost a month of forced closure — has received a similar ultimatum vis-a-vis the nationality of performers allowed to grace their stage. XP will continue to host live gigs, starting with tomorrow's Zoomin' Night, Wednesday's new band night, and a show on Friday for Hanghzou-based "mystery all-girl noise group" zzmmeess. But the volume of gigs for the time being will be limited as they test the waters, and they're rather hamstrung by the new limitations. Zajia has a "for rent" sign hanging in front of their door, so who knows if they'll even do another show. Will check on that this week. Back to the positive: Beijing's still a capital place for live music, the best in China. Here are various artists — some local, some not — ascending our still-open stages this week, showcasing the dynamism and variety that has become the hallmark of the Beijing music scene. V/A: *** First up, a little weeknight action: social network Douban.com makes a big move into the offline world with a live concert celebrating some artists who won big in the latest annual round of their Abilu Music Awards on Thursday at M Space (formerly the Wukesong Staidum Arena... huge space). Though this is the fourth year they've been awarding their home-cooked Abilu honors, and they've been doing their Behind the Billboard gig series for well over a year, this is the first time Douban will be organizing a real-world showcase on a such a large scale. Here's their promo video for it, in which a bunch of disgruntled Millenials quit their day jobs as line cooks and bloggers or whatever to form a flashmob in Sanlitun, then focus on making Beijing-flavored pop rock: Quite an eclectic spread on Thursday's showcase, with live sets from Wang Wen, The LifeJourney, Kulu Liang, MHP, Xu Fei, and Mr. Graceless. A real cross-genre, V/A vibe, "showcasing a full picture of the new face of Chinese indie music," Douban says. The company has been pivoting more and more towards becoming a player in the music industry here, inking distribution and record deals with labels and bands throughout the country. Expect this one to be a coming out party of sorts for Douban.com as more music media mogul than social network. Two tiers of tickets: 150rmb for the "back zone", 280rmb to be up closer and more personal. SmartBeijing still has two pairs of freebies left to give away to a lucky reader... email music at smartbeijing dot com with "Abilu Winner" in the headline and you'll get them if you're fast enough. Otherwise, tickets are only available via Douban's proprietary online ticketing service; buy them here. Full info in the listing. *** An add-on bonus to that one: popup party series "Slumber Station: Various Artists" will host MHP for a special guest appearance on Thursday night at Dada. The Shanghai techno producer and DJ will be pulling double duty after performing across town at the Abilu thing. MHP has a deep history in the Shanghai underground experimental and electronic music scenes, and has been one of the major producers pushing Chinese sounds abroad via a string of international releases. The last time he came to Beijing was also under the auspices of Douban, as part of their Behind the Billboard series. Pretty sure he also pulled a double-header at Dada after that one. Check out a long-read interview we ran with MHP around that time here. And here's MHP's latest release, the Crepuscular Rays EP: MHP will presumably head to Dada for the late slot, playing after opening sets by local DJs Puzzy_Stack and Senders_Chen. So many underscores. 10pm start, free. More info *** The all-over-the-musical-map theme continues with back-to-back gigs this weekend at Mao Livehouse celebrating the one-year anniversary of DIY concert promoter Kou Niao (口鸟). Kou Niao is the one-man effort of Zhong Yueming, a local music fan who cut his teeth at a bartender at School Bar, eventually beginning to put together bills of under-the-radar rock'n'rollers he'd experience from behind the counter. He's been grinding the underground circuit pretty hard, putting on 2-3 shows a month at School, XP, Temple, and a few other battle-scarred Gulou dives. On Friday night, Kou Niao Anniversary Part 1 dedicates itself to the city's most meanderingest of jammers. Live post-rock from Glow Curve, Sparrow, SNSOS, The Eat, Hualun, and Grinding Ear. Been a while since I've checked in with Glow Curve... feel like their side projects (namely, iimmune) have been more active than the band itself. Here's a classic cut of theirs, a paean to long-gone Tongzhou noise haven Raying Temple: This one's 100rmb at the door, 8:30pm start. *** Kou Niao Anniversary Night Two is called Neo Day, confusingly, as the lineup is packed with big-name bands who've all been around for almost a decade. Really an all-headliner bill, though. Sets from Carsick Cars, Hedgehog, Bigger Bang, Joyside frontman Bian Yuan, and Wuhan's AV Okubo. Pretty curious to see where AVO's at with it these days. Here's a cut from their most recent release, "Heroin", which I previously described as "sounding like the Sex Pistols telling Lou Reed to fuck off." Actually this B-side was originally supposed to be a straight up Velvets cover but, as AVO vocalist Lu Di laments right off the bat, “the price is too high and I can't afford it”: This star-studded bill will run you 150rmb at the door. 9pm start. More *** One more for your consideration: Emma Pollock on Sunday at DDC. Gotta give DDC a shoutout, for now it's one of the last bastions available to touring acts too underground to play bigger venues or secure pricey performance visas. Knocking on wood. Emma Pollock, former lead singer of late '90s alternative shoe gazing Brit rockers The Delgados, kicks off her inaugural China tour this weekend. Founding members of renowned Glaswegian indie imprint Chemikal Underground — a label counting Mogwai and Arab Strap in its ranks — The Delgados put Scottish alternative rock on the map, gaining critical and commercial success across Europe and the US. On Sunday Emma Pollock, the band's lead vocalist and guitarist, will be performing original tunes with a backup band of Shanghai-based musicians. Here's a taste of what's on offer: Smooth way to wrap the weekend, I'd say. 100rmb, 9pm start. *** RECAP: Douban.com Abilu Award Showcase = THU March 26 @ M Space Slumber Station: Various Artists w/ MHP = THU March 26 @ Dada Kou Niao Anniversary Party = FRI March 27 + SAT March 28 @ Mao Live Emma Pollock = SUN March 29 @ DDC