Now that’s what I call a breeze – looks like summer might be behind us finally and I couldn’t be happier. Let’s celebrate in style this weekend with these gigs across the city. I’m super lazy right now, so I’ll make this brief.

FRIDAY

A king size lineup at Yugong Yishan of some of the heaviest and most shred-ready bands this side of town – enormous in both quantity and quality – between Yaksa’s razor sharp nu metal, old school trash metal that rocks courtesy of Suffocated, trip-hop from CMCB, Mongolian infused metal with Ego Fall, and metal legends themselves Ordnance – it’s a feast of music that kicks that’s rounded out by Liquid Oxygen Can, Misandao, A.J.K, The Face, Left Right and Beijing Thug Brotherhood -ferocious – it’s almost too big in fact – best be prepared – the moshing kicks off at six this evening and won’t let up till past midnight. Bring lots of water. Hells yes – two of the most fun, happy go lucky bands in town who lay down the good tunes and vibes piles upon piles head over to summers perfect hangout Dos Kolegas –  rockabilly kids Rolling Bowling, who reminded me last weekend just how damn infectiously reliable they are and Mademoiselle et son Orchestre, whose gypsy jazz is all kinds of swinging goodness. Friends and family unite over at School for a night of pure, unfiltered hardcore music with Return The Truth, Last Resort, Own Up, The Lifeless, and Provocation. For those who just can’t let go of that Britpop fever, Mako Livehouse is the place to be as Amos, Time Capsule, Self Portrait, Magic Bus, and Red Cash bring the pop to rock n roll. The devilishly catchy Dirty Little Secret celebrate a bday tonight with a free show at Mao Livehouse along with other guests. Muilti-national improv ensemble Eins Zwei Hoch Null are in town to showcase their colorful mixture of influences along with Mr. Monodread at the cozy 69 Café. And finally, catch prog rockin Xinjiang artist Jurat T.T and The Great Plains at the Hot Cat Club, The Groove Collective at Temple, and Irish-crooners Blackwater at Blue Stream Bar.

SATURDAY

The Devils at the Crossroads, who are essentially the house band of Temple, are losing one of its integral members, the wide-eyed gruff voiced Joris who’s heading back to the sweet land of wine and cheese – a damn but come Saturday the band will go all out one last time together and it’s gonna be glorious – expect whiskey, jolly grins, rowdiness, and looks of blues-infused devilish rock and roll the way the Devils know best. For those itching for some bluegrass flavor then there’s no better place to be that Jianghu Bar where Beijing’s favorite country folk The Randy Abel Stable celebrate the release of their debut album, Stable Condition – no shoes is a definite must. School hosts two of my favorite kickstarters in town, surf rock duo The Dyne and rockabilly legends Rolling Bowling – and well the second half of the line up veers into some serious pop territory with Penicillin and Self Portrait, two out of four ain’t bad. 69 Café continues to pile on the shows with first, an afternoon set from guitar/accordion duo Fusha who joins our own Liu Yusi, and later with Xinjiang flamenco courtesy of Tursun. Local folk-pop sensation Zhang Guonian kicks off his first national tour at Mako Livehouse, while the old and the new, the veteran and rookie, new indie rock wonders Iron Kite – are joined by heavy rockers Thin Man at Mao Livehouse.

SUNDAY

In celebration of heading back to the books, School has gathered three bands with pop sensibilities who make quite catchy music, even if you feel a little guilty about it afterwards – Candy Monster who bring the doo wop back in style, Po Shang Cun, who have this whole restrained folk pop thing going, and Chaliangfen who have the benefit of having a strong voiced lady on vocals –a tad too sugar-coated for most, but for a easy laid back Sunday evening it might just be the thing. If ambient music and minimalist soundscapes your digs then head to me:mo’s frutiypeshow at Zajia Lab, where knowledge, Lijianhong, layer, and me:mo himself perform. Lastly, for a taste of Xinjiang flavor head to Mako Livehouse where three Uyghur rockers, rappers, and folksters hit the stage including Qetiq, Six City, and Bilaye.