Raise a Glass to (And Insert Your Earplugs For) Temple and DDC's Joint Anniversary Week

I don’t think people quite appreciate how good we have it regarding the handful of music venues in Gulou and nearby that are still going strong. If you take a cursory look elsewhere in China, you'll soon see a mess of scenes that are being heavily regulated by local authorities, who in doing so are shooting themselves in the foot. Performance permits, certifications, and newly enforced checks and balances are hitting both first-tier and second-tier cities quicker than the rickety laser printers can spit them out (take for instance this snapshot of what's happening in Chengdu right now), further widening the gap between DIY spaces forced to stay on their toes and gaudy mid-sized venues plonked outside already defined nightlife centers i.e. in malls.

Yet Beijing’s roots run deep – the old way of running things is still very much ingrained in the city so change comes slowly and is more tightly coordinated. What I’m getting at is you best enjoy what Beijing has to offer music-wise right now because it will be a wholly different landscape in five years (heck, even two). Holding down their little havens of unadulterated aural fun for the time being are two of the scene’s finest establishments – DDC and Temple Bar – who celebrate their fifth and eighth year anniversaries (respectively) this week with a grab-bag extravaganza of showcases, jams, and scorching-hot lineups.

So, what's happening at DDC?

Over at DDC, owner 69 and co. are making sure no genre goes untouched with a diverse and rich catalog of bands hitting the Shanlao Hutong mainstay. This week's entertainment acts as a cross-section of the venue's MO, which has largely defined itself with a willingness to indulge in both classier aspirations as well as more deviant desires.

As such, if your tastes are more refined, you'll want to hang with the intricate jazz stylings of the 3C Ensemble, a supergroup of rotating jazz statesmen whose innovative sound has kept the jazz scene on its toes for over two years. Over the weekend the music gets turned up considerably, with some of the venue’s favorite promoters taking the reigns, including VIBES and yours truly, Live Beijing Music, who will showcase an array of riotous sounds – from grunge revisionists JaJaTao to Shenzhen art punks Thin City, all before 69 himself welcomes his flagship bands – including post-rock groovers Acid Accident and alt-prog metal outfit Swarrm (who you can also catch at DDC’s new beachside digs in Baidaihe on Saturday). Fittingly, the whole shebang will kick off with the venue’s flagship Grand Jam – a monthly jam series that has become almost mystical in their scale, full of star-studded guests converging onstage for an epic anything-goes musical blowout.

What about Temple?

Meanwhile, over at Temple Bar, ground zero for down and dirty fun whose ramshackle rock 'n' roll charm have made it a home for hijinks and boisterous crowds, plays to their strengths, hosting one kickass show after another. Things get off to a bang, or should I say a very loud hissing sound, with a dose of experimental noise on Tuesday, before things move up a gear with a Thursday night billing which includes usual weekend warriors WHAI whose ever satisfying trance-inducing psychedelic rock is always a treat for the ears. The real feast, however, comes with the venue’s primal weekend roundup packed with some of the venue’s finest purveyors: costumed horror metal renegades Scare the Children and anti-establishment street punks Gum Bleed, who’ll join newcomers and out of town visitors like Tianjin’s Teddy. It’s all topped off with a Sunday night evening of reconciliation, where free drinks, trivia, and other debauched activities will try to scrub away or at least eradicate the few remaining memories from the nights prior.

While there are always folks who’ll reminisce about "the good ol’ days," this week is an occasion to preemptively enjoy the scene as it stands today versus how it may look tomorrow, and to raise a glass (or a coffee shot/cocktail/snuck-in Yanjing) to two of Beijing’s finest livehouse contenders. Keep the good times rolling DDC and Temple Bar and may you see many more gigs to come!

Temple and DDC's anniversary weeks run from Tuesday, Jul 23 through to Sunday, Jul 28.

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Images: Live Beijing Music