So, by now everyone has heard of the untimely cancellation (hopefully just a postponement) of this year's MIDI festival. Sure, it sucks (I for one already purchased train tickets and threw down a deposit on a hostel), but really, what can be done to amend the situation? No amount of complaining is gonna change anything, so, I propose to readers of this blog (if there actually are any) an alternative way to feast on rock, punk, metal, indie, or pop, whatever your genre of choice.

Let's immediately be honest with ourselves and admit that no one was really going to 2008 MIDI for the line-up of foreign acts. Aside from headliners Mando Diao, the majority (serious majority) of the international acts are really C-rate bands that weren't invited to the Beijing Pop Festival (and if you're really starving for some heavy hitters, I definitely recommend the September spectacular in Chaoyang Park) .

Now that we've gotten this out of the way, the real reason to go to MIDI is enjoy long days in the park watching countless Chinese bands, drinking cheap-ass beers, snacking on fatty yang-rou-chuan, and experiencing the rad community vibe that only exists at music festivals. Sound issues, long lines for nasty bathrooms, and uncontrollable weather forecasts are always a factor at these music marathons, but, if you continue to read on, I offer the perfect method for any music addict to score their dose.

Unlike Shanghai, Beijing has a plethora of bitchin' rock clubs/dives/venues that will all be hosting great shows every evening of the May holidays, many of which will feature bands on the MIDI bill.

Beginning on April 30, Wudaokou's Internationally-renown D-22 (although I won't lie, the website's been having some issues so just check out www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing for more details) will commence two weeks of non-stop celebrations in honor of their second anniversary. Sure I could sit here and plug my own show (which is the kick-off event sharing a bill with PK-14), but the gig on May 1 is honestly reason enough to head for the capital city. On May Day, dance-rockers Queen Sea Big Shark, alternative punks Joyside, garage purists The Scoff, Carsick Cars, and my personal favorite band in all of China, The Casino Demon (sorry, they're too cool for hyperlinks), will share the stage in, without a doubt, the best club-show in the history of Chinese rock. For a ticket price of RMB50 it really makes you wonder what the hell Live Bar is thinking by trying to charge fans RMB350 for four days of, honestly, crappy bands. Check out the full line-up here.

If that line-up doesn’t excite you, well, I suspect you just don’t like rock-and-roll music and thus you’re probably wasting your time reading anything I write.

For those of you who do embrace distorted, electric guitars, also check out Mao Livehouse for the best club-sound in China. On May 2nd, although I won’t be there because I’ll probably be holed-up on the second floor of D-22 all weekend long, Mao will be hosting a couple of Swedish bands, Backyard Babies and Hardcore Superstar, who were supposed to play on the MIDI Main stage. Sure these bands are scheduled to make appearances in Shanghai, but there is no club in China that can compete with the sound and lights at MAO, and, resident bar-wench Wu is such a delight that well, perhaps you’d go just to flirt (she has a great knack for making everyone feel like they have shot).

Obviously none of the above recommendations solve any daytime quagmires and the abundance of free time before the evening melee, but Beijing has so much rich Chinese culture that’s not available in Shanghai that I advise a quick trip to Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum, a stroll around Tiananmen Square where random Chinese folks will ask you (and your handlebar mustache) to take pictures with their babies, or an aimless walk around the Hutongs before they’re all torn down. Otherwise, head over to 2 Kolegas to enjoy beers and foosball on their lawn/patio and stay until the sun sets for some live bands.

For more metal-oriented readers, check out 13 Club’s (161 LanQiYing, Wudaokou [next to D-22] – sorry I couldn’t find a website, but CW's got the info) two-night Metal Festival on May 1st & 2nd. For 60 RMB you get entrance to both nights and can flash your devil horns/maloch (yes I’m giving Ronnie James Dio complete credit for popularizing the hand gesture) and thrash your un-necessarily long mane to the sounds of Gammalux (if they qualify as metal), Raging Mob, TNT, Last Chance of Youth, and many more.

So, if these options aren’t enough reason to get out of Shanghai for a couple days in the name of independent, rock-and-roll music, there’s always YuGong YiShan (although there’s nothing on their schedule that makes my pants tight, but we may have different tastes) and the Get Lucky/Hao Yun Bar.

I’m well aware that none of this really replaces the carefree laziness of tossing a disc around Haidan Park with good friends, listening to music on four stages, but let’s face the ultimate reality that we chose to live in China and that anything is possible here. I also realize that my equation to ‘how to beat the non-MIDI blues’ is nowhere nearly as cost-effective as the 150 RMB four-day entrance fee, but hey, there’s still enough time to take out a new line of credit, withdraw a hefty cash advance (with a serious interest rate), and blow it all in the name of fun – come on, you do get blank slate on credit every seven years.

See you in Beijing. Later on . . .