13 Club: Haidian's Longstanding Home of Rock Bites the Dust
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For over 15 years, 13 Club has been a rock and roll refuge deep in the heart of Beijing's university district Wudaokou. Located on Chengfu Road, just across from Tsinghua University, it has acted as a safe haven for punks, metalheads, and rockers of all ilk, as well as a breeding ground for student musicians looking for a little corruption. It was also once neighbor to the influential (and defunct) D-22, and while its no-frills vibe has largely kept it out of the limelight over the years the fact of the matter is that it's now Beijing's longest-surviving music venue – a truly impressive feat.
Sadly, this is Beijing, and we can’t go a few months without the doors of another longstanding establishment shuttering, so it’s with deep sorrow to inform music-goers that 13 Club will close for good with a farewell party on Saturday, Dec 21.13 Club has been a home for Beijing's rockers for the past 15 years
Opened in 2004 by Liu Lixin – a musical connoisseur whose other gigs included playing guitar for metal band Ordnance and managing another early venue Nameless Highland – 13 Club became a beacon for sleepless nights in Beijing’s flourishing rock and roll days, a place where many adolescents wrote the story of their youth in sweat, tears, and riotous mosh pits. I had the pleasure of visiting this past weekend and still found the place as vital as ever, as concert-goers threw themselves into a frenzy, thrashing their limbs and bodies with reckless abandon.
"Closing the doors was a difficult decision," says Liu
Liu knew 13 Club’s days were numbered as early as 2018. "When the Internet café above us was demolished, I could sense Beijing’s policies were getting tighter. We became prepared to close at any minute,” and yet the venue powered through, surviving on its weekly diet of metal, student bands, and touring bands, all the while waiting for the other shoe to drop. Add sky-rocketing rent prices, it became increasingly difficult to make ends meet. "Closing the doors was a difficult decision... we won’t be able to open up elsewhere or register for a new license," laments Liu.
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While the venue was never big on celebrations, it's last hoorah certainly takes on the air of a "go-for-broke and leave nothing on the floor" bon voyage. The behemoth of a lineup features some of the local metal scene’s most fierce and seasoned contenders, including veteran black metal band Ritual Day (pictured at top), melodic death metal outfit Purgatory, old-school metal thrashers SAW, the ever-deviant Sick Pupa, hardcore metal group Logic Control, Tianjin core ragers 641, and two secret bands, which, if they're anything like the others, will probably blow some heads off.
With the loss of 13 Club, local musicians are faced with fewer and fewer venues to cut their teeth
Expect something for everyone – but mainly metalheads – over 13 Club's closing weekend
Join Liu and the gang to bid farewell to 13 Club on Saturday, Dec 21 from 8.30pm onwards. Tickets are RMB 130 advance or RMB 160 on the door.
READ: The closure of Yugong Yishan and more of Beijing's biggest news from throughout the year.
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