I won't lie I’m not big on Dior. Prior to visiting the Dior show at Ullens my experience with the brand was limited to a bright orange knock-off t-shirt I bought on the street that had a black power fist on it and happened to read, “Dior Not War.”

Being a human who lacks the ability to match clothing, I did not expect to understand or appreciate the Dior show, so I was surprised to find that it impressed me greatly. The show mixes original Dior dresses from the 1940s up to present, some of them so old they are falling apart, together with works of art inspired by Dior done by 22 different Chinese artists.

Kylie Minogue
RMB 280-2,580.
8pm. Workers' Gymnasium (6501 6655)

I had never even heard of Kylie Minogue before buzz starting swirling around the city that the world's finest derriere was coming to town, and it belonged to a forty-year-old woman, who, by the way, could sing too. I could find no one, man or woman, who contested the fact that Kylie was hot as hell, and I also could find no one who could give me a better explanation than, “Kylie…she’s just…hot. Mmmmm.”  Who was this infamous she-temptress, and how had she cast the world under her spell?

Wax Tailor
RMB 110, RMB 80 (advance).
9pm. Yugong Yishan (6404 2711)

James Pants
RMB 70.
10pm. White Rabbit (133 2112 3678)

Two very different DJs were in town this past weekend, both equally eclectic, starting off with Wax Tailor at Yugong Yishan on Friday evening. Accompanying him was a cellist (which pretty much automatically guarantees him points in the “cool” factor), as well as a kick-ass flutist who worked up quite a sweat with her hootin’ and tootin’ (think Miri Ben-Ari on winds). Wax's style was somewhere in-between hip-hop and trip-hop, and his sound likened to DJ Shadow and Portishead; indeed, singer Charlotte Savary had a haunting voice that carried the same echoing quality of Beth Gibbons.

The star-studded opening of the Christian Dior and Chinese Artists exhibition had all the glitz, glamor and downright excessive fabulousness you'd expect from the world of haute couture. A flock of specially invited guests spilled into the heavily-policed 798 art district especially for the occasion, including major A-listers Charlize Theron, Eva Green, Marion Cotillard, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh. Unfortunately for the likes of us humble press, entry was strictly limited to those handpicked by Galliano himself – we were granted a suitably glamorous cocktail-fueled viewing the following day.

Nov 14
New Pants Album Release Party
RMB 80.
9pm. Yugong Yishan (6404 2711)

New Pants, Old Hat
The New Pants CD release party started off unassuming enough - Yugong Yishan was packed, but for some reason the very front of the club had ample room for seating right in front of the projection screen. A new film by New Pants’ singer Peng Lei was being shown. The opening shots featured the keyboardist Pang Kuan prancing around the streets of Beijing with various gorgeous models. Funny. Through a series of seemingly random sequences, a very amusing and poignant story coalesced, poking fun at fashion trends, culture clash, male insecurity, young love, Japanese infomercials, Chinese idiosyncrasies and even the movie Titanic. The basic plot was about a poor pottery artist and his work, his down-and-out girlfriend and their romantic troubles. The funniest part was probably when “the American businessman” came to appraise the pottery (which, by the way, was a chamber pot intended for a wedding present). Any foreigner would appreciate and relate to the hilarious obsequiousness of the potter and his friends towards the American. I think the Chinese people in the audience appreciated the joke even more when the American bought the pot for seven million dollars.

DJ Shadow
RMB 200, RMB 80 (advance).
9pm. Angel Club (6552 8888)

Friday night’s DJ Shadow show proved that when it comes down to it, standing room beats assigned seating any day of the week, even at a cramped and cornered place like Angel Club. Maybe it’s that big timers like Avril and Kanye require bountiful stage space and back up to perform; but two turntables, a mixer and a Serato-fitted laptop are all it takes for someone like Shadow to get a kick-ass party going (B-boy battles included).

Kanye West
RMB 280-2,000.
7.30pm. Workers' Gymnasium (6501 6655 ext 5033)

So Kanye West finally got his act together and made it to Beijing this past weekend, putting on an energetic, fantasmic, hour and a half light-show of a set at Workers’ Gymnasium Saturday night. The evening started off promptly at 7.30pm, with a rap group from Taiwan opening for his Westness, and receiving adequate applause at that. From what we’ve gathered here at the Beijinger, that group was not the originally advertised Will Pan.

Last night Avril Lavigne became the first performer to give the Wukesong Stadium a work out as a live music venue and, according to reports in today’s Beijing papers, the Olympic Basketball venue saw quite a show. Lavigne kicked off the performance, the last of her six-city tour of China, with her popular “Girlfriend” and the audiences responded by rushing forward to the VIP area in front of the main stage. Three songs in to the 70-minute performance, things became a little chaotic with barriers in front of the stage being bent out of shape by crazed fans. The stage lighting was turned off and the concert was forced to pause for eight minutes as staff standing on the stage asked the crowd to return to their seats. After fans had returned to the stands, the Canadian punk-pop princess continued on with the show. Reports suggest that the crowd control problems stemmed from more than just excitable fans but were also exacerbated by the poor lay out of the venue. The crowd simply filled the large amount of empty space at the center of the stadium and little security had been set up to prevent them from doing so. You can take a look at a video of the chaotic scenes here.

Sep 26-27
AIR
RMB 700, advance RMB 550.
8pm, 11pm (after party). Yugong Yishan (6404 2711)

With their first ever shows in China, Air also happened to be a very fitting, along with the equally placid Benson and Jarreau, choice of first foreign act to perform in the post-Olympics, post-Bjork era: relaxing, intimate and ever uncontroversial.