Friday: Tribal Moons at The Hump Bar
The Tribal Moons will play their first show back from their southeast China tour at The Hump Bar tonight. The Moons will be joined by the musical stylings of Lumberjack Jon. The show starts at 9:30, admission is free.

Friday: Wild West Fourth at Speakeasy Bar
Speakeasy Bar will go Yank for an evening with a wild west-themed party featuring DJ Latino and DJ Yan. Glasses of bourbon and cola will be on special for 12 yuan. The party starts at 10 pm, admission is free.

Saturday: Zhang Quan at Halfway House
Chinese folk veteran Zhang Quan will play Saturday night at Halfway House. This Saturday night's show is entitled Ballad of the Yellow River, which will include re-presentation of Zhang's earlier works, Chinese northwestern folk songs and his recent dombra and harmonica works. The music starts at 9:30 pm, admission is 15 yuan.

Saturday: Caribbean Heat dance party at the Hump Bar
The Hump Bar will be throwing an all-night "Caribbean Heat" dance party on Saturday night featuring zouk, samba, reggae, salsa, meringue, Swahili hiphop, South African house and more. Mojitos and Cuba Libres will be on special for 12 yuan. Music starts at 9:30, admission is free.

Image: Associated Press

Gansu folk musician Zhang Quan (张佺) is to perform in Kunming this Saturday at Halfway House, his first performance in Kunming since January 2007.

Strongly influenced by Chinese northwestern folk music as he grew up, Zhang Quan joined the now-defunct Beijing folk band Wild Children in 1995 and until one of his bandmates passed away in 2003. Zhang was also the co-owner of the influential folk music venue River Bar in Beijing.

Zhang moved to Yunnan in 2004 and in 2006 he had a solo tour that passed through Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet. Currently Zhang Quan plays the dombra, a Kazakh instrument with a sound similar to a banjo or a lute, and harmonica.

This Saturday night's show is entitled Ballad of the Yellow River, which will include re-presentation of Zhang's earlier works, Chinese northwestern folk songs and his recent dombra and harmonica works. The performance will start at 9:30 pm, tickets to the show are 15 yuan.

Last night Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music and Dance Studio put on the first of two nights of music based upon the indigenous music traditions of Yunnan's ethnic minorities. The 120+ seats were filled and the audience appeared to enjoy the evening's mix of Yunnan indigenous music blended with some modern elements.

The studio was formerly the gallery Red Banana in the Chuang Ku (aka The Loft) art compound at 101 Xiba Lu. The studio is a small minimalist space well-suited to intimate concerts and performances.

Opening act Huanqing performed with traditional Yunnan ethnic instruments, samples of recorded sounds, recorded minority dialects and chanting as well as ambient drumbeats. Zhang Quan joined Huanqing for one song with dongbula and harmonica.

Afterward, Zhang performed folk songs from his former band Wild Children as well as some of his new songs.

The final musician Luo Fengxue came onto the stage in Bai costume, singing and playing various minority instruments such as the leaf harp, gourd pipe and bamboo flute.

Concert director Liu Xiaojin said that the studio will put on more indigenous and folk concerts in the future. As the venue is a small theatre and Liu herself is a filmmaker, the studio also plans to put on experimental and avant-garde plays from Beijing and elsewhere in China.

Tickets to tonight's 8:30 show featuring Huanqing, Zhang Quan and Luo Fengxue are 30 yuan.

Tickets: Ms Liu (0871) 240 0237 or 13354608051
Address: Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music and Dance studio (源生坊剧场) in Chuang Ku/The Loft (next to Nordica), 101 Xi Ba Road
Buses: 4, 22, 62 to Bai Yao Chang