This week, Shanghai’s experimental promotion group, S.T.D., brought legendary guitarist Jorma Kaukonen to Yuyintang for a special acoustic performance. This man has been touring the world for the last 40 years with his storied bands, which include Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna. Here’s what he had to say after the show.
How did your life-long love affair with the six string begin?
I never really thought about the guitar until I was about fourteen or fifteen years old. A friend of mine...[read more]
This Friday at Logo, Shanghai is being graced with the electronic sounds of Singaporean DJ/producer CC Sound Factory. CC started off her career as a singer in a few New York indie rock bands but eventually became a DJ by chance. Since busting onto the scene a few years back, CC has gone on to win 4 awards at the Toronto Exclusive Magazine Awards including Best Electronic Song and Best Electronic Album along with a Best Dance Act award at...[read more]
At times it is easy to think of Shanghai as nothing but a city of sin and debauchery. However, even in the nightlife scene you are able to find some good-natured people looking to give back. This Thanksgiving, Shanghai’s largest nonprofit charity, BEAN, is giving all of the city’s party people and music lovers the opportunity to help the community, rock out, and drink beer out of cornucopias at their annual Rocksgiving concert going down at Yuyingtang. All proceeds of...[read more]
Ni hao Shanghai! Another weekend is upon us and that means that for most of us it is time to bust of the hair gel, trim our chest hair, and pick up our fake Armani shirts from the dry cleaner. However, even if you are dressed well enough to pick up the newly single Demi Moore, that alone does not guarantee a properly larry weekend. In Shanghai, it's not about who you know, it's about which of the thousands of...[read more]
After a very successful run last Thursday, Panda Xpress is back at it, providing Shanghai with the best nightlife deal in town. Our trusty party bus is stocked with alcohol and is ready to roll once again this Thursday night (11/17). Without any further a due, here is the plan:
9:30-10:30pm Meet at Windows Too (Jing’an Temple): Enjoy the lively atmosphere of Shanghai’s premier sports bar where each person who registers to get on the Panda Xpress receives a free welcome...[read more]
If you are like most party people in Shanghai, once you make it past Wednesday you are chomping at the bit to throw back a few ice cold Suntory’s and get back on the scene. That’s why this Thursday (11/10), Panda Xpress, the hottest new party promotion group in town, is setting you up with the perfect way to get your weekend started a day before everyone else! Check out the itinerary for Shanghai’s most affordable raucous party bus:
9:30-10:45...[read more]
What's up freaks and witches? It's Halloween gosh darn it, the only time of the year you can dress up, get drunk, make a total ass out of yourself and completely get away with it. If you feel a little guilty getting down like that then here is a way to get smashed with your mind at ease. Tonight there will be a bumping Halloween party entitled "My Personal Demons" at Cargo JJ (1123 Yan'an Xi Lu, HuaShan Lu)....[read more]
If the JZ Festival left you jonesing for more cool blue jazz notes, then be sure to get your fix at this week's Tag Heuer Jazz Week. Starting on October 25th, elite musicians from across the globe will be coming to Shanghai in order to perform in a "highly sophisticated" concert series spanning four days at the Shanghai Concert Hall. 2011 marks the fifth consecutive year that the city of Shanghai has celebrated its rich musical history...[read more]
As a guitarist myself, nothing excites me more than seeing a pure shredder take the stage and wail on his six-string. This month Shanghai has been blessed with two events that showcase world-class guitar talent, so please allow me to share with you this most pertinent of information. First, I would like to mention our very own hometown guitar hero, Shanghai based guitarist Luis Coehlo. Luis grew up in Portugal where he began playing guitar at the age...[read more]
You guys have read my nightlife articles, but now it's time to give you an inside look into how I get down on a Friday night in Shanghai. Last Monday, Mattia Visconti, one of Shanghai's top promoters, asked me if I would like to help promote his upcoming Flower Power party at Bar Rouge. I spent the next few days going out wearing my signature panda hat getting numbers and inviting people to the party. By the time...[read more]
Six years ago, back when partiers in Shanghai had almost no other option than to hang out in pompous, commercial clubs, Mike Ohlsson brought together a band of like-minded DJs to form the collective presently known as Antidote. Starting in the gritty basement of C's, Mike and his troupe of youth-corrupting DJs started throwing monthly parties that helped to forge Shanghai's burgeoning underground scene.
On August 18th, Antidote will be celebrating its 6th anniversary and will be bringing it back to...[read more]
With Midi Festival - only the second ever rock and electro festival to take place in Shanghai - just a few short weeks away, we thought it would only be right to give you a sneak peak at each day's line up. Take a look at Midi's goods and let us know which day has got you the randiest:
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Friday
Tang Stage
13:00-13:30 Angry Jerks 13:50-14:20 Mya Audrey 14:50-15:30 Sonnet 16:00-16:40 Top...[read more]
Last week, Shanghai experienced a full-frontal longhorn assault. Binboa Vodka - "binboa" meaning 1000 bulls in Turkish - was unleashed upon the Chinese market. This fine spirit from Turkey won four awards at the 2010 SIP awards and has been steadily growing in international acclaim.
In order to celebrate the occasion, the Bund's sleekest baby, Horizen, threw a grand welcoming party. Riviera Events helped host the bash and drew a packed house. The energy was palpable, even though the performances (including...[read more]
Last week, after months of anticipation, order was restored to the Shanghai live music universe with the reopening of Mao Livehouse. Manager Li DaLong made sure that the rebirth of his Mohawk-toting baby was done in style; a two-part show featuring highly regarded international and local acts.
With their Jue Festival barreling forward at full speed, Split Works took care of the first half of the coming-out party by hosting the popular domestic bands Shan Ren and Yu Guo. After strong...[read more]
This weekend, world-famous psytrance group Infected Mushroom played a hard-hitting show at M2. Admittedly, I am no expert in psychedelic trance music and I must say that my expectations at first were quite low due to the fact their name sounds like something out of a Middle School battle of the bands. However, their performance was nothing short of riveting and was arguably Shanghai's best show yet of 2011.
Infected Mushroom formed over a decade ago in Haifa, Israel when beat...[read more]
You first picked up a guitar at the tender age of six. What inspired you at that time to become a musician?
My father and my mum, they care about the Catholic Church. My mother was singing in the mass and my father at that time was taking care of the music in the mass. Every time he had to find someone to play guitar and every day the guitarists would change, and he started to get tired of that. So...[read more]
This Friday and Saturday starting at 8pm, Beedees, one of the hangouts for local musicians to play and imbibe, is hosting a two-night benefit concert in support of the cross-cultural initiative Shen Hai. In honor of Shen Hai and in the hopes of building a stronger, more diversified artistic scene in Shanghai, these concerts will be nothing short of a cultural mash-up festival. We interviewed Beedees owner Jeffery Davis to get the low down on his bar and what's in...[read more]
As part of the celebration for Shelter's birthday, Brooklyn-based rap group, Das Racist were in Shanghai to deliver a special performance. Composed of Himanshu Suri, Victor Vazquez and hype man Ashok Kondabolu, Das Racist rose to Internet stardom in 2008 with the song 'Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell'.
Since then, the trio has moved away from their early label of "joke rap" with the release of two critically acclaimed mix tapes. Their lyrics straddle the line between witty social commentary...[read more]
What are some of the differences in Ed Banger you have witnessed since joining in 2004?
I suppose the way it has grown into a bona fide label, slowly but surely. All the music is a lot more diverse than people sometimes allude to. It's too easy to talk about an Ed Banger 'sound' as I don't think there really is one. With Justice, something really happened that marked, albeit in a small but important way, popular music culture, if in...[read more]
While attempting to be a fusion of lounge and recreational center, the new owners of Racks are not afraid to call it a bar. Racks’ interior is sterile, concrete, and classy. The first floor features a bar, four pool tables, darts, and even some foosball. The style is upgraded on the second floor with the white main event pool table, a more elegant bar, and a glass-enclosed seating area where one can enjoy classic bar food with a twist....[read more]
The Raveonettes began all the way back in 2001 when guitarist Sune Rose Wagner moved back to Denmark after spending several years in America trying to form a band in vain. Bruised but not beaten, Sune hooked up with female vocalist/guitarist Sharin Foo in Copenhagen and The Raveonettes were born. Nine years and four albums later, this dark, Danish, alternative rock duo gave Shanghai an extremely unique show at Mao Livehouse.
The Raveonettes like to keep it simple. This penchant for...[read more]
