Micah

Tue, 23 May 2006 12:34:45 +0800

Thanks for chiming in, Brad :) I didn't forget about Live Bar. I just think that it doesn't have the "jam session" potential that 021 does; 021 could be modern day Tang Hui of Shanghai rock.

Brad

Tue, 23 May 2006 11:50:45 +0800

Did you forget about Live Bar? If you want a grungy place that somehow manages to put on decent shows while still supporting the development of young musicians it's still your best bet. As a bonus, it's run by one of the nicest guys in the Shanghai rock scene. The problem with 021 is not the lack of quality shows or lack of audience -- there are plenty of students who would show up and pay 20 kuai to hear their friends' shitty band play. The problem is the attitude of the owner (the drunk tattoo artist mentioned above). He regularly posts false information about upcoming shows, claiming to have booked waidi and local bands he's never even talked to. If anyone shows up, he gets on stage and plays a few songs himself. When he recruits waidi bands, he claims that his sound equipment rivals Ark -- even Live Bar before the recent upgrades was better. He promises these bands that 300+ people regularly attend his shows, and that they'll get a cut of the door plus room and board. They end up playing to an empty room and sleeping on the floor in the back of the bar after being fed their one bowl of congee. No "real" band that's played there once would do it again. The venue is cool, but unless Guang Hui gets off his Rock Martyr high horse and admits that he doesn't know how to run a club, 021 will continue to die its slow death.

Shanghaiist: The 114 on the 021 Bar 'controversy'

Micah

Brad