Notes from the underground: This week in music

Friday: The Honeys, one of Shanghai’s most experienced rock bands, take a break from recording their new album to team up with Ark regulars Blue Garden for a show at Shuffle Bar. They describe themselves as "aesthetic but accessible," or as a friend of Shanghaiist put it, "indie-rock for normal people." Opening the show is Flying Fruit (羽果), a Jiangxi band who recently relocated to Shanghai and are already garnering praise for their interesting darkwave/shoegazer sound and energetic stage show.

Saturday: There's only one word we can think of to describe AK-47 -- loud. If the Honeys are for normal people, this industrial hardcore band from Beijing is for people with serious issues. Their show at the Yuyintang Warehouse is sure to be packed, so get there early and be prepared for a night of rock and roll: loud music, sweaty crowd, and cheap beer. Or if mosh pits aren't your thing, you may want to check out local "rock with Chinese characteristics" band Three Yellow Chicken (三黄鸡) at Live Bar, or Flying Fruit's encore performance at Shuffle. Harley's is also hosting a show that's being billed as the "Shanghai Rock Festival," featuring three local and five Japanese bands. According to the flyer, Loudspeaker -- one of our favorites -- are playing, but we were unable to obtain any additional information. The "festival" starts early at 6 pm, though, giving the dedicated music lover plenty of time to check it out before heading to another show.

With the local rock scene steadily getting bigger -- more venues, more bands, more shows -- it's sometimes hard to decide what to go see. To help with those decisions, Aric Queen, one of the producers of Chinese Pod, has just launched a new podcast focusing exclusively on live music in Shanghai. The first installment of GigShanghai features previews of this weekend's shows as well as sound clips from some of the bands.

On Upcoming.org:
Honeys, Blue Garden, Flying Fruit
AK-47 @ YuYinTang
Shanghai Rock Festival 4th Stage @ Harley's Bar