Obama in China: Long gone, and still headlinin'
Protest in Guangzhou: Why would you burn garbage?
Barbie Spa: For the cosmopolitan plastic beauty in you
Interview: Coco Zhao, from jazz to M. Butterfly
Week Around the Ists
We were naughty last weekend and became that which we hate -- we went to absolutely no shows (lovely weekend in Xitang, though). So please fill in the blanks:
- 4Live: Despite the _________ promoters of GigLive jabbing it a “hack job”, we attended Zooma’s Friday night offering and were __________ to have been there. We hope to ________ more things like this happening. Our favorite was ___________.
- Live Bar: We paid the ________ taxi fare to the newly, and _________ designed venue, just north of the Bund. We went _________ night and saw _____________. We were __________ to see 20 kuai for all drinks (including Jack Daniel’s, hurrah).
- Junkie XL: We, singing “A Little Less _________” the whole way there, attended and saw a __________ turnout for the remixing wizard. We heard ________ people there talking about how it was almost as exciting as seeing Collin Farrell at __________ that previous night.
- Lacrimosa: We spent ________ on black eye shadow and did our damndest to look __________ for this international show. It was a _________ night, despite there being far too many _____________.
… there you go -- it’s a blog for fuck's sake, so take part.
Things to look for this week?
- GigLive @ BonBon: Plastic Chocolate, Crazy Mushroom Brigade and __________ (that’s for us, not you).
- The 2006 Shanghai International Electroacoustic Music Week: Being smokers, simply typing that winded us, so if it’s your think, click to link.
- Sounds Like SOUMI Finnish Electronic Music Tour: Does anyone have a friggin' short title? Click, please.
- The Georgia Sam Blues Band: Okay, slightly shorter. Rindy and his crew play Live Bar on Saturday night. Could easily be rated Shanghai’s most underrated band. Does that make sense?
- The Fuxing Park Jazz Festival: All weekend in the park, loads of jazz ... and the best KTV bar in town next door should you be overwhelmed.
… right -- that’s it (actually quite a bit for our little town). See you at one of the above.
Photo by Simon Scott.
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* 4Live: Despite the presumptuous promoters of GigLive jabbing it a “hack job”, we attended Zooma’s Friday night offering and were impressed at the number of white people in attendance. A strong turnout considering they had to shell out 60 RMB, including NO drinks, to have been there. We hope to avoid Crystal Butterfly, whose mediocre cover songs do a disservice to the burgeoning original music scene in Shanghai. Please don't put them on the bill if there is going to be more things like this happening. Our favorite was I-Go, so we're sorry we got there too late to see their set.
* Live Bar: We paid the 22 RMB (from Lujiazui, Pudong) taxi fare to the newly, and minimally designed venue, just north of the Bund. We went Saturday night and saw Flying Fruit who look and sound good but need to get beyond the ballads to really capture our attention and affection. We were nervous watching (owner) Brad climb steep steps to the lofted sound & light controls. But we were pleased by the 10 RMB Tsingdao beers (kept on real ice to keep them properly chilled) and happy to see 20 kuai for all drinks (including Jack Daniel’s, hurrah).
* Junkie XL: We, singing “A Little Less Consternation” the whole way there, attended and saw a pal, DJ Kingpin, who we hadn't seen in a while. We had a drinks and wondered if it was the 180 RMB ticket or the glut of newly-opened competition that attributed to the so-so turnout for the remixing wizard. We heard some too-cool-for-ESL-School people there talking about how it was almost as exciting as seeing Collin Farrell at Eddy's that previous night.
* Lacrimosa: We spent 580 on our tickets because that was all they had left when we called a few days before the show. And we, of all people, should know that whether you want the most or least expensive tickets, you ought to buy them as soon as they go on sale. Regardless, the show was packed with Chinese dudes wearing rock t-shirts and girls decked out out in fishnet stockings and black leather boots. We almost wished we had put on black eye shadow and did our damndest to look goth-y. It was cool to see a 99% local audience turnout for this international show. It was a good performance and a fine way to spend a Sunday night, despite there being far too many people busy photographing and videotaping rather then just enjoying the show.