In the past year, local techno strongmen Void have proven to be anything but. They've consistently rocked venues like LoGo and The Shelter every month, bringing one techno legend after another (see: Robert Hood, Traxx, etc). So it's only fitting that they celebrate their first birthday with not one, but TWO notable techno artists. First up is one of the most innovative techno artists of all time, Edinburgh's Neil Landstrumm. Since releasing the ground-breaking "Brown......

It's ba-aaaack! More than 700 scary monsters and super freaks crowded the dungeon last year — and Shanghai's most notorious Halloween party will be bigger and badder in '08. What: 3rd Annual Shanghaiist Halloween PartyWhere: The recently embiggened Shanghai Studio, 1950 Huaihai Zhong Lu, No. 4, by Xingguo Lu (淮海中路1950弄4号，近兴国路). Should be more space to move around this year!When: Friday, October 31, 9 pm until really, really lateWhat to expect: Scary music, scary movies,......

Whilst smoking bans in restaurants and bars seem to be spreading throughout the rest of the world, Shanghai is having second thoughts. City Diner introduced a no-smoking rule on their second floor earlier this year, but now have an unwritten rule that customers can light up with their late night burgers (after 2am or when the Blues Room bar downstairs is closed). At the recently-opened Japanese restaurant Matsuri Express (in the basement of Jiu Guang......

Yeah, that long holiday week is almost here, isn't it? Well if you want to tack on an extra two days, this might be your ticket. On Thursday night, Free the Wax is bringing Daedelus to The Shelter with his brand of hip-hop/synthpop/electronica. What's it sound like? "Brilliant fusion of Aphex Twin and Aaliyah. Like Beck at his very best..." WORD "Both playful and impassioned, sweet and creatively sharp, Daedelus' latest is also his Love-liest."......

Wednesday, September 24 Head to LOgO's new Wednesday night party: Yellow. Cheap drinks, no cover charge and music from DJ Ben Huang as well as guest DJs. From 8:30 PM. Learn more here. At 13 Xingfu Lu, near Fahuazhen Lu, 幸福路13号，近法华镇路 Thursday, September 25 For those of you who can't go to Beijing's ModernSky Festival, here's your chance to get a sneak peak of some of the bands, among others folk rockers Cold Fairyland. At......

In a Shikumen style alleyway in Jing-An there is a new string of bars and restaurants that is worth a visit. On Kangding Lu, near the junction of Wuding Lu, the first of these bars is Exit. A cheap (25 RMB beer, 30-40 mixed drinks) neighbourhood bar, Exit is powered by the personality of owner Sergio who occasionally takes a break from dancing around to MP3s to tell customers about the years he spent making......

It's getting later in the month, which means it must be time for another Void techno extravaganza at The Shelter. Continuing the "Techno Pioneer" theme from Robert Hood's slamming set in June, this month the boys are flying in Traxx for a nonstop four-hour set of house & techno insanity. As a self-described "artist of sound," Traxx is single-handedly responsible for inventing the "jakbeat" sound – a turbo-charged take on old school acid and Chicago......

A few updates on the Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Sasha's this Thursday: First, chicken nuggets will be served. RMB 15 a portion. It just wouldn't be a Usain Bolt party without nuggets.Second, the Just Beer beers on offer will be: James Boag's Premium Lager, Crown Lager and Pure Blonde.Crown Lager will be the beer that comes with the 50 kuai entry fee. And we are told paid attendees will also get a free baseball cap.......

Yeah yeah, we know. We're sick of the Olympics, too. But who can say no to the Boltman? What: Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Sasha's (11 Dongping Lu, near Hengshan Lu, 东平路11号 近衡山路, Tel: 6474-6628). When: Thursday, September 4, 8 pm to midnight. Drink Specials: Selected drinks half price, including the great beers from Just Beer. Music: Reggae, baby. Food: We're trying to get Sasha's to offer chicken nuggets, Usain Bolt's pre-race meal of choice. Entry:......

"I don’t know what La Bella’s space will become afterwards—surely it will still be some kind of French Concession-esque bar/cafe where young urban hipsters and professionals hang out. Whether or not that sense of community will transfer or can be quickly rebuilt is another matter entirely." We wish Isabella all the best. [Source]......

Freshly fired from Windows Underground, Brad finally has time to blog again. Here's a snippet from "My Shanghai Story (Part 1)", about the Texan's introduction to Shanghai's underground live music scene: "About a month later John, some other friends, and I went to our first real underground rock show at the Sus2 Music Factory (a real factory!) where Reflector (反光镜) and Loudspeaker (扩音器) played a late-afternoon show to a crowd of pierced/mohawked/Dr Marten’d students. I......

Yesterday, we learned that our friend (and ex-Shanghaiist contributor) Brad Ferguson had been fired from his role as manager of Windows Underground. We asked him some questions about the recent developments and he agreed to let us publish them "as long as it doesn't make me look like an asshole. I still don't think I did anything wrong, but maybe it looks different to other people." So, what happened last night at Windows Underground? My......

A reader forwarded us this email supposedly sent out by the Red Beat Bar on Tongren Lu:The local authorities have request, that due to the Olympics, that from August1st to August 5th Tong Ren Lu is essentially closed. However, bars may be able to operate between 1 am to 8 am. 接到上海市政府通知, 源于奥运会即将开幕, 上海铜仁路所有酒吧在8月1日至8月5日只被允许于凌晨1点至8点营业, 其他时段将暂时停止营业. During this period Red Beat Music Bar will be open from 1AM until early morning. As a THANK YOU to......

Wednesday, July 23 Tired of standing around awkwardly with your cheap drink at weekday happy hours? Express your inner artist (and your inner alcoholic) at the studio’s Happy Hour Art. Sketch, paint, drink and snack — all for 150 RMB. 796 Julu Lu, Luwan near Fumin Lu 巨鹿路796号 近富民路 Thursday, July 24 Sometimes those favorite moves we break out at the club each week start to seem a little overused. For those times, there’s Souldancing.......

Tom Miller of the SCMP has been the center of many heated online discussions of late as a result of his article last Friday on bar owners in Sanlitun being asked to deny service to black patrons. What looked like an attempt to add credibility to his anonymous claims, he followed up with an article on Saturday claiming another anonymous source, this time a police officer, who denied that bars were instructed to deny service......

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/olympics/Report_Beijing_bars_told_to_ban_black_people_during_Olympic';In a couple of weeks Beijing will turn into a party town and Sanlitun is predicted to be the epicenter of the Olympic night events. The South China Morning Post has however reported that the bar owners in the area were asked to refuse service to black patrons. The article reports: Bar owners near the Workers' Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign......

Ah, 80's music. No, we don't mean that 80's music. We mean Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy inventing new art forms at dueling nightclubs in Chicago. From their respective perches at The Warehouse and The Music Box, these pioneers of music transformed soul, disco, R&B, and funk into what's now known as house music. Midway through the 80's, many Chicago DJs and clubgoers started experimenting with creating their own rhythm tracks. DJs would play these......

Just received notice that Sugar closed for renovations on Sunday, and will remain so until further notice. Here is a note from Aimee Groom, Marketing Director of Sugar:We thank our loyal customers and partners for their ongoing support and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The Friday Party series of 7 Deadly Sins events will be on hold during this time, having finished on a high with sin number four and “Sloth”; a successful......

Via CraigsList: "Young, sexy, flirtations staff required for a new topless bar - Pudong." Curiously, the ad doesn't specify a preferred gender for applicants — go get 'em, guys. (And yes, as far as we know, topless bars are illegal in China.)......

On an average Saturday night, the funniest thing about Racks in Xintiandi is that they charge 98RMB+ an hour for pool when most other bars let you play for free. This weekend however a former organiser of "Chopschticks" is bringing in some hot comedy talent from NYC to amuse the suckers. Jesse Joyce and Keith Alberstadt are both based in New York and will be joint headlining tonight and Saturday as part of their Asian......

Direct from SmartShanghai's newly spruced up website comes this piece of bar news: "The British Bulldog ... has completed their renovations and is (soft) open for your drinking needs. Apparently these renovations were quite intense with a new second floor terrace, a new DJ booth, and sports relegated to their third floor with a private viewing room for you and your 'mates.'" SmSh also reports (in The Wire, which you can't link to directly for......

Anyone who's into rock knows that Windows Underground is the most reliable place to hear good live music at the weekend right now. The new Nanjing Xi Lu venue took the baton from Tembo as Windows' live messenger (arf!) a few months ago and has been packing them in from day one. During the week there is still the occasional band, but Underground has enough space and seats to be a comfortable bar /......

There was nothing at all minimal about Robert Hood's set at The Shelter on Saturday night. After three-plus hours of 145+ BPM techno, the entire dancefloor was sweaty and exhausted. Yet somehow, everybody was cheering for more when Hood left the decks around 4 AM. It was definitely the most aggressive set we have ever heard at The Shelter — and we want more, dammit!......

Man, how time flies. When Shanghaiist interviewed Void co-founder (and occasional Shanghaiist contributor) Shanghai_Ultra in February, the first thing he talked (or rather, gushed) about was that he'd just confirmed a certain Robert Hood to play Shanghai in June. In fact, you'll see him mention it in the answer to the second-to-last question. Why was he so excited? Because Hood plays great music, but also because he can take credit for inventing a certain genre......

DJ J Walk from djvibe.com played an amazing set at The Shelter last night.......

Phreaktion's Sweatshop events at The Shelter have been going strong for awhile now, and this Saturday 5/31 promises to keep the momentum going. Once again, flithy drum 'n bass is on the menu. Headlining is Canada's J Walk:J Walk, from Canadian based clubbing website djvibe.com makes his junglistic debut at Sweatshop this month. Having just returned from London, Sweatshop heads are in for a fresh tuneage treat!Local support is from Phreaktion regulars Siesta, Viceroy, Abruzzi......

Windows Tembo is set to move from its current location Shaanxi Bei Lu to new digs near the Nanjing Xi Lu metro station at the end of the month. The new venue is being renovated at the moment and plans to open on May 30th. The transition will be seamless however, with no downtime between the old venue closing and the new one opening. The new location on Nanjing Road will also come with a......

Like celebrity chefs and famous fashion houses, the world of big name DJs always seems oddly male-dominated. The Shelter will be doing their best to redress that gender imbalance tonight however, with an all-female line-up on the decks. From the promoter: "With the local DJ/Club scene constantly growing, there has, up until recently, been very few female DJs in Shanghai. Over the last year or so we have seen a good number of new female......

Shanghaiist spotted John Cusack at Bar Rouge on Friday. Ensconced in the bathroom-sized VIP room on the club's terrace and guarded by a bevy of beefy bodyguards, Cusack was playing with his phone and appeared both tired and bored (who recommended BR anyway?). Doing the rounds of Shanghai nightspots, he was spotted at MAO the night before until the wee hours. The American actor of High Fidelity fame, is presently in town shooting Shanghai, a......

After figuring out where we like to eat we thought it would be fun to ask Shanghaiist contributors about their favourite places to drink. The discussion sparked arguments that are still echoing through the corridors of Shanghaiist HQ, but one thing is clear: we like dive bars and cocktails. Time Passage No 183, Lane 1038 Huashan Lu (nr Fuxing Xi Lu) 华山路 1038弄183号，近复兴西路 tel: 6240-2588 Cheap drinks, good food, and an incredible house cover band......