So the rumors we heard over the weekend at Kiito's were true ... and sooner than expected. According to SmartShanghai, China West — the outfit that brought, among others, Norah Jones, James Brown, Black Eyed Peas, The Roots, Incubus, James Blunt, Kanye West and Kylie Minogue to China — was "unable to maintain a profitable bottom line" after five years here. SmartShanghai says China West is "bowing out of the Chinese market for 2009," so perhaps they not ruling out a return to the market in 2010 or beyond. Either way, a shame. And then there was one? (OK, maybe two.) more ›

Via former superstar Shanghaiist contributor Jake Newby: "The Kanye West concert originally scheduled for September 23 at Hongkou Stadium has been postponed. Organisers China West have said that it is definitely a postponement, not a cancellation, and that the gig will now take place on November 3 at Shanghai Grand Stage." Newby points out that this postponement is not due to permit problems (a la Jay Z '06), instead it was done to allow promoters to add a Beijing Kanye gig on November 1. We'll see. more ›

Rumours have been swirling for weeks, and now it’s official: Grammy-winning producer/rapper Kanye West will be passing through Shanghai for a gig at Hongkou Stadium next month. Although we don’t usually take anything seriously until we read about it on Kanye’s blog, we made an exception here after speaking to Steve Sybesma, CEO of China West (who are organizing the show along with Live Nation Asia). more ›

Our friends over at Split Works tipped us off to their Yue Festival website, on which you can vote for the artists you'd most like to see at the second annual event this fall. Lots of big names on the list — how many of them are realistic, and how big of a role voter opinion will play in the signing process, remain to be seen. But we have been told that all but perhaps one band mentioned on the list are possibilities, although some are much more expensive than others (yes, we're looking at you Mr. West). more ›

Li Yuchun (李宇春) — the "androgynous wonder from Sichuan" who was the first winner of Super Voice Girls (an American Idol-style talent show) — recently gave a concert in Nanjing, and she performed in *gasp* a skirt! Now if you have no clue what an earth-shattering revolution Super Voice Girls represented (for the very first time, viewers were allowed to vote for their favourite singer via SMS, causing some powers-that-be to quake with fear) and... more ›

As we get closer to July 7, the day of Al Gore’s Live Earth concert, more info has popped-up on the official artist line-up in Shanghai: more ›

Or more like who won't be performing. We've already told you about Live Earth, Al Gore's 24-hour, 7-continent series of concerts on 7/7/07. Well, lists of performers at different venues (cities participating are: East Rutherford, New Jersey [near New York]; London; Rio de Janeiro; Maropeng [near Johannesburg]; Tokyo; Shanghai; and Sydney) are starting to be announced. First up, the US and the UK. more ›

While the rest of the world is wondering how George W. Bush will further fuck up Iraq and where Becks and Posh are going to settle in L.A., we came across a report about a concert event in Las Vegas: more ›

So Much Soul is the brainchild of the hardworking folks at The Lab, which some of you avid readers might remember us unfairly labeling “too small” a few weeks back. In fact, it’s a great resource for aspiring turntablists and those interested in hip-hop as an artform—in all its ragged and resplendent glory. Get familiar. As for Tang Hui, if you’re at all like us and tired of seeing salsa lessons every Thursday night with nary a soul in sight, it’s a refreshing change, and one, we might add, that precludes your presence at Guandii or Attica, venues hopelessly in need of savvy DJs, rather than salacious ones. SMS is a much-needed antidote to top-40-itis, featuring hip-hop, funk, soul, and reggae by people who know their Blackalicious from their Black Eyed Peas, and in the kind of venue that favors intimate, chilled-out vibes over mountains of bubbly and freak-a-leek histrionics. Scratchmasters DJ V-Nutz, Mr. Tsang and Fortune will be on hand, as well as mic-wreckers RedStar, and a host of cats hungry to show off their freestyling skills. Think of the famed Back to the Roots parties (also hosted by the Lab), except on a weekly, not monthly basis. more ›

Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. more ›

Fans of rap and hip-hop, take this down: Jay-Z is coming to Shanghai. Probably. The Grammy-winning rapper reportedly will be performing at the Hongkou Soccer Stadium on Monday, October 23, as part of a tour that will also see him making stops in Taipei and Seoul, according to Shanghai Daily. more ›