Results tagged “livemusic”

Shanghaiist lists all the live music performances you might want to check out from Wednesday to Sunday this week. For fun things that aren't live music, take a peek at our Pencil This In (out every Monday!)

WEDNESDAY

Oh happy day! After the Handsome Furs came and left, we didn't think we'd be hit by another act we'd look forward to so gleefully so soon. But now our sources at Split! have told us that - barring any weird visa issues/sudden changes in show regulations - ANDREW BIRD will be heading here in late January 2010. YES!

2 days…3 stages…37 bands…20 DJs….What better than the hard facts to advertise an event as noteworthy as the upcoming JZ Shanghai Music Festival? From October 16th to the 18th, Pudong Century Park will play host to a constant stream of artists set to fill the city with music. Don’t be fooled by the festival’s name- one might be quick to assume that a jazz festival would be monopolized by the baritone sax and Louis Armstrong tribute performances, but each of the three stages actually specializes in a subset of music.

                              

Life Journey (旅行团), a Modern Sky rock band originating from Guangxi, closed out the lineup Saturday night at the newly opened Mao Livehouse in Red Town (formerly WTF, Candy Club, etc.). The free show was well-attended, with an estimated 800 bodies filling the vast audience space.

Still ever-expanding in both contestants and renown, the Global Battle of the Bands invites you to celebrate its fifth year running. This time around, you get to put your vote in for which of Shanghai's band elite gets to participate in the nationals! Audience accounts for a quarter of the vote, but slipping a few drinks to the judges (including our very own beloved Shanghaiist editor) could cause ballots (and bodies) to sway.

           

A massive, frantic crowd attended Yuyintang on Saturday night, catapulting Handsome Furs to Shanghai rock folklore. The Handsome Furs, composed of Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei, make a neat Canadian Sid and Nancy. Their onstage charisma helped steam the room and fans, both old and new, went genuinely nuts. The music was fast, danceable, and loud, 70's punk ethos mixed with electronic loops and beats.

Lucky for us, Montreal based indie rock duo Handsome Furs is coming to Shanghai! Currently touring Asia, the band will be making a stop at everyone's favorite live music venue, Yuyintang, on Saturday, September 5.

Another week, another great spat of live music here in Shanghai - and this time around, there's a good mix of electro indiepop, hip hop, synthy stuff and some punk on the side. YYT, like usual, dominates the weekend with Yuguo on Friday and a rock-filled Sexy Animal Party on Saturday.

        

Shanghai experienced an electric night of punk rock this past Saturday as Carsick Cars and P.K.14 shared a stage with Brooklyn-based These Are Powers at Zhijiang Dream Factory. After Carsick Cars sampled some songs from their new album, show-goers were surprised to find These Are Powers playing, leaving P.K.14 to headline the show. Regardless of lineup, all three bands delivered an intense show in the Factory that was gritty, energetic and altogether rocking.

The Channel One complex on Changshou Lu is teaming up with Soma for a summer concert series. Despite our natural misgivings about rock bands playing in shopping malls, the line-up is a good one. Things start this weekend with Pinkberry and The Mushrooms on Saturday and Da Fresh and Momo on the Sunday. Spread out over four weekends, the concerts will see eight of the city's finest young bands in various combinations.

This is an exclusive sneak preview of Live Bar's new Weihai Lu branch, opening this Friday. Yep, while Soma's head honchos are over in Japan trying to persuade the people behind MAO to part with their cash for a Shanghai livehouse and while Yuyintang continues to pull in regular packed crowds, Live Bar have sneaked in and taken over a downtown location of their own.

There is something goin down

We had a chat with R3 of S.T.D. Promotions (the people who brought us Ratatat in May) about his work on tonight's launch of Shanghai's newest bar and live music venue, Not Me. We also got to take a look around the place on Dongping Lu, and while it's not the biggest venue in town, it's definitely got potential for some great parties.

UPDATE: Pinkberry have been forced to withdraw from Saturday night's line up at Yuyintang (their bassist's wife is seriously ill, we wish her well).

Party animals that we are, we were absolutely thrilled to find out that Shanghai was getting another live music venue. Not Me, a bar/lounge on Dongping Lu, will soon be hosting a score of Indie / Indie Electro / Electroclash / Dance Rock acts in the French Concession. But before we start rooting for Cut Copy or Friendly Fires to make their way over to (or at least get copious dance floor play in) Shanghai, there first must be a grand opening!

Coming to us off a European tour, Australian band Grace Before Meals is set to play at Yu Yin Tang tonight at the Indie China Showcase, along with six other bands from around China.

Ugh. Summertime in Shanghai and livin' ain't all that easy. It's too darn hot one minute, sun showers the next. Luckily, Yuyintang have just installed a new air-con unit in the main room making it just that little bit less hot 'n' sticky. Live Bar? Well, they've got dirt cheap beers. And Soma Live? They seem to have melted away altogether for now. So here's where to get sweaty this weekend:

If you're still coherent after our July 4 Shanghaiist + Boxing Cat Brewery Party this Saturday, head over to Yu Yin Tang for their Indie China Showcase... because nothing follows burgers and beer on July 4th quite like some experimental post-indie math rock that makes you gaze at your shoes.

It seems wrong to put out a music-related post today without mentioning The King of Pop. When we received a text from a friend this morning asking if we'd heard about Michael Jackson, the initial thought was 'what's he done now?' It's a shame that for some generations, he will only be 'Wacko Jacko', a bizarre public freak show.

With his closer involvement at the livehouse, we can also expect more Miniless artists performing there in the coming months adding another dimension to Shanghai's live music scene. We spoke to Hans about the label and his hopes for its future.

This weekend is all about hero worship. Miserable Faith are the kind of metal band that causes diehard fans to get their name and logo tatooed across their bodies; Joyside's Bian Yuan sexy swagger is enough to make you weak at the knees; while Shanghai's own folk heroes Dan Shapiro of The Rogue Transmission and Pu Pu of The Mushrooms will also be in action building their own cult followings. Last weekend may have been a quiet one, but the next few days are anything but.

We're not going to lie - this weekend pretty much belongs to hip hop. There's a couple of good rock gigs in the next few days and some great shows on the way later this month (the Miniless Showcase will be amazing and Joyside are in town for the first time in ages backed by The Rogue Transmission for example), but given the limited options this weekend, we'll keep it brief.

Anyone who was sceptical about the Ghostface Killah show scheduled for this Sunday 14th June will be glad to hear this news from promoters Split Works:

   

Philadelphia's Brian Seymour (MySpace) will once again be performing an acoustic set of his original music on Tuesday, June 23 at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu during the Shanghaiist Happy Hour, which runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Seymour is in town doing a series of shows at the House of Blues & Jazz — it's called "The Piano Has Been Drinking" and he's playing, naturally, the piano and singing the music of Tom Waits. For us, he'll be playing guitar and performing songs from his albums.

Hope to see you all tonight at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu for the Shanghaiist Happy Hour featuring a live performance from Philadelphia based musician Brian Seymour (MySpace), who is town doing a series of shows at the House of Blues & Jazz (he's playing piano and singing the music of Tom Waits). For us, he'll be playing guitar and performing an exclusive acoustic set of his originals. Based on what's happening outside our window right now, it looks like Brian will be playing indoors at Cotton's, which is fine by us (the speakers are better inside).

It's been close to three years since Philadelphia based musician Brian Seymour (MySpace) last visited us, but he's back. And he's playing an exclusive acoustic set of his originals Tuesday night at the Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Cotton's on Xinhua Lu. As usual, the Happy Hour runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and features free entry and 2-for-1 specials on selected drinks. Brian's set will kick off at around 7:30 p.m.

There's not exactly tumbleweed blowing through Shanghai's live music venues this weekend, but it's fair to say that compared to the steady steam of bands we've had in recent months, this weekend seems a quiet one. Of course, Torturing Nurse's NOIShanghai show will ensure it is anything but, while SOMA are bringing together some of the city's brightest young bands tonight.

            

Yes, it really has taken us this long to recover from the Antidote Festival in Zhujiajiao last weekend. And just in time to catch the Antidote gang down at C's tonight as well. As much as we love C's, it probably isn't quite as atmospheric as the venue chosen for last weekend's festival - in the garden of one of Zhujiajiao's old houses.

Pedants might point out that Thursday night (and indeed Monday, included below) doesn't count as the weekend. But frankly, this is no place for pedantry. With the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the weekend really is starting early.