Helping to kickstart the Halloween weekend is Portland, Oregon-based electronic dance/performance art duo YACHT. Originally the solo project of Jona Bechtolt (who also contributed his electronic wizardry to indie-pop group The Blow), YACHT grew by one in 2008, inducting Claire L. Evans as a full member, just in time to add her no nonsense vocals to their newest album See Mystery Lights. more ›

Some of us, due to extenuating circumstances, were unable to make it to the Ratatat show - which is just as well, we heard it was completely and totally sold out (and gosh, wouldn't it have sucked to be turned away at the door?). But the internet has brought us some condolence in the form of this really sweet video by Shanghai-based American designer Abram Hodgens - the entire Ratatat performance, with supporting acts, compressed into less than 3 minutes. Fascinating! more ›

Ever heard of Ghost rock? We hadn't either until Berlin-based outfit Mio Myo stepped into town. The four person group, consisting of Uwe Eger, Thomas Authenried, Benni Pollach, and Michael Angerer, first formed in mid-2005, and have been making their mix of electro, guitar-based indie and pop sounds ever since. more ›

The Young Knives — all the way from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire — with support from local bands Boys Climbing Ropes and The Sonnet at Shanghai's Zhijiang Dream Factory on Friday, March 6. Thanks to Split for another great night of live music! more ›

French electro-rock group We are ENFANT TERRIBLE, who rocked LOgO last Friday, are doing a special encore show tonight at Yuyintang to end their China tour. Check them out for a repeat of Friday Fun... without the crowd. And don't forget to be there for the end of the JUE Festival this weekend, with two nights of killer acts at Dream Factory. Details: more ›

In their first show of the year, the Shanghai's underground house and techno crew, Void, take a break from hosting the likes of Underground Resistance, Robert Hood, DJ Bone and Neil Landstrumm to showcase their own residents with a live, improvised decks and drum machine performance. more ›

Most might assume that a week without a weekend might make for a dull time, void of events worthy of checking out. Well, this week they would be wrong. In the lead up to the October holiday there are 4 solid nights of gigs to choose from. more ›

These days it seems Vice magazine is trying its hand at almost everything. Besides the iconic music magazine and record label they do some interesting web documentaries at VBS. Like every other news organization in the world they decided in the spirit of the Olympics to do a month of pieces on Beijing and China. Since their main focus is music they did a bunch of interesting little stories on bands like PK-14, Subs, Demerit, Mi San Dao and more. Check them out here. This morning we were having trouble loading vidoes on the VBS webpage, try youtube if you have the same problem. more ›

This weekend is a tad light on the live shows, but it doesn't matter too much because we expect most people will be heading to West Nanjing Road on Saturday for the grand opening of Windows Underground, celebrating in style with the always entertaining, Second Hand Rose. more ›

After 2 weeks of unrelenting natural disaster horror stories there are a couple of good shows this weekend to help you release that built up anxiety. Friday the sounds are a bit mellower with Chinese folk singer Hong Qi and jazz saxophonist Adam Diller holding court at Live Bar, where they will be joined by beat masters $.99 Dreams. Yuguo will be playing at Yuyintang. more ›

With all the mud slinging going on between the Chinese and Western media, Shanghaiist is looking forward to some mindlessly good fun without the political positioning this Saturday with dance punkers You Say Party! We Say Die!. more ›

So what are we doing this weekend? Probably spending way too much time with our asses firmly parked on our (somewhat hard) couch. But, we will manage to pry ourselves out of the clutches of laziness for a few shows this weekend. We haven't heard much from the Honey's, one of Shanghai's longest playing bands, for a few months and are excited to hear that this Friday they will be holding a CD release party at the Zhi Jiang Dream Factory. Best of all... this show is free and we love anything that is free. The much hyped CD has been in production for what seems like eternity (in music speak an eternity is about 2 years) and is rumored to be worth the wait. Another Shanghai band that is finally making it back onto stage is Yuguo, who are playing at Yuyintang on Friday. If neither of these fairly mellow sounding rock bands is sweaty enough for you then head to Live Bar where that AC/DC tribute band will be playing for 3 straight nights. Those who really want to impress their girlfriends pull out those wallets and head to see Maroon 5 prance around to the biggest hits off their multi-platinum albums. more ›

After a long and wild New Year's break, things have slowed down on the music front and it seems that everyone is still trying to shake off their extended hangovers. Luckily, this weekend there isn't much happening, but if you are able to push yourself off the couch then head to 4Live (yes, it is still open!) where there are a couple of shows this weekend. On Friday, Beijing stalwarts, Catcher in the Rye, give us a peek into China's Rock past, circa 1992... when rock was new and bands were few (making sentences that rhyme is cool!). For fans of Snapline or Carsick Cars check out Papier Tigre, from France, at 4Live on Saturday. If you aren't able to make either show, then we suggest you rest up because it looks like 2008 is going to be a great year for live music in Shanghai. more ›

With the holiday season in full swing things usually slow down in the music scene. But this weekend there are a few shows that should get us through to the New Year. more ›

We have never actually experienced or even witnessed a person's ears bleeding from a live show, but last night we were pretty damn close. Thursday, the Ex-Models put on an interesting show of sharp, sonic blasts for a small 4Live audience. If you happened to miss it, no worries, the band will be joined by Carsick Cars and Torturing Nurse on Saturday at Yuyintang. Carsick Cars has enjoyed a stellar year, opening for Sonic Youth at 3 shows in Europe and they look to continue their climb with a few major European festival invites for 2008. more ›

We don't feel right doing many concert reviews, mainly because of our relationships with the bands, and the realization after years of live shows that the quality depends as much on the venue, backline, PA, sound guy, etc...as it does the band. Plus we don't like to judge people who are capable of doing things we can't (clarification: we don't like judging people we think are cool, we have no problem judging all you uncool... more ›

For all of those of you who stayed at home, hunched over the computer, waiting for an update on the happenings in live music this weekend....well, we apologize. Dust yourself off, pick up the shaver and take a shower, today is a big day for music. Getting things started early, 4:30pm at 4Live, are Taiwan indie pop duo, Natural Q. Seems to be the season for indie pop, after performances last month by Carrchy and... more ›

If you are like us at Shanghaiist..... then weeks in advance you strategically map out a strategy to maximize potential fun for the weekend. So here are a few noteworthy events coming up that we think should not be missed and we are always (sometimes..maybe) right when it comes to picking events. The 8th of December will be a big night with PK-14 back in town as is Coldcut w/ DJ Nu-Mark and Pfadfinderei. PK-14... more ›

In Shanghai there are a couple of early week shows that are worth checking out. Tonight, Too Dumb to Die, a bohemian group of gypsy vaudeville musicians who have rode their oddly tall bikes from Istanbul will take the stage out at Yuyintang. Sound interesting? Well, Shanghaiist thinks so, and can't wait to see them perform. While tomorrow, Yuyintang will host German hardcore punk band, No Opinion. Shanghaiist had the chance to catch No Opinion... more ›

On a windy and freakin' cold night (yesterday), Linkin Park finally played their long awaited China show... and Shanghaiist has to admit that the turnout was really impressive. Not a complete sellout, but close... and HongKou stadium can hold more than 28,000 people, which is triple the capacity of the Shanghai Grand Theater. Out of all the big named foreign bands we have seen play in China, this by far had the best attendance. A... more ›

Since Shanghaiist has indie cred to burn, we don't feel that we need to justify our decision to attend the Kenny G concert last night. The show was two hours of jazz-lite — he actually only played one song and then just held the final note (an E-flat, we believe) for another hour and 55 minutes. Ok, unfortunately he played a lot of songs, including: that one pop song where he holds a note for a long time, that sort of latin song where he holds a note for a long time, that one that's almost bebop where he holds a note for a long time, and funk classic "Pick Up The Pieces". "Wait, can Kenny G bring the funk?" we hear you asking. No. But his band can. more ›

GigShanghai: Pinkertones, goth an the NFL? more ›

Shanghaiist asked its contributors (and a few "music people" in town) to list their five favorite albums released (or yet-to-be released) somewhere in the world in 2006. Got a list of your own? Submit your favorite 2006 music as a comment to this post. Enjoy! more ›

A large crowd greeted Tyson at the airport when he arrived, however, he was quickly whisked off to Jinjiang Hotel on No.59, Maoming Road S., one of the city’s most historic hotels and an appointed venue hosting top officials from home and abroad. more ›

Tyson will travel to Luodian Friday for a golf charity event. The Luodian government will be authorizing Tyson as an honorary resident. more ›

Searching for something to do tonight? Shanghaiist got an email earlier today that may or may not include what you are looking for. Shanghai indie-music veterans Crystal Butterfly -- they've been around since 1998, so that makes them old-timers in this city -- take the stage tonight at Xintiandi's ARK Live House. Doors open at 9 pm. Their much-delayed studio debut Shenmi Luxing (Magical Mystery Tour) was released in May and the self-described "space rock" band is expected to drop its follow-up Menghuan Senlin (Forest of Illusions) in September. Local rag 8 Days says the Butterfly "jams hard and throws down the crowd pleasers their fans demand. ... [T]heir live show is rock solid." Allegedly, audio samples of their music are available here, but it only seems to work on a PC running Internet Explorer, thus Shanghaiist was unable to tune in. But a friend was. His take? "Kind of sounds like INXS." Let's just hope their music is more original than the English title of their debut album. more ›