All the live music picks for this city from now until Sunday. This week brings a smattering of southern Norway rock, some sassy Taiwanese indie, violinists getting all modern with classical pieces, local bands heading back to school and the return of Australian song maestro, Jeff Lang! If you recall, we interviewed him last year and were absolutely wowed by his performance. If these are all our picks, he's our pick of the week. more ›

It is official...the golden week has finally hit Shanghai, and it is hitting us hard, with a multitude of music festivals. So for those of you who are taking the vacation serious and drinking so much you can't think straight, Shanghaiist is here to do the thinking for you. Feel free to print and paste the sample itinerary listed below to that one pair of underwear you plan on wearing for the entire week. more ›

For anyone still looking for something to do tonight (Thursday) a couple of options have poked their heads up in the nic' of time. Banana Monkey and Hard Queen, two good local bands are putting on a free concert at 4Live tonight, with things getting started at 8:30pm. After that head to the Antidote party out a C's where the music is always good and the drink freakin' cheap. If funk and jazz fusion is more your thing then Finnish Pekka Pylkkanen and his Tube Factory will headline tonight’s Jazz it Up held at the Shanghai Music Conservatory. more ›

September is quickly sliding into history, which means for all us music fans that the orgy of music festivals Shanghai will experience in the first weeks of October is almost upon us. And of course Shanghaiist is here to bring you the latest in festival news..... more ›

We'll keep this quick. It's beautiful outside and half-price beers await. more ›

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly. more ›

The event was well publicized. It was at a cool venue -- not right in the heart of Puxi, but not that far way ... and it has been packed in the past for other shows -- although the sound quality could have been better. It was not raining. The lineup of bands was solid: Ferris Wheel, Mint, Loudspeaker (pictured) and The Living Thin. It wasn't expensive: 40 kuai for an all day pass. And it was all for a good cause. So why, at 9 or 10 pm, when the event should have been reaching its crescendo, were there less than a couple dozen people in the place, bands included? We had heard that the student bands that played from around 1 pm to 7 pm attracted a decent crowd. So then we thought perhaps Shanghai's rock fans are more inclined to turn out for local talent, but that doesn't make sense: Ferris Wheel and Loudspeaker (who rocked, by the way) are both local bands. more ›

Eleven days ago, we proudly announced that The Living Thin, one of our favorite local bands, would be headlining our RMB 100 all-you-can-drink Shanghaiist Happy Hour at Shuffle Bar on Friday, April 21. Well, it turns out all is not rock 'n roll for rock 'n roll bands in Shanghai. Instead of "our guitar player entered rehab and we have to cancel our gig" it's "our guitar player's parents are visiting and he is joining them on a trip to Beijing that weekend so we have to cancel." Let's just hope he does some drugs with his parents in Beijing. Or at least some bai jiu. more ›

We headed over to Shuffle Bar for the first time last weekend, and we have to say we were impressed. It's been described as "warehouse-y but clean," and that's about right. The atmosphere is raw enough that you can bring your indie-and-or-punk-rock friends without losing your cred, but it's also the kind of place where if you drop your jacket on the ground you probably won't have to throw it away. (They actually have a coat rack ... rock 'n roll with manners.) Shuffle Bar is one of the only places in this city dedicated to live music, and for that reason it deserves our support. They have shows -- mostly local bands -- nightly. We just hope the location (Xingfu Lu No. 137, 上海市幸福路137号 ... not really close to much of anything) doesn't hurt Shuffle's chances for success. But if Tang Hui could thrive out there, maybe Shuffle can, too. more ›