Wednesday August 27 At The Blues Room, it's time for the second "Battle of the bands", where local rock musicians compete for honour and free studio time. Find out more here. At 146 Tongren Road, near Beijing road, 铜仁路146号，近北京西路 Thursday August 28 It's movie night at Arch, this week The Great Debaters, a movie based on a true story about a debate team from a small African American college will be screened. At 439......

With the Olympics winding down, the underground gigs seem to be finally picking up. We still aren't sure what is going on at Yuyintang, their webpage isn't loading and the message they were sending out on Facebook was vague on when they were planning to re-open. Yesterday we text-messaged them regarding The Gar, who were scheduled to play tonight and YYT confirmed the gig was still on. Shanghaiist plans on showing up tonight, but with......

These three fantastic jazz vocalists will do a unique performance this Saturday night at a venue we haven't been to yet, called Lounge 18 (18 on the bund, 4F, 18 Zhongshan Dong Lu, near Nanjing Lu). Coco says it's a fantastic space, which means it should be perfect for the magical evening the group has planned for Saturday. Joining the three singers will be Tinho Pereira, the extraordinary Brazilian bass player who joined Coco and......

Following the news of Brad Ferguson's dismissal as manager of Windows Underground, a recent announcement on Smart Shanghai reveals the new guy in charge of the to be Steve Bamford, a DJ who has been playing "all colors of house" around Shanghai and China for the last four years. Taking a new house/techno/dance-friendly direction, Shelter's Friday D'n'B Friday night "Sweat Shop" has already relocated to Windows Underground (at least whilst the Olympic ban is in......

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,......

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). Steve confirmed for us that Mr. Yeezy is scheduled......

"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]......

These two jazz vocalists are among the best Shanghai has to offer, and their show this afternoon will see them accompanied by a very strong rhythm section as well. Part of a series of monthly jazz concerts put on by JZ Club at the Oriental Arts Center, the show will also feature pianist Steve Sweeting, bassist Tinho Pereira, and drummer Ronnie Williams. For more info and tickets: JZ Club Culture.sh.cn Smart Shanghai......

Friday night was the first of five nights of racy burlesque performances by the Atomic Bombshells at the Glamour Bar. It was the perfect cure for those "boring Olympic opening ceremony blues", at least until China's own Olympic team paraded onto the screen--at which point nothing could draw the crowd's attention away from the big screen. Luckily that won't be an issue for the remaining 4 nights of shows. The first three nights (including tonight......

A couple updates about tomorrow night's gathering at Sasha's. First, we forgot to mention the wines that will be included in the half-price drink special. They are: Santa Rita 120 Sauvignon Blanc and Wolf Blass Eagle Hawk Shiraz/Cab/Merlot. Second, lots of people have asked1 for more information about the music that will be played at the Happy Hour, so we have included a list of artists featured on the playlist under "Music" below. Again, here......

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......

All hail the fun killers. In their infinite wisdom (idiots) the powers that be have deemed live music to be threat to national security and two casualties are Yuyintang and Windows Underground. The folk scheduled for tonight at YYT has been moved to Dream Factory and everything else is up in the air until after the Olympics. Super VC won't be able to play at Windows tonight and STD are trying to find a location......

Finally, we are back. Unlike the unfortunates who fell victim to visa restrictions our reason for being absent had more to do with laziness from too much heat. Being a pastie white red-head, the sun is not our friend. So what is happening this weekend? Well, not much, but there are a few shows. Chaos Mind and 5-pointed Star, two of Shanghais few metal bands will be playing at Yuyintang, while Live bar is letting......

Wednesday, July 30 Get cultural with violinist Ryo Goto, who will be performing Dvorak and Paganini at the Oriental Arts Center.This young musician was born in 1988 but has already made himself an impressive career. Booking hotline at: 62172426, 62173055. Tickets cost between 100 and 600 yuan, from 7:30 pm. 272 Fengxian Road, 奉贤路272号（近江宁路南京西路梅陇镇广场). Thursday, July 31 It's time to rumba! Try your dancing skills at 789 Nanjing lu bar's weekly rumba party. Entrance is......

Is there anything that won't work in China? This latest video from Arnaud Kamphuis of Daedalum Films explores Shanghai's growing jazz scene and China's exploding demand for jazz. Interesting was the refrain echoed by several of the foreign musicians interviewed that there was no way they could be doing the same thing back home without having to do music that they can't stand. Here, they're in a position to select gigs, travel lots for......

With less than 3 weeks to go before the Games, some of the most famous stars in show business are lending their voices to the latest stand on behalf of Tibet — a move that's sure to anger the Chinese government. Sting, Dave Matthews, John Mayer, Alanis Morissette, Moby and a host of others are performing on an album entitled "Songs for Tibet," the International Campaign for Tibet announced in a press release on Tuesday.......

From the New York Times: Foreign entertainers who have taken part in activities that China deems a threat to its sovereignty will not be allowed to perform in the country, according to a new list of rules posted Thursday on the Web site of the Ministry of Culture. The rules say that the background credentials of performers from foreign countries, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan will be scrutinized carefully. “Those who used to take part......

In March we introduced you to the "mother" of Chinese opera, Kunqu. This weekend Shanghai residents will have a chance to see if this ancient performing art can be transformed into something — how shall we put it — easier on the ears by blending in a touch of Jazz. Jeffrey Zhang, sometimes referred to as the "Prince of Kunqu Opera," will sing excerpts from classics such as "The Peony Pavilion," "The Story of the......

Brit/Aussie pop star Amy Pearson (don't know her? neither do we.) has a video that recently came to our attention not for its cliched lyrics and overwrought vocals, but because it was shot in our city. Feel free to mute, sing along in front of the mirror or just fast forward to 3:12, when the major Bund shots start.......

Work began Tuesday on a high-speed rail line from Shanghai to neighboring Nanjing, creating an even stronger link between the two economic powerhouses. Authorities say travel time, currently two hours, will be cut in half and that the line will be open by July of 2010, just in time for the World Expo. Seem to good to be true? Marc van der Chijs certainly thinks so, pointing out that a vehicle with a maximum speed......

If any of you have been in Shanghai for over 3 years you might remember a time when Ark Livehouse in Xintiandi was one of the few bastions of live music. Slowly disappearing from the scene and limping along for the past 3 years with the rare live show, Ark is finally calling it quits. Saturday they will hold one last show featuring some of Shanghai's oldest bands, including The Honeys, Blue Garden and Crystal......

It has been just over a month since the earthquake hit Sichuan, and while much of the media coverage has moved on to other disasters, we can still catch musical tributes while waiting for the subway. From the very beginning, we were impressed by how quickly state-owned media mobilized to air reel after reel of footage to inspire citizens across China to action and in many cases rally hope. Popular musicians all over Asia have......

Folk or Punk? Tonight that is the question you should be asking yourself. Demerit, a tight group of old school punkers, are playing out at Yuyintang tonight in celebration of their new cd. While out at Live Bar French folk bands, Kandid and Zedrus, will be showing Shanghai what French folk is all about. Tomorrow the STD party people will be at Windows Underground with Underground Baby, from Beijing, and King of Retards. Live Bar......

We’ve perused the net, we’ve asked our friends and now we’ve come up with our favorite highlights for the days ahead. Wednesday, June 18th Playing hooky from work has never been this much fun! Sneak over to the Shanghai International Convention Center to experience some of the madness that is the Shanghai International Wine and Spirits Fair, where alcohol experts from across the world come to strut their stuff. It’s 9:30-5 Tuesday through Thursday, and......

This weekend there is no lack of gigs worth checking out with some in familiar places and some in places that are new to the live music scene. Celebrating their 1st year anniversary, party promoters STD have pulled out all the stops, booking a massive space in the heart of Moganshan Road's art district. On Friday, Beijing heavy weights, New Pants, will be joined by Shanghai masters of chill, Cold Fairyland, and DJ R3. Saturday,......

Beijing Olympics Fan points us to this Olympic song of the moment, We Are Ready. For more Olympic music videos, click here.......

It is not uncommon for many of the Chinese indie bands to have their actual popularity and accomplishments embellished and twisted in order to drum up hype for upcoming shows. One of the few indie bands that actually is and does have the huge local following to justify the hype is Xie Tian Xiao and Cold Blooded Animal. This grunge/acid rock band formed back in 1994 when grunge was still riding out the Nirvana......

This weekend and next there are a couple of parties of notable exception that should be on everyone’s calendar. Saturday - June 7th Get in the Van II - Windows Underground & Anar - 10pm (50rmb) Saturday, the Get in the Van boys are back for another round of boozing it up on the buses. This time around they have decided to bring down Joyside, a hard partying garage band from Beijing who will be......

Tonight (Tuesday, 3 June) "Hip-Hop" group the Black Eyed Peas are playing a hastily arranged benefit gig for around 700 people at the Shanghai Concert Hall. Although previously set up as a brown-nosing corporate show for Chivas and Pernod Ricard the invite-only show will now apparently help victims of the Sichuan earthquake in some way. "We will invite our VIP guests, main customers in China, along with media to the concert"says Chivas spokeswoman Vanessa Wright......