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......

Well, 2007 is pretty much over. This Shanghaiist has never really been a big New Year's person, maybe because we always end up the odd one out at midnight or the one that has to break up the drunken fights that erupt. But, in the spirit of the season we have decided to do that traditional (way over done) recap of the past year. 2007 was a big year for music in Shanghai and below......

Shanghaiist finally made it back from the Beijing Pop Festival and had a great time. We give respect to the organizers bringing some great international bands to China, but do recognize that this festival has a lot of logistical and organizational flaws to work out before it can claim to be of global standards. Being great at weaseling our way into places we don't exactly belong, Shanghaiist was able to get on stage during the......

Shaanxi official fired after mistresses revolt [Shanghai Daily] 11 angry mistresses have caused Pang Jiayu, 63, former top political adviser in Shaanxi Province, to lose his job. China pledges more support to Caribbean region [Xinhua] China plans to offer 4 billion yuan (US$530 million) in low-interest loans to Chinese firms in three years to encourage more investment in Caribbean regions. Western acts rock Beijing music fest [AFP] Thousands of Chinese music fans flocked to a......

Shanghaiist usually waits until Friday to update you on this weekend's live shows, but this week we decided to actually get something in a timely manner (actually we are going to Beijing for the Pop Festival so will be partying way too hard to write this later). Yuyintang, those stalwart music promoters, are back with a show tonight (Thursday) at the Zendai Moma out in Pudong. If this morning's weather holds out it should be......

Hardcore Public Enemy fans in China, don't attempt to kill yourself or your flat mate just yet. According to Beijing promoters, Public Enemy is not canceling their BJ Pop Festival appearance scheduled for the 8th of September. So put in your gold teeth, hang some bling around your neck and get your ass on a plane. In other news, we have heard rumors, from a reputable Chinese music magazine, that metal gods, Megadeth, will be......

Two days ago, we received this email from a local event promoter: Believe it or not, after alot of back and forth, Public Enemy is coming to Shanghai on September 11. You heard me. If you don't know who they are, you need to re-evaluate your knowledge of Hip Hop. 900 tickets are left as of this email. You excited? I am. We were excited — we (despite being white and rural) grew up listening......

Punk might not be dead, but it seems that, due to permit issues, the Exploited tour is. What Shanghaiist can't figure out is why the Exploited, in all their anti-government glory, would even apply for permits (many of the bands who come for China tours do it on tourist visas). Any one who has already purchased tickets for the show will be able to take them back to 4Live for a full refund. In other......

Shanghaiist loves good music gossip, and we are tickled purplish-red (our face usually turns this color after being overly tickled) to be the first to report that Busdriver, underground rapper extraordinaire, will be coming to China in October. Don't know who Busdriver is? Well, damn it, you should. After the release of his latest record Road Coat Overkill on apocalypse inspiring indie label Epitaph, Busdriver has been rated as one of the hottest artists this......

Disgruntled Shanghaiist critics will have a fit when they realize that the prison in question is in the Philippines. To which I reply, "Black or white, Chinese or Phils: Jack-o knows no borders." The talented inmates in question reside at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. In this video, hundreds of inmates perform the King of Pop's most famous choreography (right after moonwalking, the surgical destruction of one's face, and dodging molestation charges-- the......

Yeahhhhh, boyyyyyyy! They are playing the Beijing Pop Festival, September 8-9 in Chaoyang Park — this much appears to be confirmed. But there is a rumor (albeit a drunken one) going around that they might head down to Shanghai for a show, too. The rumor we heard has them playing at a club with a name that rhymes with "man down." This rumor should be taken very seriously. Because as you know all Shanghai music......

It's possible that we just caught the recently opened Piccone Live Music Bar on a bad night, but honestly the most interesting aspect of our experience was the toilet in the men's bathroom. We checked out Piccone (we're not sure where the name comes from ... perhaps the owner's last name?) because it pitched itself as a live music venue, and it came along at time when other supposed music bars and legit live venues......

Our brothers and sisters at Londonist breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday — they no longer have to redesign their logo. They will remain, for the foreseeable future, the city with the biggest ferris wheel. Pop open the champagne, guys! They have Shanghai to thank. Our idiot city planners have decided to scrap plans to build a "spinning giant": The Shanghai Star Ferris wheel was to stand 200 to 230 meters above its Hongkou......

This was not a very happy week for the -ist network as one of our own, Phillyist co-editor Star C. Foster, passed away early in the week. Her wit, intelligence, and good nature shone through the site, making Phillyist an immensely fun read. She was loved by many and will be missed by all. Phillyist paid tribute to her this week with a heartfelt letter to her and an obituary. And now, the awkward transition......

Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It's getting rave reviews, grossing millions, and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of Handmade......

Sensing that our caffeine levels were low, we recently made trip to the convenience store at the end of the block. There we saw Christina Aguilera on the cover of a magazine on the bottom of the rack, which upon closer inspection was the new Chinese Rolling Stone. You might recall that we wrote about this back in late March, after the inaugural issue came out with Cui Jian on the cover. They ran into......

How does the other half live? Shanghaiist is talking about our print media counterparts — you know, the ones that have actual deadlines and office space to fuss over. We won’t pretend to put ourselves in their shoes (well, some of us might, seeing as how we occasionally swing both ways — in the non-biblical sense, of course), but we can, at least appreciate an alliterative headline, a punchy lead, and some slick, savvy reporting.......

Jay-Z (with Beyonce in tow) -- Shanghai, Hongkou Stadium, October 23.The Beijing Pop Festival, which starts on September 9th, will feature bands such as Placebo, Supergrass, and Sebastian Bach, former lead singer of Skid Row. Check out some photographs from the parched Chongqing region.Sport apparel brand Champion is going to enter the Chinese market.Boondoggle is spelled m-a-g-l-e-v: losses this year have reached 440 million yuan. But it's a great way to show the world how......

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! Neil Yeung (no, not that Neil Young), Shanghaiist contributor Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones: On their latest LP, YYYs dug themselves out of the dank and metallic underground warehouse......

Yeah, we know -- unfair fight. Pop music versus (diluted agitprop) theater. But that's what this article is about: "Most of my friends and colleagues like Western pop music as we appreciate their sense of taste," said Samuel Zhu, a recent graduate of Shanghai's elite Fudan University. "Traditional Chinese music is very outdated and I find most of the lyrics rather immature and stupid." Just 20 minutes away by car from the Westlife venue is......

GigShanghai: The scoop on the city's live music scene...

Sure seems like it lately. Scientists have called the Yangtze River (heard of it?) "cancerous." This is not good news. The Yangtze is China's longest river. It is also Shanghai's main source of drinking water. Pop Quiz: How many tons of wastewater flowed into the Yangtze in 2004? If you guessed 16.75 billion, you win! Fifty kuai for a bottle of Evian doesn't sound so bad now, does it? And if you think this story......

In the past few months, Shanghai has been visited by quite a few notable foreign musicians: a group of wily geriatric rockers, one-third of a has-been disco brotherhood and a spiritual singer with a love for Chinese orphans. There's also been a consistent lineup of bands playing Shanghai's underground rock scene. But what of all those poor souls in the city that yearn for some live Chinese pop music? Their prayers will be answered this......

Li Yuchun (李宇春), winner of 2005's Super Voice Girls (超级女声 or chaoji nusheng) competition, will soon appear on collector's stamps throughout China. For its incorporation of SMS voting into its decision-making process, cultural critic Zhu Dake declared Super Voice Girls "blazed a trail for cultural democracy" in China. China National Philatelic Corp. is eager to cash in on that trailblazing, as they are set to issue a series of eight stamps (RMB 36) and a......

The Shanghai Evening Post tells us that Mission: Impossible III (or M : I : III, as the cool kids are calling it) will make its world premier in Shanghai. Yes, Shanghai! The red carpet event is slated for April 22 at the Shanghai Grand Theater. But leave your camcorders at home: Because the movie will go public in May, the debut on April 22 will employ many high-tech methods to prevent piracy. According to......

The New York Times has posted a four-minute video entitled "What's on China's TV Tonight?" It's narrated by David Barboza, an NYT writer based in China, and focuses on Hunan province, which, thanks to mega-hit Super Voice Girls, is the epicenter of China's television boom. The video shows clips of SVG -- including eventual champion Li Yuchun's awful rendition of Bryan Adams' awful "Everything I Do" -- but it also mentions a couple new shows,......

It didn't seem like Tom Cruise was in China all that long, considering 40 percent of the film is reportedly supposed to take place here (but apparently not all Shanghainese will be sad to see him go). Cruise and Mission: Impossible 3 director J.J. Abrams talked with journalists yesterday atop Bund 18. They must not have said much because we only found one quote in the two stories we read about the "press conference." Cruise......

She's got some guy with her, too. Can't tell who it is because of the sunglasses. But who cares? Katie Holmes is in Shanghai! The mystery man with Holmes must be kind of well known, however. It's been reported that he is trying to keep a low profile -- not easy when you have a 20-person entourage and your own six-car fleet. The man, who looks to be quite a bit older than Holmes, is......

Tom Cruise is crazy about China -- scrap that, he's just plain crazy -- and it seems China is crazy for him, too. Xitang, an ancient water town in Zhejiang, will "close from tomorrow" (which we think means today) for the filming of Mission: Impossible III. That's right, they are closing an entire town (or so the story makes it seem ... no other details were given). An "insider" reports that Cruise is scheduled to......

Following the sensational success of Super Voice Girls (Chaoji Nu Sheng or 超级女声), Hunan Province Satellite Television Station planned to organize another American Idol-style TV program called -- surprise, surprise -- Super Voice Boys (Chaoji Nan Sheng or 超级男声), the TV station announced the news to media cheerfully in early September. However, Xinhua reports (in Chinese) the plan was called off by The Central Propaganda Department and The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.......