Results tagged “rollingstones”

By Jeffrey Wasserstrom

During the golden week, Shanghaiist published the rumor that world class diva Christina Aguilera (the artist formally known as X-tina) would be coming to Shanghai to belt out some of her latest hits. At the time of the announcement, Ms. Aguilera was awaiting approval from the Shanghai government censors, something Jay-Z is very familiar with. At the time, Shanghaiist was "praying on every dumpling" that the censors would approve the concert because we are big...

We don't want to say we're starved for good live rock music in Shanghai ... but we are starved for good live rock music in Shanghai. Live here long enough and you gradually forget exactly how good it feels to stand up near the stage and get lost in a rock band that knows exactly what they are doing, a band you would pay to see even if you weren't living in China, a band that has actually released original and relevant material this millennium. Well, last night at Shanghai Concert Hall, for two feedback infused hours, Sonic Youth reminded us how sublime an experience that can be. And now we want more. We need more.

It's funny all the flap that was made here about the lyrical content of certain Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton songs, not to mention visa/vulgarity issues for Jay-Z and others, yet Roger Waters slips under the radar and delivers a long, loud set full of blatant references to just about everything that the authorities were presumably guarding against. Who knows, perhaps his lyrics were screened and his set-list given the thumbs up. For the sake of future tours, we hope that's the case.

Yes, that Cui Jian. The godfather of Chinese rock. The one some call "China's Bruce Springsteen." The guy they put on the cover of the first Chinese Rolling Stone. The guy who last year shared a Shanghai stage and accompanied (kind of) Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones.

Now that all the fuss and excitement surrounding Robin Gibb and Air Supply has died down, what do we have to live for during the coming cold and brutal winter months in Shanghai? In addition to our beloved electric blankets and space heaters, there's going to be a little something for everyone to look forward to as we plunge into the cold.

So everyone is reporting what we warned you about. Here's what the AP said:

If you made it as far as page 75 in the June issue of That's Shanghai, congratulations: You're almost halfway there. And if you've seen page 75, you've noticed that it was an ad for pop/hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas, who are bringing their Monkey Business Tour to Shanghai's Grand Stage on July 20. (Monkey Business the album came out almost exactly a year ago and received an average score of 45 out of 100 on Metacritic.) There is no ticket information on the ad, but there is a reference to the site of China West Entertainment, the Shanghai-based promoter of BEP's two Mainland gigs, Shanghai and July 18 at the Beijing Exhibition Center Theater. The China West site shows that tickets will range from RMB 280-880. They aren't on sale yet, but you can sign up to be notified when they are made available. BEP is also playing Hong Kong on July 16 at the AsiaWorld-Arena. Tickets start at HK$380 and go up to HK$780. (We weren't able to find any of these shows listed on BEP's offical website or other tour sites.)

Our guess: two. By now, you have likely heard of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards and his run-in with a coconut tree. But did you know he almost suffered what sounds like it could have been a much more serious head injury in Shanghai? On stage? Danwei has the dirt:

We were walking past our local newsstand on the way to the gym this morning and noticed something strange: A new issue of the Chinese Rolling Stone (well, it didn't say "Rolling Stone," but it felt like Rolling Stone). This was strange to us because we thought the plug had been pulled on China's Rolling Stone after its first issue. We stopped following this story a while ago and somehow missed a Danwei post entitled "Rolling Stone: raped but still alive" from more than a week ago. That post links to the blog of Hao Fang (郝舫), the editor of the magazine, who explains what is going on (kind of).

Direct link to the video is here.

Tim Kao, musician

We didn't go to the Rolling Stones concert last night. And we have only heard from one person who did go, second hand at that. Here's the message we received today:

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof:

The Rolling Stones arrived in Shanghai yesterday and the media noticed. We read a couple of these stories before we got bored.

Looks like they spoke to someone at Shanghai Daily by phone. And then the author referred to them in the story as "inimitable front man Mick 'The Lips' Jagger and original axe man Keith 'I'm Still Alive' Richards," who was later referred to in the story as "Keef." Here are their quotes that have something to do with playing in Shanghai:

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

Many news sources are reporting what could be the first bird flu death in Shanghai. Ms. Li, a 29-year-old migrant worker, "died of pneumonia of unknown causes." The news was first reported on state TV Thursday night. You can watch the report here.

Image via Gridskipper from Inner Scopes: Contemporary Chinese Photography as Conscious Practices, which runs at the Shanghai Gallery of Art until April 2.

Following up on our Rolling Stones story from yesterday, a commenter alerted us to the fact that the Rolling Stones Shanghai concert listing has been removed from the Emma Ticket website. That indeed appears to be true. We don't know why this has happened. But it seems you can still preorder tickets from elsewhere -- like Shanghai Spring Travel. This site confirms the show is "confirmed." But we still can't find any mention of a Shanghai gig on the band's official site.

Looks like our sources were correct. What has been unofficially official for some time now, is now officially official (kind of) -- the Rolling Stones are headed to Shanghai:

• Are English-only signs in Shanghai discriminatory? Or is it just called knowing your customer base?
• Two new human bird flu cases in China. Threat said to be "massive." Will the Rolling Stones still come?
• Elizabeth II -- the world's oldest ocean liner, not the queen -- is headed to Shanghai this March.

James Brown might be the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, but yesterday Shanghaiist felt like the Hardest Working Man in Shanghai. Which is why this post is a day late. And because we were recovering from the "Sex Machine" after-party at Mint.

There are strong rumors that four Englishmen in their 60s will strut what is left of their stuff on a stage somewhere in Shanghai this April. At this point they are still just rumors, but here are some reasons why Shanghaiist believes the Rolling Stones will bring their A Bigger Bang tour to our fair city this year (unless China's "mysterious" disease du jour once again scares them away):

The validity of DJ rankings can certainly be debated, and frequently is. Lucky #8 on the oft-lauded DJ Mag poll is Grammy winning Deep Dish. Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi are two Americans (born in Iran) from Washington, D.C., who are among the most well-known and respected artists/producers in electronic dance music today. They hit it big with debut "Junk Science" in 1998 and have been producing and DJing consistently since then. In demand as remix specialists, they've re-worked tracks from artists like Depeche Mode, Madonna, the Rolling Stones, and the White Stripes. Dubfire and Sharam are regulars in Ibiza and are currently touring the world in support of their latest effort, George Is On. Saturday night clubgoers should plan on battling a crowded queue to hear hot single "Flashdance".

Shanghaiist is tired of living in a black hole of music. After our brother threatened to blackmail us if we asked him to send music AGAIN, we started thinking about alternatives.

Rapper and hardened TV detective Ice-T has been booked[1] to play at Shanghai's Club Pegasus on July 21, alongside fellow Rhyme Syndicate member Afrika Islam. As an originator of "true story" gangsta rap, as well as the man who did battle with ultra-conservative Tipper Gore over his heavy metal band's single "Cop Killer," we can't help but admire the ambitious promoters who've orchestrated the New Jack Hustler's impending arrival in China.