Results tagged “theroots”

So the rumors we heard over the weekend at Kiito's were true ... and sooner than expected. According to SmartShanghai, China West — the outfit that brought, among others, Norah Jones, James Brown, Black Eyed Peas, The Roots, Incubus, James Blunt, Kanye West and Kylie Minogue to China — was "unable to maintain a profitable bottom line" after five years here. SmartShanghai says China West is "bowing out of the Chinese market for 2009," so perhaps they not ruling out a return to the market in 2010 or beyond. Either way, a shame. And then there was one? (OK, maybe two.)

This is a little old, but we have a feeling many of you haven't seen it yet. From what we have read and seen (front row last month at Yunfeng Theater) of ?uestlove, drummer for The Roots, we always thought the man also known as Ahmir-Khalib Thompson would be a pretty cool guy to hang out with. And then someone told us to check out his blog on MySpace and now our new goal in life is get invited to one of ?uestlove's cookouts should we ever leave Shanghai and move back to rockin' Conshohocken. His blog is an entertaining and honest glimpse into the life of a celebrity, although it seems as though he's not really sure if he feels like a celebrity yet.

That's what we get for buying tickets right in front of the speakers. But the hearing loss was worth it — The Legendary Roots Crew, the hip hop band from Philly, put on a damn good show. And yes, they even did a brief Led Zeppelin cover (and A Tribe Called Quest and Biz Markie and many others). But for the most part, Black Thought, ?uestlove, Hub, Kamal Gray, F. Knuckles and Captain Kirk Douglas rocked their originals, and the seemingly capacity crowd at Yunfeng Theater (packed predominately with expats) loved it. The musician solos were intense — the boys can play. Also a highlight was Black Thought's uncanny ability to work the word "Shanghai" into just about every song they performed. After their two-plus-hour show, The Roots hung around on stage, shook hands, signed autographs, posed for photos and hurled autographed drumsticks into the crowd. No injuries were reported.

Shanghai's Science and Technology Museum is getting somewhat of a workout of late. Firstly, it hosted perhaps 2007's biggest bash, and then the news that Canadian entertainers Cirque du Soleil will perform their long-running Quidam show at the museum forecourt from June 28th.

What have we, what have we, what have we done to deserve this?

We think that's exactly what we said when we read this email from the fine fellows at China West Entertainment:

American in Shanghai, a fascinating and entertaining insight into the remarkable career of an entrepreneurial ex-pat. Shanghaiist spoke with the author to find out more.