As you’ve no doubt read about already here on Shanghaiist, this weekend could be one of the best for live music since we scuttled into the Year of the Rat. Therefore, you’ll forgive us if we don’t make it down to M on the Bund but instead spend our time over the next couple of days at slightly less refined venues checking out some great bands. Nevertheless, if books not beats are your thing, then......

Touring season has official started for Chinese bands and this weekend Shanghai is bursting with shows worth checking out. Tonight the action starts early with three Xian bands playing at Yuyintang. Both Hush and 24hour Party People have played in Shanghai before and put on solid shows. This time they are joined by punk band Sucker. If you miss tonight's earlier show, you don't have to feel like a total bum, all 3 bands will......

Tonight will see the massive Shanghai Stadium host a sporting event for seemingly the first time in ages. More akin in recent times to holding pop concerts and ceremonies, the 80,000 all-seater arena will be the venue for an exhibition match between American MLS Soccerball team LA Galaxy and China Division One side East Asia (kick-off 7:30pm). The match is part of the Galaxy’s pre-season tour of East Asia and will also serve as a......

BLUES ROOM GRAND OPENING: Tonight (Wednesday Dec 12TH), 8-11pm, FREE vodka cocktails and snacks. Live jazz. Be there! RUBY RED WHITE BORDEAUX TASTING: Something special for wine aficionados this Friday (Dec 14th, 7.30pm): Ruby Red is holding a tasting of 6 Bordeaux white wines - 3 dry whites and 3 Sauternes, including Chateau D'Yquem and Lafaurie Peyrageuy!! A fantastic opportunity to taste these famous wines. Given the wine quality to be offered, the cost is......

Please excuse us for what will be a day of light posting. We've been puking cosmopolitans and bile ALL morning from this really hot party last night at the Le Meridien that we didn't tell you about (hah! sometimes we prefer to keep the fun to ourselves), but even before we've said goodbye to the thousand diablos hammering on our head right now, we're already planning on where to get ourselves further plastered tonight. Long-time......

Our friend, Jack Chen of Shanghai Studio, the wonderful guy that was responsible for all our freaky decorations during our Halloween party and the vampire that freaked quite a few of you out, shows us that his less creepy side can be just as creative with his very first personal art show of Angel art paintings. What: Jack's Angel Art Show @ Shanghai Studio Entrance: RMB50 (incl. one Tiger Beer) Free entry for everyone in......

In Shanghai there are a couple of early week shows that are worth checking out. Tonight, Too Dumb to Die, a bohemian group of gypsy vaudeville musicians who have rode their oddly tall bikes from Istanbul will take the stage out at Yuyintang. Sound interesting? Well, Shanghaiist thinks so, and can't wait to see them perform. While tomorrow, Yuyintang will host German hardcore punk band, No Opinion. Shanghaiist had the chance to catch No Opinion......

This is your final warning! Where: Shanghai Studio, No.4, Lane 1950 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Xingguo Lu (淮海中路1950弄4号,近兴国路) When: Tonight, 9 pm until the last demon is exorcised! Drinks: RMB 25 beers, RMB 30 standard drinks and house wines Entrance: RMB 35 (includes a free beer or soft drink) For those of you who still haven't gotten your costumes (shame on you!), you still have a few hours left! See photos of last year's party......

Tonight 8pm NEXTSTEP @ Vintage Living 3F, 2068 Nanjing Xilu, by Yongyuan Lu, T: 6249-0469 Calling all Shanghai entrepreneurs! Come meet new faces and get to know other like-minded individuals at this week's NextStep event which features Tony Mustafa of Essential Finance. All are welcome, no membership required, and no cover charge. Wednesday 8pm Shanghai Skate Nights @ Shanghai Concert Hall 523 Yan'an Dong Lu (near Xizang Lu) The bi-weekly Shanghai SkateNights continues to gather......

Tonight, for those of you who can speak Chinese or French, there is a play at the Shanghai Arts Center that we strongly recommend you to watch. It takes place at the Shanghai Drama Arts Center until July 22. What is it about? Le diner de cons in French (The Dinner Game in English or 超级笨蛋 in Chinese) was a popular play in France that was turned into a movie in 1998 and was released......

Still recovering from your May Holiday partying? Well, there's no respite. Here are a few things that Shanghaiist is keeping an eye on over the coming week. Thursday May 10th Photography Exhibition Reception: Shanghai - The New Noir. Photography exhibitions appear to be a 2007 trend. Tonight, see the opening reception of photographer Heungman's collection. The exhibition contrasts the great metropolies of New York and Shanghai, and explores their lurking "sinister energies". Shanghai: The New......

Tonight, New Zealand punk jazz prodigy Aron Ottignon descends upon Shanghaiist’s favourite weekly, Freaklub. Critics have ladled some lavish praise upon the 23-year-old pianist, who began tickling the ivories — “really playing!” Ottignon insists — at the age of one, when most of us were still trying to wrap our heads around the concept of left-foot-right-foot-left-foot-right-foot. At age 11, he picked up what was to be his first of many jazzman accolades — New Zealand’s......

Has the destruction of Wujiang Lu got you down? Need a quick picker-upper? If so, you might think about heading down to Henry's Brewery & Grill for a nice dose of comedy to turn that frown upside down. Does Henry's sound familiar to you, oh dearest reader? That's because it will also be the host of Shanghaiist next Happy Hour. Okay, that's enough self-promoting. This isn't the first time there's been some stand-up comedy on......

Gay in the city and want to meet new people without A. Consuming unseemly amounts of alcohol, B. Making a Gaydar or Fridae account, C. Begging friends for introductions, D. Gyrating on the dance floor? Well, Shanghai's No. 1 Fag Hag is here to make your day. Welcome to the city’s newest, and first all-inclusive, alternative group: Shanghai LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender). (Full disclosure: The author of this post is a co-founder of......

Of course you do. That's why you should head on down to Zapata's (yes, Zapata's) tonight for Second Chance Animal Aid's Gala Holiday Party. It starts at 6:30 pm and a 100 kuai entrance ticket gets you two drinks, food and a raffle ticket. There is a separate raffle for a cool Chang Jiang sidecar motorcycle (see video ... just like the the one Christopher St. Cavish rode on his charity ride through China). You......

Tonight’s a big night for dubstep, that bastard child of 2step, the favourite fry in that skanky garage family (younger sibling grime has had its day). Kode 9, the dubstep mercenary from London, touches down at Bon Bon tonight for a special edition of Phreaktion's Booyaka! weekly. Indeed, the DJ (Rinse FM), producer and label owner (Hyperdub) and journalist (Deuce, XLR8R, Fact) lives and breathes the underground music scene. Soon, the title of "author" will......

Tonight, we were all set to show our out-of-town visitors that hip-hop is alive and well in Shanghai. The tide, we reasoned, was beginning to shift, and if the previously moribund live music scene could find its second wind, why not a bona fide community of true hip-hop heads? Of course, much of this speculation hinged on the continued growth of So Much Soul, the weekly hip-hop event sprung into action by the Lab, and......

We know we've had our fair share of gripes with the hip-hop scene in Shanghai, but fear not, gentle reader, this won’t be one of those occasions. For tonight there’s a change in the air, and no, we're not just talking about the sudden chill that's setting in. Positivity is contagious, and there’s nothing quite like an old-fashioned block party to get those juices flowing, those feet shuffling, and the contented murmur of music aficionados,......

We wanted to see I-GO (top video above) play their first gig back in July at Tang Hui, but that conflicted with our very own Shanghaiist 80s Happy Hour. Then they played at Rojam over the October holiday, but that conflicted with our honeymoon in Thailand. Tonight, finally, we'll get to see Shanghai's best (only?) "electro new wave group" play at Fabrique, part of the 4LIVE party organized by Zooma, formerly of Tang Hui fame.......

We have been wanting to tell you about this all day, but the technology gods had other ideas (the same is true for all other Shanghaiist contributors, which should explain while the site didn't change much today). Anyway, if you are still in front of your computer and still have no plans tonight, do yourself a favor and head over to Bar 288 (aka The Melting Pot) for what promises to be a great night......

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,......