What was this about relaxing on the last weekend of a holiday? Nonsense, that’s what it was. We’ve been busy -- actually Brad’s been busy and we tried to help him (more on that in a few), but we still managed to get the show out … albeit, a few days late. Sorry.

Massive night at our GigLive @ BonBon -- ask any of the 400+ that came, we’re quite sure we don’t need to be elitisty anymore about how much fun 88 kuai all-you-can-drink plus 3 local underground bands each Wednesday can be.

We do, however, want to include a joke (of sorts) someone (name unknown) sent us:

Q: “How many GigShanghai-ers does it take to change a lightbulb?”
A: “You mean you don’t know?”

… point taken.

Loads to do this weekend (when you’re not waiting in line for some ridiculous F1 party) -- it’s all in the show:

Now, here’s why we’re tired: GigShanghai co-founder/owner/Chinese-speaking presenter Brad recently took over Live Bar and after 138 headaches caused by hiring locally, he decided to renovate the thing himself. Enlisting help from local web-celeb John Pasden and wanna-be celeb Aric Queen he promised that tonight's show (Mad Mushroom Brigade and Zhou Chao), despite what Live Bar looked like at 2:33pm today …

... will go on. And what is a warehouse indie rock show without some hipster getting paint on his shirt-tucked-into-his-belt-buckle?

So support him (meaning: spend 23 RMB on a taxi), and the scene -- the reopening of any music venue (as opposed to the latter that we keep hearing and reading about) is a big deal -- and one done from a good ole’ boy from Austin is all the more reason.

See you next week.

GigShanghai

Numbers tell a story. And the number emblazoned upon a Shanghai taxi’s dashboard tells a tale of experience -- i.e., how long the particular driver has been in the job. The higher the number, the less time he or she has spent behind the wheel (numbers are issued in sequence, just like baggy green caps).

There’s nothing quite as frustrating as jumping in a cab to find a driver with a shiny new license placard and a very large number -- something starting with “27”, for example -- and receiving a quizzical look when you ask to be taken to Xintiandi. (Unless that look is actually a reflection of the driver’s disdain for Xintiandi, rather than his ignorance of its location. That would perhaps be fair enough).

So when we jumped in a cab the other day to find a driver wielding a dog-eared, sepia-toned license picture reading “000022” we knew we had a veteran on our hands. Not surprisingly, our trip was a pleasure. The bloke was a bit gruff and didn’t speak much English -- hence his inability to gain more than one star over such a long career -- but he certainly knew his zuo guai from his you guai.

Anyone encountered 000001 before?