SmartShanghai.com Wire http://www.smartshanghai.com Wed, 11 Nov 09 13:11:00+0700 Click here to order. Hawtin performs at MAO Livehouse on Thursday, Dec. 3.

Pre-sales? 120rmb. Door? 200rmb.
]]> Wed, 11 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700
Shanghai Mambo Cl¨¢sico is a week-long salsa/mambo dance party with live Latin music, DJs, dance classes, workshops, and most significantly, multiple performances by the New York Swing Sextet, a Grammy-nominated Swing band.

The first and main gala of this week-long Mambo throw-down happens this Sunday, November 15, with the aforementioned Sextet performing at Xintiandi Jazz club Brown Sugar. Ticket at door 300rmb (include one mojito) ; VIP tickets 500rmb (includes 2 drinks and VIP seating).

Festivities are contiunuing all week long, including shows by "the world's best salsa DJ", Henry Knowles, as well as workshops and performances by international salsa superstars Gordon Neil and Julissa Cruz.

For more detailed information, check out Shanghai Mambo Cl¨¢sico on the web right here.]]> Tue, 10 Nov 09 13:27:54+0700 Chinatown has a nice little Wednesday deal for you.

20% off for the Shanghai F&B cadre. Bring your business card down to the front desk at Chinatown and they'll give you an "Industry Love" VIP card. That's good for this Wednesday's "Industry Love" night and every Wednesday night thereafter.

Head on down and mingle and chat with your F&B industry colleagues, while you inwardly despise them, and pray to God with every ounce of your soul for their economic ruin and personal failure. Runs 8pm to 2am.
]]> Tue, 10 Nov 09 13:11:00+0700 A Christmas Carol from December 2 to December 6 at the Ke Center.

I say! Spanking! What-ho! What-ho! Ruddy marvelous!

Performances are nightly at 8pm, with two matinee shows taking place on top of that on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Advance tickets are available online (www.kecenter.org and www.ticket2010.com) or at their hotline: 136 4170 1170.

Prices: 150rmb (child/student); 200rmb (adult); Family Pack 600rmb (2 children, 2 adults); Group Deal -- Buy 10 adult tickets and get 2 free.
]]> Tue, 10 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 Costes this Friday. According to the club PR, a close friend of the band passed away and the group have called off their entire Asian tour. Bummer.

It's business as usual at Costes this Friday if you feel like heading down. The resident DJs Chris Lee and DJ Radek are picked up the slack playing Disco House. Complimentary cocktail reception from 10pm. No cover. Open to everyone --with priority to VIP guests and reservations, to be sure.

Here's Holy Ghosts!'s MySpace so you can have a listen at the Disco that could have been. ]]> Mon, 9 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 Yuyintang on December 6. They were just in China last year, playing at Midi fest, and also as part of some Sino-Canadian culture exchange soiree. Here is their MySpace page.

The next one is this band called Immaculate Machine, who are doing a big China tour in December and playing at Yuyintang on December 12. Here is their MySpace page.

Both bands are up your alley if you like New Pornographers-ey rawk, Canadian cultural imperialism, and universal heath care. Keep your calendars clear then for December. Both shows are being put on by Split Works, and we're cautiously anticipating the promoters to locate a few fitting opening acts for the two aforementioned shows.

Like, say, maybe some local band that manages to imbue both Chinese and Canadian characteristics somehow. Are there any? Like... a locally based band. A local rock band that is like a bridge between Canadian and Chinese culture. Where can one find such a band? ]]> Fri, 6 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 click here), Sin (click here), and G Plus (click here). Just fabulous!

Thanks to the photogs. You bitches know who you are.

]]> Thu, 5 Nov 09 14:11:00+0700 MONO is playing November 27 at MAO Livehouse. Few bands are as revered nationally as is MONO, and with two great support acts -- Sugar Plum Ferry (Taiwan) and Hualun (Modern Sky recs, Wuhan) -- this one is shaping up to be a massive event.

Pre-sale tickets just came available today and SmartTicket is now slinging a limited supply of them. Already on Chinese-language hotlines, they've been taking orders steadily all day long, and so if you want to get one of these, get on it sooner rather than later. MAO Livehouse is a large venue that hasn't been sold out yet, but this one looks like it might be close. (Ratatat flashbacks anyone?)

Pre-sales are 180rmb net, and each ticket comes with a free poster. Hot damn. Click here to order -- let the madness begin.]]> Thu, 5 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 coming to Shanghai on December 3 at MAO Livehouse. He's doing a China tour and sneaking in for a show on a Thursday night. Pre-sale tickets (available on SmartTicket shortly -- we'll let you know) are 120rmb, with the door fee clocking in at 200rmb.

Full support card from Ben Huang, Dave K, and Vertigo. That's it. Here's Hawtin's MySpace.

]]> Wed, 4 Nov 09 15:11:00+0700 this Friday.

Check out Shanghai Talk on the web as well, for all this and more, more, more. ]]> Wed, 4 Nov 09 13:11:00+0700 Shanghai ALLEYCAT Race thing is coming up soon. November 13 to 15, to be more specific. Brought to you by "People's Bike" (the Bike Polo hooligans -- interview here), ALLEYCAT is three days of events centered around the Shanghai ALLEYCAT race, which is a big bike race with checkpoints all over the city (on Nov. 14). One week before the race, they're releasing a list of shops that serve as checkpoints. Register by email to get on the list for the race:

General Inquiries: info@shanghaialleycat.com
Register for the Race: tyler@shanghaialleycat.com
±¨Ãû: liangxianghao@hotmail.com

Here's People's Bike on the web, and here's the official Shanghai ALLEYCAT page.

Also, if you're looking for a little Wednesday afternoon reading, click this link right here. It's an epic story of the chance recovery of a stolen bike. Good guys win!]]> Wed, 4 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 Buon Compleanno!"

Direct your mooching to Briccocafe, a reasonably priced Italian restaurant with a corporate sheen. They have been battling it out with an off-prime location for a year, and the party is to celebrate their first birthday. Remember to say Happy Birthday as you pile your plate and take advantage of the free. Free, FREE, FREE stuff starts at six, ends at nine. Here's a phone number, address, and map.]]> Tue, 3 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 Armin Van Buuren tickets left. We don't want you to miss his show at M2 on November 28 -- I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy -- so you better get yourself sorted out if you want to go. Pre-sale tickets are 300rmb. Click here to place your order. At the door, entry is 500rmb, ouch.

SmartTicket is also currently slinging tickets for the H¨¦l¨¨ne Grimaud piano recital. More info on that right here. ]]> Mon, 2 Nov 09 14:11:00+0700 Gosney and Kallman's Chinatown is officially open for biz-naz. Officially, officially, officially, for real open, according to a press release mail-out. The burlesque club is open to all every Wednesday to Saturday, with nightly performances ending around 1am or so. No cover, but send them an email ahead of time to confirm your table: boxoffice@chinatownshanghai.com.

Here's the venue listing.

]]> Mon, 2 Nov 09 13:11:00+0700
Total: one.

Hofbräuhaus turned off their taps and swung their sausages back over to Pudong HQ. That's two German beerhauses to sink in the Taojiang Lu location. The mighty Paulaner trundles on.

The lucky person at Hofbräuhaus Pudong to answer my call distilled it all rather succinctly: "Business no good." Pudong will remain open.

Anyone looking for a 42 million square meter wood villa, with rent approaching half a million kuai per month, in which to sell schnitzel and suds? Umlauts included. Contact me.

]]> Mon, 2 Nov 09 12:11:00+0700 A Christmas Carol. The new company, Shanghai Repertory Theatre, is headed by Rosita L. Janbakhsh, formerly the producer for EastWest Theater.

Rosita split from EastWest, and took much of the EWT creative team with her. Some familiar faces from EastWest will also be on stage for Shanghai Repertory Theater. Rob Tromp is playing Scrooge; Christy Shapiro's the third ghost (Christmas Yet to Come). Charlie Mayer (you may have seen him at Chinatown) will be Bob Cratchit. There will also be many fresh faces.

Janbakhsh tells us she decided to go her own way because of unresolvable differences in vision. She aims to develop a fully legal, professional theater company "with a core,resident group of actors and creative team" so she and the rest of Shanghai Repertory Theatre can tackle "bigger and better and more artistically challenging" plays.

Projects in the making include a theater festival (May 2010), which Janbakhsh hopes will attract other participants from theater companies in Shanghai and from other cities in Asia.

"That's our ultimate goal," Janbakhsh says, "to travel and perform beyond the borders of Shanghai, to be able to invite professional guest stars, etc."

A Christmas Carol is scheduled to run December 2-6 at Ke Center.
]]> Fri, 30 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700
First, this place puts it on cheap hot dogs, with plastic nacho cheese, and delivers. It's the old Togo, and they'll pedal you over Chili Cheese Dogs for 15rmb each. They are disgusting and good.

Second, the Cook-Off is Saturday, at Bubba's. Except for the drunk chefs, it's a family affair and an iron bubble of Americana. The drama this year is that Empress Dowager Kelley Lee will be competing against her business partner/brewer, the windy Gary Heyne, and the chef of her Boxing Cat vassal state, Mike Solovey. Sean Jorgensen will try to hold on to the victory plaque he accidentally stumbled into last year with Brad Turley, who, incidentally is back in town until January. (Jorgensen, last year: "I don't even like chili.")

Entry and as much Chili as you can handle: 100 beans. Here's the event listing. ]]> Thu, 29 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700
Sandals, Shorts OK:

Roomtwentyeight's mod-Oz menu and new prosecco option (128rmb+); Gourmet Cafe's massive breakfast burger, smoothie, and a coffee, if Sunday is clear (128rmb); the Euro set-up in a park-side slot at Enoteca Deuce (120rmb); and the tourist / family mixer at KABB (70rmb+).

Sandals, Shorts Not So OK:

Bund view, smart casual at the revamped New Heights (148rmb+); Bund view, upturned pinkie at M (218rmb+); park view, clock tower at Kathleen's (188rmb+); retail-price wine, schmancy all-you-can-order in Napa's terrace (248rmb).

Have at it. Indoor options galore if you want 'em, here.]]> Wed, 28 Oct 09 14:10:00+0700 Yeeha is involved in some closing drama. China Daily is all up on the scene with quotes from disgruntled employees -- "We were surprised to find that the most valuable equipment in the dining hall, such as the LCD TVs and computers, had disappeared.... None of us were told the restaurant would close." -- a Labor Bureau official confirming an arbitration application, and the operator's kicker of a denial: "The restaurant doesn't owe any salary to employees."

It's not actually Yao's restaurant. He just "lent" the name. And it's not good when China Daily allocates THREE reporters to dig up the dirt on a restaurant.

Drama! Here's the story.]]> Wed, 28 Oct 09 13:10:00+0700 Vargas-chasers might want to know that the latest and greatest, Balthazar, is open.

What? You're still eating his burgers? Old news.

Two important Balthazar facts: they've got a 30% off, soft-opening special happening until Saturday, and Erik Berger has returned from self-imposed Shanghai exile to take over the kitchen. I don't know what happened to the first guy.

Berger was in Hainan, and before that, the dearly departed Naked Cow. Welcome back, Berg. ]]> Wed, 28 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700 DKD down on Huaihai is closed for renovations, so if you were going to go down there for your various Hip Hop, open bar-type needs, best check something else out instead. DKD Management: "We'll be closed for several months."

That little tid bit of info was sent in by a reader and confirmed by some dude I know that DJs there sometimes. Iron. Clad. Responsible. Journalism.]]> Tue, 27 Oct 09 13:10:00+0700 DFA records (LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, et. al). Hot on the heels of YACHT's performance this Friday at Yuyintang, comes word that New York Disco revivalist duo Holy Ghost will be performing at Costes in Xintiandi on November 13. They sound kind of like Disco for Electro kids.

Check them out on the MySpace here, and a more indepth write-up and mix sample here. Specific ticketing info is still forthcoming, but the event will be open to the public. ]]> Tue, 27 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700
To wit:

Tuesday, Sub-Culture Cinema shows Dark City, a philosophical sci-fi thriller starring a crazed Kiefer Sutherland and Rufus Sewell. The geek factor is amped to 11 on this bad boy. If you haven¡¯t seen it, Dark City = Metropolis + Nosferatu + The Matrix + Twilight Zone + Awesome. Event details here.

More Nerdery: Thursday at Not Me is that weekly Heart Attack party, but they¡¯re closing their CD books labeled ¡°SHIT MUSIC¡± and opening up the ones marked ¡°SWEET METAL¡±, and busting out a slew of classic Metal for Halloween from Judas Priest to Megadeth to Iron Maiden to Mastodon. Good for maladjusted teens that have managed to cultivate their social awkwardness well into their 30s. Event details here.

And lastly, it doesn¡¯t get any more nerdy than this: MAO Shanghai is hosting an Anime Cosplay live music festival thing this Sunday. If you¡¯ve never been to a Anime Cosplay event before, they¡¯re like a vortex of nerdery at the center of a black hole of geekdom, with photon torpedoes of dork exploding all around it like fireworks. That one starts at 6pm this Sunday. If you come in costume it's only 20rmb! Event details here.
]]> Mon, 26 Oct 09 18:10:00+0700
-Maya's First Anniversary Party (Thanks to Charlie Xia)

-The Electrograss Stage at the Shanghai JZ Festival (Thanks to Mr. Tsang)

-Sweet 18 @ Lounge 18 (Thanks to Grant-Oh! Buchwald)

And, hey, congratulations everyone.
]]> Mon, 26 Oct 09 17:10:00+0700 Roots and Shoots is planning a benefit concert for November 21 at Yuyintang. If you've been around Shanghai a little while, you'll remember that Roots and Shoots usually does this once a year to raise money for their "Million Tree Project" -- an initiative to combat the desertification of Inner Mongolia.

So this year's concert features a marathon of locally-based Indie Rock acts and such. Here's who is taking part: Booji, Duck Fight Goose, Resist Resist, Varde, Boys Climbing Ropes, Triple Smash, and The Youth and Destroyer. Line-up subject to changes and additions.

.. read on]]> Mon, 26 Oct 09 14:10:00+0700 Swissotel Grand. It runs from 9am to 4pm.

Now, usually you should be wary of anything with "For Foreigners" in the title, but this job fair seems legit, and if you're looking for a career switch -- or just any career at all -- you should head down at have a look. Can't hurt right?

This is from the webber: "In April 2009, we ran a very successful job fair-Beijing 2009 which attracted over 67 exhibitors and offered around 800 positions for foreign graduates and employed professionals looking for kick-start their careers in China. Almost 1,500 foreign talents attended the event, with some traveling as far afield as south eastern China."

Bring your C.V. and your business face. Remember, when they ask, your weaknesses are workoholism, excessive punctuality, stick-to-it-ivness, and perfectionism.

More info at the website right here. ]]> Mon, 26 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700 Snapline's biggest fan in Shanghai. They're all he thinks about, apart from authentic Chinese dining options:

"Snapline put their completed new album up this weekend on their Douban page, and it's damn good. I think it gives SmartShanghai street cred to write about it before Pitchfork does."

Snapline are an Indie Electro / New Wave-ish band out of Beijing on Maybe Mars records. They are indeed quite rad, so head on over to their Douban page here, and check out their new disc. For freeeeeeeee!!!

Thanks Derek.
]]> Fri, 23 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700 newest one, from local music writers Jake Newby and Andy Best. These guys are doing a local live music orientated one, and it's quite good, as you would expect from the background and experience of the two Kungfuology bloggers. These guys go to all the shows and tell you about them, so it's like you don't even really have to bother.

Then there's also this one, featuring WoAi, Swiss James, and Dingle, which is three guys with three blogs who Voltron-ed up for a little aural dynamite.

More British people podcastings as well over the That's Shanghai podcast, which is a more general expat affairs kind of thing, and there's also the guys at SHAG radio, which is random Western and Chinese music (Me First and the Gimmie, Gimmies, Dizzie Rascal, The Moral Fools) interspersed with discussions on Chinese beard history and stuff.

What's up, England? Is the radio really big over there or something? I used to think podcasts were pretty wacksauce, but these are actually pretty entertaining and interesting. And when people are speaking to you in a British accent, it feels like you're learning something important in school. But anyways, I'm tuned in and hope they keep it up.
]]> Thu, 22 Oct 09 17:10:00+0700 in November. All the 1,200rmb VIP tickets are gone; cheap ones gone too. The rest are gonna go real quick-like, so if you want to see Ma shred a cello, hurry up and buy, BUY, BUY!

Here's the SmartTicket. Get some.]]> Thu, 22 Oct 09 12:10:00+0700 this. Two hundred kuai to play "mixologist" and make yourself three cocktails -- it's the Shaker Xperience.

I don't get it. I pay, you work, I drink. That's the bar situation I like and am comfortable with.

Start teaching the whole bartender lifestyle -- three-day benders, losing your friends, not eating for days at a time, replacing your coffee with ecstasy -- and not just drink mixing, and you'll get my 200rmb, Cocktail Architects. Until then, no deal. ]]>