Making an Impression on the Shanghainese Indie Music Scene

Here are some photos from two recent shows here in Shanghai. Little Chinese indie kids sure know how to party.

The Raveonettes at Mao Livehouse

The Raveonettes at Mao Livehouse

The Field at Yuyintang

The Field at Yuyintang8bit Techno at Lune

8bit Techno at Lune

Sometime in October. Are you guys on the list?

During my stay in Shanghai, I have enjoyed a high status in the club scene thanks to connections from people at work. However, there are a lot of clubs in Shanghai and sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. My roommate, Dan, and I saw that there was a new club opening close to where I work, and we decided to check it out.  When we got to Club Seven, located in the heart of Tianzifang, the lady at the door asked if we were on the list. We didn’t know that this was an invitation-only opening and we most definitely were not on the list. But then Dan said, “No. We’re with the architects who designed this place,” – FALSE. I confidently added, “Yeah, we work for ZEROLAB right down the street,” – TRUE. And then, without any question, she let us in. It was that easy. When we got inside, we met the manager, Sunny, who we talked to for a while before she started giving us free drinks. And that’s how it been ever since. We walk in like we belong there, and Sunny gives us free drinks. All because at one point in time a lady working the door thought that Dan and I architected Club Seven. Wo ai Shanghai!

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the American, the Korean American, the Thai Swiss, the Swiss German, and the Taiwanese American (photographer).

For American Thanksgiving, I took the initiative of organizing a peking duck dinner with some friends. There were plenty of places in Shanghai to get a traditional American dinner, but honestly, is there anything more BORING than a traditional American  dinner in Shanghai? After all, a duck is still a bird, albeit a much more delicious bird than a turkey. There were no sweet potatoes, but who needs sweet potatoes when you have egg yolk battered taro? And we may not have had pumpkin pie, but we did have pumpkin filled mochi. In addition to these two delicious dishes, we also ate a stewed pork dish, some steamed dumplings, black pepper beef, and garlic broccoli. The food was tastier than any American Thanksgiving meal I’ve ever had. We were the only people in the restaurant who were celebrating. It was a little like that scene in A Christmas Story when the Parker family goes to a Chinese restaurant (here just referred to as a restaurant) for Christmas dinner, only in reverse. And not at Christmas.