UPDATE: You're going to want to be checking back in with SmartShanghai tomorrow -- Wednesday, February 8 -- for tickets to Sven Vath, Pendulum, and more.

***

If you read this month's "The Agenda" article, you'll recall us blah, blah'ing about this new Club called Boom, opening up in February under the aegis of the Cool DJ Agency promotions agency. Boom is opening on February 18 with minimal techno innovator Sven Vath performing -- still waiting on those tickets -- but more information is starting to surface on the webs with who they're following that up with.

To wit: Pendulum. Somewhat absurd Australian drum n bass / hard rock group in on March 9, in for a DJ set at the club. Pendulum emerged on the world stage in the mid '00s for their skronking blend of nu metal and drum n bass -- breaking big with this remix of The Prodigy, among other delightful things. (That's a YouTube link -- activate your VPN). They're one of the world's biggest crossover dance acts, providing a "get tha EFF UP" metal show with DnB and industrial elements. Here's some of their recent vids: here and here.

So yeah. Pendulum DJ set at Boom. March 9. Considering their latest deluxe edition of Immersion (rel. Jan '11) features remixes by deadmau5, Tiësto, and Chuckie, I'd expect shit like that for their DJ set.

Here's Pendulum covering "Master of Puppets". (Again, that's YouTube).

Amici's is an American "east coast" pizzeria that's actually on the country's west coast--San Francisco--and now has a branch in the Far East. It's all a bit confusing, but hey, that's the global economy for you. Be that as it may, apparently, the restaurant is a Bay Area institution.

"Institution," incidentally, is a great word to describe how this place looks. It is consummately corporate, generic, complete with formica and faux vines creeping up a trellis on a pinkish-orange wall. Strangely, whomever decorated the place decided to follow the steakhouse tradition of hanging black and white glossies of 20th century icons everywhere. Some have an obvious connection to NYC--Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gherig for instance. Others, just seem tenuous and arbitrary at best: Muhammad Ali knocking out Sonny Liston, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Albert Einstein. I don't know. Maybe they're all famous for liking pizza.

Read on

Kicking off their 2012 season after a really active 2011, local theatre troupe, Shanghai Repertory Theater, has Shakespeare's classic, Much Ado About Nothing planned for a run in March -- March 8 to March 18, specifically, at the Ke Center.

The last Shakespeare the troupe put on was Twelfth Night, almost exactly a year ago at the same venue is 2011. It was quite good.

Keep an eye out for that, fans of intrinsically silly and gleefully energetic theatre.

SmartShanghai is on the lookout for new interns to join our crack commando unit of elite investigative journalists.

If you’re a native English speaker who has been in Shanghai long enough to know the difference between CUIVRE and CVRVE, if you’re bursting with ideas and thrilled by the notion of sharing them with the rest of the city, then we want to hear from you.

Web and writing experience would be a plus, as would a working knowledge of the local language, but commitment and enthusiasm are the key. We need a minimum of three days a week from you, and a commitment to stick around for at least a couple of months. Read on