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Year of the Soft Sell

The best event flyers of 2007 - By Morgan, Dec 29, 07

In 2007, SmartShanghai posted 1,560 events in the Upcoming Events section of the Web site, give or take a few. This afternoon I went though all the flyers from those events and what follows is my purely subjective list of the best of the bunch. It was hard to narrow it down to a nice even number like ten, so I came close with 11 fav's. Obviously the list reflects my own bias against press package photos of DJs wearing sunglasses, with a bunch of lasers photoshopped in and chicks in bikinis.



Going through the entire bulk of events listings, the flyers definitely got better towards the end of the year reflecting perhaps Shanghai clubs' shift towards lucrative one-off events, rather than weekly events, and the increasing amount of competition and independent / niche promoting. Here's a good one from last January though for DKD. It's got Carl Lorimer on it with his skateboard. It looks like they caught him shreddin' serious rails in some kind of abandoned scrap yard.

Anyways, here are the 11, in no particular order:

Live Electronica @ Pirates (Jul 20)

This one's on here because it reminds me of important themes profoundly address in The Matrix. Actually, looking back throughout the listings for the year, Pirates consistently submitted cool flyers that looked like someone spent a lot of time on
them. Shame they closed.

Discount @ The Hut (Aug 23)

I always really liked this one from whoever does those Discount parties. I like how they used fonts from laundry detergent boxes for the text. They also supplied their subject's inner monologue but they probably didn't need too. You know that right after her hot pants come out of the dryer she's heading down to The Hut.

Antidote @ C's (May 31)

Here is a flyer of two elephants going at it. Well done.

Punks for Monks @ LOgO (Oct 31)

Kind of biased about this one because my friend did it and I'm in one of those bands on the bill. The "model" mohawk was photoshopped off some goon from Arkansas located via random Google search. I always wanted to track him down and email him to let him know that his 'hawk played a part in raising 4500rmb for Burmese refugee kids.

Double B-Day Bash @ LOgO (Dec 4)

This guy is actually physically mainlining his techno and minimal. Such dedication.

Where's Banana's @ 4 Live (Sept 15)

All throughout 2007 the Bananas crew put out consistently funny flyers that were clever in both theme and in creative execution. It was a tough call between this "Where's Banana's" flyer, the one with Jesus holding the bananas and the "Bananer" Ikea one. I chose this one because I spent time trying to "complete" the puzzle (and failed).

micropirates @ Pirates (June 2)

This was my favorite one from micro this year but the five cans for their microshelter party was a close second. It seems to me that whoever does these micro flyers is really good at combining unique design with branding, while adhering to a minimalist aesthetic.

Snapline @ LOgO (Nov 17)

This was sent in by Abe, the music editor at the Shanghaiist and sometimes promoter of local rock events around town. Apparently he gets them from some guy in Beijing who does them for touring bands. Anyways, I think the style is pretty eye-catching and talented, and it looks like he puts a lot of time in to the artwork.

Antidote: Horror House @ C's (Sept 27)

This is the flyer that ran with Antidote's "Horror House" event. I picked it because it's got a really great, twisted photo of a ubiquitous but alternative Shanghai nightlife. To check out the rest of Antidote's flyers, head off to their Web site here.

S.T.D.: Yacht @ LOgO (June 10)

This is a flyer for Yacht who played at the Yue Festival and the next night at LOgO bar. It's a cool flyer because it's clean and eye-catching and it shows a picture of the performer without making him look like a tool. Most flyers that depict the featured band or DJ end up looking like scrapped album covers and are kind of silly. Well... maybe he does look like kind of a tool.

Power Station @ O2 (Jan 9)

This flyer is for an "Aboriginal Rock Group" called Power Station that played at O2. I like it because it shows a bunch of good guys rocking out with good, extreme positive energy. Where are they? Looks like some landing strip somewhere. Their twin-engine just touched down and they decided to rock the fuck out. Good thing someone had a camera. Check out that bass player in the back. Hey dude. It's not plugged in, take it easy.

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