death komes to dance

Shanghai Club legacy found Dead! - By Carl, Jan 18, 08

The typical Shanghai clubber will be excused if the recent closure of Club dkd failed to make their radar screen. To be fair, nightlife venues in this town open, close, and remodel with such monotonous regularity that there is little point in attempting to keep up-to-date with the vicissitudes of Shanghai's most erratic industry. Nevertheless, Club dkd's shutting down should not be allowed to pass without a proper acknowledgment of its immense contribution to the development of Shanghai's night scape.

What began in the summer of 1999 as a risky musical adventure, today is partly responsible for helping shape what the city's scene has become.

From its inception, dkd was unique. At the heart of Maoming Lu's drunken madness, dkd emerged as the only club on the street, hidden in a dark room above Buddha Bar and pushing an electronic music agenda that few other venues in the city dared to embrace. As music director Pat McGowen says, "dkd was an oasis, the first true place for the party people, whether you were a student, CEO, local, or foreign". Resident DJs included owner Julian Xu and Calvin, who is presently well-established as China's most successful and influential DJ. Other firsts included Shanghai's original weekly hip-hop night and an after-hours featuring Solaris of Magic Garden fame. Unfortunately in the summer of 2004, the city government shut down the majority of the street in prelude to redeveloping the area, forcing dkd to find a new home.

The second incarnation of dkd arrived just in time for Christmas, approximately six months after Maoming's demise. Deep within a basement on Huaihai Lu, Xu and his architectural partner Jeff Bonner unveiled a minimalistic cavern dedicated to the worship of sound. Conspicuously absent were the LCD screens and obnoxious neon that were becoming popular with Chinese clubs and have since become the staple. With a larger space Club dkd further experimented with its house, progressive, and trance soundscapes by carefully balancing both international and local talent, the latter focus being something of a rarity both then and now in the city's scene. Perhaps the venue's greatest coup, was hosting DJ Nick Warren for Global Underground's Shanghai party, an extremely prestigious event for a few lucky clubs worldwide, which resulted in a retrospective CD release a few months later. As GU's Dom Philips loudly declared to your dear writer in a rather induced state, "Shanghai has @#$%ing arrived".

Unfortunately by early 2007, Shanghai's scene was over-saturated with fly-by-night clubs looking to make a quick yuan. Pressure on established clubs to renovate, keep up, or die was enormous. Bowing to market demands, dkd chose to close temporarily, rearrange things a bit, and reopen for one more go. Regrettably, the opening night logistics were so poorly thought out it made the Hindenburg docking procedures look well planned; the club never recovered from the disaster. On the other hand, the writing had been on the wall for some time. McGowan claims that dkd was undergoing a "slow, quiet, and natural death" for sometime; the musical niche and clubbing atmosphere dkd originally embodied had slowly faded as Shanghai's market evolved. The 'party people' now had too many choices and each group went their separate ways, dkd's musical melting pot was no longer required.

What now remains is Club dkd's legacy. Eight years of existence (a lifetime in Shanghai) coupled with being the launching pad for several of Asia's most influential DJs is the most obvious proof of success. But more importantly, the club was instrumental in helping the city find its musical voice. While the Bon Bon's, Attica's, and Babyface's of Shanghai might not care to admit it, today's nightlife scene owes a great deal to the heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears of the original 'party people'.

SmSh photo galleries of dkd (Huaihai Lu):

GU Party with DJ Nick Warren (March 2005)
Miss Kitten (April 2005)
Paul Oakenfold (September 2005)
Johan Gielan (September 2005)
DKDance (November 2005)
Armin Van Buuren (November 2006)
Carl Cox (December 2006)

Older related articles on SmSh:
Hey, Where'd My Depression Go? (March 2006)

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chinaman

Jan 18, 08

Nice one Carl, hit it on the head

jerome_floerke

Jan 18, 08

The King is dead! Long live the King!

plui

Jan 19, 08

Great article Carl, full of good points, but I think some clarification is in order to avoid misinterpretation.

Why would anyone *not* want to admit that any nightlife scene owes a great deal to the heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears of the original 'party people'? That is simply wrong.

I cant really speak for the other venues like gplus (which you failed to mention for some reason), attica, or babyface, but am pretty sure that Bonbon not only acknowledges but *celebrates* the contribution of *all* venues -past and present, big and small, underground and mainstream, as well as the people who pour their heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into making the entire nightlife scene a better place with richer variety for all.

Venue closings suck at all levels, but particularly as the frequency of closures increases -- acting as a barometer for the overall health of a scene.

So, please, Carl... Don't make it sound like Bonbon is sitting laughing at a situation when a club with such grand history as dkd has closed -- It is simply not the case.

Secondly: "The 'party people' now had too many choices..." What's up with that? I sincerely hope that you are *not* suggesting that dkd would still be open if there were less venues, less choices for customers. Providing choices is better for all customers. In context to clubbing and nightlife, bringing it all back to music is what I *personally* think it's all about. You know I'm nuts about dancing to very loud music, so the way I see it is the more musical choices customers have on a given night out, the better. And talk about sweat effort - Bonbon's brought over 250 DJs to Shanghai in 24 months.

Finally, I agree with you that there are definite props due to the original 'party people' but me as a relative newbie in Shanghai also want to throw props to the new party people who are arriving with new ideas and directions... The new heads, scenesters, characters, etc that make a night out a bit more interesting.

A word in closing to all you/us newbs who get rolled in to clubs, events, PR, whatever... Staying as interested and enthusiastic about being involved in *anything* just as you were on the first day of your involvement is a kind of life challenge that reaps the most gratifying and long lasting rewards, and generally makes you a nicer person to hang with! :)

mia

Jan 19, 08

clubs have a certain life span, and dkd didn't realize that they've passed theirs. The last reopening was too much, they should have closed the place with a big closing party.

moneyinabox

Jan 22, 08

Plui, your comments are noted and appreciated. And I didn't mention G+ because I don't really rate them as an important club here in Shanghai in the grand scheme of things. Chinese clubs look to and try to copy Babyface and it's still the venue most local clubbers prefer, Attica has the upscale pretentious aircon expat crowd (BR is more of a bar), and Bon Bon is king at the crossroads of Shanghai's cultures and status levels.

loli

Jan 28, 08

I agree with "moneyinabox" all his points. I been a loyal dkd fan for 8 years. I am glad that you wrote a proper story on DKD. I still remember when babyface was DKD's competitor on mao ming lu. But with all my respect to DKD, they went wrong with their "new look" as I said before they were another victim of babyfacist scheme aka neon lights, table service all the way, cheesy decorations etc...one of my few favorites is currently Mao, but can't compare to DKD's longetivity and success :) Thank you DKD for all the wonderful memories!

bringthebeatback

Mar 04, 08

DKD died because it tried to cling on to and keep alive a music style which went out of date 5 years ago. When DKD was on Maoming Lu, progressive house and progressive trance was cool. Since then, tastes changed and Shanghai's party crowd got into electro, but DKD stuck to the same old outdated style, insisting that their DJs were somehow "superior" to all the others... the "real" party crowd who "really" understand music bla bla bla. Anyone with an attitude like that these days in Shanghai, sadly is on the road to disaster.