Punk is Dead! Well, yeah it is. Wait, no it's not! Yeah, it pretty much is. Well, maybe not. Shanghai is a city more known for its electronic/dance music scene, and, as such, it's a city that is consistently seen as playing catch-up with Beijing in terms of live music, which boasts a (comparatively) thriving live rock music scene. Every six months or so, expat media (SmartShanghai included) publishes a state of the union-type article about the "live scene," and live music in Shanghai still struggles to find a foothold both commercially and creatively (only about 20 bands in Shanghai of any genre even exist -- quite a small number given that the city is home to over 20 million people).

One thing Shanghai does have going for it is a fairly well-developed social network of promoters working overtime to put bands -- any band -- in front of an audience. Said promoters are developing their audiences and revenue streams, and every year, more and more quality acts are finding their way to Shanghai. Although separated by cultural and language differences, younger Chinese audiences share with their expat counterparts a deep-seated fondness for live music, and it works to spur the "scene" onwards through some hard times. Adding to the problem of an underdeveloped live music scene is strict regulatory measures variously enforced by city regulative bodies to keep live music marginalized. Licensing regulations for both venues and performing bands add to the commercial instability of live music and keeping your ear to the ground is necessary if you want to catch innovative live music -- or any live rock music -- being performed on a Shanghai stage.

One thing's for sure, live music offerings in Shanghai get better year on year, as the artform catches on with Chinese youth, more expats choose Shanghai as a long-term residence and more promoters and agencies flock to Shanghai to strike it rich promoting music. As of this writing -- the first quarter of 2011 -- there are two main live rock music venues which cater directly to a crowd looking for rock music performed on stage, and a handful of secondary options and multi-purpose venues which, at times, host live music. Without question the seat of live music in Shanghai rests at a venue called Yuyintang, which is a medium-sized concert hall/bar/patio which, after recent renovations in the first quarter of 2011, hosts live music, generally, six nights a week. Yuyintang has a few monthly gigs, hosts independent promoters putting on genre specific nights and serves as a space for larger touring international bands. Music tilts heavily to rock and rock off-shoot genres - punk, metal, indie rock, garage -- but they also host experimental noise art events and live electronica. SmartShanghai lists all of Yuyintang's upcoming concerts, so click here for the upcoming listings page to see what they've got on.

The second venue is called Mao Livehouse, which takes its name after one of Beijing's most successful and high-profile live music venues, although this one has been localized to a Shanghai crowd and is, for the most part, commercially unconnected with its Beijing counterpart. Mao is a large-sized concert venue -- about 800-1000 capacity -- and is Shanghai' s only venue of this size that hosts regular shows and is oriented towards new and original rock music. In terms of sound-system and service -- despite a few grumbling local critics -- Mao also comes closest in Shanghai to what one would call a "world class concert" venue. Music offerings at the space can be roughly delineated into two categories: firstly, as the management is committed to developing a local audience for local music, they play host to several developing student bands and Shanghai-based bands inspired by a variety of sources. On a given night, they've got punk, pop punk, indie rock, metal and more played by locally-based bands, usually headlined by a relatively higher profile locally-based band. And secondly, as it is Shanghai's closest approximation to a large sized concert venue, they host touring national and international artists several times a month. In a fairly stellar 2010, they had in Japanese post rock band Mono, electroclash chanteuse Peaches, Panic! At the Disco, Secret Machines, Au Revoir Simone and many more.

SmartShanghai's ticket deliver service has ongoing partnerships with the myriad of independent promoters putting on larger concerts at Mao Livehouse, and regularly stocks tickets for their marquee events. Click here to visit the SmartTicket landing page to see what they've got on. SmartTicket also lists smaller events at the venue; click here to view our upcoming events listings. [Ed's note: Mao Livehouse has currently suspended events while they move across town to a new location. Club management has assured local media that the move will be an address change only, and everything else will be business as usual once they open up again. The re-opening date is, reportedly, mid-March 2011.]

And there's more. Newly relocated and committed to putting on live rock is Live Bar, located nearer to Fudan University and thus more anchored around the student music culture. Despite its distance from the city center, Live Bar is a great destination for almost exclusively Shanghai and China-based rock music, and exudes a community-orientated sort of vibe. Beers are good and cheap too. Other clubs double as live music venues when the need arises and often Lune will host a band, as will Anar Bar. The odd larger concert also takes place at Zhijiang Dream Factory, when independent promoters hire it out.

Read On: Shanghai's Jazz Scene »

Local Resources

Live rock in Shanghai is an underground phenomenon and thus the best information on obscure and below-the-radar events comes though underground and independent media. Bar none, the best English-language local coverage of rock music happenings in Shanghai can be found at the website, kungfuology.com, which hosts ongoing blog commentary on the live music scene, concert reviews and more. If you want to do more than just see a few shows in Shanghai and are looking to get involved on the community aspect of live music in Shanghai, it's a good place to start.

Alternately, you can also check out the blog, Chinamusicradar.com, for industry commentary on the Shanghai and Chinese music scene. Run by local concert promoters, Split Works, CMR provides a behind-the-scenes look at the music industry in China, and is pretty interesting reading in that regard.

Lastly, SmartShanghai's own coverage of local music-related stuff is most consistently found in the weekly "MP3 Monday" column, which is a weekly MP3 blog introducing what's on in music for that week in Shanghai. It's an editor's pick sort of thing, though, and not specifically tied to rock music.

Get the Gear

Although there are a few stand-alone shops for music equipment and gear in Shanghai - Gibson's massive China flagship store on Hengshan Lu being the chief one of these -- the prime location to buy acoustic and electric guitars, keyboard, drums and accessories is along Jingling Lu at Hunan Lu. Within those three blocks on Jingling Lu are about 8-12 small music shops stocking a fair variety of guitars and music gear for sale. Brands are Western and Chinese, although the Western brands are usually fakes. The general deal with the fakes is that the quality can actually be comparable to the real thing, but you just have to have a good eye for the craftsmanship of the individual fakes themselves. There are great copies and there are terrible copies. It makes it harder to find something suitable if you're just starting out as a musician, but, conversely, deals are available if you've got a trained eye.

Alternately, as variety isn't the strong point of Jingling Lu, especially when it comes to unique gear, local musicians rely on Taobao.com to buy stuff, which is basically Chinese eBay. Chinese language readers can usually get an alright deal on gear when purchasing through Taobao, and through that you have access to shops all over China. Unfortunately, prices tend to be comparable to Western-based outlets, and the myth that electronics and gear is cheaper in China is just that - a myth.

Last piece of advice if you're looking for music gear: every year expats leave Shanghai and it's hard to take bulky musical equipment back home. Check locally-based, English-language classifieds services for expats looking to unload their stuff quick.