Take a walk down Mao Livehouse’s long and winding entranceway, roughly styled with tarnished copper walls and a buildup of concert posters, and you can’t help but feel excited about what’s in store at the newly-opened rock venue.

The buildup and suspense is fitting; the tiered concert area – previously home to nightclubs O2 and WTF – consists of a vast square pit in front of its grand stage, top-of-the-line sound and lighting equipment, and enough space to pile in about 1,000 people.

And while Shanghai has a number of underground rock venues – including Yuyintang, Live Bar and LOgO – what’s been lacking is a mid-size stage for bands needing something in between a tiny dive and a stadium. Now, Mao Livehouse is trying to fill the void to help the growth of Shanghai's local music scene, even though doing so may seem like an uphill battle.

“We’re worried about not drawing a big enough audience. If we have less than 300 people come to a gig, the venue can look very empty,” says Mao’s manager, Yan Yang, who is also drummer of local band, Sonnet. “It’s not going to be easy.”

While Shanghai’s indie bands and audiences have grown over the years, Yan says the city is still a difficult market to break, especially in comparison to Beijing, where the original Mao Livehouse – opened by Japanese label Bad News Records – has become one of the capital’s top venues in the Southern Drum Tower neighbourhood.

In Beijing, indie music has flourished, with thousands of bands and audiences hungry to hear what they’ve got on stage. “In Shanghai, there aren’t enough bands to hold gigs every weekend,” Yan says. “So we have to invite foreign bands and musicians from other provinces. The cost is much higher when you add on transportation and accommodation to bring them in.”

And this puts more pressure on Mao.