Bar Review: Shanhai

What: Shanghai’s newest Livehouse

Why: You’re looking to rock

How much: Standard cocktails RMB 40; Bottled beers RMB 25-35; Asahi Draft RMB 40

Where: 1F, Bldg 7, 477 Aomen Lu, near Jiangning Lu. Tel: 3135 1701

For Shanghai’s burgeoning music scene, the arrival of another live house has long been overdue. Stalwart Yuyintang is now booked solid months in advance, and Live Bar, despite its growing student following, remains a bit too far outside the city to attract audiences from downtown on a regular basis. With space for 300 to 400 raucous, booze-fuelled show-goers, Shanhai looks to take the burden off these mid-sized venues and provide a much needed alternative to both promoters and performers.

The entrance to the venue alone is certain evidence of grander aspirations. Bright red, brass-studded traditional Chinese wooden doors sit under a sloping, tiled roof holding the venue’s carved marquee. To the right, you’ll see a faux stone wall gives way to an abstract, kaleidoscopic mural of a mountain falling into the ocean (the name of the venue literally means 'Mountain Sea' in Chinese). In stark contrast, the inside of the venue has a minimalist feel, with its two levels decked out almost exclusively in black.

Yan Yang, aka Le Zi, the drummer of local rock outfit Sonnet and one-time manager of Mao Livehouse is the driving force behind the venue. Upstairs you’ll find a small, 16-channel recording studio which Yan claims bands can use for free to record a demo (although they are responsible for providing an engineer themselves). Oh, and did we forget to mention that Yan is also the founder of Zhuluhefeng, an independent Shanghai record label?

It looks like there’s real potential in Shanhai. Local bands can get performances, get recorded and maybe even get noticed all in the same place. Oh, and hopefully it’ll be a good place to catch a show, too.